The Super Asian America panel at New York Comic Con helped highlight the success and battle of telling Asian stories.
The panel consisted of Marjorie Liu, Ryan Potter, Greg Pak, Camilla Zhang, Nidhi Chanani, and was moderated by Mike Lee.
The panelists discussed the success of Crazy Rich Asians and what the film means for the Asian community. Ryan Potter noted, “there is more interest than ever in Asians in TV and film because of Crazy Rich Asians.” He also added, “support each other’s dreams.”
Greg Pak explained the film surpassed expectations and urged for the support of Asian American indie movies. Pak also noted he has been supporting Asian American work since 1991. Zhang focused her response on supporting local Asian American projects. Marjorie Liu said of the movie is “a crack in the white hegemony of Hollywood,” and “now we can dream as Asian-Americans.”
Addressing negativity towards Asian actors, artists, and creators on social media was another focus for the panel. Mike Lee used the Kelly Marie Tran’s experience on Instagram following The Last Jedi backlash as an example of online harassment towards members of the community. Nidhi Chanani recommended not engaging with such behavior on social media. Ryan Potter advised, “log out once in a while.” Marjorie Liu described her experience with online negativity and said: “fandom support and beauty outweighs trolls.” Pak advised “blocking out negativity.” Camilla Zhang told audiences “be loud and present” over online trolls.
The panelist agreed in their own words of supporting Asian American work to increase Asian voices in comics, film, and other mediums.
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