As someone who loves history most of American history, I know I learned myself. Most Americans don't know that the US occupied and colonized the Philippines. One of the first anti-immigration laws passed in the US was the one to ban the Chinese coming to America in the 1800s. The interment of the Japanese. And all the history of various cultural and ethnic groups in America
I’m not sure if South Asians are considered within the Asian representation, but in the whole industry, in all aspects South Asians are very underrepresented and also misrepresented.
this is very true unfortunately :/ I hate how south asians are seen as separate from southeast and east asians like we're a different race... and even when there is some sort of south asian rep, they're always indian
🙏🏽 thank you for this. It’s a gripe a lot of us in the black community have with the upswing of Hollywood using us for now. I do hope we reach a point where content of any for of diverse group doesn’t always *have* to appeal to the white gaze or flatten our culture just to appeal to a broader audience. As well as you mentioned class diversity as well within the shows and not just for a plot device
Do you watch quality culture on UA-cam? They did a piece on crazy rich Asians, and it really resonated with me. As a mixed Asian, like yourself, but I have a Hispanic last name, so people don't know how to deal with me, and I feel an extra bit of ostracization from Asians in general. The idea of watching a movie about Asians being classist against other Asians was incredibly offensive to me. I don't want representation as much as I want acceptance. I don't want a hard lined group that excludes other people because they aren't the same makeup as I am. I don't want some elitists saying who can make kimchi and who can't. I'm glad people are getting the ability to tell their stories. The thing is, i am tired of the acceptance being framed in capitalism. It's like, put this art out there because it will make money. It is also Asian flavored. It is now the economical decision to include Asians. Yay, we win. I feel more representation when people like you speak your mind, and simultaneously discuss but also don't base everything on your identity as a specific race while also being able to frame your experience wrt the lens which society sees you. You're Asian, but so much more. Rant over. Peace.
I'm ethnically half central asian and georgian (Georgia as the COUNTRY) and that's so sad that people in Europe and in US even don't know that we exist and we're asian too (also sad that many people don't know about asian ethnic groups in Eastern Russia, that were colonized by russians).
We're practically a silenced group here in Siberia, good only as cannon fodder in wars. A second class citizens with no media representation whatsoever
I actually have the complete opposite sentiment. Those types of stories you mentioned are more for the white audience and feeds into the white guilt narrative. Asians simply telling genuine stories based on how they experience the world is what is refreshing about the current types of asian american films. Not every asian american story should be about being asian, it can just be stories about people who happen to be asian. Beef is a good example of this. You should watch it. It does incorporate a lot genuine asian american experience (the korean church for example) but not in a forced way.
I think there's something too about people saying "representation is the goal", like if we see more of a kind of person, that'll fix everything and we've done enough. But, like you said, people being people, they will all be not good people in some way, and people of a certain class will suck even more in other ways. So if all we as a society are going for is seeing more classist people in media, that's not really helping us as much as we think. If anything, I hope it can at least give some people the curiosity or base knowledge to learn more, to open themselves to other cultures and people they might interact with otherwise and learn more from it. But again, that come from the individual, and we can't expect or hope for Hollywood to do all the work fixing society for us.
I've been your fan for many months now and I'm really sorry my first comment on your content is something critical of your opinion. I have nothing more to add to what you said about Asian American entertainer gatekeepers/groups and how they muliply themselves by only letting in someone who resembles them already, but I disagree with your analysis that those gatekeepers also recreate same stories/narratives. I know one show is obviously not enough but Beef might actually be a strong counterargument to your sentiment in this video. Others in the comment section have already recommend it, and I also would like to hear what you think about the show.
that's a strong point, it is true that beef has a very different story approach, i was just speaking more in general about the popular types of "asian american" stories in media
Do you think that the distance Asia has from the US also helps hide class and other issues in the very vast asian community? When Asian people come to this country it is typically people from a higher class that benefit from the system so they don't teach their children of how unfair it is etc. People grow up with very little knowledge of their histories because in all they are in pretty comfortable positions. They also grow up with very very little news about the goings on of their countries. At the end of the day what end up affecting them most is someone telling them their food stinks lol As a person from mexico the issues that my country, and many other latin american countries, have are always on display. There is no hiding our issues of class inequality, race, etc. Also the people who are able to come here are from more varying classes because it's easier to enter the US illegally. The poor people can NOT be hidden because they are everywhere....I think even if some latin people did not want to show that side of latinos very few would deem it as authentic. Of course then this also turns back around to Mostly stories of low income latin people buttt as someone who has seen enough telenovelas I prefer not hiding/whitewashing our stories. At the end of the day though like you mentioned "celebrities" are not our educators and we should really not put that onus on them. Why is it that asian american is barely taught in schools? Why can't we put it on our curriculums? I think the lack of education a lot these celebrities have received is why we also keep getting similar stories over and over. On that note random not random question. Have you read no-no boy?
