(Let's Talk About Sex Baby)-Let's talk 'bout Asians on Glee! Pt. 1

This is my first real review of a TV show or film.  There is so much to talk about with Glee, that I am going to do two parts.  Today, I am going to just talk about Tina and Mike, but in the second post I am going to focus on Charice/Sunshine's presence on the show and her return this week (finally!)  I am pretty FREAKING excited to get down to business! Especially since I get to talk about

Glee.                Glee.              Glee. 

There are SO MANY THING I COULD SAY ABOUT GLEE!  I can say that I love watching the musical numbers.  I can say that I love the jokes and the humor and Brittany's one liners.  But I am really excited tonight because I am going to talk about Glee's portrayal of Asians.  I can also say that I'm pretty excited to do this review tonight, especially after an episode last night that actually featured three (non related) Asians!  THREE ASIANS!! PUT THAT ON YOUR LIST/HAND (to understand this strange reference read this post).  There are also some criticisms I can make about Glee, not limited to the garbled plot lines that the haters like to consistently point to (they just don't understand the magic)  Soooooooo there are two regular, reoccurring Asian characters on Glee:

 

 Tina Cohen-Chang                                 Mike Chang

Tina is kind of a goth girl who used to have a fake stutter (sometimes she's referred to as "Asian").  Mike Chang was a football player who loves dancing (and has beautiful abs) (sometimes referred to as "other Asian").  The actors that portray them are Jenna Ushkowitz and Harry Shum Jr. Jenna is Korean American actress who was adopted when she was a small child (thus the non Asian last name) and raised in New York.  Harry is a Chinese American actor who was originally born in Costa Rica, but moved to California around 5 years old.  He speaks not only English, but also Cantonese and Spanish!

When Kurt was trying to find his African American friend Mercedes a date/boyfriend he pointed to a black guy, Mercedes' response was, "Why him? Oh, I guess it has nothing to do with the fact that he's one of the five black guys in our school?" (The Substitute).  African American characters often have to deal with being paired up together romantically.  Asian women and Asian men have another problem.  TVTropes.com called it the "Me Love You Long Time" Trope

When a story features a Western guy and an Asian girl, the guy gets the girl. It's that simple. Even — especially — if he's the only white guy and everyone else is Asian, possibly as a side effect of the Mighty Whitey [those . And if the multiethnic cast features one or several Asian guys, forget about them, they aren't even competition. The title refers to the (in)famous pick-up line used by the Vietnamese prostitute on Sergeant Joker in Full Metal Jacket - TVTropes.com

This is a sad sad thing, especially what it ultimately says about the desirability of Asian men in comparison to the desirability of white men.  The white men are perceived as attractive because of their whiteness.  I am more concerned and disturbed by the fallout that Asian guys have had to deal with as a consequence.  I am also guilty of falling into this horrible projection of media.  I have to admit that for the greater part of my adolescence (okay, in reality up until like a month ago when I realized this was part of a stereotype) being always attracted to white guys and not to Asian guys.  I just never saw them in that way, and I can point to the fact that all the movies and tv shows I ever saw only painted white guys as attractive boyfriends or husbands.  Dear Asian men, I am sorry for not giving you the chance you deserved.  You have my full attention now-please prove yourselves.  

Anyway, getting back on topic-

 "Asian male sexuality is often portrayed negatively or as non existent. Although Asian women are frequently portrayed as positive romantic partners for white men ("Sayonara," "The World of Suzie Wong," ad infinitum), Asian men are almost never positively paired with women of any race. Western society still seems to view Asian male sexuality as a problem. Consequently, Asian men are usually presented either as threatening corrupters of white women or as eunuchs lacking any romantic feelings. For example, in the action movie "Showdown in Little Tokyo," the Asian villain forces himself upon a white woman and murders her before threatening the Asian female love interest. Predictably, the white hero kills the Asian villain and "wins" the Asian woman--while the hero's Amerasian sidekick is given no love life at all."- MANAA

All this talk about harmful Asian stereotypes is working up to a discussion of Tina and Mike's relationship.  Their characters confront all of these issues.  Tina was dating Artie (a white guy in a wheelchair) in season one.  He treated her horribly, so she dumped him and started to go out with Mike Chang.  The story is that they both worked at at "Asian Camp" over the summer and that Tina fell in love with his abs.  

This completely defies the romantic stereotypes.

