Category Archives: Week 4 readings

1. On the chapter “Miracle” from her book I’m the One That I Want, Margaret Cho describes how the toxic environment surrounding her character on her show All-American Girl led to dangerous consequences for her health. As Cho says herself, “having so much body shame and all the cultural baggage surrounding it, it’s no wonder that I felt I had no other option” (p.119).
2. Cho begins the chapter by describing how momentous it felt to be chosen as the star of a sitcom featuring the first Asian-American family on television, even though that sitcom became something distorted and fake. The weight of this task became apparent as Cho attended executive meetings about how they would do it, but she “thought they knew what they were doing” (p.106). She then describes the experience of being told by the producers that she would need to lose weight for the role, citing the “roundness of her face” as their primary concern. Even in the book, Cho asserts that it was not anyone’s fault but her own for the self-hatred and detrimental thoughts that resulted from this request saying “but it isn’t their fault, I told myself then. It is mine. I let myself react that way” (p.108). I think it’s very interesting how Cho still struggles to accept that every adult who had a hand in letting her physically self-destruct should take blame for her health problems that resulted. They all absolutely should have known better and should have protected Cho who was clearly “terrified of losing the show and everything I had worked for” (p.112). She does not lay the blame purely on the executives however, and also gives credit to her cultural background for her image issues. Cho describes how her weight was a constant point of conversation, to the point where she had to cut off family members for her own mental health to avoid constantly talking about it.
3. Cho uses some unique terminology to support her claims. For example, while examining how Korean culture played a part in her destructive behavior she asks why they “cannibalize our own as ‘different’, ‘imperfect’, ‘fat’?” (p.118). The use of the word cannibalize really drives home how much this culture of driving for perfection can destroy someone like Cho, whose toxic dieting really did force her body to eat itself alive and shut down.
4. The themes in this chapter are very reminiscent of the “Letter to My Sister” that we read early on in class. The constant expectations to meet a certain beauty ideal, to “fix” herself by avoiding her natural features are parallel to the struggles described in the letter. Whether it be through plastic surgery or extreme diet and exercise, both women went crazy trying to be what they were constantly told was perfect, instead of realizing that it was an incorrect definition.

1.

2/4.

3.

Asian American- is “symbolic, because of its rhetorical and deliberative nature, but, nonetheless possessed of real-world implications” (11)

Viral media- An image or video that is circulated rapidly and widely from one Internet user to another

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.

1. In Margaret Cho’s memoir I’m The One That I Want, she describes what it was like to be a part of the first Asian American sitcoms to air on American television and the struggles that came with it, specifically about Asian women beauty standards set by non-Asian women and also about trying to find her identity. Was she Asian or was she American? For her, it felt like she had to choose one or the other.
2. Cho experiences many struggles in her journey to become an actress. It starts with her strict, traditional, Korean family, in which she lived in the basement of her household because her father couldn’t stand the sight of her (105). Stereotypically speaking, Cho may not have been her father’s “ideal” child since Asian people were supposed to be smart and get “good jobs.” Cho was unemployed and addicted to drugs at the time when she got the offer to be in All-American Girl. Cho puts her trust in the producers because “[she] thought they all knew what they were doing” (106). After her screening, she gets a call from the producer, who basically tells Cho that her face was too big and that she needed to lose weight in order to be in the show. So they put her on a ridiculously extreme exercise regimen and diet, causing her to lose 30 pounds within 2 weeks, which eventually led to kidney failure. Clearly, this was not good for her health or well-being.
3. Cho mentions that she often checked the tabloid, which are like smaller versions of newspapers usually talking about some headline or sensational story. Throughout the memoir, Cho describes times when she was bombarded by reporters. One of them even asked if it was true that the network asked her to lose weight to play the role of herself. The fact that Cho was asked about such a sensitive topic was already distressing enough, but one of the producers answered the question for her before she could say anything and lied to the press that it wasn’t true.
4. I think the struggle that Margaret Cho went through regarding living up to beauty standards and trying to find her identity is not something unfamiliar to Asians as well as Asian Americans today. In the Korean music industry, many female idols are pressured into maintaining a certain weight and having a slim figure and pale skin because that’s what people are attracted to.

