What Jo Koy’s “Easter Sunday” means to Filipinos & the AAPI Community
WRITTEN BY FRANCESA JANA SANTIAGO
Whether it’s poking fun at his mom’s tough love or sharing stories about his eccentric family members, what sets renowned comedian Jo Koy apart from the rest in the comedy industry is his creatively funny telling of Filipino culture, in a way that all people can find adorably relatable. But now his humor isn’t just limited on stage; Jo Koy joins other Fil-Am actors such as Eva Noblezada, Eugene Cordero, Tia Carrere and more on the 2022 film Easter Sunday— where YOU will get to experience the highs and lows that occur within a Filipino household!
Filipinos are known to be a family-oriented community, so much so that we open our homes to anyone from our third cousins to our children’s co-workers! But while hospitality is in our nature and we take any excuse to gather people for parties, there is a deeper reason for why Filipino immigrants rely so heavily on their local Fil-Am communities. If you come from an immigrant family, you know that the reality of the ‘American Dream' that you had hoped to experience is everything but perfect. With half of the family still back in the Philippines, it’s no wonder Filipino Americans are so loyal to the people that make them feel like they’re back home.
This was first explored in Fil-Am movies such as The Debut and The Fabulous Filipino Brothers, (both featuring the Bascos: Los Angeles’ First Filipino Entertainment Family) And In Easter Sunday, we get to see more depictions of these cultural experiences when Jo Koy’s character comes home to reunite with his dysfunctional relatives. Motivated by the lack of AAPI visibility in media when he was growing up, Jo Koy stayed true to his mission of getting Easter Sunday on the big screen stating, “You need that representation. You need Filipinos that live in America to have a voice and be inspired, indirectly giving a shot to all the Filipinos that are struggling just to make it in this business.”
From packing Balikbayan boxes to karaoke sing-alongs to petty arguments between titas, the film embodies memories taken from a true Filipino family. But Filipinos aren’t the only ones in the film— Jimmy O. Yang and Asif Ali play characters of different Asian ethnicities that are also celebrated in the movie; an authentic kind of representation that our AAPI community is deserving of! Hollywood is slowly opening its doors to more diverse stories and roles, however people of color, including us Filipinos, still need to work extra hard in order to get our feet in the door. While some may have their critiques of the film, Easter Sunday is a monumental feat in Filipino-American representation that needs celebrating, as it’s proof that creativity is rooted in culture and stories like ours are always worth paying attention to.
If you want to hear more of Jo Koy’s take on why it’s so important to continue supporting our own talents and demanding for more inclusion especially in large-scale projects such as this, watch his episode of Represented on our YouTube channel:
And if you haven’t already, make sure to get your tickets to Easter Sunday on its opening weekend starting today, August 5th by clicking here!