1) The inattentive white boy gets dumped

2) The Asian girl ends up with the Asian guy

Instead of the reverse happening, Asian girl, Asian guy, and white guy stealing Asian girl, its the other way around!  Yay!!!! Not just that, Mike Chang is shown as a great boyfriend.  So much in fact that Tina has to "cool down" during one of their makeout sessions with the episode's gag featuring fantasty/nightmares of Coach Beiste.  Though its not to say that they don't have their arguments or problems.  One funny and telling moment during the episode "Duets" involved Tina's frustration with the fact that whenever they go out, its always for dim sum with his mom.  She wants to go to a restaurant and get a salad without chicken feet in it.  Mike then says that they should go to Asian couples therapy with Tina replying "Why does the couples therapy have to be Asian?"

Tina is addressing a symptom of their great Asian-Asian relationship- their relationship is all about how their both Asian.  Of course this scene is really funny, but it also directly addresses whats probably going on in most of America's heads which is, "of course! Asians date Asians, they are inaccessible to white people, just like black people".  I do have to say, this is one of the few times when I feel like the minority is dating up, Mike Chang is soooo much hotter than Tina (He was rated 35th on Sexiest TV actors for 2010) and has made himself pretty attractive to many white girls-he dances AND he has beautiful abs!  The writers of Glee have even taken it upon themselves by addressing the problem to possibly help it.  (and in a way that was also very funny. I AM APPLAUDING YOU!)  They also brought to light the way that they're known as "Asian" and "Other-Asian" by using it in the TV show (this is called lampshading).

When Tina and Mike first come back to school after the summer and are asked whether or not they're dating Tina replies, "Cause were both Asian? That's racist!"  They then proceed to hold hands.  FUNNY and also affective! 

It's great to see these regular, reoccurring characters on Glee.  There are so many good things, and I could complain a little about how they rarely receive dialogue or song solos.  Because.  Its sad that there are very few Asian characters who can really be seen as principals in a show.  But if any Glee fans are honest, we can all complain about the fact that Rachel, Finn, and Mr. Schuster pretty much dominate the screen most of the time (especially Rachel).  Tina and Mike receive screen time than even some of the other Glee club members, its like they're third string behind second string Warblers/Kurt/Blaine/Cheerios (because face it, America wants to see more homosexual Brittany/Santana and Kurt/Blaine lovin' than Asians) behind first string Rachel and Finn.  Mercedes can be lumped with Tina and Mike in the fact that they really represent the token minorities.  Token minorities are mostly used in an attempt to appeal to a wider demographic.  Tina, Mike, and Mercedes are practically forgotten most of the time, which is sad.  We're kind of there, just to be your token minorities.  Its hard with Tina because Mike is such a great dancer that its kind of his "thing".  Can an Asian hold the spotlight, can we be more than the backup dancer? Can we be the protagonist of the story?

that is one of the big things that I am disappointed about, but I have to admit that you can't win them all.  Everything in life has its good and its bad.  At least here, the good can be celebrated and the bad addressed.  AND Sunshine/Charice is kind of a subversion to that issue, but that's for the next post!  Glee is a show that prides itself on showcasing the losers of our world.  I can say that I am happy about this, and its probably one of the reasons that this show has a more generally more progressive portrayal of Asian Americans.  I can't help but be sad about the fact that some losers are more losers than others (we're all asking ourselves the question why the whole show is centered around Lea Michele?).

The following is going to my rating system I'm going to use.  The more rice bowls there are the better.  The maximum amount of rice bowls a show can have will be 5.

Glee's overall rating is

Three and a half Rice Bowls for actually having Asians and also addressing/confronting/defying stereotypes

I'll have my second part up about Charice/Sunshine and why her presence on Glee is awesome next!

That Asian Girl

"I'm From Michigan"

Tina Fey is my favorite comediean/comedy writer.  I love everything she's done.  Mean Girls, 30 Rock, her work on SNL.  I also love to quote Mean Girls, and my favorite quote that no one knows  is a quote that I like to whip out is, "I'm from Michigan".  Now, why you may ask do I use this frequently?  Well.  Today, I'm going to talk about the "perpetual foreigner" issue (got that term from Wikipedia! you gotta love Wikipedia).   When I found this I was like, this is an excellently phrased, poignent explanation of how I feel and what I have experienced.

