The pride and power of representation in film
-
0:01 - 0:06The Silicon Valley and the internet
gave me superpowers, -
0:06 - 0:09tools to go to battle with,
-
0:09 - 0:12a suit to take bullets with
-
0:12 - 0:16and a giant signal in the sky
that told me when it was time to fight. -
0:17 - 0:21Now, I can't actually prove any of this.
-
0:21 - 0:23I am not a "scientist,"
-
0:23 - 0:24I don't have "facts."
-
0:25 - 0:28In fact, my Rotten Tomato score
is running around 50 percent right now, -
0:28 - 0:30so I'm not sure why they let me in.
-
0:30 - 0:31(Laughter)
-
0:32 - 0:35But if we're talking
about colliding with a power -
0:35 - 0:37that's bigger than us,
-
0:37 - 0:38then I'm in the right place,
-
0:38 - 0:40because this last year,
-
0:40 - 0:43I had an interesting year with a movie
called "Crazy Rich Asians" that I did -- -
0:44 - 0:45(Applause and cheers)
-
0:45 - 0:47Thank you, thank you.
-
0:47 - 0:49And if we're talking about
connection specifically today, -
0:49 - 0:52then I know my story is only possible
-
0:52 - 0:56because of a collection of connections
that happened throughout my life, -
0:56 - 0:59and so hopefully by telling
a little bit of my story, -
0:59 - 1:02it will help someone else find their path
a little sooner than I did. -
1:02 - 1:07My story begins when I opened
the holy book for the first time ... -
1:08 - 1:11The holy book of gadgets,
of course, "Sharper Image." -
1:11 - 1:12(Laughter)
-
1:12 - 1:14Yes, those who know.
-
1:14 - 1:17It was a magical magazine of dreams
-
1:17 - 1:21and had things in there
that you knew could not possibly exist, -
1:21 - 1:22but it was right there.
-
1:22 - 1:24You could order it -- come in the mail.
-
1:24 - 1:27And some things that probably
should have never existed, -
1:27 - 1:30like "Gregory," a lifelike,
portable mannequin -
1:30 - 1:33who deters crime by his strong,
masculine appearance. -
1:33 - 1:34This is a real --
-
1:34 - 1:35(Laughter)
-
1:35 - 1:37This is a real thing, by the way.
-
1:37 - 1:38(Laughter)
-
1:38 - 1:42But my eyes were set
on the Sima Video Ed/it 2. -
1:42 - 1:44This thing was so cool at the age of 10.
-
1:44 - 1:47You could connect
all your VHS players together -
1:47 - 1:49and cut something together,
-
1:49 - 1:52so I called my parents
and convinced them to buy this for me. -
1:52 - 1:53But before I get into that,
-
1:53 - 1:55let me give you a little rundown
about my parents. -
1:55 - 1:58They came to the United States
when they were young, -
1:58 - 2:00they're from Taiwan in China
-
2:00 - 2:03and they settled
in Los Altos, California -- -
2:03 - 2:05the Silicon Valley
before the Silicon Valley -- -
2:05 - 2:09and they started a restaurant
called Chef Chu's. -
2:09 - 2:1150 years later, today,
they still work at the restaurant, -
2:11 - 2:13they're still there,
-
2:13 - 2:15and I grew up there, so it was great.
-
2:15 - 2:17Talk about connection --
this place was a hub of connection. -
2:17 - 2:22People coming there to celebrate
birthdays, anniversaries, business deals, -
2:22 - 2:23eating, drinking --
-
2:23 - 2:24connection.
-
2:24 - 2:26And I got to grow up in that environment.
-
2:26 - 2:30And my parents always said America
is the greatest place in the world. -
2:30 - 2:31You can --
-
2:31 - 2:35if you love anything, you can work hard
and you can accomplish anything you want. -
2:35 - 2:39So, they raised five all-American kids.
