The Oscars drew on Asian stereotypes in a "tone-deaf" approach to the community this year, 25 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences who are of Asian descent said in a letter Tuesday.
George Takei, Ang Lee and Sandra Oh, among others, co-signed the letter, which criticized this year's Oscars ceremony for bringing "tasteless" and "offensive" jokes about Asians to the stage. During the show, several jokes referenced Asian stereotypes, including one for which Rock called a group of children onstage during a joke about child labor.
In an awards season where the Oscars' lack of diversity was a main subject of conversation, the cause of the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite and the main subject of Rock's monologue, the ceremony missed the ball on its approach to Asian Americans, the letter said.
The letter is addressed to the Academy's board, including president Cheryl Boone Isaacs, which meets today in part to discuss diversity in the organization, according to Variety.
It read:
Dear Cheryl, Dawn, Members of the Board of Governors, Reginald and David:
We are writing as Academy members of Asian descent to express our complete surprise and disappointment with the targeting of Asians at the 88th Oscars telecast and its perpetuation of racist stereotypes.
In light of criticism over #OscarsSoWhite, we were hopeful that the telecast would provide the Academy a way forward and the chance to present a spectacular example of inclusion and diversity. Instead, the Oscars show was marred by a tone-deaf approach to its portrayal of Asians.
We'd like to know how such tasteless and offensive skits could have happened and what process you have in place to preclude such unconscious or outright bias and racism toward any group in future Oscars telecasts.
We look forward to hearing from you about this matter and about the concrete steps to ensure that all people are portrayed with dignity and respect.
We are proud that the Oscars reach several hundred million people around the world of whom 60% are Asians and potential moviegoers.