There is a widespread perception that Asian Americans are not "American" but are instead "perpetual foreigners".^[115][116] Asian Americans often report being asked the question, "Where are you really from?" by other Americans, regardless of how long they or their ancestors have lived in United States. Many Asian Americans are themselves not immigrants but rather born in the United States. Many are asked if they are Chinese or Japanese, an assumption based on major groups of past immigrants.^[116][117]

This is how the conversation goes...

Nondescript white person: So where are you from?
That Asian Girl: I'm from Michigan.
Nondescript white person: No, where are you like, from, from?
That Asian Girl: Oh, well, my family is from Taiwan, but I was born here.  (here it comes...) I'm from Michigan.


The reason why I love that quote is because its an example of another kind of stereotyping but with an African American student.  The ironic thing about that is those kind of assumptions and questions are really common with Asian Americans.

This is how a conversation with two nondescript white people goes...

Nondescript white person 1: So where are you from?
Nondescript white person 2 : Michigan, what about you?
Nondescript white person 1: Texas.

No questioning.  No asking about family's green cards, country of origin, or immigration history want to know why, BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE WEIRD.  People just assume that you're from here and you belong here.  So I have to ask the question, why don't we belong here? Why can't you just see us as being a part of what is America?

I don't dress differently, I don't speak differently (well, only the fact that my English is better than the average American!)

Asian Americans have been in the United States as early as the 18th century.  I can admit that its not half as insulting for me since my parents did come over from Taiwan, but if you're like the 8th or 9th generation Asian American, that's really insulting. HECK, your family has been here longer than a lot of white people.  Before I found the term "perpetual foreigner",  I had been calling it the oh so poignant, "Go back to where you came from" problem because essentially what people are saying by refusing to accept Asian Americans as Americans is that you don't belong here and you should go back to where you came from (true story, some people said that to my parents one time, and they've been living in America longer than any other place in the world).

The thing is, I love America.  I LOVE America.  This is my home.  This is the only place I've ever known.  But this breaks my heart because its the same old same old unrequited love affair.  I love America, I want America, I am devoted and committed to America.  But America, do you love me, do you want me? Do you see me as your own? Well, you have a funny way of expressing that.  And if I'm honest, this really hurts, and it creates this disconnect that I've experienced and I think I can safely say a lot of other Asian Americans have experienced.

I think that the media has been a really important part of shaping this.  Often times, Asian characters are portrayed as foreigners, we can't just be realistically Asian American.  There is nothing in media to reflect the fact that we are just Americans, here to stay like everyone else to us or to the rest of America.  We don't hear it.  They don't hear it.  No one believes it.

And so we're stuck.  We can't "go back to where we came from" because this is our home.  We don't belong in Asia.  We visit our family, blah blah blah, but we all know that we've grown up in a different place with different culture, values, and language.  In Asia, we're Americans.  In America, we're Asians. When is this country going to start believing that we are Americans and that we're here to stay?

The society continues to produce individuals who only seems to look at Asian Americans as these perpetual foreigners (See Alexandra Wallace post) because of the portrayals of Asian Americans in media.  Then those individuals go into the media and create what they know.  It is circular, chickens and eggs.  The only way to break these sorts of cycles is an active attempt at education and change. While I think that the media's attitude to Asian Americans has been a large part of the issue,  I think that there has been progress in media, and I want to start reviewing, commending, and praising those works that are showing what I think are balanced and accurate representations of Asian Americans.

In my other post about the lack of Asian American actors, I said that Jackie Chan didn't count because he was from Hong Kong.  I am going to explain that now.

One of the most frustrating things is that most people will ask, "Whats the difference?" "Why does it matter?"

WELL. There is a big difference between an American actor with an Irish heritage and an Irish actor.  The most obvious is the accent, but there is a whole perspective that comes from a cultural upbringing.  People don't really see that with Asians which is an example of one of the symptoms of the "Perpetual Foreigner Syndrom".  Also, there is a fundamental difference in the way that he achieved success.  Jackie Chan is an example of what is popularly known as "Crossover success".  Because an entertainer is popular in one genre or area (this case Asia), their success carries over into other areas.  Only after becoming a prominent actor in Asia was Jackie Chan able to do his films in America, creating a completely different career base.  This is NOT the answer for Asian Americans.  We can't all just go over to Asia to establish a career and hope that the people back home will then notice us, we should be able to build a career here at home.


Is it so much to ask?

Right now it feels like it is, but it shouldn't be.

If you agree, if you DISAGREE, if you have any thoughts, ideas, feelings, leave a comment. it'll be much appreciated.

That Asian Girl