-
2:39 - 2:40I am the youngest --
-
2:40 - 2:43you can see I'm the one
with the eyes closed there -- -
2:43 - 2:46and they named actually my sister and I,
Jennifer and Jonathan, -
2:46 - 2:50after Jennifer and Jonathan Hart
from that TV show "Hart to Hart." -
2:50 - 2:52(Laughter)
-
2:52 - 2:55So that's how much
they loved America, apparently. -
2:55 - 2:57And they thought
that we were The Kennedys -- -
2:57 - 2:59my mom specifically --
-
2:59 - 3:01so she dressed us up
all the time like each other -
3:01 - 3:05and she put us in etiquette classes
and ballroom dance classes, -
3:05 - 3:09made sure that we had
the right dental plan -- -
3:09 - 3:10(Laughter)
-
3:10 - 3:12This is a real picture of me.
That is not fake. -
3:12 - 3:14Thank God for that one.
-
3:14 - 3:18And I was in charge of the video camera
every time we went on vacations, -
3:18 - 3:21so I would collect all these videos
and had nothing to do with it. -
3:21 - 3:24Thus, the Sima Video Ed/it 2.
-
3:24 - 3:26I convinced them to get it for me,
-
3:26 - 3:29and I spent all night
trying to wrangle all the VCRs -
3:29 - 3:32from my brother's and sister's room,
tangled in wires, -
3:32 - 3:34and now I had something to show them.
-
3:34 - 3:36So I brought them
into the living room one night, -
3:36 - 3:38it was probably 1991,
somewhere around there, -
3:38 - 3:40and I sit them down in the living room --
-
3:40 - 3:43my heart was pounding,
my breaths were deep -- -
3:43 - 3:44sort of like right now --
-
3:44 - 3:46and I pressed play
-
3:46 - 3:50and something extraordinary
happened actually. -
3:50 - 3:51They cried.
-
3:52 - 3:53And cried.
-
3:53 - 3:56They cried not because it was
the most amazing home video edit ever -- -
3:56 - 3:58although it was pretty good --
-
3:58 - 3:59(Laughter)
-
3:59 - 4:04but because they saw our family
as a normal family that fit in -
4:04 - 4:06and belonged on the screen
in front of them, -
4:06 - 4:11just like the movies that they worshipped
and the TV shows that they named us after. -
4:11 - 4:14I remember as the youngest
of these five kids -
4:14 - 4:16feeling heard for the first time.
-
4:16 - 4:18There was this place
where all these things in my head -
4:18 - 4:22could go into the great, electric
somewhere-out-there and exist and escape, -
4:22 - 4:24and I knew from this moment on,
-
4:24 - 4:26I wanted to do this
for the rest of my life, -
4:26 - 4:28whether I was going
to get paid for it or not. -
4:28 - 4:30So I had this passion
and now I needed some tools, -
4:30 - 4:32and my dad went to work.
-
4:32 - 4:35He continued to brag
about my home video editing skills -
4:35 - 4:37to the customers at Chef Chu's,
-
4:37 - 4:39and luckily this is the Silicon Valley,
-
4:39 - 4:42so they're working on stuff,
hardware and software -- -
4:42 - 4:43these are all engineers.
-
4:43 - 4:47And they offered to give me things
for digital video editing. -
4:47 - 4:50This is like the mid-'90s, early '90's,
-
4:50 - 4:53where this stuff didn't exist
for kids like me. -
4:53 - 4:57So I'd get this beta software
and hardware from places like HP and Sun -
4:57 - 5:00and Russell Brown at Adobe.
-
5:00 - 5:02And I had no manual,
-
5:02 - 5:05so I'd figure it out
and I fell in love with it even more. -
5:05 - 5:08I went to USC School of Cinematic Arts
and started to go there, -
5:08 - 5:12and my mom and dad would always
call me randomly and remind me -
5:12 - 5:17that I've got to do movies
about my Chinese heritage. -
5:17 - 5:20That China was going to be
a huge market for movies one day. -
5:20 - 5:22I was like, "Yeah right, guys".
-
5:22 - 5:23(Laughter)
-
5:23 - 5:25Always listen to your parents.
-
5:25 - 5:28(Laughter)
-
5:28 - 5:31I wanted to be Zemeckis,
Lucas and Spielberg. -
5:31 - 5:34The last thing I wanted to talk about
was my own cultural identity, -
5:34 - 5:36my ethnicity.
-
5:36 - 5:38And honestly, I had no one else to talk --
-
5:38 - 5:41there was no one at school
that I could really open up to, -
5:41 - 5:43and even if I did, like, what would I say?
