We make video essays about pop culture stuff, including shows, films, music, books, and just general social concepts.
We love examining the connections between popular media and the ideas at their core. Fundamentally, all of the art we consume is about storytelling. On this channel, we try to dissect what stories are being told, and why. And we try to recognize what makes us like/dislike these stories in the first place. Hope it resonates with you, and hope you enjoy!
From the Singapore perspective it was really white washed because it erased all of the brown Singaporeans. It makes Singapore look like it’s ALL Chinese and it’s only depictions of brown asians is as servants or scary silent guards. This is a huge issue in Singapore as brown asians are minorities who do face a butt tonne of discrimination. Even in the book there is better representation. It doesn’t deal with racism because Chinese Singaporeans don’t have to deal with it. Also, those songs are not just covers of swing songs they ARE Chinese songs. “Wo Yao Ni De Ai”(the song you directly referenced) was a hit song by Chinese actress and pop star Grace Chang from the 1950s part of a new wave of Shanghai-based pop music called shi dai qu, or “songs of the times.” Of course it references western music but it was very much a hit of its own. I get that Asian Americans need representation but can we not diminish other Asians in the process
We don't need Asian sitcoms. We need our culture that is what made us successful and that will continue to make a successful. The American propaganda complex also known as Hollywood has destroyed many cultures we don't need to be the next one.
The prblem with FOB is that it wasn't funny. Growing up in Asia, watching Asian-Americans playing Asian stereotypes (putting on accents and not doing it well--Sorry, JoKoy, Easter Sunday was REALLY offensive) is just as cringey--no, it's even worse, in fact, more offensive than a white person pretending to be Asian. It's wrong at so many levels. The only successful Asian sitcom was Kim's Convenience. When Paul Sun-Hyung Lee puts on his Korean persona, you know that he fully embraced his parents culture and embodied it, which made his character endearing. The writing was good too, much better than FOB, sorry to say. The whole race agenda shouldn't drive the plot, putting the characters front and center will endear audiences to them and THEN make them interested to whatever "plight" minorities like us face. FOB's effort to push the race topic was too forced it turns everyone off, Asian and non-Asian alike. Characters are universal, agenda...not so much. Knowing what has gone down behind-the-scenes, how those white executives meddled with everything, now I understand why this series did not sit well with me from the start. This series was meant to be a step forward for the Asian-American community, it was actually a step back. Asians have A LOT LESS representation where I'm based, The Netherlands, yet majority of the roles I've been asked to play are not Asian-specific, because there are stories that can be told regardless of the color of an actor's skin. As long as an actor strives to do their craft well, they will be given the opportunity to represent whatever group they want, but the latter can't be the goal, it's a gift.
I just found this channel, excellent and insightful analysis. As a white, cis-guy from the Midwest, I do think studios have a terrible problem with pushing boundaries for people like me, they assume we are too ignorant and frankly racist, to accept anything that doesn't conform to a narrow worldview. I would like to think the popularity of things like Squid Game, Parasite, and Train to Busan would recognize that films and shows can have cross cultural appeal. It's not a replacement for Hollywood's failures but at least that Americans can find more nuanced portraits outside of the US if they want to do so.
Eh because movies are funded by investors and Asian women are sexualized. Hollywood don’t fund movies to tell stories but to make money. So stop looking to Hollywood to tell your stories, look to Asia your homeland. We will always live on the margins. And most media featuring Asians will still be centered around Asian women to appeal to white men.
This was a truly impressive analysis. Well researched, well interpreted, informative, and factual. If someone wanted to know about Kendrick's evolution as an artist I'd direct them to this video.
Piscine was a very pure boy. That's why his name was kept after a crystal clear water pool. His soul was pure. Just like an animal. And he was spiritually inclined. He was more connected to nature than others. And I believe God had chosen him to test him and also to show him his Leela. I feel he was chosen. When the animals were left loose and while he was jumping in the boat he was crying about his family but he asks who left the animals loose? I feel he and the animals were saved because they were pure souls. He even talks to God the entire time on the boat. He surrenders to God. Asks God to show him... And then God does show him. I feel if a pure hearted devoted person asks God to show him his Leela then God shows... So he saw all those extraordinary things. And he showed gratitude. And he surrendered. So whatever God was testing him for he had passed. Also I think him caring for the tiger even though he ate the other animals was something only a pure soul could do. And he worked in order to feed the tiger and continued living on even in the bleakest situation ever possible. So his faith was that strong. In the last scene when he asks the Canadian guy which story he prefers.. the guy says the one with the tiger... It can mean 2 things here... One is that it's meaning is saying that your mind is everything... You can control what you believe and how you perceive... You can either accept the mysterious nature of God and his extraordinary things and choose to live a life in his faith... Accepting the tiger story is having the faith... That's what it means That's why it was a story that will make him believe in God.
Green is the only color of America. Just not enough Asian watchers to make it worth while. America is a house built by whites. Does China show white sitcoms?
Great video!! I have now watched three of your productions and find them to be informative and very well-done. I have a part-time job in which I sustain conversations in English with language learners who are mostly from Japan, China, South Korea and Taiwan. I am interested in the relationship dynamics between African-American and Asian cultures, so I oftentimes ask my students--many of whom have studied and lived in the U.S.--what images they receive in their home countries about Black people and how these images shape their perceptions of African Americans like me. The answers I receive from them certainly help explain the foundations of the often contentious relations that the two groups experience in this country.
