Blog Post #3

Posted on August 29, 2018 by by | Leave a comment
  1. In Margaret Cho’s “I’m the One that I Want” (chapters 11&12) she recollects and reflects on her actions when she got her big break in the first ever all-Asian American sitcom called “All- American Girl”. She mentions her horrible experience that came with her newfound role; she had to undergo a massive weight loss that caused her kidneys to fail. She had to go through an extreme diet with long hours of rigorous workouts and very small portions of food. She did everything she was told for fear that she’ll lose her job- she didn’t want to go back to the times she was rejected from roles. She talks about her discovery of her asianess and with it, came a lot of self-hatred which was fueled by those around her(her family, people from the industry, and the media.
  2. “I didn’t tell anybody about being hospitalized… I was ashamed and also afraid that they would make me stop dieting. I didn’t want to put that weight again I was terrrifired of losing the show… I thought my life was dependednt on my willingness to lose weight”(page112). Margaret Cho was so focused on fitting in and staying in the show that she never realized how detremental her situation was- physicaly and mentally. She was forced to lose a lot of weight quickly and all she could think about is how can she hide this in order t keep dieting and maintaining my skinny figure to be liked and accepted in the industry. She wanted to be “thin like the other Hollywood actresses, because the friends were hot, because skeletal was in” page 112). She associated being accepted, famous, successful and being loved with being skinny- you had to look good in order for people to like you and for them to give you a time of day. She was trying to be like the people she sees on tv and she didn’t look like them and she didn’t fit the ideal that is Hollywood material she grew to hate herself even more so than she already did. She was mad at herself that she didn’t look like the white people she idolized when she was growing up. On top of that, her family and the media further criticized her weight because she didn’t have the typical physic of an Asian woman that mainstream media has painted throughout the years.
  3. She talked about the whiteness of American tv- there was no asian representation, therefore, she grew up thinking that she was white and hated herself later on when it clicked in her head that she wasn’t. She mentions in chapter 12 that the media was quick to hate on her- the white media complaining about her weight and making racists remarks on a supposed “diet that she followed” while asian journalists said that her character is a disgrace to the korean community and how the sitcom does more harm than good.
  4. When she mentioned that people of your own community (in this situation the korean community) are so quick to tear each other apart.  The other asian americans didn’t even consider that she had no power over the situation and that the entire situation was controlled by white producers and writers who had no true and in-depth knowledge of the korean community- they only had asian stereotypes to back them up. This entire situation reminds me of the tension between korean americans and African americans in 1992 with the Los Angeles riots. Each community showed animosity to each other without thinking that the people responsible are white supremacists who used this perfect opportunity as a scapegoat to avoid their mistakes.
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