My Asian brothers! We need not fret! There is someone out there who we can look up to in the media: Gave insight as to why we should be content with having Asians in the media, no matter what the role.
Mass Media: An Analysis of The Ballad of Little Jo” Journal of Communication Inquiry (1996). “Feminization of Asian (American) Men in the U.S. He was quite excited to see that he was included in my blog.
Facebook status update by good friend and teammate Ryan Kaylor. My response to this: why can’t Asians be laughed at AND lusted after? I look forward to the day that these two are not mutually exclusive. If we can’t laugh at ourselves, who can we laugh at? If there are more stereotypes to come in the next decade for us to see Asians play leading comedy roles in the future, I’ll take it with every laugh. Many people believe that it is better to have an offensive depiction of Asians than no depiction at all. Perhaps I should just be content with the fact that Asians at least have some sort of representation in The Hangover. Funny, sexy Asian men just don’t seem to sell in American media. We as a society believe that Asian men can only offer comedic relief if that Asian man is unattractive or repulsive in some way. But come on, if Bradley Cooper can be funny in The Hangover AND have women drooling over him then why can’t an Asian guy!Ĭould it be possible that there just aren’t any Asian men who are both attractive and funny? (hint: the answer is no) This reflects a significant, yet unnoticed symptom of society’s view of Asian males. Granted, repulsiveness may go a little bit hand-in-hand with humor, just look at Zack Galifianakis. Leslie Chow just doesn’t elicit the masculine panty-dropping effect that other actors seem to have mastered. Asian men are not able to fulfill their role as “real men” because they are “weak”, “passive”, and “eunich-like”. Rather, they are often shown as housekeepers, waiters, or ruthless foreign businessmen. Asian men are rarely portrayed as husbands, fathers, or lovers. Professor Chiung Hwang Chen of BYU offers her insight:Īlthough American society and the mass media these days rarely connect the Asian (American) male to long queues and loose silky gowns, they are still presented as feminine to the extent that they are “silent” and “obedient”. Also, what’s with the broken English? “Asian in trunk of car” reads like it has to be said with a horrible Asian accent.
Look at that smoking hot bod! One quick thing that I noticed why is the title of the scene in the YouTube video, “Asian in Trunk of Car”? I find it interesting that the uploader chose to refer to Ken Jeong as “Asian” instead of “Mr. Just look at this clip of him (beware there is some nudity) The only thing masculine about Chow is the angry-looking Asian henchman next to him brandishing his weapon, but he isn’t given any lines! I challenge you to find me one woman who, upon seeing Chow, would describe him as sexy, attractive, or even just “doable”. If I had a nickel for every time I heard a guy say that, I would have a nickel. In the video clip above, Chow’s first line is “I want my purse back”. Not only is he unattractive, but he is portrayed as extremely feminine and flamboyant. My main gripe with Leslie Chow is just how incredibly repulsive he is. I fear that some people, whether they know it or not, will walk out of the theater with a slightly less favorable mental image of Asian men. There are all kinds of people out there – ignorant people who are incredibly malleable and susceptible to media portrayals of Asian men. There’s no way anyone in the world could form legitimate attitudes towards Asians by taking Leslie Chow’s character seriously….right? This is where my concern comes into play. On one hand, I think he is hilarious and satirical in nature. How do I feel about him? I have very mixed feelings about his character. That clip basically sums up Leslie Chow in a nutshell.
The video below contains the clip from the movie that gave birth to “suck on these Chinese nuts”.
Leslie Chow, played by Korean-American actor Ken Jeong, is a flamboyant, over-the-top gangster whose path gets crossed up with the main characters of The Hangover while in Las Vegas. In case you’ve never seen the movie, here is a little bit of background. These are my friends.My friends have used this phrase to mock me because of course, EVERY Asian is Chinese (I am Korean). This Facebook post was made completely out of nowhere, with no warning whatsoever.