about
archive
rss
contact

11.22.2009

yellowface ching chong nonsense on saturday night live


Did you catch the cold open on Saturday Night Live this weekend? I can't believe someone thought this was a good idea. You've got a very Caucasian Will Forte as Chinese President Hu Jintao, doing some seriously godawful ching chong, alongside Nasim Pedrad, rocking an equally ass-awful accent as his "translator."

This alone is pretty painful. Whatever joke they're going for is completely sabotaged by the fact that everyone is thinking, "Hey, those two aren't Asian." (At least they didn't tape their eyes back.) But it goes on, with this tired, drawn-out joke about "do sex to me" and Hu literally bending over in front of "Obama."

I don't understand how this kind of racial mockery flies on national broadcast television. Is this not yellowface? No, they didn't use "Oriental" makeup, but there's no denying that the effect is there -- insulting ching chong and all. At the very least, awkward bare minimum, would it have been that hard to get an actual Asian man to just stand there for six minutes?

And yes, I fully acknowledge that there's also been something rather uncomfortable about watching Fred Armisen play Barack Obama for the last couple of seasons. Hell, the whole thing was uncomfortable.



top | archive



angry link of the week
Children of Invention

angriest posts

  • voltron girl
  • the 30 most influential asian americans under 30
  • the 50 most racist movies (you didn't think were racist)
  • maybelline's stupid 'asian' eyes
  • i am extremely terrified of chinese people
  • in theaters: the hangover
  • the worst movie trailer I have ever seen
  • queen yu-na
  • wtf photo: why, kids? why?
  • the chinese hip hop kid on ellen
  • "asian boobs" iphone app
  • j.r. celski's pinoy pride tattoo
  • japanese sleeping bag... with legs!
  • john park: the next american idol
  • hey lonely losers, look to the philippines
  • responding to ucsd's "compton cookout"
  • pep and the "asian persuasian"
  • starburst's scottish/korean "contradiction"
  • john mayer, the "accidental racist"
  • happy valentine's day from lost
  • TwitterFacebook