Excited
I am a fan of Saturday Night Live, especially with last week’s impression of Governor Sarah Palin by Tina Fey. However, this past Saturday, I was offended – perhaps you were too. James Franco was the host, and he is currently a student at Columbia University in New York City, apparently to get his Master’s in Writing. Franco’s roommate is supposedly a “Ken Wo”:
“I got a great roommate named Ken Wo. He’s a bio-chem major. He’s here tonight… (camera on “Ken Wo” – audience laughter) You know, we have our arguments… He prints out his homework when I’m trying to sleep and I threw away his bed so my publicist could have a desk…”
Like Franco would actually be living in a Columbia University dorm room? Later, Franco’s “RA (Residence Advisor)” Craig shows up during the opening monologue and says:
“Come on man. Until you moved into Livingston Hall, I was top dog. It was just me and a bunch of dorks like Ken Wo. (camera on Ken Wo – audience laughter) – My bad, KWo, my bad.”
Come on Saturday Night Live (and the U.S. media)! Give us Asian American men a break. We *are not* all geeks and nerds who are pre-Med or engineering, etc. I had just previously written about Long Duk Dong in Sixteen Candles, and now I see this? Am I overreacting? As Angry Asian Man would say, “That’s racist.” (Hmm.. I wonder if Angry Asian Man will ever link to 8Asians…). Take a look for yourself and you decide here. (update: video taken down…)
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this shouldn't surprise any of us though. snl more often than not has no choice but to (choose your color) FACE for cheap laughs. most of the time, it's cuz they honestly have no edge with their humor? big surprise again since most of their cast consistently white. hell, even with the few token blacks they might have, and these days all men... they usually have that bigger black guy play the women like oprah in drag. so it's pretty sad.
but snl historically has a bad track record when it comes to diversity in general. i would describe it as a kind of needy, madison avenue type, cool white/jewish humor that takes cheap shots at women, people of color, and gay/lesbians.
as for asian men specifically, i still recall as a young (and green fan) of snl watching mike myers play a chinese chicken salesman or something, complete in yellow face. and this was the late 90s folks. i've noticed that these more egregiously offensive skits are always toward the 12:45 a.m. mark, just about when the show runs completely out of gas. after all, snl usually has only about 1 decent skit, if even that.
oh yeah, i also saw a very recent rerun of snl with jude law. there was a skit--again around the last 10 minutes of the show called the ravish show or something where all 4 white actors (though fred armisen i've heard is "german, asian, and hispanic"--though I'm assuming he's likely the product of a white/"hispanic" father and asian mother, so common after all--which makes his issues of PASSING as racially ambiguous - everything from black, white, to latino all the more "interesting" or infuriating, depending on your mood) basically play "brownface" model-minority indian americans. law comes on the show and is immediately scolded to "take off his shoes" while the host, this white actress donning a lame brown wig and spouting a cheap stereotype of an indian accent plays the role of a human calculator boring law to death with lame statistics and fawning over his white celebrity status. next to the them is her "uncle" - this time another white actor playing sikh (i'm assuming) by donning a cheap turban, disheveled and acting drunk and lethargic. oh yeah, her "sister" also comes out throughout the piece playing the violin for theme music.
so is snl guilty? yeah, sure. but no surprise. it's disappointing that there wasn't more (if any?) of an outcry against that blatantly offensive skit, however.
ps - i've met angry asian in person a number of times. not the brightest apple in the bunch - and his posts reflect this (despite it being a decent--if not, alas, now downright monopolistic source for aa-related issues online). but beyond petty personal observations, i find most of his posts quite shallow in their analysis, which is a detriment to the activist community if you ask me. "that's racist" sums up the depth of his critiques, yes.
>or how weird it is that there arenu00e2u0080u0099t any Asian writers on SNL.
Heck if they did, AngryAsianMan would be blogging in his own subtextual racist style about how SNL finally has some intelligent writers, or writers with the asian genetics he approves of.
>or how weird it is that there arenu00e2u0080u0099t any Asian writers on SNL.
Heck if they did, AngryAsianMan would be blogging in his own subtextual racist style about how SNL finally has some intelligent writers, or writers with the asian genetics he approves of.
Is this the first time they have an Asian guy on SNL? I don't think they ever have Asian guy on that show. Oh...I am glad I missed that show. FU SNL.
Is this the first time they have an Asian guy on SNL? I don't think they ever have Asian guy on that show. Oh...I am glad I missed that show. FU SNL.
Of course he is an actor. SNL chose an actor to perpetuate the stereotype.
Of course he is an actor. SNL chose an actor to perpetuate the stereotype.
Well, SNL knows that. That guy is an ACTOR.
Well, SNL knows that. That guy is an ACTOR.
Stereotypical, yes. Racist? Racist is the system that doesn't help people to see how that is a stereotype, or how weird it is that there aren't any Asian writers on SNL.
Stereotypical, yes. Racist? Racist is the system that doesn't help people to see how that is a stereotype, or how weird it is that there aren't any Asian writers on SNL.
Russell Peters thinks you're overreacting. Asian American men need to stop being overly sensitive and instead say..."damn straight I'm smarter than you."
