(1) In Gene Luan Yang’s graphic novel, “American Born Chinese,” Yang compares and contrasts 3 types of basic Asian stereotypes while also emphasizing the importance of staying true to oneself. The three stereotypes we see presented are the “American-Born Chinese”, the “mainland Chinese” student, and the exaggerated (and often televised) stereotypical “Asian”.
(3) An “American-Born Chinese” (ABC for short) is someone of Chinese descent, born in the United States; nowadays, a majority of Asian-Americans are American-born and the “C” can be changed to any letter to represent other Asian ethnic groups. The ABC is represented by Jin (or “Danny” as he is referred to in most of the story). A “mainland Chinese” is often a student, who comes to the U.S. to study; they typically don’t have as much knowledge as an ABC would on American cultural or social norms, as they did not grow up in the U.S. This trope can be seen in Wei-Chen. Finally, we have the most stereotypical image of all, as demonstrated by Chin-Kee; his character has slanted eyes and buckteeth, dons traditional Chinese clothing, speaks with an accent, and is proficient in martial arts.
(2) Each stereotype differs in terms of how they act; each has defining traits, such as Jin (“Danny”) his initial resentment for Wei-Chen and Chin-Kee. Before becoming best friends with Wei-Chen, Jin was skeptical of getting to know him. He made up excuses to avoid talking to Wei-Chen, telling him to speak English because “[they’re] in America” and claiming that he already “[had] enough friends” (Yang, A:37-38). Over time, however, Jin was able to overcome their differences and bond over a toy that we later discover was significant to Wei-Chen’s true identity. When faced with a similar (albeit more exaggerated) situation later in life, Jin berates Chin-Kee for his obnoxious behavior. As a result, the two get into a rather physical and comedic fight, and Chin-Kee’s true identity as the Monkey King is revealed. They proceed to have a long talk about the Monkey King’s role in Jin’s life, and when he finally leaves, his parting words mention “how good it is to be a monkey” (Yang, B:223). In doing so, he drops a business card for a Chinese Bakery/Restaurant, which Jin subsequently picks up and pays a visit to later that night (and every night following that).
The conversations between the Monkey King and Jin, as well as the ones he had with his son, show an internal struggle within the characters. Jin and Wei-Chen both had trouble coming to terms with their true selves and their “destinies”, respectively, and the Monkey King was there to shine a light on that issue. However, in the excerpt provided, only Jin seems to have come to terms with it, as he is seen at the restaurant until closing, most likely in search of something important. Despite the initial contrast between the two boys, they are revealed to be more alike in the end, and their perceptions seemed to have switched over time.
(4) We are now moving further away from the more exaggerated portrayal of Asians in the media, but the stereotypes seen in Jin’s and Wei-Chen’s characters still exist today. Youtuber Leenda D has done a comedic mini-series of her own in regards to the ABC vs. Mainland Chinese in an attempt to point out and poke fun at the apparent differences between these two specific stereotypes. As the two videos were uploaded earlier this year, they show fairly recent portrayals of the two sub-groups.
(5) Although they may have been done in good fun (referring to the videos), will these stereotypes affect how people view the Asian-American community? Can these types of videos potentially do more harm than good? Or do we accept these generalizations?