The 8Asians Talk About: David Sedaris’ Fear of Chinese Food

By Ernie | Monday, July 25, 2011 | 100 Comments

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The 8Asians Talk About: David Sedaris’ Fear of Chinese Food

Our internal e-mail lists have us discussing all kinds of stuff: Asian American identity, representation in the media, the experiences of activism in an academia setting and its progression as we transition to the working, adult world. And sometimes, we talk about popular essayist and This American Life contributor David Sedaris and a controversial essay about his recent trip to China. Read our thoughts — including my opinion which will probably be not-so-popular with 8asians commenters — after the jump.

Joz: David Sedaris’ newest essay: Chicken toenails, anyone?

Koji: Hmm. I love David Sedaris, but this makes me very sad; I feel like my friend just talked shit about me behind my back.

Edward: Jeff Yang [Asian American columnist at SFGate] is getting all riled up about this.

Ernie: I’m actually not offended. Mostly because I know enough of his writing that he finds pretty much everything annoying and disdainful, and I’ve heard him enough on NPR that, while hilarious and I totally have bought a bunch of his essays, he’s a mousy fancy gay writer who lives in ~~France~~ England. Have you heard his voice on This American Life? I’d be more concerned if he loved China.

Tim: I have to agree with Ernie. It’s typical David Sedaris, and he’s like this with every culture, object, etc.

Moye: Okay, phew. I thought I was going to be the only one who still loved Sedaris. He lived in Japan for a year and his essays about that were always hilarious.

Which brings me to the following point: A lot of David Sedaris’ humor is clever and self-deprecating — the essay is less “All Chinese People are disgusting!” and more “Look at the irony; I’m a sheltered gay man from North Carolina, didn’t like Chinese food and now I’m in China! And they spit!” (Let’s face it, you guys: people in mainland China hock loogeys in mid-sentence, enough for the government to notice.) Besides, David Sedaris is funny the way you think comics in The New Yorker are funny — less CollegeHumor LOL and more mid-thirties “oh, that’s clever” chuckle while you book your vacations to a ski lodge in the winter. There are things in the world that have offended me more, but on my “does this offend Ernie” scale, this gets a “meh.”

Or have I been reading too much New Yorker? Discuss in the comments.

(Flickr photo credit: Aaron_M)

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ObservationsTalkAboutThe Arts

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Facebook Comments (Beta)

NeaatoOrg

@mwei @mikeleeorg @ErikaHarada i’m giving up on this debate. you can’t argue w/ people who don’t understand comedy lol
http://thylacine.livejournal.com/ ErikaHarada

@NeaatoOrg Uhh is the government coming after Tracy Morgan for saying stupid shit? The reason why it is most definitely not a form of censorship is because he has a choice in the matter — he could have stood up for what he said in the routine and not pandered to the people who found it objectionable.

According to you, people should be able to object somewhat but not that much because, I guess, it might lead to bigger organizations finding out about it and putting pressure on the comedians? That’s kind of ridiculous, to me. Freedom of speech means FREEDOM OF SPEECH — there should not be anything conditional to it, at all. It means that one can stand on a rooftop and yell however much they want about how much they hate gays, but they will likely get slammed for it by others because freedom of speech does not mean you can get off scot-free with saying whatever you damn want. I would hope that if one is going to be speaking in public, they would be actually thinking about what they’re saying or actually don’t give a shit about how they might come across and can tackle any criticism themselves.
http://thylacine.livejournal.com/ ErikaHarada

@NeaatoOrg @mwei @mikeleeorg You do not realize how horribly ironic this comment is. And you probably never will.
NeaatoOrg

@A_Lee article he said he was gay?
NeaatoOrg

@ErikaHarada hey ya big dolt! 1. YOU used the word censorship 2. YOU used the words freedom of speech 3. i said let the comedians do comedy 4. Censorship is the suppression of speech or other public communication which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or inconvenient to the general body of people as determined by a government, media outlet, or other controlling body. it’s not JUST GOV ONLY YA SILLY GOOSE! STOP WRITING WORDS AND THEN FIGHTING YOURSELF OVER THEM!!! lol
http://thylacine.livejournal.com/ ErikaHarada

@NeaatoOrg You’re the one who said “that pretty much is censorship”. Which it clearly is not. Ordinary people campaigning to hold someone accountable for what they said is not censorship; private grassroots organizations, unlike governments or corporations, do not have the power to “make things (and people) disappear”.

