The issue of Asians in mainstream media is a pretty sore spot for me. I have Asian friends struggling in the Industry, and I've worked with the creators of Harold and Kumar, and I have heard first hand how racist Hollywood can be to Asian actors and the protrayal of Asian characters.

Anyway, Phil Yu (aka Angry Asian Man) who is one of the most intelligent and outspoken voices on Asian racism and discrimination in the Media and popular culture, articulated everything I felt about Crash:

The big suprise upset win of the evening was for Crash, which won Best Picture. A lot of people ask me what I thought of this film. Pretty interesting, I think. But as much as I wanted to like this movie, I just have HUGE problems with it. It's been applauded and acclaimed for being a candid, provocative take on race and tolerance. It's the kind of movie people like to walk out of feeling sort of satisfied with themselves for stepping out of their comfort zones, and being challenged with a subject they normally have the luxury of ignoring. And yes, I give it points for trying. But the film just falls short in a big way when it comes to—what else?—its portrayal of Asians. One of the major goals of this film is to show that race relations must extend beyond black and white, or good and evil, and on some levels, it succeeds. But the story, set in Los Angeles(!) and told with a multitude of diverse characters, blatantly leaves Asians out of the bulk of the conversation—as usual. All these characters are drawn with sympathy and complexity, but the Asian characters—revolving around a stereotypical bad driver and human trafficking operation—are decidedly one dimensional, and exist only to fulfill one of the other characters' redemption. It's frustrating and irresponsible. I know a lot of people are happy this film won, but I'm shaking my head over missed opportunities.
So, what's the point of all this? Like I said, Crash was a good movie, and the performances were excellent, but it just wears a person down when even a movie specifically meant to deal with racism manages to relegate Asian charaters to cliched sideline roles.