Simu Liu’s parents rejected his invitation to the Oscars

Simu Liu‘s parents rejected his invitation to the Oscars because he wasn’t a nominee. This revelation came while Liu was taking the day off work to answer fan questions—something that his parents might also have a problem with.

Liu, who was born in China and immigrated to Canada at age five, was asked by a Chinese-American Twitter user to pick his “most Asian moment” as a way to demonstrate “just how nuanced [their] culture is.”

As an Asian (Chinese) American I always have one or two stories up my sleeve that I call “the most Asian moment” to help my non-Asian friends understand just how nuanced our culture is. What’s one of yours?

— crazypnut (@crazypnut) May 22, 2022

His full response:

My parents declining my invitation to the Oscars because and I quote "it's not like you're a nominee"

— Simu Liu (@SimuLiu) May 22, 2022

Deriving from the same success-at-all-costs stereotype, Liu’s revelation spawned similar stories from fans with Asian parents.

OMG. 😉 @9 I asked my Chinese American father if my brother and I should get $1 for every "A" like everyone else in the neighborhood. His reply? "You have Chinese blood and are therefore superior. *ouch, I know* I could not imagine if you did not get straight A's." pic.twitter.com/uIWoR4z81Q

— Lydia Kan (she/her) (@LydiaCourage) May 22, 2022

https://twitter.com/carolmque/status/1528381559027519488

While Liu hasn’t been nominated for an Oscar, the film in which he starred, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, got a nod for Best Visual Effects. That and presenting the award for Best International Feature Film are what brought him to the 94th Academy Awards. None of that was good enough for Liu’s progenitors.

We hope that Liu will get an Oscar nom just so that he’ll finally be able to take his parents to the gilded event. Though if past trends are anything to go by, it likely won’t be for a performance in the MCU!

While waiting for that day to hopefully arrive, you can learn more about Liu’s family in his book We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story, which chronicles his life as “an immigrant who battled everything from parental expectations to cultural stereotypes.” It is in bookstores right now, and, if you act fast, you might be able to talk about it with Liu himself on Twitter.

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