‘American Born Chinese Is A Thrilling ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once Reunion
Oscar-winning actor Kay Hui Quan has a minor role in the Disney+ Chinese-Born American family series. But none of the characters are more important to illustrate what the show is trying to do and how well it achieves it.
The Chinese language is a complex mixture of elements. Centered on the struggles of bumbling teenager Jin (Ben Wang), this is a coming-of-age story one minute, a supernatural adventure with the Wuxia War between the gods of ancient China the next. . The whole thing is punctuated by lots of commentary on how Asian characters have been portrayed in pop culture in the past. Kuan was part of the latter material, making sporadic first appearances on cellphones and TV screens as Freddy Wong, a witty parody of 90s sitcoms with What Could Happen to Wong, a goofy racist caricature? The catchphrase has found a second life as a TikTok meme. Freddie's viral newfound fame is a thorn in the side of Jean, who only wants to be accepted by the cool kids at his predominately white and depressed high school when Freddie's antics are linked. In the end, however, Kwan also plays Jamie, an actor who finds success playing Freddy and then his career fades away as Kwan did for decades before "Everything Everywhere" revived him.
In the sitcom reunion special, Jamie regretted the stereotypical roles he was offered before leaving the business, adding, "I hope it sees a kid who thinks it's no joke, who thinks they can be heroes."
The American-born Chinese seems determined to prove Jamie right by not only showing how Jin learned to defend himself, but also by pairing him with Wei-Chen (Jim Liu), who is not the son of a Chinese. businessman . . But Sun Wukong (Daniel Wu), the super powerful monkey king from Chinese legend. Wei-Chen has come to suburban America to stop a vengeful Bull Demon (Leonard Wu) from destroying Heaven, and he believes Jin can help him in his quest.
The series gradually starred Michelle Yeoh, James Hong and Stephanie Zhu in Quan To Everyone , with Yeh most prominently playing the role of Guanyin, the goddess of mercy, mercy and kindness. And it shares the same sense of ambition with this film. By adapting Jean Luen Yang's graphic novels, it seems that author Kelvin Yu is trying to embrace all genres, all themes, after decades of denying Asian Americans the opportunity to participate in most stories as well as the more two-dimensional aspects. they. Character.
Such lofty creative goals come with a certain amount of risk, and there are times when the combination of grand action adventure with kitchen sink realism just doesn't work. For example, Jin reluctantly accepts Wei-chen's true identity and mission. And it's great fun watching him suck up to the boys on the football team or nervously tease his classmate Amelia (Sydney Taylor) as he finds out what else is going on. But other aspects, such as the parallels between Sun Wukong's conflict with the Bull Devil and the tensions of the marriage of immigrant parents Jean Simon (Chin Han) and Christine (Yo Yan Yan), are strikingly consistent with Guanyin's insistence that "everything is fine. What do you think. " "more connected" than that.
Jean said at one point, "I just want to be a normal guy doing normal things. This isn't really Jamie's war cry, but even Jean's desire to be normal in a pop culture space where characters like him are rarely seen as worthy of attention and appreciation ." Chinese-American They don't always strike the right balance between the ordinary and the extraordinary elements, but when they try it's absolutely great.
All eight Chinese-American episodes are now streaming on Disney+. I watched the entire first season.
