On Dec. 6, 2021, Assistant Professor Melissa Phruksachart gave a talk for the NCID titled "Hollywood’s Asian American Infrastructures." The talk moved the conversation outside the realm of stardom to address the myriad ways Asian Americans have historically participated in the entertainment industry: not just as victims of stereotype or resisters of racist casting, but as co-creators filling in the interstices of the industry due to Hollywood’s proximity to Asian American – particularly Chinese American – communities in Los Angeles. The talk highlighted the robust presence of Asian American non-actors who labored in the entertainment industry in the mid-twentieth century as casting agents, extras, costumers, restaurateurs, cinematographers, and domestic workers. Through their interactions with the Hollywood labor force, these ethnic entrepreneurs learned how to market Asianness/orientalism to the local clientele and exploited “star power” in a different way. This history is obscured when reading solely for resistance, and challenges us to rethink what Asian American in/visibility means.
