Ketika saya memikirkan Tahun Baru Imlek, saya membayangkan pertemuan keluarga besar, mengunjungi anggota keluarga besar, angpao, dan menyantap makanan tradisional. Saat tumbuh dewasa, kami memulai perayaan dengan makan malam keluarga besar dan hidangan khusus yang berarti semua hal yang menguntungkan: mie untuk umur panjang, pangsit untuk kekayaan (berbentuk seperti batangan emas Tiongkok), ikan untuk kemakmuran, bola-bola nasi manis untuk kebersamaan keluarga, dan banyak lagi. Namun, COVID-19 menghentikan semua kunjungan dan pertemuan keluarga kami. Sekarang, saya mendapati diri saya beralih ke TV untuk mengobati rasa rindu dan terhubung dengan budaya saya melalui konten yang relevan.
Searching the internet for Asian family programs, I found my choices were somewhat limited, which was surprising given that Asian Americans are the fastest-growing population in America. According to Gracenote Analisis Inklusi data, East Asians like me have a low share of screen, meaning that our visibility across all television programming is only about 2%. When we look deeper, we see that East Asian visibility is a little better on subscription video on demand (SVOD) platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+, but it still barely surpasses 3%.
Dengan visibilitas yang lebih tinggi, tidak mengherankan jika 82% orang Asia-Amerika berlangganan layanan streaming (dibandingkan dengan 72% dari total populasi AS) dan 28% lebih mungkin untuk menonton konten alternatif* (dari penerbit media lain, misalnya acara berbahasa Asia) melalui perangkat yang terhubung ke internet. Di antara pilihan yang tersedia, platform SVOD memberikan representasi terbaik bagi orang Asia dan cerita-cerita Asia, yaitu sebesar 3%, namun industri ini dapat melakukan lebih banyak hal untuk menghadirkan cerita dan penggambaran yang otentik ke ruang keluarga kita.
As I was looking for content to watch, Fresh Off the Boat, which ran from 2015 to 2020, floated to the top of my internet search. When it premiered, it was the first U.S. television sitcom starring an Asian American family to air on network primetime since Margaret Cho’s All-American Girl, which aired for one season in 1994. Fresh Off the Boat served some authentic laugh-out-loud moments that were true to life, such as when Eddie tells his mom that he wants โwhite people lunchโ and ends up throwing away his own Chinese lunchโreminding me of the time when I packed my daughterโs lunch of fried rice, and she brought it home untouched. My search also returned Minari, a 2020 movie about a Korean family seeking to build a new life as farmers in Arkansas. There are poignant moments, such as when Monicaโs mother arrives from Korea, bringing a suitcase full of food like chili powder and dried anchovies, making her daughter cry. This is what we do, carry suitcases full of our food back after a visit to our home countries, giving them to our families to show our love.
Having grown up in Singapore, I love Crazy Rich Asians; not only because it was filmed there, but also because of the beautiful visuals, including hawker food and the familiar streets of Singapore, bringing me just a little closer to home. The movieโs popularity seemed to inspire a new genre of Asian showsโreality TV depicting fabulously wealthy Asians like we see in Bling Empire dan House of Ho. While โrags to riches” themes appeal to many audiences, most of us view these stories as being far from reality. Indeed, thereโs a striking gap in the stories being told about Asians. Nielsenโs inclusion analytics report studied themes in programming when an identity group in the audience sees themselves well represented on screen. The themes most present in programming for East Asians are courage, bravery, challenge, justice, sonsโall reminiscent of the immigrant narrative, kung fu films and patriarchy. These themes just seem to feed the Asian stereotype.
That said, I was still able to find a handful of Asian movies that celebrate family and food. In most Chinese households, food is the language of love. We arenโt the most demonstrative culture, so cooking and serving people food is how we show our love and respect. I stumbled across content that fed my soul. In Ramen Teh, a Japanese man visits Singapore after his parents pass to learn the secret recipe of the pork rib soup made by his Singaporean motherโs family. Joy Luck Club gave me hope that I will soon reconnect with my family over our favorite foods. Over the Moon was the most touching of all, as it features a scene where the family gathers to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, the second-most important Chinese holiday. The family bantering as they cook and eat, the young girl making sure that her grandpa got the best crab, and the familiar auspicious foods made me cry.
Tidak ada tempat yang lebih baik daripada rumah untuk liburan, tetapi ketika saya tidak bisa berada di sana secara langsung, menonton program tentang makanan dan keluarga seperti milik saya di layar kaca membawa saya ke sana.
*All other tuning (AOT): Cara Nielsen mengklasifikasikan tontonan untuk konten TV yang belum diukur.
