Having an Asian Moment: Hana Mae Lee in ‘Pitch Perfect’

After watching the very first trailer for Pitch Perfect, I’ll admit, I immediately wrote it off as another irritating derivation of Glee. Even though it stars my beloved Anna Kendrick, I couldn’t wrap my head around this movie about university-level a capella competition. The trailer made it look too sanitized and sugary for my taste. I wanted something a bit more ironic, modestly crass, and clever — something that was a happy marriage of Bring it On and Drop Dead Gorgeous. However, the more and more I watched trailers and tidbits of this movie, the more the movie grew on me. Then I finally watched a screening of it and my initial snap judgments were proven wrong. Really wrong.

The movie not only fulfilled my need for Bring it On-esque entertainment, but it wonderfully showcased the glorious Hana Mae Lee — and Asian actress that I knew nothing about (her IMDb page also lists her as a comedian, an artist, and a fashion designer). In the movie, she plays Lilly, “The Quiet One” of the a cappella group, Borden Bellas. With her straight-cut Chinadoll bangs and creepy no-blink stare, she speaks in whispers (for real, you can barely hear her speak) and zings one-liners throughout the movie that are random, refreshing, and damn funny. Let’s hope that we will see more of the Notorious H.M.L. soon. Real soon.

And please, watch this movie when it comes out on September 28. The movie will not only make you dig up your old Blackstreet CD to jam out to “No Diggity”, but it will also make you laugh so hard that you will vomit. (Spoiler alert: there is some vomiting in the movie too!)