Canadian vlogger and aspiring filmmaker Peter Chao has been making Internet waves over his YouTube videos, featuring his opinions on topics from Kanye West’s outburst at the MTV VMA’s to hot women, all while donning shades and a thick Chinese accent. He boasts over 20,000 subscribers and a YouTube ban on his record (where they suspended his original account supposedly over racist content). G4’s Attack of the Show even featured Chao in their segment, Who’s Who on YouTube. So what is so appealing about this semi-anonymous Internet celeb?
Honestly, I don’t know. I have a personal vendetta against vloggers (Read about your life? Sure! Watch you ramble in front of a camera? Uh…No thanks.) so the last thing I’d want to watch is some random Chinese Canadian guy talk about things on his mind.
But I will admit: he’s pretty funny. If I was a vlog watcher, I’d subscribe to Peter Chao in an instant. He knows exactly what YouTube viewers want (aside from make-up tutorials): an angry, in-your-face, testosterone dripping voice with a spot on fobby accent. And Peter openly refers to himself as a comedian, too–meaning everything he does and says is done tongue in cheek. For those of you offended by his Engrish, calm down. It’s a joke and somehow enhances (at least to me) his loud messages about hot women, all the haters out there and crazy mudafuckas.
On the other hand, I can’t believe I’m defending a young man who earns laughs by perpetuating Asian stereotypes. Can’t Peter do the same without the accent, or are people only listening because of the way he talks? How far can he go until he realizes that his fans are enjoying his rather offensive accent more than his actual jokes?
I personally don’t know, but they’re legitimate questions that deserve legitimate answers. So what say you, 8Asian readers. Peter Chao: friend or foe?
(FYI, his videos aren’t very work friendly. You’ve been warned!)
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11 Comments to “Angry Asian Vlogger: Peter Chao”
jeffat8asians wrote:
Foe.
Posted on 14-Sep-09 at 5:06 pm | Permalink
johnminh wrote:
Eh, I like The Notorious MSG's fobby accents better: http://www.youtube.com/user/thenotoriousmsg
Posted on 14-Sep-09 at 7:41 pm | Permalink
Tristan Dewar wrote:
You're right: vlogging for the sake of internet famedom is the epitome of skulldouchery.
The accent only exacerbates the problem.
Posted on 15-Sep-09 at 4:48 am | Permalink
erika888 wrote:
“For those of you offended by his Engrish, calm down. It’s a joke and somehow enhances (at least to me) his loud messages about hot women, all the haters out there and crazy mudafuckas.”
Yeah, but you do go on to say that you can't believe you're defending a dude who perpetuates Asian stereotypes.
I'm confused at the accent. To me, it doesn't enhance what he says, because I'm too distracted by it.
Posted on 15-Sep-09 at 7:26 am | Permalink
feedbucket wrote:
I can't tell if there's some kind of self-aware irony going on or if he's just trying to be the Chinese Borat.
Posted on 15-Sep-09 at 8:01 am | Permalink
Yumyumcha wrote:
His accent is hilarious but actually more importantly, its done pretty well – not unlike Russell Peters. How many movies have we seen where they hire an Asian American actor to play the part of an immigrant and seriously, there accent is done at a 3rd grade level. Its not just about the broken english but also the tone and well, accent.
Posted on 15-Sep-09 at 9:05 am | Permalink
moye wrote:
Oh, I know my contradiction.
I think the accent is funny but I also understand how harmful it is.
Posted on 15-Sep-09 at 9:33 am | Permalink
temphat wrote:
He just seems like a douche.
Posted on 15-Sep-09 at 12:09 pm | Permalink
peterchaovideos wrote:
Peter Chao's Videos are funny. Hands down. Funny. It's comedy. Don't take it so seriously.
Posted on 17-Sep-09 at 8:35 am | Permalink
eurasiansensation wrote:
Like it or not, fobby accents are funny; as long as they're done reasonably well (in other words, better than the old “me so solly” kinda stuff.) People mimicking Asian accents CAN be offensive, but not necessarily so. Every Chinese person I know who's seen Russell Peters' bit about Chinese thinks he's brilliant.
The thing with Chao though, is without the fobby accent, he doesn't seem to be quite funny enough. I get a mild chuckle out of his stuff, but that's about it. And most of that is down to the accent.
Posted on 19-Sep-09 at 4:39 am | Permalink
Peter Chao FTW wrote:
I personally watch Peter’s vids because they are hilarious. I’d subscribe and continue to watch his comedic ways with or without the accent. Based on what you’ve written in your blog, I think it all comes down to opinion. Loyal fans will stay true to his vids and if you dislike it, it’s okay. Just don’t watch it. And I completely disagree with, “How far can he go until he realizes that his fans are enjoying his rather offensive accent more than his actual jokes?”. Peter doesn’t need to realize anything. This statement is your opinion so I don’t think you should speak for all of us. Without the accent, I still LOVE his videos which therefore makes your blog biased.
Posted on 10-Nov-09 at 9:09 pm | Permalink
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