Spoiler alert for those who haven’t watched Season 7 Episode 1 of “The Walking Dead.”
Over seventeen million viewers tuned in to the premiere of “The Walking Dead” Season 7, and people were not happy when they found out who was on the other side of the dreaded Lucille. Glenn Rhee, a character that is impossible to dislike and has been there since the first season, was killed off that Sunday night. From a giddy pizza boy to a full out zombie slayer, Glenn was one of the rare Asian-Americans in television with decent character development, unfortunately. Glenn was also the first Asian character I’ve seen that got the girl of his dreams.
Creating diversity and avoiding whitewashing at all costs are prevalent topics these days, and the T.V/Film Industry usually fails in this area. However, TWD has always been admirable with the amount of people of color that make appearances, and if they bring in a character from the comics that is a person of color, they will cast actors of that race. It sounds like a no-brainer, but that doesn’t happen often.
Last week, Yeun was the face of Entertainment Weekly. He’s the third Asian man to be on the cover, and the first to have a solo appearance. The magazine is being praised for having Asian representation, but it’s more disturbing and sad than anything. We can count on one hand how many Asian-American men have been on the cover of EW, so how is that okay? It’s a step in the right direction, but why hasn’t it happened sooner?
Doctor Strange, Marvel’s latest movie, whitewashed an obviously Asian man and cast a very Caucasian Tilda Swinton as “The Ancient One.” This brings up the question, has progress really been made?
Steven Yeun himself acknowledges the lack of representation of Asian characters, and he also shed light on that fact that he didn’t have a “Glenn” character to growing up.
“I am Asian, and Glenn is Asian. But I was very honored to be able to play somebody that showed multiple sides, and showed depth, and showed a way to relate to everyone. It was quite an honor, in that regard. This didn’t exist when I was a kid. I didn’t get to see Glenn. I didn’t get to see a fully formed Asian-American person on my television.”
It has always been difficult to find work as an Asian-American actor; I hope Steven finds an equally if not more rewarding job. But for TWD fans, Glenn will be sorely missed.
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