And I don’t get what is wrong with me mentioning freedom of speech because…what, do you not believe in freedom of speech? I thought everyone on here did. People should be able to speak up about whatever they damn want, even if it’s about a dumb joke some comedian made.

…lol. (/snerk)
NeaatoOrg

@ErikaHarada oh literal jim! saying THAT PRETTY MUCH is censorship is joking that…..it pretty much is censorship. that was zee joke. and you’re wrong, private orgs DO have power and DID have power and tracy morgan DID have to do a week of free press. THIS HAPPENED, HAS HAPPENED, WILL HAPPEN AGAIN.

nothing is WRONG w/ mentioning free speech except you said it, and then you argued about saying it. of COURSE people should be able to complain, again, the point was….comedians gonna do comedy, haters gonna hate, complainers gonna complain. boom. lol
http://thylacine.livejournal.com/ ErikaHarada

@NeaatoOrg ……….”comedians gonna do comedy, haters gonna hate, complainers gonna complain” =/= “people don’t let comedians do comedy anymore”

You’ve strayed far from your original point there.

Tracy didn’t have to do all those things. He was likely made to do those things by his management agency. He probably thought it wasn’t worth it to stand up to them, in the end — but he definitely had the right to NOT go through with it; it’s not like he was being thrown in jail, obviously.

Also why did you try to friend me on FB? Creeeeeepy.
mwei

@NeaatoOrg if that’s the case, I’d like to read Sedaris’ witty article on overweight Americans who blame everybody else for their uncontrolled spending habits and blame everybody else except themselves.
mwei

@kyleigh.dowling what, you couldn’t find any good General Tsao’s chicken or Mongolian beef in all of China?
mwei

@kyleigh.dowling here in LA I believe it’s referred to as “bacon wrapped hot dogs”
timat8asians

@mwei That’s like every story he’s written about his own family (pretty much how he got started). And most of them are hysterically funny.
mwei

@NeaatoOrg @ErikaHarada somehow I doubt you care much about the plight of illegal detention of Muslim American citizens either…
mwei

@timat8asians like I wrote to Neaato: I’m willing to keep an open mind and waste another 15mins to read a selection of his best and see if it’s on par with Onion News…
mwei

@NeaatoOrg and trolls gonna troll. the sky is blue and water is wet.

what’s your witty Sedaris’ genius level point here?
mwei

@NeaatoOrg I’m not about to waste time to search for articles from some ‘writer’ that I dont find amusing. if you know the best works, then link to it.

daily show and colbert are liberal racists in my book. Onion News is probably the only real anti-establishment outlet there is in the US.
mwei

@NeaatoOrg if I think I’m crazy then I’m really not, but if I don’t I’m crazy then I wouldn’t even be asking the question…
mwei

@NeaatoOrg and I can at least buy you’re Asian going with the passive-aggressiveness all along…
mwei

@NeaatoOrg @mikeleeorg @ErikaHarada well, this dullard can enjoy three stooges as well as Garrison Keillor – but again, comedy is highly subjective
timat8asians

@mwei Try reading something from “Me Talk Pretty One Day”, it’s one of my favorites of his books
http://www.rahatahmed.com/ dequinix

@moye @Ernie H. It’s funny you mention that. It took me a great many years to start chuckling at the New Yorker comics. So many of them tend to make fun of people who think they’re “better” without them actually realizing it. I’d argue that their mass consumption equivalent is basically whitepeopleproblems.com.
NeaatoOrg

@mwei why u no funny
NeaatoOrg

he was making a joke -____- smh @mwei @kyleigh.dowling
NeaatoOrg

my point was let comedians do comedy. all that other stuff is what other people said. and yes, he DID have to do those things IF he wanted to keep his job. do you think people go to sensitivity training because they want to? it’s almost worse then being thrown to jail! it actually SHOULD be illegal.

friended on fb to see other points of view on other topics. just because we disagree on sedaris, doesn’t mean we can’t be bffs! awww…..let’s hug it out! @ErikaHarada
NeaatoOrg

are u the troller or am i? or does someone have a diff viewpoint than you = troll @mwei
NeaatoOrg

u hate daily show and colbert? ok, i think we know where u stand on funny now. u can go back to watchin glenn beck lol @mwei
NeaatoOrg

did u just diss ur own race? lol asians are passive agressive? why because i write lol after and have a sense of humors? @mwei
NeaatoOrg

