“She’s Asian” started to trend as some thought NPR’s message diminished the triumph of a woman of color.
michelle yeoIt is historic Oscar win attracts attention everywhere at once.
The ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ star was praised by NPR’s official Twitter page in a late-breaking update. However, the public takes issue with the wording of NPR’s message.
NPR tweeted, “BREAKING: Michelle Yeoh wins Oscar for Best Actress Making History as the first person who identifies as Asian to win the award.”
Twitter added a context card reading: “The tweet is factually correct, but lacks context to explain the wording. Merle Oberon was the first Asian woman nominated for the Best Actress Oscar in 1935. Oberon hid her heritage to avoid discrimination. Michelle Yeoh, however, is open about her Asian heritage.
However, Oberon is not mentioned in the linked NPR article, nor did the late actress win the award, still making ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ star Yeoh the first Asian star to win. the award for best actress.
The NPR tweet immediately received backlash over the word “identify”, with reporters writing “WTH” and fans wondering how Yeoh could be “hiding” his heritage in the first place. “She’s Asian” started trending with more than 18,000 tweets in response, with many believing the tweet was an attempt to diminish her historic win.
Ahead of awards season, Yeoh opened up about what it would mean to be the first Asian actress to win the honor.
“It’s actually a historic moment”, Yeoh said backstage at the Oscars press room. “So I really have to thank the Academy for acknowledging and embracing diversity and true representation. I think that’s something we’ve been working so hard on for a very long time, and tonight we broke that ceiling of glass. I kung fu it and smashed it.
She continued, “And we need that, because there are so many who have felt unseen, unheard. It’s not just the Asian community – it’s for anyone who has ever identified as a minority. We deserve to be heard, we deserve to be seen, we deserve to have a fair chance for a seat at the table. That’s all we ask. Give us this opportunity, let us prove that we are worth it.
Yeah previously told IndieWire that she felt a sense of “responsibility” as an Asian actress to represent her heritage and community on screen. “For us, [it was] name change. You want to make sure distributors or buyers buy your film, you have to give them more Caucasian names,” said Yeoh, who was born Yeoh Choo Kheng. “We all added an English name instead of just using our own name because at that time we were made to understand that would make things easier. That would make it more acceptable. »
Now, “times have changed,” she said. ” We have changed. The public, the people, everyone. The people who make the movies, the people who watch the movies, the whole world has turned into “let’s accept each other”. Yes, we are different, but we are the same. We are still people of the world.
#BREAKING: Michelle Yeoh wins the Best Actress Oscar making history as the first person who identifies as Asian to win the award.https://t.co/u3f8TpIZZl
—NPR (@NPR) March 13, 2023
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