I read somewhere in an Indonesian blog what could best describe the physical features of Southeast Asians. The native Southeast Asian looks the same throughout, from Indochina down south to Indonesia, the only difference is the degree with which the bloodline of an area was hybridized by outsiders through the centuries. The Latin infusion to Pinoys differentiate its urban classes, the Southern Chinese Tai migration gave Thailand its semi-Mongoloid elite, etc. So what some describe as native Filipino we see in films from Indonesia to Cambodia, two areas whose hybrid population were sent away at one time in their history (the first threw them out during Independence while the tiny French-Cambodian elite escaped long ago in one of the tumultuous episodes of their bloody history). But Western occupiers were not the only source of hybrid populations, Thailand was never occupied by a Western power but it is invaded yearly by millions of Western tourists which led it to have a population of hybrids bigger than previous Western colonies like Indonesia & Cambodia. But the natives of Thailand, the Ihaan of the Northeast, look the same as the native Filipino, Indonesian, Malaysian, Cambodian, etc. But you won't know by looking at the movies: Thailand has upgraded its showbiz with a strong Western hybrid lineup in recent years. But globalization has led everybody to be less pure and even purist Indonesia now has followed Thailand, it has a strong array of Western hybrids as stars (watch their answer to Diary Ng Panget, a youth TV series, Ganteng-Ganteng Serigala). In effect, our claim to being the most beautiful here lies on the fact we are the most hybridized in these parts (that doesn't necessarily mean skin color- the beautiful features are the most critical).Watching this trailer, one has this feeling he's watching a film from only one country, with Andrea Torres having Latin infusion & the Cambodian lady with a vague Caucasoid mix. Pure Southeast.Asia.
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