Firstly, who gives a shit about asian representation. Secondly, and most importantly, an asian is someone from Asia which, in itself is made up of a multitude of ethnic backgrounds to begin with. To highlight every one of those cultures under the umbrella term of asian is insulting and patronising. Having said that, however, I don't condone what David Choe, who is Korean btw, allegedly did or said. Although we are both Asians, his actions do not define me nor does it define my culture, or our actions. The point I am trying to make is that David Choe, or anyone else for that matter, does not speak or represent us, regardless of our ethnicity. He speaks for himself and I am pretty sure that if asked that he would agree. The same goes for Eddie Huang. This mess you refer to exists only in your mind, philosophically. In the grand scheme of things, does it affect your life one iota? People have got to stop being so sensitive about what others say about you or your culture. After all, you live in the US and the first amendment is about freedom of speech which I find is being diluted these days because of a multitude of factors the least of which either Dave Choe or Ed Huang saying things without using their brain. In fairness, you can say what you want. In fact, you can feel what you want but does that help you at all knowing that Asian representation is in a mess? After all, you are consuming their product, the people that you are talking about that is. If you don't like what you see, don't consume it. It's that simple. To say all the things you said is meaningless if you can't do anything about it. You are right, the people who make the stuff are the same people and if you are so against it, why not deliver an opposing product or point of view instead of rambling on about people who don't toe the line you expect and justify it in a video that has, ultimately, no substansive message of note. Rant over.
As someone who loves history most of American history, I know I learned myself. Most Americans don't know that the US occupied and colonized the Philippines. One of the first anti-immigration laws passed in the US was the one to ban the Chinese coming to America in the 1800s. The interment of the Japanese. And all the history of various cultural and ethnic groups in America
I’m not sure if South Asians are considered within the Asian representation, but in the whole industry, in all aspects South Asians are very underrepresented and also misrepresented.
this is very true unfortunately :/ I hate how south asians are seen as separate from southeast and east asians like we're a different race... and even when there is some sort of south asian rep, they're always indian
🙏🏽 thank you for this. It’s a gripe a lot of us in the black community have with the upswing of Hollywood using us for now. I do hope we reach a point where content of any for of diverse group doesn’t always *have* to appeal to the white gaze or flatten our culture just to appeal to a broader audience. As well as you mentioned class diversity as well within the shows and not just for a plot device
Do you watch quality culture on UA-cam? They did a piece on crazy rich Asians, and it really resonated with me. As a mixed Asian, like yourself, but I have a Hispanic last name, so people don't know how to deal with me, and I feel an extra bit of ostracization from Asians in general. The idea of watching a movie about Asians being classist against other Asians was incredibly offensive to me.
I don't want representation as much as I want acceptance. I don't want a hard lined group that excludes other people because they aren't the same makeup as I am. I don't want some elitists saying who can make kimchi and who can't.
I'm glad people are getting the ability to tell their stories. The thing is, i am tired of the acceptance being framed in capitalism. It's like, put this art out there because it will make money. It is also Asian flavored.
It is now the economical decision to include Asians. Yay, we win.
I feel more representation when people like you speak your mind, and simultaneously discuss but also don't base everything on your identity as a specific race while also being able to frame your experience wrt the lens which society sees you. You're Asian, but so much more.
Rant over. Peace.
I'm ethnically half central asian and georgian (Georgia as the COUNTRY) and that's so sad that people in Europe and in US even don't know that we exist and we're asian too (also sad that many people don't know about asian ethnic groups in Eastern Russia, that were colonized by russians).