YESSSSS COMEDY IS SUBJECTIVE! aka sedaris vs the onion news, the funniest writing in the wooooorld (according to mwei) @mwei @mikeleeorg @ErikaHarada
NeaatoOrg

or rich people problems lol @dequinix @moye @Ernie H.
NeaatoOrg

horribly ironic is horribly ironic @ErikaHarada @mwei @mikeleeorg
http://thylacine.livejournal.com/ ErikaHarada

@NeaatoOrg His “job”? Lol. If he didn’t do those things and lost that gig, there would be plenty of other opportunities for him. As long as you say horrible things and it’s in the name of comedy, nobody cares what you say. See Liza Lampanelli etc.

I don’t friend random people I don’t know, sorry.
kyleigh.dowling

@mwei I think you like to play devil’s advocate…
kyleigh.dowling

@mwei http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bacon-wrapped%20hot%20dogs
mwei

@timat8asians I looked at some excerpts online and still don’t think it’s on par with Onion News. seems like pretty surface level stuff to me. I can appreciate the sardonic tone of the narrator, but can’t really say I identify with any of his experiences.

and even the stereotyped characters seem to have some decency, unlike his China article of faceless hordes.

guess each to his own.
mwei

@NeaatoOrg @kyleigh.dowling and I have the prerogative to find it not funny.
mwei

@kyleigh.dowling nope, I can go on for days about my experiences in China that’s superficially the same as what you and Sedaris saw. like I already wrote: I couldn’t take the constant food poisoning and fighting.

however, the article is just insipid and boring to read. I wonder if any of Sedaris’ expat friends had money to take him out to the country clubs where gaudy displays of wealth are all around and he can’t even afford the Remey XO bottles?

there are many more troublesome social issues in China than just people hocking loogies everywhere; and Sedaris’ article treats the whole society from a colonial superiority complex attitude, rather than trying to understand how people survive.
mwei

@NeaatoOrg @ErikaHarada if everything goes in the namesake of “comedy” then let’s have it out about gay Jews and see how far your rationalization plays out.

my feeling is that it’s alright to bash on Asians but soon as it’s anybody else it’s calling out for blood.
mwei

@NeaatoOrg I can respect different view points, but you’re just trying to get a rise out of people with your passive-aggressive deflections.

plus, you had some pretty choice words that’s borderline “personal attacks” above…
mwei

@NeaatoOrg lol I can also lol against your strawman argument of you being the elitists lol

seriously, is Onion News even close to Glenn Beck’s mindless Faux News BS? lol
mwei

@NeaatoOrg lol don’t you have a sense of humor about Asians mocking Asians? lol

are you Asian or some troll who just goes lol all day lol?

and real Asians know about the passive-aggressive guilt tripping.
mwei

@NeaatoOrg @ErikaHarada @mikeleeorg stupid is as stupid does. lol
mwei

@NeaatoOrg @dequinix @moye @Ernie H. rich people have problems lol harhar hehe hoho
NeaatoOrg

@mwei @timat8asians we get it. u love onion news. -___-
NeaatoOrg

@mwei @kyleigh.dowling chlymedia dogs is funny. i saw it on onion news
NeaatoOrg

@ErikaHarada lisa is not on 30rock. if you don’t make money, nobody cares. if you’re on a hit show. people do. those are the rules.
NeaatoOrg

@mwei yes, i’m the asian troll. that’s why you have 66pts to my 14 troll points. you win lol
mwei

@NeaatoOrg like they say: arguing on the internet is like the special olympics…
ctiptonk

Way to translate anger over xenophobia into homophobia. As a gay Asian American, I’m doubly annoyed.
johnklin

@A_Lee “Remember, the purpose of NPR and the New Yorker is to make their listeners and readers feel superior, with a touch of dry amusement, and he does his job admirably.” – I don’t know about The New Yorker since I rarely have read it, but I think people who make fun of NPR think NPR listeners feel superior think that being informed of current events based on facts is something to be ashamed about, then I agree with your characterization.
GoGo

@johnklin@A_Lee not saying anything about NPR since I’ve actually never listened to it, but i can understand why some people think NPR listeners act superior. it’s because NPR seems to be on the prerequisite list of things to like if you want to be a pretentious over-bearing hipster, right after irony and ray-bans. chalk it up to negative association.

8 Asians