‘Raya and the Last Dragon’ is a film that is inspired by many different Southeast Asian cultures, including Laos, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Singapore.  The film was brought to life by two Southeast Asian screenwriters and a Southeast Asian Head of Story. Kelly Marie Tran, who voices Raya, is the first Southeast Asian actor to lead a Disney animated feature, and she’s joined by several other incredibly talented Southeast Asian actors and East Asian actors in the voice cast.

 Since recording our episode on Raya, America has seen two mass shootings which occurred in the span of a single week. The first occurred in the metropolitan Atlanta area and left eight people dead – six of them Asian women. The gunman targeted three different spas, indicating a clear Anti-Asian motive. This awful incident is just the latest in an alarming pattern of increased Anti-Asian violence in both America and the rest of the world. This type of racism is nothing new to this country, but there’s no question that the rise in hate crimes against Asian and Pacific Islander communities can be attributed to harmful, racist rhetoric spread during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 This Asian hate must stop. We at Watch. Review. Repeat. believe it is important to discuss the reality of Anti-Asian violence at home and abroad, especially on an episode centered around a film that celebrates Southeast Asian cultures and is an important step in representation for Asian women in film. It is everyone’s responsibility to stop Asian hate by condemning the horrific acts of hate and violence targeting the AAPI community. To uphold our responsibility, we have donated to the AAPI Community Fund and we urge our listeners to do the same.