9th July 2020, 4:41 AM
What do we say when a minority embraces a stereotype and plays it up for laughs? Like Gedde Watanabe playing Long Duk Dong in Sixteen Candles.
![[Image: 52DWuwL.png]](https://imgur.com/52DWuwL.png)
Granted, that was a long time ago, in a different era. Though, per above, some of the same criticisms were leveled at Ken Jeong. In any case, Watanabe is an Asian himself, making a personal decision to act out a stereotype, basically yellowface. His decision, and identity, are invariably politicized. For better or for worse, it's no longer a "personal" decision. It has ramifications beyond just acting like a clown.
So, who's to judge his decision? Other Asians? Why should he be stripped of his autonomy and have to adhere to what a bunch of strangers think? Isn't it kind of gross that a minority has to bear the responsibility of how people view his ethnicity? It was already difficult for Asians to get cast in movies, so should we be sympathetic that he's just "playing the game", for lack of other opportunities? Is he a race traitor, helping to ridicule fellow Asians to get paid by Hollywood?
I don't know the answers to these questions. But these kinds of identity politics are complex, meaningful, and intriguing. Invisible Man (the novel by black author Ralph Ellison, not the H.G. Wells sci-fi story) touches on a lot of these considerations.
Granted, that was a long time ago, in a different era. Though, per above, some of the same criticisms were leveled at Ken Jeong. In any case, Watanabe is an Asian himself, making a personal decision to act out a stereotype, basically yellowface. His decision, and identity, are invariably politicized. For better or for worse, it's no longer a "personal" decision. It has ramifications beyond just acting like a clown.
So, who's to judge his decision? Other Asians? Why should he be stripped of his autonomy and have to adhere to what a bunch of strangers think? Isn't it kind of gross that a minority has to bear the responsibility of how people view his ethnicity? It was already difficult for Asians to get cast in movies, so should we be sympathetic that he's just "playing the game", for lack of other opportunities? Is he a race traitor, helping to ridicule fellow Asians to get paid by Hollywood?
I don't know the answers to these questions. But these kinds of identity politics are complex, meaningful, and intriguing. Invisible Man (the novel by black author Ralph Ellison, not the H.G. Wells sci-fi story) touches on a lot of these considerations.