Two articles (both by Asian-American reporters) on William Hung argue that he is reinforcing Asian-American stereotypes. I’m inclined to agree.
The upshot is that when it comes to virility, Asian men rank somewhere below white women, and for FOBs (“fresh off the boat,” not friends of the ex-president) like William Hung, the reality is much, much lower. At the end of the day, Hung makes us all feel better about ourselves: Men can feel more manly and women are free to act like sluts. For Asian Americans, Hung represents everything we don’t want to be seen as (foreign, nerdish, a joke), and thus his oddball fame reinforces our own happily assimilated identities.
The Village Voice: Hung Out to Dry by David Ng [villagevoice.com]
One thing can be said for those who seek to exploit William Hung: He has not been asked to demonstrate any karate moves or threaten the American way of life.
So, where’s the outrage? Even the Asian-American community seems to be taken by Hung.
“As Asian Americans, we look through this racial lens, and we see this guy who embodies all the stereotypes we’re trying to escape from,” said James Hou, a documentary filmmaker who explored Asian-American male sexuality in “Masters of the Pillow.”
William Hung: Racism, Or Magic? [sfgate.com]
WTF?! Who is he? Hahahaha!! Are you kidding me?! He’s got many websites dedicated to him! Man, this gotta be a joke!
I think that the exploitation of Hung is disgusting and cruel. Unfortunately, so-called reality TV is drifting in exactly that direction, and the Hung phenomenon is just another example of the mean-spirited nature of popular entertainment today. Witness the midget / dwarf bachelor program, Extreme Makeover – Hung should neither surprise nor shock in the context of such programming.
Now, the other side of this is the fact that he is doing this stuff voluntarily, he is making a relatively extraordinary amount of money, and there is no way he doesn’t know what he is doing. You *could* potentially be angry with the guy for playing up the role. A lot of semi-comedic acts, and he’s certainly one of them, use stereotypes to their great benefit. Witness Jerry Lewis in France. Here he just a jackass, there he’s a hysterically ridiculous American.
cdg
I don’t think that humor can–or should–be approached with an eye towards whether it reinforces stereotypes. Most humor does, because… well, it’s funny.
Guillermo says “You certainly wouldn’t see them glorify a black man who couldn’t sing and dance on “American Idol.” Nor would they prop up a clumsy, tone-deaf white person.”
Never having watched “American Idol,” I can’t comment on that show, but given a moment’s thought I can think of many examples of white and black and other in many other media. Biz Markie’s humorous hip-hop? The whole “Gong Show” phenomenon? Groucho Marx’s singing? A little research would, I’m sure, turn up countless examples.
I’ve often described my band’s performances as “like a moment when someone who is normally shy starts to really get loose and project, much to the embarrassment of those around them.”
Laughing and humor is complex, but I think it’s a positive step. When the band started in 1981 we used to get a lot of violence from frat guys and skinheads who felt threatened by our lack of manliness and cool (we started in Texas in 1981).
Now that almost never happens.
Guillermo also says, “the accented-foreigner gag is still considered acceptable shtick in modern comedy — at least when it comes to Asian Americans.”
This is also pretty universal, I believe. It’s funny to hear your language spoken differently. Guillermo’s acting like people are only laughing at Asian Americans so small-minded that it takes the wind out of what he’s saying.
You don’t even have to leave this country to see it. Look at Austin Powers (satire of British accents, including English and Scottish), The Simpsons (Scottish, Indian, etc.) King of the Hill (Southern American) and you’ll see loads of gags about people who talk differently.
Media–and public perceptions–are pretty wide open and easy to enter and change. Just do it.
I had no idea who he was until I saw this post, and found his music video of “She Bangs”. If I try to, I can see where it could be thought of as promoting asian american stereotypes, but what I saw was either
A) A true dork / geek / nerd /whatever that truely thinks he is a great singer and dancer and therefor is being laughed at
or (most likely)
B)A comedian who is not afraid to laugh at himself. I’m guessing he was made fun of a lot as a kid and this is a great and profitable way to cope. Unless the accent is fake, I don’t know what else he could do to express his “true self”.
In the article, Emillio puts right out in the front of his post
“Here was an accented Asian American with bad hair, bad teeth, bad moves and a bad accent. And even though he can’t sing, America still loved him.”
Guess what, most engineering geeks I know have bad hair, bad teeth, and bad moves. As for the accent, I know a lot of white americans with bad accents as well. The difference between him and most people without Brad Pitt charms is that he knows how to use what he has. Does it automatically make him evil if he capitolizes on what little he has?
Of course, I don’t have to live with any stereotypes he may be promoting, so it’s probably easy for me to dismiss it, but if I had seen this video without the context of you post “William Hung, stereotype”, I think I would have more likely seen it as promoting “geek” stereotypes… the fact that he is Asian American would not have been the first thing I notice.
No matter what, I don’t think I would see it as exceptionally negative that he is promotting it… I would see it as a wise man making use of a great chance that has been given to him to make some cash off of a few fleeting minutes of fame.
Having just watched some more videos and flash greetinf cards, etc… of this guy, it’s hard to watch it and not see him as an Asian American. I guess there is quite a bit of stereotyping going on there. But is it really his fault that that is what people want to pay him for.
I guess his only choice is to either be himself and get paid for it, or hide himself and get nothing.
When will the media finally have an asian male as a sex symbol (like our female counterparts) instead of this nerd/karate crap that constantly gets bombarded on our tv sets?
I’m just sick and tired of these stereotypical roles that the media reinforces for asian american guys.