ABC mini-series White Fever is an entertaining and satirical look into the world of dating preferences, and how race comes into it. It focuses on Korean adoptee Jane Thompson ( Ra Chapman) who was raised by white Australian parents and for all intents and purposes identified more with white people as opposed to her Asian/Korean identity.
But the kicker is Jane has a particular preference for white men- the hairier and the sweatier the more she is attracted to them. She tries so hard to get them out of her head, but sexually and affectionately she is unable to. It is also her white friends who lets her know that she has white fever and has not considered men of other races – in particular Asian men. So then comes the journey for Jane to decolonise her dating preferences. After trying to feel attracted to Asian men who she comes across, she settles with a childhood friend Yu Chang (Chris Pang) and there starts her odd and comedic journey to feel attracted by mind, body and soul to Asian men.
Chapman is not only the talented actor playing Jane, but the series is also her brainchild. The series demonstrates the creativity, wit and the passion Chapman has for issues around Asian adoptees, being Asian Australian and her craft of acting, creating and writing episodes for the series. Chapman wanted the series to be funny and silly, but also bring up serious issues that impact on Asian Australians.
“I wanted to create something which would entertain the masses, but also bring up issues which impact on our Asian identity and community in Australia. I guess on the surface, White Fever is just a comedy which has all the funniness and silliness to get audiences on board. On the other hand, the show explores deeper themes – about Asian Australian adoptees, growing up in white spaces and racism around dating preferences. It is basically is having our cake and eating it too, I guess”, Chapman discussed with Being Asian Australian.
One of the most interesting and unique characters in the series is Cindy. Played by Susanna Qian, Cindy is the name of the doll Jane received from her adoptive parents as a child. Cindy is a blonde doll and represents the whiteness, Jane aspired to be like. As an adult, Cindy became a live figment of her imagination and in many was was her conscious telling her to go back to status quo – loving only hairy white men and being a white person in an Asian body. What is so clever is that this doll which represents Jane’s whiteness is played by an Asian woman- yes this is an OMG moment – in a good way. Qian talks about playing Cindy, and how she was basically doing a whiteface, which in itself is hilarious as it plays on the racism of blackface, brownface and yellow face– it was the uniqueness and the message this character bought to the series which got her interested.
“I still remember when the character brief came through, and it stated that it was an Asian character that will be done up in a way that it is unrecognisable, as it will basically be a blonde, white doll – essentially whiteface. I still remember getting my make up done and the total transformation – my Asian features became a white person’s features and my eyebrows were raised higher. This whole process gave me memories of when I was a young kid – full of internalised racism and how I wished so hard that I was a white girl as opposed to being an Asian girl. This is an experience a lot of Asian Australians go through I am sure – I dyed my hair peroxide blonde and wore contacts that made my eyes blue. This is really the purpose of Cindy – representing the internalised racism Jane had/has and what many of us had growing up being Asian”, Qian expressed.
The next topic of conversation was how the series was centred around the Korean adoptee experience. The Korean adoptee community is huge in North America. There has been over the years a number of films and TV series created in the USA about the Korean adoptee experience, but there really isn’t much in Australia – possibly nothing at all. The Korean adoptee community is smaller in Australia, and it is the life of Jane and the life of Chapman. Chapman mentions that over the years the Korean adoptee community and experience has remained invisible in Australia and making White Fever was to bring this community, voices and stories to the forefront.
“I wanted to see my story and the stories of other Korean adoptees in Australia represented and that is where I was going when creating White Fever. There is a lot of Korean adoptee content created in North America and Europe, but not much if any in Australia. The Korean adoptee experience is a very specific one, and it is important that audiences understand that we exist, and that we have/ are going through a lot of internal issues to find our identity. I want audiences to see that our life experiences are complex and hope they can learn more about us in the hopes there will be more of our stories represented in Australia, in terms of content”.
Finally, the topic of Asian men came up. If you have already checked out White Fever, you would have noticed the delicious array of Asian men. This is quite awesome considering the negative stereotypes which has historically existed about Asian men perpetuated by Hollywood and Western media. However, over the past few years, there have been strides made in how Asian men are represented in creative content. White Fever continues this and shows what Australia has to offer. Both Chapman and Qian discussed this topic and agreed that Asian men should be the norm and treated as so.
“I think things are changing, but I feel like we are still far away from seeing positive representation of Asian men in Australia. In Hollywood there have been strides, but it is still the start for sure. One of our aims was to show the variety of Asian men that are out there, but I feel it is time that we have a world where Asian men are seen as normal handsome men and we do not need to constantly talk about this situation because they are treated as just handsome men and hot characters”, Qian expressed.
“This is a very complex question, and I hope White Fever will do Asian men justice. We still have some ways to go, and we need to create more representative content. Like what Suzy said, it is most ideal if Asian men are just seen as the hot character, and we can move past always mentioning them as Asian men, because they are more than just a stereotype and have layers to who they are”, Chapman stated.
You can check out White Fever on ABC TV at 9pm on Wednesdays.