Russell Peters thinks you're overreacting. Asian American men need to stop being overly sensitive and instead say..."damn straight I'm smarter than you."
Rob wrote:
"A computer engineer role and a sports jock role can be played by any race. Having an Asian guy play the jock and the black guy play the engineer are not stereotypes. They are if itu00e2u0080u0099s vice versa. Do I honestly need to explain this?"
Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Saying "the majority of asians are computer engineers" is not the same as saying "the majority of computer engineers are asian", just like saying "the majority of African-Americans are excellent athletes" is not the same as saying "the majority of excellent athletes are African-American".
Rob also wrote:
"Iu00e2u0080u0099ve also noticed that when black men are playing u00e2u0080u009cnerdyu00e2u0080u009d roles, they end up looking normal"
Urkel
Rob wrote:
"A computer engineer role and a sports jock role can be played by any race. Having an Asian guy play the jock and the black guy play the engineer are not stereotypes. They are if itu00e2u0080u0099s vice versa. Do I honestly need to explain this?"
Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Saying "the majority of asians are computer engineers" is not the same as saying "the majority of computer engineers are asian", just like saying "the majority of African-Americans are excellent athletes" is not the same as saying "the majority of excellent athletes are African-American".
Rob also wrote:
"Iu00e2u0080u0099ve also noticed that when black men are playing u00e2u0080u009cnerdyu00e2u0080u009d roles, they end up looking normal"
Urkel
angry asian man syndrome...
it wouldnt be funny if the asian doesnt play the asexual nerd...
it wouldnt be funny if the white female doesnt play the dumb blonde...
it wouldnt be funny if the black guy doesnt play the ignorant gangster...
yes these stereotypes CAN be racist, but SNL has the pedigree to carry these stereotypical jokes tastefully and I am not quick to question them much like I dont question stereotypical jokes from the Daily Show or the Colbert Report. Its all in how you present them
angry asian man syndrome...
it wouldnt be funny if the asian doesnt play the asexual nerd...
it wouldnt be funny if the white female doesnt play the dumb blonde...
it wouldnt be funny if the black guy doesnt play the ignorant gangster...
yes these stereotypes CAN be racist, but SNL has the pedigree to carry these stereotypical jokes tastefully and I am not quick to question them much like I dont question stereotypical jokes from the Daily Show or the Colbert Report. Its all in how you present them
While a role can be played by any race, it can become a stereotype if a certain race plays a certain role.
A computer engineer role and a sports jock role can be played by any race. Having an Asian guy play the jock and the black guy play the engineer are not stereotypes. They are if it's vice versa.
Do I honestly need to explain this?
OT: I've also noticed that when black men are playing "nerdy" roles, they end up looking normal whereas Asian men playing these roles have a certain look such as bad haircut, glasses, stupid smile, etc.
While a role can be played by any race, it can become a stereotype if a certain race plays a certain role.
A computer engineer role and a sports jock role can be played by any race. Having an Asian guy play the jock and the black guy play the engineer are not stereotypes. They are if it's vice versa.
Do I honestly need to explain this?
OT: I've also noticed that when black men are playing "nerdy" roles, they end up looking normal whereas Asian men playing these roles have a certain look such as bad haircut, glasses, stupid smile, etc.
I don't think this was racist. I think it plays into stereotypes that society may have about Asian guys or Asians in general... but aren't there stereotypes about most all races out there? Stereotypes exist. We can't deny that. Acknowleding that they exist doesn't mean you agree that they are true.
I don't think this was racist. I think it plays into stereotypes that society may have about Asian guys or Asians in general... but aren't there stereotypes about most all races out there? Stereotypes exist. We can't deny that. Acknowleding that they exist doesn't mean you agree that they are true.
I didn't find it offensive at all. Plus, Ken Wo looks pretty cute. It's probably just the glasses.
I didn't find it offensive at all. Plus, Ken Wo looks pretty cute. It's probably just the glasses.
I don't think it was racist -- you could replace Ken Wo with a white guy named "Ken Smith" and use the exact same dialog. Nothing racist was said about Ken Wo, and I don't think that Ken Wo was made to say any demeaning lines. Considering that SNL could have gotten an easy laugh with an edgey V-Tech reference, it could have been a lot worse.
One could argue that we should be happy that the role of "nerdy college room-mate" was played by an asian-american actor instead of a white actor, just because that's one more asian-american actor with work and a paycheck.
I don't think it was racist -- you could replace Ken Wo with a white guy named "Ken Smith" and use the exact same dialog. Nothing racist was said about Ken Wo, and I don't think that Ken Wo was made to say any demeaning lines. Considering that SNL could have gotten an easy laugh with an edgey V-Tech reference, it could have been a lot worse.
One could argue that we should be happy that the role of "nerdy college room-mate" was played by an asian-american actor instead of a white actor, just because that's one more asian-american actor with work and a paycheck.
I agree... while I agree that soem content can be used as a punchline, it should not have been dragged out so long.....
I agree... while I agree that soem content can be used as a punchline, it should not have been dragged out so long.....
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