Combating the Leading Man Narrative

A few years ago, I was doing research for a paper on fanfiction and came across a Wordpress account about different bending narratives, or narratives that change some aspect of the characters. In the top left corner of the main page was an image with a hashtag: #starringjohncho. Intrigued by the images, I clicked the link and found a series of narratives unlike anything most would call narrative, but telling stories nonetheless.

The social media movement centered on two things: John Cho and Hollywood whitewashing. We’ve mostly moved past displays of painfully blatant whitewashing, like Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, but there is still a persistent trend of casting white actors as characters of color, then denying actors of color the opportunities for white roles or roles of undetermined race. It’s a maddening cycle that perpetuates racism in Hollywood, because the producers say there are no big name actors of color, but they refuse to make them.

#starringjohncho looks to bring attention to exactly that problem, and especially as it regards Asian characters. There is no stated reason why John Cho was chosen as the center of this story. Maybe the first person was just a John Cho fan and things spiraled from there. However, Cho makes a good candidate in that he has played traditionally white roles and done it well. He was a modern Henry Higgins in the short-lived 2014 sitcom Selfie, opposite Karen Gillan’s Eliza Doolittle. He’s also played William Shakespeare, albeit in an episode of Drunk History.

What a classy Billy Shakes he makes (x)

The narratives of #starringjohncho are simple: a single image. There is narrative power in a single image, but these are specifically chosen images. Instead of trying to create a new story from scratch, fans posting in the hashtag find movie posters, edit out the white lead actor, and replace him with John Cho. It is an effective way to create a narrative; if the viewer is already somewhat aware of the movie’s plot, the entire narrative has been constructed, but with Cho as the lead. It is a way to show Hollywood how easy it is to cast actors of color. The story doesn’t need to change based on an actor’s heritage.

I liked this movie, and I'd probably like it more with John Cho (x)

This social media movement is no longer widespread, but it certainly caught the attention of major news in its heyday. It circumvents the traditional in favor of the unconventional, with entertaining results that I hope to someday see in a theater near me.