-
5:43 - 5:45So I ignored it
and I moved on with my life. -
5:45 - 5:47Cut to 15 years later,
-
5:47 - 5:48I made it in Hollywood.
-
5:48 - 5:50I got discovered by Spielberg,
-
5:50 - 5:54I worked with The Rock
and Bruce Willis and Justin Bieber. -
5:54 - 5:58I even came to the TED stage
to present my dance company LXD, -
5:58 - 6:00and it was great.
-
6:00 - 6:01And then a couple years ago,
-
6:01 - 6:03I felt a little bit lost, creatively.
-
6:04 - 6:06The engine was going down a little bit,
-
6:06 - 6:07and I got a sign ...
-
6:08 - 6:10I heard from voices from the sky ...
-
6:11 - 6:13or more it was like, birds.
-
6:13 - 6:15OK, fine, it was Twitter.
-
6:15 - 6:16And Twitter --
-
6:16 - 6:17(Laughter)
-
6:17 - 6:19It was Constance Wu on Twitter,
-
6:19 - 6:21it was Daniel Dae Kim,
-
6:21 - 6:23it was Jenny Yang, who's here today,
-
6:23 - 6:24it was Alan Yang --
-
6:24 - 6:28all of these people
who were writing their frustrations -
6:28 - 6:30with representation in Hollywood.
-
6:30 - 6:32And it really hit me.
-
6:32 - 6:34I thought these things
but never really registered -- -
6:34 - 6:36I was really focused on --
-
6:36 - 6:37and I felt lucky to be working,
-
6:37 - 6:39and so then I realized --
-
6:39 - 6:40yeah, what is wrong with Hollywood?
-
6:40 - 6:42Why aren't they doing this?
-
6:42 - 6:46And then I looked at myself in the mirror
and realized I am Hollywood. -
6:46 - 6:47I literally --
-
6:47 - 6:49I popped my collar before I came out here,
-
6:49 - 6:50that's how Hollywood I am.
-
6:50 - 6:51(Laughter)
-
6:52 - 6:53Is it still up? OK, good.
-
6:54 - 6:55(Applause)
-
6:56 - 6:59For all these years I felt
I had been given so much, -
6:59 - 7:03and what was I giving back
to the film business that I loved? -
7:03 - 7:05I felt lucky to be here,
-
7:05 - 7:08but at this moment, I realized
that I was not just lucky to be here, -
7:08 - 7:10I had the right to be here.
-
7:10 - 7:11No, I earned the right to be here.
-
7:11 - 7:15All those sleepless nights,
all those parties I missed on Fridays, -
7:15 - 7:18every friend and girlfriend I lost
because I was editing -- -
7:18 - 7:22I earned the right to be here not just
to have a voice but to say something, -
7:22 - 7:23and say something important,
-
7:23 - 7:25and I had, actually, the power --
-
7:25 - 7:29the superpower to change things
if I really, really wanted to. -
7:30 - 7:33When you try to tell
stories about yourself -
7:33 - 7:36and people who look like you
and look like your family, -
7:36 - 7:37it can be scary,
-
7:37 - 7:40and all those feelings
of being alone came back. -
7:40 - 7:42But the internet is what told me --
-
7:42 - 7:45sent the sign that there was going
to be a whole army waiting for me -
7:45 - 7:47to support me and to love me for it.
-
7:47 - 7:51And so I found Kevin Kwan's
amazing novel "Crazy Rich Asians," -
7:51 - 7:53and we went to work.
-
7:53 - 7:55We put this movie together.
-
7:55 - 7:56All-Asian cast --
-
7:56 - 7:59the first all-Asian cast in 25 years
with a contemporary story -- -
7:59 - 8:02(Applause and cheers)
-
8:02 - 8:07But when we started
it was not a guarantee at all. -
8:07 - 8:10There was no comp for this kind of movie.
-
8:10 - 8:12Every time we did surveys and stuff,
-
8:12 - 8:14the audiences weren't going to show up.
