A colleague tells Susie, an Asian-American architect in Los Angeles, in a scene from the lifelong TV movie “A Sugar and Spice Holiday”: “I don’t know where Christmas came from. ”
Answers Susie: “I’m from Mine.”
Many viewers of a cozy Christmas movie may be tempted to think that Susie is somehow not American. But for an Asian audience, that brief exchange is a reminder to know that microbes do not take a vacation. They are not particularly fond of Asian anti-racism and the epidemic triggered by words like “Chinese virus” and “kung fever”.
“I think this film is the best time for us to come out now during the epidemics of Asian culture and the ‘flu’ and all,” Canadian actor Jackie Loy, who plays Susie, told the Associated Press. “This (movie) – with our faces – people will be welcomed into their homes and I hope you can only see us as your American / Canadian friends.”
Sunday’s premier “A Sugar and Spice Holiday” may be the first sensational-good TV Christmas film, mostly with an Asian ensemble. This is one of the many projects that cable channels are proving to be an option for inclusion in this Euletite season. The change comes a year after the Hallmark Channel dropped an ad featuring a same-sex couple. This fall pointed to the problem of overall diversity not only with the LGBTQ community, but also with the color communities. The recent racial unrest has only been included in the conversation about representation in the entertainment industry.
Thea Magini, vice president of Lifetime Original Movies, said the storyline came from Asian American and screenwriter Irene Donohue, who had previously worked with the network.
“It was exciting to be presented with this particular perspective that has long been delayed for the Christmas film genre,” Magini said in a statement. Most importantly: the movie is really fun and “Christmas is full of heart.”
In fact, Rome-Com has all the hot, familiar holiday movie drops. Susie returns to the small town where she grew up for Christmas, inspired to upgrade her baking skills to the local Gingerbread House competition, and helps her former high school attraction (Tony Crocks).
His father was veteran actor DC Ma. Despite a year full of high-profile film roles in “The Farewell” and “Mulan”, Ma did not hesitate to join a lifetime film.
“This is the first time a Chinese American family has been featured in a Christmas story,” Ma said in an email. “Has the largest Asian-American following of a lifetime. It’s a way to thank them.”
In Hollywood, it can feel like the studios are only casting Asians in stories, where there is some kind of hardship or East-West struggle. With TV holiday movies, they are almost non-existent. Meanwhile, one of them is a baker’s dozen made-up white actors. Like other groups, Xerox says Asians deserve to see themselves at an affordable fee.
“I think it’s very important to have all kinds of stories with any culture – they need to reveal the stories of the struggle, but it’s so much fun to see the lighter one, to see aspects of the culture that aren’t surrounded by difficult times,” Xerox says.
Xerox, a Canadian, also expects to line up a movie where his grandparents can see themselves.
“They’m so excited to see a story that covers part of their story. My grandparents immigrated here from China in the 50’s,” says Xerox. “That’s why being part of this project tells a story that I’m actually been a part of.”
Loy loved romantic jokes. He recalled that “Crazy Rich Asians”, the first major Hollywood studio film with all Asian actors in 25 years, was unexpectedly emotional.
“You hear people say there has never been a film like this in 25 years. You ask those things. But not until I see someone sitting in the theater and looking like me a ninja or nerd, but someone like me. I remember how it felt, ”Loy said. “I’m so glad to have another film like this. We’re happy with this film and more opportunities, and open some minds.”
The film is lovingly sprinkled with Chinese-American nuances on the script and screen. This includes a photo of Susie’s dead grandmother surrounded by incense sticks and the whole family eating with chopsticks. It is the only Christmas movie that features both gingerbread and stinking tofu, which is a favorite Chinese dish.
“I wish we were able to add a lot of good details. … It’s really a romantic comedy, where the characters are Asian Americans,” says director Jennifer Liao. It doesn’t have to be. “
“Sugar and Spice” is not the only holiday film that expands the definition of who can direct these types of films. A few networks, including Lifetime and Hallmark, will feature a Christmas-themed movie with the same-sex couple on their slate. Wheelchair-bound Tony winner Ali Stroker stars in Lifetime “Christmas Ever After.”
Does Liao feel “first” even in such a harmless project to bring in a substantial audience? “I feel a lot of pressure to deliver something that I (and others) (who) can be proud of. It really was first and foremost,” Liao says.
Loy doesn’t see the point of getting stuck in things like ratings.
I think it’s so nice to hear someone say “I want to see someone on the screen who looks like me”. It will never be old, ”says Loy. “We get extra responses like this – for me, the film did its purpose.”
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