1. In “If we are Asian, then are we funny?”:
   Margaret Cho’s All-American Girl as the First
   (and Last?) Asian American Sitcom,” the author, Sarah Moon Cassinelli writes about a girl named Margaret Cho. While starring in an Asian American sitcom, Cho had not so pleasant experiences, such as being pushed to follow Asian stereotypes. While the show ultimately failed, Cho later wrote in her memoir, I’m the One that I want, about who was actually being racist. Was it the audience who asked for authenticity by using stereotypes, or was it the person who reinforced the stereotypes by following them on the show. In her memoir, Cho answers saying “the real racism is wrapped up

   in the audience’s expectation of an “authentic” Asian American family, especially in consideration to sitcom comedy (132).”

   2. The producers of the sitcom, All-American Girl, wanted Cho to stress Asian American culture while being relate-able to the audience, leading to physical and mental unhealthiness. Cassinelli writes, “The show’s demands are also made visible on the body of Margaret Cho, and have subsequently influenced her body of work (133).” The producers had requested Cho to lose weight, saying “

   I don’t care what you have to do. We have two weeks before we shoot the pilot (133).”

   3. A key term from the article is “model minority,” which was also brought up in a previous reading (Week 2 – Assimilation). The model minority is “commonly associated with high academic achievements and upward socioeconomic mobility (138).” This is very similar to the idea of “model minority” from Assimilation, which was high educational achievement and living in good (white) neighborhoods. However, Cassinelli adds “obedience, self-control, and individualism” to the idea of model minority.

   4. Reading this article reminded me of Panda Express, an Americanized Chinese food chain that no one would say is even close to authentic Chinese food. Most, if not all, the entrees served at Panda Express doesn’t even exist in China’s vast styles of dishes.

1. In the article “ If we are Asian, then are we funny?” written by Sarah Moon, Cassinelli examines “All-American Girls” which is the first Asian American family sitcom on the television. The directors of All-American Girls tried to portray Kim family as authentic Asian American family. However, the show portrays them as a stereotypical Asian American family because they focused on identifying ethnic and cultural identity too much rather than a specific comedic form.

2. According to Cassinelli, “The show seemed to over emphasize the character’s Asianness making the Asian face, body, and family structure as decidedly uncanny.” (131) Cho played Margaret Kim as herself, a real Asian American girl in the All-American Girl. However, the director forced her to lose weight to express Asianness in the show. She was afflicted both mentally and physically for a long time because of strict diet to be “Asian face”. Like this, Kim family in All-American Girl is not realistic presentations of an average Asian American family.

3. The key term in this article is “authenticity”. In general, the term “authenticity” means the quality of being real or true. However, it means how the characters of the show fit to the what Asian Americans should be which expected by American audience in this article. Cho was forced to be Asian face by losing weight to fit the ideal image of Asian American girl which directors and audience have. According to Cassinelli, “the real racism is wrapped up in the audience’s expectation of an ‘authentic’ Asian American family, especially in consideration to sitcom comedy.” (132) That is, Asian American authenticity has a influence on how Asian Americans portrayed in the TV shows and rendition of Asian Americans.

4. Cho’s experience is similar to the Connie Chun’s episode in Slaying the dragon. She played an active part as Asian American anchor and reporter in the U.S. television news networks. When She appear on TV, her make up artist tried to maker her look more exotic. The makeup artist overemphasized her Asian face just because she is Asian American even though she is just an anchor same as American anchors. Asian Americans are often forced to be Asian look too much in the media.

1. After reading Sarah Moon Cassinelli’s “If we are Asian, then are we funny?”, I concluded that the author is trying to explain what Margaret Cho went through from being the first Asian lead actor in the TV show called the All-American Girl. Using Margaret Cho’s description of the experiences that she had while making the show, the author is showing how the show has a potential for raising awareness for the lack of and accurate representation of Asian American but it failed to do so for the same reasons that keeps occurring for years prior to the show. The show not only failed in trying to show “accurate” or “authentic” characterization of the Asian culture, it fails to make its cast feel like they could be themselves while shooting the show. This brings the question of when will there ever be a chance where Asian American can finally be satisfied with the depiction of their own culture in mainstream television.

2. One quotation that is drawn from the actual show is when the ski instructor said to Margaret, “Heeey, don’t take this the wrong way, but you have a tendency to bowww into you skis” (136). This quotation is one of many examples of sayings in the show that poorly educate the audience of the old and respectful Asian traditions such as bowing. This quote oversimplify what it means when a person bow to an elderly or someone who deserve their respects. This show was suppose to show how an Asian American girl adapt to living in the United States, not making fun of how she acts. By doing this, the TV show is not only making its audience to have an ignorant understanding of the Asian culture, it also simplify important steps that American audience needs to take in order to truly understand the Asian culture in a respectful way.