-
8:14 - 8:16In fact, even in our test screenings
-
8:16 - 8:19where you give free tickets to people
to watch your movie, -
8:19 - 8:21we had a one to 25 ratio,
-
8:21 - 8:23meaning after 25 asks,
only one person said yes, -
8:23 - 8:25which is super low
for these types of things. -
8:25 - 8:28Asian people who knew the book
didn't trust Hollywood at all, -
8:28 - 8:32Asian people who didn't know the book
thought the title was offensive -
8:32 - 8:36and other people who weren't Asian
just didn't think it was for them. -
8:36 - 8:39So we were pretty screwed.
-
8:39 - 8:41Luckily, Warner Brothers
didn't turn away from us. -
8:41 - 8:44But then the electric
somewhere struck again, -
8:44 - 8:50and this army of Asian-American
writers, reporters, bloggers, -
8:50 - 8:55who over the years had worked their way up
through their respective publications, -
8:55 - 8:57went to work, unbeknownst to me.
-
8:57 - 8:58And they started to post things.
-
8:58 - 9:02Also, some tech founders out here
started to post stuff on social media, -
9:02 - 9:06write stuff about us
in articles in the "LA Times," -
9:06 - 9:09in "The Hollywood Reporter"
and "Entertainment Weekly." -
9:09 - 9:15It was like this grassroots uprising
of making ourselves news. -
9:15 - 9:16What an amazing thing to witness.
-
9:17 - 9:23And the swell of support
turned into this conversation online -
9:23 - 9:25between all these Asian Americans
-
9:25 - 9:27where we could actually debate and discuss
-
9:27 - 9:29what stories we wanted to tell,
-
9:29 - 9:31what stories should be told or not,
-
9:31 - 9:32what kind of --
-
9:32 - 9:34are we allowed to make fun of ourselves?
-
9:34 - 9:36What about casting?
What are we allowed to do? -
9:36 - 9:39And we didn't agree -- and we still don't,
-
9:39 - 9:40but that wasn't the point.
-
9:40 - 9:43The point was the conversation
was happening. -
9:43 - 9:47And this conversation stream
became an infrastructure. -
9:47 - 9:51It took all these different groups
that were trying to achieve the same thing -
9:51 - 9:55and put us all together
in this connective tissue. -
9:55 - 9:56And again, not perfect,
-
9:56 - 10:00but the start of how we determine
our own representation on the big screen. -
10:02 - 10:05It became more physical
when I went to the movie theater. -
10:05 - 10:07I'll never forget going --
opening weekend, -
10:08 - 10:10and I went into the theater,
and it's not just Asians -- -
10:10 - 10:11all types of people --
-
10:11 - 10:13and I go in and sit down,
-
10:13 - 10:15and people laughed, people cried,
-
10:16 - 10:19and when I went into the lobby,
-
10:19 - 10:20people stayed.
-
10:21 - 10:23It's like they didn't want to leave.
-
10:23 - 10:24They just hugged each other,
-
10:24 - 10:26high-fived each other, took selfies,
-
10:26 - 10:28they debated it, they laughed about it.
-
10:28 - 10:30All these different things.
-
10:30 - 10:34I had such an intimate
relationship with this movie, -
10:34 - 10:37but I didn't understand
when we were making it -
10:37 - 10:40what we were making
until it was happening -- -
10:40 - 10:45that it was the same thing that my parents
felt when they watched our family videos -
10:45 - 10:47in that living room that day.
-
10:47 - 10:50Seeing us on the screen has a power to it,
-
10:50 - 10:53and the only way I can
describe it is pride. -
10:53 - 10:56I have always understood
this word intellectually -- -
10:56 - 10:59I've probably talked about this word,
-
10:59 - 11:00but to actually feel pride --
-
11:00 - 11:03and those of you who have felt it know --
-
11:03 - 11:07it's like you just want to like,
touch everybody and grab and run around. -
11:07 - 11:08It's like a very --
-
11:08 - 11:10I can't explain --
-
11:10 - 11:11it's just a very physical feeling,
-
11:11 - 11:15all because of
a long pattern of connection. -
11:16 - 11:19Film was a gift given to me,
-
11:19 - 11:21and through the years
I've learned a lot of things. -
11:21 - 11:25You can plan, you can write scripts,
you can do your storyboards, -
11:25 - 11:27but at a certain point,
-
11:27 - 11:29your movie will speak back to you,
-
11:29 - 11:31and it's your job to listen.
