Count Rep. Judy Chu, who represents California’s 28th House District and chairs the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, as one of many who cheered Everything everywhere at onceSunday’s Oscar dominance.
Moments before the broadcast began, Chu explained that many of the film’s cast and crew went to see their community in person, days after 11 people were killed and nine injured by a gunman who attacked a salon. dance during a Lunar New Year celebration. in the Monterey park. The legislator wished the best to the nominees.
Of course, the weird (in a In fact good way!) The film ended up winning seven trophies, including Best Actress for Michelle Yeoh, Best Supporting Actor for Ke Huy Quan, Best Supporting Actress for Jamie Lee Curtis, and Best Picture.
On Monday, Chu tells Yahoo Entertainment about the importance of the film about Asian Americans that has had a huge impact on pop culture.
“As Michelle Yeoh said in her acceptance speech last night, ‘To all the little boys and girls who look like me, watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibility.’ An Oscar win for Michelle—only the second best actress award for a woman of color in 95 years and the first for a woman of Asian descent—validates her undeniable talent and will inspire AAPI artists across the country.” writes Chu via email. “But the impact is not limited to AAPIs in the creative industries. If there are any AAPI kids or AAPI adults who held their heads a little higher today, and I suspect there are many, the film’s many wins had an even more significant and uplifting impact on the Asian-American community.”
Chu discusses why representing his community in pop culture is so important.
“After decades of subtle to overt discrimination faced by AAPI actors like Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and 94-year-old James Hong, I am very hopeful that the enormous critical and commercial success of the film will clear the way for a more AAPI stories produced,” Chu says. “I’m also hopeful that more AAPI actors and film crew workers are hired in Hollywood and beyond. Representation matters: in our legislatures, in our boardrooms, and, yes, on our sets and behind the scenes.” the cameras”.
And as for that dinner, Chu says it was held in January, as a pre-Oscar nominations celebration, just hours before the film received a whopping 11 nominations, more than any other film this year. (They knew they had a good thing!) She didn’t show up.
“The dinner was an exclusive cast and crew event at Monterey Park, and I’m honored that they came here so soon after the tragedy to celebrate a special moment for their entire crew,” Chu explains. “I found out about the dinner when I ran into some members of the Vice President production team. [Kamala] Harris’ Lunar New Year celebration at his residence, the first of its kind.”
He Los Angeles Times reported on January 24 that the event at Atlantic Seafood and Dim Sum had been planned at that location for weeks, and the group decided to stick with their plans as a show of support. Quan said that they were sad to see that the area was desolate.
“It was very sad when we saw that the streets were empty. We entered the restaurant and it was empty,” he told the newspaper. “I’m so glad we went. We didn’t freak out. We didn’t cancel. We went there, we showed them our love, we supported the business, and I think that’s what people should do. That’s what I hope for.”
Quan noted that the first thing they did was pay homage to those who had been lost.
“We started the night by acknowledging what happened. We had a moment of silence for the victims,” Quan said. “We just wanted to show Monterey Park that we love them.”