3. One key term that the author brought up is once again “model minority”. The author also talks about how the show also make its character way too one-dimensional. For example, Margaret brother Stuart embodies the stereotype of the ‘model minority'” (138). They built his character into a person who is well educated and is out there serving the community with his “braininess” (139). The show is trying to shoe that Asian American fellow that resembles Margaret’s brother is a perfect example of the right way to climb up the social ladder. Basically, what they are trying to say is the only way Asian American is able to move up their status in the society is to be smart. This also touches on another stereotype where Asians are expected to be the smart.

4. One of the first documentary that we watched in class is called Slaying the Dragon. The documentary showed an interview of an Asian American woman describing her experiences back when she was trying to audition for to be a news anchor. She talks about how the producers and casters all told her that she needed to alter her appearance so that she would look more like Connie Chung, who was the face of new anchor during that time. This ties to a problem that Margeret Cho had when she was cast to be the show’s main character, the directors told her that “the network has a problem with… the fullness of [her] face” and that she “needs to lose weight” (133). This two stories of two Asian American women trying to make their way into mainstream television shows that there were many things that they had to go through in order to pursue their dreams.

In the memoir “I’m the One I want”, Margaret Cho describes her process of being the start of the first Asian American sitcom to air on American television All American Girl to show her journey of self-discovery, realization and recovery through her career in the ABC show. Through the memoir Cho reveals her dark struggles of trying to find her identity during the start of to the end of the show’s air time on television through all the criticism she was dealing with within herself as a young woman struggling to find success in her career as a validation of her own identify and the Asian American and Korean communities’ criticism of her character and the show itself. Cho’s memoir reveals the many criticisms and underlying problems of the show such as authenticity, relatability, race, Asian American-ness and more that ultimately result in the failure of the show’s success while also giving a better look and understanding of the media and entertainment industry.

Starting with the Cho’s chapter “Miracle?” we get a better look and an introduction into Cho’s life as a struggling comedian and unemployed drug addict to understand her reasoning behind playing her character in the show even though Cho herself “knew the show wasn’t good” (112). Due to her venerability at the time as a rookie trying to land a stable job in the entertainment world, Cho wasn’t able to fully recognize the problems she was facing at the time such as the networks “concern about the fullness of your face” and Cho just went along with it because during this time anything was better than doing to auditions and trying to find a job and she trusted that the producers ” knew what they were doing””(106).  After two weeks of grueling dieting and exercising Cho lost thirty pounds and in the process also lost her health and her sense of who she was and Cho felt as though her “life depended on… willingness to lose weight” this mentality got Cho to go to drastic measures of losing weight which was also were she was getting criticism from other Koreans who watched the show or other Asian American’s who couldn’t relate to the prototype of Cho’s character and other aspects of the show, some believed that the show was racist in the jokes they were making such as the “yoko ono” joke(111). These jokes relayed in All American Girl showed the failure in the shows ability to relate to the characters to audiences at home and Cho herself knew that these jokes weren’t what she imagined but she felt the pressure of making history for the community. The next chapter of the memoir called “Fame! I Want to Live Forever” describes the backlash that Cho received from other Koreans and even family members concern about her role on the show, during this time Cho recalls being “exposed to the ugliness of the media” and her struggles of dealing with the criticism in relation to her prototype character on the show (118). The prototype character term is described as “product” of the network’s creation.  The criticism that Cho received was due to many factors but the main problem that Cho analyzes is the fact that “they had never seen a Korean-American like me” and the fact that the prototype that Cho was playing is so contradictory to All American Girl itself and the things that the sitcom produced that wasn’t authentic to her (131).

The memoir shows Cho’s struggle with playing her role as an Asian American and this relates to the reading by Sandra Moon Cassinelli on her analysis of Cho’s role on All American Girl in conjunction with her Memoir I’m the One I Want in the ideas surrounding Americanization and the contradictory manner of the show in terms of its realizability to the audience and the authenticity that they are aiming at. Cassineilli bring in the point that due to the unrelatability of the show more “relatable” white character had to be brought into the show. The definition of the term “Asian- American” is again brought up as a difficult term to determine.

