‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’: Boycotts of film called. Here’s why

(NewsNation) — “The Devil Wears Prada 2” is set to premiere in the U.S. later this week, but the long-awaited sequel is drawing criticism from some of its Asian audience over a minor character.

Boycotts against the film have been spreading across China, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong after viewers said a Chinese character’s name echoes “ching chong,” a racist anti-Asian slur.

The backlash against the character’s name has even drawn the attention of The Asian American Foundation (TAAF).

“It’s unfortunate that offensive stereotypes continue to color how Asian American communities are perceived today, whether spread intentionally or not,” TAAF said in a statement. “This is an everyday reality we face, and why TAAF invests in storytellers focused on capturing the full humanity of our community.”

Where is the criticism stemming from?

On April 16, a 38-second clip released on social media by 20th Century Studios was designed to showcase “the former assistant’s new assistant” Jin Chao, played by Helen J Shen.

In the video, Chao tells Andy Sachs, Anne Hathaway’s character, that she’s transitioning from an intern role to a position in her department. She lists her accomplishments to Sachs, including a Yale degree with a 3.86 GPA, a high ACT score and her role as lead soprano in the university’s a cappella group.

The moment sparked backlash across social media, with people denouncing the film’s stereotypical portrayal of an Asian character and her name itself.

“They made the assistant character on devil wears prada a typically high academic achieving asian woman with low social aptitude (very forgettable and a big lazy stupid trope in film),” Independent journalist Tanya Chen said of Chao’s character. “Again. Roll the clips of all the asian side characters throughout hollywood history. So lazy.”

Asian and Asian-American representation in Hollywood

Asian and Asian-American roles in movies and TV have expanded in the past 20 years, but the numbers are still lacking overall.

According to TAAF, Asian characters only make up 6 percent of leading roles in projects, 3.8 percent of roles on broadcast television are Asian, 3.2 percent of lead roles on streaming shows are Asian and less than 2 percent of leading roles on cable television feature an Asian character.

“These commercial incentives also pave the way for creative opportunities,” TAAF said on its website. “Outdated tropes, stereotypical storylines, and long-standing invisibility create opportunities for boundary-pushing creators — people with a unique lens and point of view, not just a checkbox identity.”