Lot's Wife Edition 1 2016

CULTURE
but ultimately, when there’s earth-shaking and hellraising
to deal with, there isn’t enough time to focus
on the colour of somebody’s skin.
Take Kevin Tran from Supernatural. Initially,
Kevin is a diminutive fusion of Asian stereotypes; an
obedient, neurotic cellist consumed with achieving
a perfect SAT score and enrolling in Princeton
University. Yet come season 8, ‘Advanced Placement’
has metamorphosed
They don’t
succumb to the
prejudices of
society, because
there is no society.
into a prophet of God,
who becomes essential
to saving the universe.
Similarly, Monty Green
from The 100 is the only
main character who has
never had a romantic
interest, reinforcing the
idea that leading Asians
don’t get the girl or guy.
Nevertheless, Green
is a diplomatic, sarcastic and exceptionally clever
character, traits that are eons more memorable than
his love life.
The best example of a character obliterating
anti-Asian stereotyping is Glenn Rhee. Before The
Walking Dead, no Asian-American would be identified
as “the beating heart of a show” (Gina McIntyre,
Hero Times) like Steven Yeun is, in his portrayal of
the unassuming, pizza-delivering Michiganite. But six
seasons into the apocalypse, Glenn is lauded as the
“most beloved Asian American male in the U.S” (Ken
Fong, Angry Asian Man), which is no small feat. In a
perverse wasteland where a stolid drumbeat of gory
deaths acts as its hallmark, Yeun’s character serves
as an indispensable warrior on AMC’s juggernaut.
What a polarising conundrum. The people
who believe that Glenn’s life should be spared by the
unsympathetic AMC argue that killing off such a wellrounded,
integral part of the show also means losing
a hero for underrepresented Asians everywhere.
At the same time, Glenn’s treatment on the show
occurs indiscriminately of his race, because Korean
heritage is not significant to the urgency of survival.
So by the same token, nobody on The Walking Dead
is safe, and Asian or not, Glenn is no exception. If
Glenn is truly dead, it would be a testament to the
show’s habitual nihilism, and the loss one of the
strongest ethnic-minority presences on mainstream
TV. But in the event that AMC spares Glenn from an
undead fate, this act could be misread as preserving
diversity only for diversity’s sake.
Regardless of Glenn’s elliptical future, it
seems it takes Armageddon itself to transcend
racial politics. As borderline histrionic as it sounds,
disasters strip humanity of their narrow-mindedness.
Materialistic trifles are diminished in the face of
death. When the earth is in ruins, the ‘stratification’
of ethnic hierarchies disintegrates, and stereotypes
are forced to collapse on themselves. They don’t
succumb to the prejudices of society, because there
is no society. Of course, apocalyptic television is
still privy to accusations
of tokenism, where a
colourful cast is warranted
only to compel diversity.
But we don’t celebrate
these characters because
they’re there, much like
we shouldn’t celebrate
diverse media just
because it exists. What
does warrant celebration
is how the number of
non-stereotypical, holistic and incidentally Asian
characters is proliferating.
So, let’s focus on the not-yet-apocalyptic
2016. Master of None has made a universally
acclaimed breakthrough in the representation
of Asian-Americans on TV. On the show, Ansari’s
character Dev fails to book a role for a sitcom
starring three protagonists because though having
one Indian is ideal, “there can’t be more than one”.
But intentionally, the show flips that tokenistic
mentality on its head to demonstrate that modern TV
can—and will—move past such out-dated paradigms.
Dev and company, modern people of colour,
talk marriage, parents, sex and many topics inbetween.
A Netflix show about Asian men just being
themselves is being hailed as ground-breaking; that
should raise some eyebrows, but perhaps in esteem,
not in discontent.
Master of None is as cognisant about its
role as a pioneer, as it is witty, fresh, and brutally
honest. We’re entering an age where diverse media
is becoming less of an obligation unto political
correctness, and more a sign of genuine racial
equilibrium and representation. Maybe we won’t
need to wait until the end of the world to appreciate
that television is finally catching up to reality.
Lot’s Wife | 47