““Alfred “Boogie” Chin, a basketball phenom living in Queens, N.Y., dreams of one day playing in the NBA. While his parents pressure him to focus on earning a scholarship to an elite college, Boogie must find a way to navigate a new girlfriend, high school, on-court rivals and the burden of expectation.”
This is the description of the movie Boogie, directed by Eddie Huang. Yes, this is a real Hollywood movie that just debuted in theaters last Friday. I remember watching this trailer a couple of months ago and being absolutely shocked. I knew a film like this would come at some point, but I had no idea that it was one that society and Hollywood executives would see as important enough to greenlight this early into our country’s acceptance of Asian American culture.
As far as I know, it’s the first mainstream movie about the experience of an Asian American athlete, something that is so unique and defining to how many of us view ourselves in this country. Whether you are Chinese, like the main character, Indian or anything between, though our upbringings may be vastly different, the ways in which we are perceived in mainstream American sports is essentially the same. And that’s why this movie is so important; it helps to allow so many people to be seen.
I could only imagine how much more of an impact this movie could have if it was released virtually, like Minari, rather than only in theaters. Much of the country is still hesitant on going to watch the movie despite the interest.
Whether or not it is a good movie — I have yet to see it — the fact that it exists is the most important thing. I know a lot of people will be watching this for Pop Smoke and not for its historic nature. But my hope is that it can help provide a new perspective to what a basketball player can look like. Up until now, most East Asian hoopers have gotten used to being called Jeremy Lin or Yao Ming. Now, people are starting to get called Boogie… and this was even before the movie had come out. There is some sense of pride in that but it just exemplifies how little societal representation there is for Asian hoopers. The hope is that as representation in media increases, whether it be through movies like this or national sports television, those caricatures don’t have to exist any longer.
Eddie Huang was on Stephen A. Smith’s show to talk about the movie and the message behind it. There is finally discussion being carved out to the Asian American experience in the context of sports. Something that really never has happened apart from during Linsanity.
It’s slow, but the progress is definitely there.
