Watching Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Jessica Yu’s narrative feature debut Ping Pong Playa reminded me how much I love sports movies. In Yu’s film, Jimmy Tsai plays C-Dub, a suburban Chinese American slacker who dreams of being a basketball player but finds himself thrust against his will into the world of ping pong.

Two of the few films that I can literally watch anytime happen to be sports movie — Hoosiers and Caddyshack.

Granted, they are very different films. Hoosiers is a moving story about a losing high school basketball team and the coach who leads them and himself to redemption, while Caddyshack is a crass comedy about a bunch of slobs who clash with the snotty rich at an exclusive country club. But what makes them both classics is that they are simple stories of underdogs who triumph in the end. Almost all great sports movies are about the journey of underdogs whether it’s Rocky or Miracle or even Dodgeball.

And when you think of underdogs in America, let’s be honest—Asians fit the bill. So why aren’t there more sports movies about Asian Americans?

Maybe it’s obvious why Hollywood isn’t rushing to make these projects, but why aren’t our own filmmakers? My fellow filmmakers should consider following Yu’s path and make a sports-themed Asian American movie.

Asian and Asian American athletes are now strongly represented in almost every sport. With stars like Chester Hines in football and Yao in basketball, no longer are we only relegated to martial arts and figure skating.

Want an inspirational true story? How about Dr. Sammy Lee who, as a member of the U.S. diving team, won two Olympic gold medals in 1948 and 1952? Born of poor Korean immigrants, he couldn’t even use the public pool to practice because he was “Oriental,” yet became the best diver in the world.

Maybe you’re more interested in a comedy? With the recent controversy over a proposed English-only rule, a past history of racism directed specifically at its Asian players and huge numbers of Asians dominating the game, the world of women’s golf is just waiting to be poked fun at.

How’s this for a plot: A Korean American man tries to fulfill his dying father’s wish to become a champion golfer, but he’s not good enough to play in the men’s tour. Desperate, he dresses as a woman and joins the LPGA, where he quickly becomes a star. Cross-dressing comedies Tootsie and Some Like It Hot are considered two of the greatest comedies of all time — why can’t we get into the action?

Audiences connect with well-made sports movies because we all want to believe that the underdog can succeed. The values usually propagated by these films—the value of hard work, perseverance and the ability to go the distance—are ones that should be familiar to most Asian Americans.

Still not convinced? Consider the 2002 film Bend It Like Beckham.
Though a British film, it’s a story that should be identifiable to Asians here in America, too. The daughter of traditional Asian parents dreams of becoming a soccer player against the wishes of her family. It’s a sports film that embodies all the qualities mentioned above and manages to be both funny and moving. It was also a big hit that cut across racial and cultural boundaries and launched the careers of the filmmakers and stars.

It remains to be seen if Ping Pong Playa will have anywhere near that sort of impact, but it might not be a bad idea to have other Asian American sports movies waiting on deck.
Ping Pong Playa opens on September 5 in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles followed by other cities: PING PONG PLAYA


Philip W. Chung is a writer and Co-Artistic Director of Lodestone Theatre Ensemble.

i saw somewhere that john woo wanted to make a film about guo jingjing the champion olympic diver and liu xiang the chinese 110 meter hurdle champ