I grew up never seeing myself on-screen, and it's really important to me to give people who look like me a chance to see themselves. I want to see myself as the hero of any story. I want to see myself save the world from the bomb.
Sandra OhRead
Hollywood likes to put actors in boxes, and it likes to put Asian actors in really small boxes.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the stereotypes and limited roles offered to Asian actors in Hollywood.
Sandra Oh's quote reflects on the tendency of Hollywood to confine actors to specific roles based on racial and ethnic stereotypes, particularly for Asian actors. This limitation not only restricts the range of characters available to them but also perpetuates a narrow view of their talent and potential in the film industry.
Themes
HollywoodActorsStereotypesAsian ActorsRepresentation
In practice
Example use cases
During a panel discussion on diversity in cinema, this quote could be used to emphasize the importance of expanding roles for underrepresented groups.
More from Sandra Oh
All quotes βI'd be so fascinated to talk to a psychologist or sociologist about the deep psychological impact of seeing oneself represented. I don't think we've really touched the surface of what it does to the psyche of a people if the only image of you out there is negative. Or if it's never out there.
Sandra OhRead
Becoming an actor? If it's not a calling, don't do it. It's too hard.
Sandra OhRead
Similar quotes
In real life there are indeed black people who have been in the middle class for generations, but in entertainment it's as if they don't exist.
Stephen CarterRead
I'd like to state that Spike Lee is not saying that African American culture is just for black people alone to enjoy and cherish. Culture is for everybody.
Spike LeeRead
As the global expansion of Indian and Chinese restaurants suggests, xenophobia is directed against foreign people, not foreign cultural imports.
Eric HobsbawmRead
When I look at the system here and look at my position - not just as a basketball player, but when I look around me at the values of the people and the culture and compare them with the values of where I came from - I feel so blessed to be from Africa.
Hakeem OlajuwonRead
Get the culture right, and everything else just falls into place.
Tony HsiehRead
It wasn't until I came to New York and started to see the African American community, but also the Ethiopian community here, and started to eat the food, started to understand the music. I said, you know, I got to go and understand the culture. So me and my sister went.
Marcus SamuelssonRead