We're practically a silenced group here in Siberia, good only as cannon fodder in wars. A second class citizens with no media representation whatsoever
I actually have the complete opposite sentiment. Those types of stories you mentioned are more for the white audience and feeds into the white guilt narrative. Asians simply telling genuine stories based on how they experience the world is what is refreshing about the current types of asian american films. Not every asian american story should be about being asian, it can just be stories about people who happen to be asian. Beef is a good example of this. You should watch it. It does incorporate a lot genuine asian american experience (the korean church for example) but not in a forced way.
I think there's something too about people saying "representation is the goal", like if we see more of a kind of person, that'll fix everything and we've done enough. But, like you said, people being people, they will all be not good people in some way, and people of a certain class will suck even more in other ways. So if all we as a society are going for is seeing more classist people in media, that's not really helping us as much as we think.
If anything, I hope it can at least give some people the curiosity or base knowledge to learn more, to open themselves to other cultures and people they might interact with otherwise and learn more from it. But again, that come from the individual, and we can't expect or hope for Hollywood to do all the work fixing society for us.
I've been your fan for many months now and I'm really sorry my first comment on your content is something critical of your opinion. I have nothing more to add to what you said about Asian American entertainer gatekeepers/groups and how they muliply themselves by only letting in someone who resembles them already, but I disagree with your analysis that those gatekeepers also recreate same stories/narratives. I know one show is obviously not enough but Beef might actually be a strong counterargument to your sentiment in this video. Others in the comment section have already recommend it, and I also would like to hear what you think about the show.
that's a strong point, it is true that beef has a very different story approach, i was just speaking more in general about the popular types of "asian american" stories in media
Elliot talkin on his Asian shit! We love to see it! ❤
Great video
I think narratively Beef is a bit of an exception but yeah.
Do you think that the distance Asia has from the US also helps hide class and other issues in the very vast asian community? When Asian people come to this country it is typically people from a higher class that benefit from the system so they don't teach their children of how unfair it is etc. People grow up with very little knowledge of their histories because in all they are in pretty comfortable positions. They also grow up with very very little news about the goings on of their countries. At the end of the day what end up affecting them most is someone telling them their food stinks lol
As a person from mexico the issues that my country, and many other latin american countries, have are always on display. There is no hiding our issues of class inequality, race, etc. Also the people who are able to come here are from more varying classes because it's easier to enter the US illegally. The poor people can NOT be hidden because they are everywhere....I think even if some latin people did not want to show that side of latinos very few would deem it as authentic. Of course then this also turns back around to Mostly stories of low income latin people buttt as someone who has seen enough telenovelas I prefer not hiding/whitewashing our stories.
At the end of the day though like you mentioned "celebrities" are not our educators and we should really not put that onus on them. Why is it that asian american is barely taught in schools? Why can't we put it on our curriculums? I think the lack of education a lot these celebrities have received is why we also keep getting similar stories over and over.
On that note random not random question. Have you read no-no boy?
I’d like to see your thoughts on Warrior here: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrior_(TV_series)
As a south east asian, watching american asian behave etc are weird af to me. At least on tv representation wise.
Firstly, who gives a shit about asian representation. Secondly, and most importantly, an asian is someone from Asia which, in itself is made up of a multitude of ethnic backgrounds to begin with. To highlight every one of those cultures under the umbrella term of asian is insulting and patronising. Having said that, however, I don't condone what David Choe, who is Korean btw, allegedly did or said. Although we are both Asians, his actions do not define me nor does it define my culture, or our actions. The point I am trying to make is that David Choe, or anyone else for that matter, does not speak or represent us, regardless of our ethnicity. He speaks for himself and I am pretty sure that if asked that he would agree. The same goes for Eddie Huang. This mess you refer to exists only in your mind, philosophically. In the grand scheme of things, does it affect your life one iota? People have got to stop being so sensitive about what others say about you or your culture. After all, you live in the US and the first amendment is about freedom of speech which I find is being diluted these days because of a multitude of factors the least of which either Dave Choe or Ed Huang saying things without using their brain. In fairness, you can say what you want. In fact, you can feel what you want but does that help you at all knowing that Asian representation is in a mess? After all, you are consuming their product, the people that you are talking about that is. If you don't like what you see, don't consume it. It's that simple. To say all the things you said is meaningless if you can't do anything about it. You are right, the people who make the stuff are the same people and if you are so against it, why not deliver an opposing product or point of view instead of rambling on about people who don't toe the line you expect and justify it in a video that has, ultimately, no substansive message of note. Rant over.