You're lying. He never gave up on the Culture? stop. The b******* here comes yt folks when they see blacks trying to unify in the black culture , here comes the Bull ish trying to put different meanings and separate and divide 🗣wake up black people. Let's not do this again. Let's not.
This show was just like the stale, unfunny sitcom. If the writers had modeled their show after The Cosby Show, it would have been better. The Cosby Show had great comedy, very well written and most importantly, it wrote about issues that everyone could relate to. Even if FOTB had focused exclusively on Asian life, the comedic writing would have to be better like Steinfeld or Sanford and Son.
How about instead of trying to analyze the crap out of a book, why didn't you just read it for the content and say it's enjoyable to you. I love this book, and I enjoyed reading it. And I've read it several times. How 200k can listen to your fifty-two minutes of blathering about a book is beyond me.
Anyone notice or know any Asian that spent their life distancing themselves from other Asians who they deemed as FOB, often even bullied those people, and then as soon as Fresh of the Boat came on TV they suddenly forgot that they hate FOB and embrace it as if they have been proud to be associated with it all their lives?
Watched this for the first time last week and loved it. It was like all my favourite things in one, Gasby, forbidden love and comedy. On the subject of representation, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is the last major movie I remember watching. I agree CRA has opened up more opportunities which is great 😊.
A lady outside of Detroit decided that the show was evil and x-rated then threatened advertisers to pull out if it wasn’t cancelled immediately. Two of her complaints was that they were trimming Bonzai “bushes”and eating with sticks .
The comments on new colonialism are great points to make. Its interesting to see how white superiority, and by extension white guilt, finds a way to manifest itself time and time again in different ways and means. Though I believe the same commentary made by the speaker in this critique can be similarly applied to her, the critic, herself. I don't suppose if she were on a safari at the tip of Africa, in my neck of the woods for example, that her possible documenting of her own journey would not reveal the same biases that she's saying the Eat Pray Love author has revealed in her personal journey of the book discussed. She's not absolved from the possibility of having those biases just because she's not white. Speaking as a writer myself, I resonate with Elizabeth Gilbert when she says in another interview "write your own fucking book" if one disagrees with her to such an extent that one is so invested in criticizing her work publicly. "But you won't," Elizabeth says, "you won't because its a ton of work to do"... and I would add, writing and creating something from scratch requires the creator to tap into a sense of honesty and integrity that goes deeper than the shallowness from which a critic may speak. A further note to the critic in this video: It was mentioned elsewhere in the film that elephants represent the removal of obstacles. So when the character encounters one at the end of her India journey, it was a sign that all obstacles have been removed and she could now move on. Pay better attention next time!
I really appreciate your analysis! Very well thought out and insightful. I'm totally guilty of judging Asian American representation very harshly. I was so disappointed in AAG that I didn't bother checking out FOB. But your well narrated clips make me nostalgic for AAG and realize how cute Cho was! Also very interested in watching FOB now.
There's a difference between being an actual racist and racist jokes, the fact that there are people that get so bent outta shape from these movies is mind boggling
As someone who is struggling with all the things, thank you, your guests and team for all these videos that have helped me understand much better the complexities of all these issues.
The novel was excellent but gut wrenching. The film was brilliant and a testament to Peter Jackson's talent for making incredible, but terrifying, yet beautiful films. I was so disturbed by this film, I couldn't watch it again.
AQUAFINA: If you can't make it as an authentic-acting Asian, then make it as a stereotypically-black acting Asian. PLEASE DO A VIDEO ON AQUAFINA AND HOW SHE IS PERCEIVED IN THE ASAIN AND BLACK COMMUNITY
when I was a junior we read Into the Wild for my AP Eng/Lang class, I remember at the beginning resenting him for rejecting what he had, but as the novel went on a really began to understand him and like him. I realized that the resentment that he rejected conformity and his privilege comes from a place of envy. What's the point in critiquing capitalism if you are going to resent a man who could have thrived in it, but chose not because he saw through the bullshit?
Representation is BS. People generally want to watch themselves on TV and the Asian American population is too small to matter. Outside of the US, Asian entertainment are in China, S.Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and India are the largest. However, they're not appealing enough to constantly being entertaining around the world. After we get all races represented....what's next? Individual nationalities? It's not very diverse when you got a bunch of Koreans or Japanese only on screen.
I believe Asians growing up in the Americas are heavily influenced by the region they were raised in. It is often mustaken by judging a book by it's cover mentality by those who are new to the region. Austin is fading. I love musuems. I heart nature. Everyone is too busy to enjoy nature. 🌬️ I need a new companion. Drive Comfortable 🖕🖕 The middle finger is the longest finger. Death, tax and burden (period) I eat 🍓 I respect 🍑 🦧 🫐 Has antioxidants. PlayRadioPlay! ⚾🏈🏀 🧊🌊 NEW 🏖️es
I actually thought the 50/50 American husband was the most abusive of them all. He was so awful. One of my fav moments in the film is when she tells him to shove off! So empowering!
Wow. You sure can tell Hollywood execs dont study wruting or literature, as it is said the more speficic your story is, the more universal it is. Because then it becomes about people's experiences, which makes it universal. Like look how many millions were touched by Everything Everywhere All At Once and The Joy Luck Club. No, those weren't the exact experiences if Caucasian people like myself, but the difficult relationships certainly were! I never did because or have since seen ANY movies with mother/daughter stories as raw, honest and ugly as in these films. That's universal, no matter what your background or heritage is.
