Jenny Korn

The animated 1998 film Mulan remains one of Disney's all time greatest hits. Fans greeted Disney’s announcement of a live-action reboot starring an all Asian cast with great excitement. But COVID-19 forced the film from the big screen to Disney streaming, and the film’s recent debut sparked controversy both here and in China. At a time when Asian Americans are being attacked publicly — and being erroneously blamed for the coronavirus — 2020 has been fertile ground for significant growth in Asian themed feature films and TV programs, with independent films helmed by Asian directors and Asian actors in lead roles. What is the power of this expansion of representation? And does it especially matter in this moment? Guests: Elena Creef, professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at Wellesley College. She specializes in Asian American visual history in photography, film and popular culture. Jenny Korn, fellow and the founding coordinator of the Race and Media Working Group at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University.

Like most Americans, Jenny Korn, a Research Affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, is doing her best to adjust to the “new normal.” Sheltered in place in Chicago, she is living, working, eating and sleeping at home, communicating remotely with her team in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “I used to understand what ‘okay’ meant,” Korn says, “but now, I'm not so sure. Everything feels so unsafe and in flux. I feel every day is a battle between working hard and hardly working.” At the end of the day, Korn admits, “Life is abnormal, and I feel subpar.” In addition to her not-so-normal life, Korn also worries about her aging parents, who live too far to visit, and the anti-Asian racism that is spreading alongside the COVID-19 pandemic. “As an Asian woman, I have been more vigilant about going out in public because I know anti-Asian sentiment and racism are real,” says Korn, “so I worry more now about my physical safety. While COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on our bodies and health care system, a new poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, published on April 2, shows the psychological toll the pandemic is taking on many Americans.