Reckless Tortuga on Asian Tattoos and Clothing

By Guest Writer | Wednesday, February 3, 2010 | View Comments

By Kristian

“If you’re not Asian, stay away from Asian characters! Shay Shay.”

You’ve seen them on the street and maybe you’re dating them. Non Asians wearing clothing or tattoos of Chinese & Japanese characters is nothing new. However, it is pretty hilarious finding out that a lot of these people don’t even know that a lot of these characters are not translated properly. This is currently a problem for people interested in getting Baybayin tattoos, the writing system that Filipinos used before they were colonized by Spain. This PSA parody from the popular comedic group Reckless Tortuga tries to address this issue but fails in their delivery. The comedic group has come out with a lot of hilarious sketches but like many comedians who have very little understanding of Asian culture they just appear ignorant and end up embarrassing themselves. I cringed near the end of this video with their mispronunciation of 谢谢 (xie xie), “thank you” in Mandarin.

About Kristian: Kristian is the creator and blogger of Fil-Am Ako.

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charveyy

This happens everywhere. I live in Vietnam, and I see people all the time wearing shirts with English words that make no sense. It's just fashion. No biggie in either case. People can wear whatever they want as far as I'm concerned.
Xxxtine

is it wrong for me wanting to put 牛B on a shirt w. devil horns?
ErnieAtLYD

Remind me what "牛B" is again, Christine?
Big Red One

LOL are you serious?

Could either mean 'badass' or 'epic' but also 'asshole.'

At least that's how people around me use it xD
jozjozjoz

Haha! "Niu-B!" I lurve it!
chriswong

I think a t-shirt with MONEYZ on it would be hella fly. That's just me.
Philip

Chinese tattoos, or just tattoos in general, have been showing up on the bodies of many NBA players. There was an article in 2006 in the NYTimes that talks about how some tattoos aren't translated the way it was intended to be.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/02/fashion/sunda...

I guess the best thing to do is to verify the characters before you get it done, for any language that is foreign to the person. But if non-Asians want to show off clothes or tattoos or jewelry or anything that has Chinese or Japanese writing, more power to them. I'd rather have them appreciating or just liking it than hating Asians because of it.
csc3

"I cringed near the end of this video with their mispronunciation of 谢谢 (xie xie), “thank you” in Mandarin."

isn't that kind of... the point?
ErnieAtLYD

The Law of Comedic Irony and Sarcasm says that they finished off their little video with "xiexie" because it juxtaposes the minute and a half monologue on how ridiculous when non-Asians try to be Asianphiles. In other words, totally used for humor sake. Basically, what sportbilly says, but less ragey.
Sportbilly

Kristan, gripe much?
Reading your post I thought for sure, "This MUST be some white person who got ticked off because she thinks somebody doesn't want her to have her Hello Kitty tee."

These guys go out of their way to make the point that people who aren't Asian shouldn't run around with Asian characters on their clothing. And you hurl insults and condescension at them? Everyone should be able to get behind this message. Cultural appropriation is one of the worst aspects of European imperialism. So some non-Asians say what most asians have been saying for the longest time and the best you can do is whine and complain?

"like many comedians who have very little understanding of Asian culture they just appear ignorant and end up embarrassing themselves."
Gee, think maybe that was the POINT? Well, I guess when you're humor-impaired even simple jokes become incomprehensible, and irony is impossible to understand.
It doesn't make you seem smart or worldly, it makes you seem dense, petty and determined to bitch no matter what, even with messages you agree with.
Worse, it makes it seem like you have a serious chip on your shoulder. You're one of those folks who can't make it through their day without something to be ticked off about.

Watch the video again, turn off that anger-reflex switch you've had on most of your life and laugh --no doubt for the first time!
The word is getting out and people are understanding it. Except you.
filamako

@Sportbilly. I actually find your comments quite hilarious and the fact the respond in angry tone makes it even funnier. I'm not angry at reckless tortuga I am actually a fan and I was very disappointed with their delivery of this video because I know they have funnier videos. You can comment all you want on the video & post but your personal attacks on me I don't like and take offense to. Trying to sound all tough on the Internet is something that I also find hilarious but I'm not one of those losers that try to start shit like you. That's my guest post take it or leave it.

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