Comedian Joel Kim Booster posted a screenshot on October 14 showing a movie script with a callous line about interracial relationships, prompting Booster to tweet “Hollywood is poison!!!!” in the caption.
The line in question seems to poke fun at the idea that a white girl would date an Asian man: “A white girl with an Asian guy might seem highly unrealistic… but this is a movie.” This prompted tweets of outraged response, including a couple with an Asian man and a white woman from the account @melbatoastlee posting an amusing video of the two partners looking at the camera with a bewildered expression.
— melbatoastlee (@melbatoastlee) October 14, 2018
The tweet also sparked replies from big names such as Seth Rogen, who tweeted in response: “That’s actually written in a script?” This led to an exchange between Booster and Rogen wherein the two seem to set up a potential reading for Booster in the future, with Rogen saying he’ll “make some calls.”
Other responses came from actors like Simu Liu of Kim’s Convenience fame, who tweeted “That’s pretty bullshit,” as well as Andy Richter, comedian and Conan O’Brien’s sidekick on TBS’ “Conan,” who tweeted “Holy fucking yuck.”
Joel Kim Booster is a rising comedian known for his work on Comedy Central as well as speaking out on behalf of Asian and queer identity issues. In an interview with Teen Vogue, Booster spoke out about attitudes towards Asian men: “As an Asian person in the media, we are never being sent subliminal messages that you are attractive.”
The tweet comes in a day and age where more attention is being given to a lack of Asian visibility in Hollywood. While the success of major pictures like “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Searching” looks to be milestone moments for Asian visibility, the number of Asian actors cast in leading Hollywood roles is still, according to Teen Vogue, at a meager 1% as of 2016.