1. Sarah Moon Cassinelli’s article showcases the American sitcom “All-American Girl” about an Asian American family with their “typical” family feuds. However, rather than praising its all Asian American cast, she instead delves into its yellow-face antics and racists stereotypes of Asians. Cassinelli also includes commentary from several sources, but mainly from the show’s leading role, Margaret Cho. The show supports the Asian American “Model-Minority” and Hollywood’s desire to whitewash Television.
2. Within the show’s main characters, Margaret’s brother, Stuart, is portrayed to be the “model-minority,” Cassinelli specifically stated, “…the character of Margaret is constructed on her rebellious, American persona, Stuart is her obedient, Asian inverse,” (pg. 139). Model-minority myth is the belief that of the American Minorities, Asian Americans are believed to be the role model for the other minorities to strive to be, Stuart’s character reinforces the image of “model-minority” being that the sitcom further supports the “American expectation” of Asian Americans. Another example is how with the ratings of the show plundering and viewers becoming disinterested in the perceived “Asian American struggles” the show executives decided to add “Caucasian sidekicks,” (pg. 141). This is the show’s last-ditch efforts to appeal to “Whitewash America” with its intended Asian American audience being unable to relate to the show, but at least a majority of assimilated individuals can or even at least Caucasians in general.
3. It is important to know the concept of minority representation in media, that being individuals who are and portray as their respective cultural identity.  Specifically, in this article, the Asian American group is portrayed in the sitcom and rather than allowing television to delve into serious Asian American topics and discussion away from the “model-minority myth” it supported racist views on Asians and Asian Americans in general.
4. This author’s ideas relate to the issues of Asian Americans in Hollywood in general. Similarly, “Fresh Off the Boat” a sitcom with an all Asian American leading cast has surpassed the errors of “All-American Girl.” Although not perfect, has at least given a better representation of Asian American life in the 1990s. There are moments of “forced humor” such as smelly Asian food or not being loving towards one’s family members, but at the most part tried to steer away from “model-minority myths” and racist expectations of Asian Americans.

1.  In the encyclopedia article News Coverage by Paul Niwa, we get an in-depth analysis and statistics of how much news coverage goes on in the Asian American communities. He starts by stating how in all forms of media whether it be print, digital, tv or radio there is an underrepresentation of Asian Americans as reporters and or journalists. He also mentions how current US media overlooks or gives little to no coverage to Asian Americans after certain disasters. Two examples he gives us is the minimal coverage of affected Asian Americans after hurricane Katrina or the aftermath of the 9/11 attack on Chinatowns(page 663). And finally, he mentions how there was a decline in Asian Americans working in media from 2000 to 2008 due to the fact that it is not the best paying job and also because Asian Americans don’t want to feel the pressure of having to report on Asian topics just because they are Asian(page 667). Fortunately, organizations like the AAJA(Asian American Journalist Association) have been helping out Asian American journalist by providing seminars and giving guidance which tremendously helps them out in their early years as reporters(page 666).
2. “Asian Americans were perceived to be more interested in working on-air than on the production-management track or more interested in higher paying jobs outside of journalism,” here get a further glimpse which ties back to why Asian Americans are really under-represented in media and also why there are very few Asian American males in visual, on-air positions(page 667). In recent years with the widespread of internet availability more and more Asian Americans are getting involved in news topics thanks to “websites, personal digital assistants, and cell phones” who have made reaching more Asian Americans easier with new tools like email, Youtube and or blogs(page 670). ***More on #1** *
3. 1. Mainstream news(663): is typically referring to a collective of various large mass news media that influence large number of people(ie. CNN, Fox News etc.)
   2. Deregulation(667):  The removal of restrictions, in our context, weak regulation over media has had an impact on a low number of Asian Americans in any sort of media
4. On page 665 we saw how after the Korean student was responsible for the Virginia Tech mass shooting, the Korean-American as a whole felt the guilt of one person actions. As they stated “Our reputation is ruined,” we see how most Asian Americans are connected and support each other since being the minority, they have no one else to have their backs so they form tight communities. This tight community attitude can be seen in many minorities groups and is central to the lives because the actions of one can damage their reputation. And this is especially important to them because already being immigrants makes them feel disconnected from American society and any bad action by one of their own can cause more hostility towards them or any other minorities that are struggling to not be seen as foreigners(page 665).