Response to American Born Chinese

I really liked how American Born Chinese showed the perspective of an Asian American child struggling with his identity and the reveal that all of the three stories were connected. Jin Wang becoming a white American named Danny was a visual representation of Asian Americans (particularly kids born in the US and weren’t raised where their parents were from) forcing themselves to assimilate in the US and fit in with peers by rejecting their culture and even changing their name. The fact that Gene Luen Yang kept the fact that Danny was actually Jin Wang for so long made the truth even more striking. The three stories weren’t revealed that they were connected until later in the narrative and I applaud how naturally they all merged together. 

No matter how uncomfortable it was to see, seeing drawn out racist caricatures and stereotypes regarding East Asians was important to display in order to get the story’s full impact. The use of showing the story through a graphic novel as a whole was another contribution, I doubt that it would have the same effect as a regular novel or other form of media. The little “clap clap clap” and “ha ha ha”s at the bottom of some panels reminded me of those American sitcoms with the fake or prerecorded audience reactions, and some parts of the graphic novel were reminiscent of one. It’s obviously intentional, and I like the decision to do it since sitcoms are obviously a large part of American culture and media, and how else would have racist stereotypes for the past few decades been more exposed to people aside from mass media entertainment?

Of course, I can’t relate to things that were specifically racial stereotypes towards East Asians, but let’s be honest, some people think that East Asians are the only kinds of Asians and put us all together. American Born Chinese’s depiction of Chin-Kee perfectly showed a caricature of stereotypes that people associated with Asians or found weird. It was compelling to see “Danny’s” hatred and embarrassment towards his own culture, and honestly I found it relatable despite not being the “right” Asian for it for lack of a better phrase. When I was little I hated going to the Philippines and hated hearing my parents speak Tagalog or Bikol all the time at home or with family friends. I found them too loud and the words too harsh sounding and I thought that some of the food was just plain weird. I hated that the TV was always on a channel that showed Filipino entertainment or news and saw the Philippines as being so behind the US in terms of development and technology. It wasn’t until I think around high school that I stopped thinking like this and I forget how exactly it happened. 

Looking back on it is embarrassing and it astounds me how isolated I am now from Filipino culture. Aside from the occasional food, visits to cousins, and parents speaking Tagalog at home, I don’t have much exposure. My parents made the decision to never teach me or my sister the language and I wonder why. It seems difficult considering how many people have gone up to me speaking it and being shocked that I don’t. I don’t know whether it’s something that gets lost in translation or not, but my mom doesn’t even consider or understand that I’m Filipino? Whenever for official things like FAFSA or just casual conversations and I say that I’m Filipino, she always frowns and is quick to correct me and say that I’m American, not Filipino… Asian Americans obviously exist, I’m one of them, but it’s weird how it’s something that my own parents don’t recognize.