In the Coming to America episode, the Huang family visits Taiwan, where they emigrated from. But I will always remember the first episode of its third season, which encapsulated the first-generation immigrant experience in a way I’d never seen before. Loosely based on chef/author/long-suffering Knicks fan Eddie Huang’s memoir, the show’s ratings have been in steady decline and even Wu voiced frustration when the show was last renewed. Since Crazy Rich Asians, which stars Fresh Off the Boat’s Constance Wu, studios are suddenly interested in Asian American stories, including Netflix’s Always Be My Maybe with Randall Park and comedian Ali Wong, a former writer on Fresh Off the Boat.īy no means is Fresh Off the Boat a perfect show. 14, 2018.Īctor Ken Jeong recently tweeted: “If it wasn’t for #FreshOffTheBoat there would be no #DrKen or #CrazyRichAsians.” Fresh Off the Boat set the course for what could be for Asian American representation, while Crazy Rich Asians, the highest grossing romcom in the last decade, sprinted away with the baton. At the time, those were the kinds of roles that were available for folks like me.”įrom left to right: Ian Chen, Forrest Wheeler and Hudson Yang in Fresh Off the Boat’s Cousin Eddie episode on Dec. Randall Park, one of the stars of Fresh Off the Boat, posted on Instagram about the show’s cancellation: “When I first started in this business … I would’ve been completely happy to be a funny neighbor or snarky co-worker. In Netflix’s new film, Dolemite is My Name, the Lady Reed character (played by Da’Vine Joy Randolph) says: “I’m so grateful for you putting me in this movie because I ain’t never seen nobody that looks like me up there on that big screen.” It’s a common sentiment among minorities. It’s not an affront to the status quo, it’s just a minority voice that says, “I also exist.” It’s so clichéd and I roll my eyes as I write this - but that’s why representation matters. I didn’t see any American-born Asian man without a heavy accent living his best life on-screen. I remember acting out imaginary movies in my house, pretending to be the blond, white hero, because that seemed like a better reality. Sophia Chang, the Wu-Tang Clan’s ‘muse,’ says the group helped her embrace her race.Going virile: How ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ redefines Hollywood’s Asian man.Randall Park on Asian Americans in hip-hop - and punching Keanu Reeves.Maybe, just maybe, I could be the main character’s friend. I distinctly remember not even considering being Maverick because I thought there was no way I could possibly be the most important person in a story. When I was in kindergarten, Top Gun came out and my friend and I were on the jungle gym pretending to be Maverick and Iceman. But for all the content we consumed, we rarely had the chance to watch vivid, complex characters who looked like us. For an immigrant who came to this country with little family and no friends, movies often provided a respite for my mom’s transition to a new world despite the language barrier. That was fitting, considering my mom named me after actor Cary Grant. I grew up in Southern California, infatuated with Hollywood. Now six seasons later, the longest running sitcom about an Asian American family in television history will come to an end in February after 116 episodes.ĪBC Entertainment president Karey Burke said of the show: “We couldn’t be prouder of this game-changing show and the impact it has had on our cultural landscape.” It was an impact that deserves its due.įrom left to right: ABC’s Fresh Off the Boat stars Forrest Wheeler as Emery Huang, Hudson Yang as Eddie Huang, Ian Chen as Evan Huang, Constance Wu as Jessica Huang, Randall Park as Louis Huang, Lucille Soong as Grandma Huang, Chelsey Crisp as Honey, and Ray Wise as Marvin. In 2015, when ABC premiered Fresh Off the Boat, it was the first network show with an Asian American cast since Margaret Cho’s All-American Girl premiered in 1994. Progress can feel both glacially slow and lightning quick at the same time.
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