![]() Casting choice changes aren’t going to cut it. A deep dive into the complexities of an online interracial romance is obviously a bit ambitious for a goofy Christmas rom-com but ignoring the way that Josh’s race plays into his online dating experiences while simultaneously mocking him for his lack of success is patently obtuse. The “Love Hard” cast is diverse in appearance only. In fact, the Christmas-obsessed fictional Lin family might as well have been white, which is the problem. In disbelief that Josh could have secured a girlfriend as conventionally attractive as Natalie, Josh’s grandmother (Althea Kaye) asks if Natalie is a “geisha,” demonstrating the overwhelming whiteness of the writers’ room and their inability to distinguish between Asian cultures. The film includes just one other reference to the Lin family’s Chinese background, and it does so poorly. He was born in Beijing and he was amazing in bed,” Natalie shoots back, in a bizarre performance of her proximity to Asian men presumably meant to exempt her from any racist bias Josh might accuse her of. “I get it, you never dated a Chinese guy before and you’re in shock,” Josh jokes to Natalie after she storms out of his house angrily upon discovering she’s been catfished. Other than a few passing jokes about Josh’s heritage, the racial dynamics of the characters’ relationships with dating apps and with each other are completely ignored. Love Hard perpetuates the idea that only a certain kind of Asian man should succeed on dating apps, and even when Natalie and Josh end up together, she is seen as settling for something imperfect.Įverything about “Love Hard” seems intentionally colorblind. Remaking the Western ideal of a hypermasculinized “man’s man” with an Asian actor isn’t the solution to ending media stereotyping and racial bias in the dating world. Along with Henry Golding of “Crazy Rich Asians,” Simu Liu of “Shang-Chi,” and Dev Patel of “The Green Knight,” Barnet plays a character that embodies a paragon of rugged masculinity, subverting the stereotype of the weak-willed Asian man.īut Asian men shouldn’t have to be meat-loving, Thoreau-reading recreational rock climbers like Tag in order to be desirable. Barnet represents Hollywood’s attempts to repent for years of forcing Asian men into the role of the asexual comic relief. The character whose photos Josh used for his fake profile, Tag (Darren Barnet), is also Asian, although his 25% Japanese heritage leaves him far more white-passing than Yang. Later on in the film, it’s revealed that the reason for the lack of traffic on Josh’s profile is due to his awkward photos and so-called inability to “be himself.” But can poorly taken pictures really account for the negative experiences of thousands of Asian American men on dating apps? Racist stereotypes about the biology and temperament of Asian men pervade our culture, but this film individualizes this systemic issue to only Josh’s character. ![]() In reality, the experiences of Asian men on dating apps are far more nuanced. In “Love Hard,” Josh catfishes Natalie because he is insecure and failed to acquire matches using real pictures of himself on his dating profile. Yang’s character exemplifies one of the many Asian men who has been burned by dating apps, but his identity as an Asian American man is largely ignored. Asian men have been demasculinized and desexualized for decades in American media, when they are even depicted at all. ![]() A Variety review called catfishing “a despicable deed” and referred to the film as “a holiday catfish story masquerading as a romance.” Even more troubling than the obvious plot holes is the tone-deaf nature of the film’s portrayal of Asian men.Ī study conducted by OKCupid between 20 found that, statistically, Black women and Asian men are the two least swiped-on demographics on dating apps. Making the lead fall in love with her catfish is both uninspired and slightly problematic. With just 50% on Rotten Tomatoes, the film had an obviously flawed and unoriginal premise, and audiences were not fooled however, the casting choices were even more disturbing and indicated a lack of diversity in the writers’ room. Yang), for article content, only to find out she has been catfished. Netflix’s latest edition to the vault, “Love Hard,” tells the story of Natalie Bauer (Nina Dobrev), a Los Angeles-based dating columnist, who flies to upstate New York to surprise a match from an online dating site, Josh Lin (Jimmy O. It’s December, which means that the weather is getting worse, grocery stores are playing Michael Bublé on a never-ending loop and a fresh onslaught of formulaic Christmas-themed romantic comedies is incoming.
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