As the Arts and Culture editor of IMDiversity.com Asian American Village, it was my job to go investigate when People Magazine announced their picks for this year’s Sexiest Man Alive. I clicked to their website and scrolled through all their pictures expecting to not see any Asian Americans. I was already writing an article in my head ranting about the lack of Asian American representation in the Sexiest Man Alive list.
Boy, was I surprised to see Korean American actor John Cho, of Better Luck Tomorrow and Harold and Kumar go to White Castle fame, listed online as the 11th Sexiest Man Alive! Brad Pitt was only 15th. I did not think that the mainstream even knew who John Cho was!
So then, of course, in the interests of further research, I had to watch People Magazine’s online video featuring photographs of 100 Sexy Men in One Minute. I saw a few Asian faces fly back, but had to replay the video over and over and over and over again (yes, it was torture) to try to identify who they were. Daniel Dae Kim of Lost was one (After more excruciating research, I found out he was Number Eight in 2005). I am not sure of the other’s identity (or if there were any more), the pictures flew by so fast. I guess I will have to get the paper magazine when it hits the newsstands November 17.
You should also check out the beautiful Indian-Canadian UC Berkeley associate professor in earth and planetary sciences and MacArthur “Genius” Fellow Michael Manga who made the list in 2005 under the category of “Smart Guys” (after Bono). According to Hindustani Times, Professor Manga was ranked #14 on the list that year, he was born and raised in Canada, and his father is of Indian origin who immigrated to Canada from South Africa.
For more unrestrained oggling of Beautiful Asian and Asian American men, check out Frances’ Weak in the Knees: Revisiting the "Nice Chinese Boy".