-
11:32 - 11:34It's this living organism
and it sort of presents itself, -
11:34 - 11:37so you better catch it
before it slips through your hands, -
11:37 - 11:40and that's the most exciting part
about making movies. -
11:40 - 11:42When I look at life,
it's not that different actually. -
11:42 - 11:46I've been led through these
sort of breadcrumbs of connections -
11:46 - 11:49through people, through circumstances,
-
11:49 - 11:50through luck.
-
11:50 - 11:55And it changed when I realized
that once you start listening -
11:55 - 11:58to the silent beats
and the messy noises around you, -
11:58 - 12:02you realize that there's this beautiful
symphony already written for you. -
12:02 - 12:04A direct line to your destiny.
-
12:05 - 12:06Your superpower.
-
12:06 - 12:09Now, film was a gift given to me,
-
12:10 - 12:15sort of spurred on by my parents
and supported by my community. -
12:15 - 12:19I got to be who I wanted to be
when I needed to be it. -
12:20 - 12:22My mom posted something
on Facebook the other day, -
12:22 - 12:25which is usually a really bad
thing to say out loud -- -
12:26 - 12:28scary, she should not
have a Facebook, but -- -
12:28 - 12:30(Laughter)
-
12:30 - 12:32She posted this thing, and it was a meme,
-
12:32 - 12:33you know, one of those funny things,
-
12:33 - 12:37and it said, "You can't change
someone who doesn't want to change, -
12:37 - 12:39but never underestimate
the power of planting a seed." -
12:39 - 12:42And as I was doing
the finishing touches on this talk, -
12:42 - 12:45I realized that all the powerful
connections in my life -
12:45 - 12:51were through generosity and kindness
and love and hope. -
12:51 - 12:54So when I think about my movies
"Crazy Rich Asians" and "In the Heights" -
12:54 - 12:56which I'm working on right now --
-
12:56 - 12:57(Applause and cheers)
-
12:57 - 12:59Yes, it's a good one.
-
12:59 - 13:04All I want to do
is show joy and hope in them, -
13:04 - 13:07because I refuse to believe
that our best days are behind us, -
13:08 - 13:10but in fact, around the corner.
-
13:10 - 13:11Because you see love --
-
13:11 - 13:14love is the superpower
that was given to me. -
13:14 - 13:19Love is the superpower
that was passed onto me. -
13:19 - 13:23Love is the only thing
that can stop a speeding bullet -
13:23 - 13:25before it even exits the chamber.
-
13:25 - 13:27Love is the only thing
that can leap over a building -
13:27 - 13:30and have a whole community
look up into the sky, -
13:31 - 13:32join hands,
-
13:32 - 13:36and have the courage to face something
that's impossibly bigger than themselves. -
13:37 - 13:40So I have a challenge for myself
and for anyone here. -
13:40 - 13:42As you're working on your thing,
-
13:42 - 13:44on your company,
-
13:44 - 13:48and you're forging this thing to life,
and you're making the impossible possible, -
13:48 - 13:51let's just not forget
to be kind to each other, -
13:52 - 13:55because I believe that is
the most powerful form of connection -
13:55 - 13:57we can give to this planet.
-
13:57 - 14:00In fact, our future depends on it.
-
14:00 - 14:01Thank you.
-
14:01 - 14:04(Applause and cheers)
-
14:04 - 14:05Thank you.
-
14:05 - 14:07(Applause)
- Title:
- The pride and power of representation in film
- Speaker:
- Jon M. Chu
- Description:
-
On the heels of the breakout success of his film "Crazy Rich Asians," director Jon M. Chu reflects on what drives him to create -- and makes a resounding case for the power of connection and on-screen representation.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 14:21
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for The pride and power of representation in film | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for The pride and power of representation in film | ||
Oliver Friedman approved English subtitles for The pride and power of representation in film | ||
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for The pride and power of representation in film | ||
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for The pride and power of representation in film | ||
Joanna Pietrulewicz accepted English subtitles for The pride and power of representation in film | ||
Joanna Pietrulewicz edited English subtitles for The pride and power of representation in film | ||
Joanna Pietrulewicz edited English subtitles for The pride and power of representation in film |