Dancing with The #Yellowface

The Fairy Princess is a lover of Dancing of the Stars – and she likes, as Scott Nevin’s and family says, ‘the glitz”

She does not watch all the time, because…she is a grown ass person with -ish to do, but recently her buddy at Onstage Blog, Chris Peterson, tagged her in a photo he snagged and….here it is

Yes, that is openly Gay Olympian, Adam Rippon – with body paint and a wig. A wig, btw, that he chose. He was told the other dancers were wearing a wig and so he wanted a wig – specifically a bowl cut wig.

Because what is funnier than doing some Asian inspired dance than making all Asian men look like the worst bus and truck non Equity tour of The King and I, starring a distant cousin of Stacy Keach?

Apparently Asian Americans and AAPI men in general are there as window dressing, and have no style.

Any of these guys have a bowl cut?

NOPE.

And what about the Ladies….all red wigs and fans?

Didn’t think so.

Here is the Freestyle

Let’s break it down – we have the music, in Spanish – because K-Pop would have been a bit too on the nose, then we have the dancers all made up to resemble Asians – TFP says that without any irony – they are holding red fans and snapping them hither and yon. Even if you were trying to desperately trying to say it was ‘just wigs’ or whatever, the combination is supposed to reference Asian women.

In this routine there is bowing. There is shuffling. There is faux giggling.

All Adam is trying to do is serve ‘Full Non Specific Asian Pimp Realness’– not his best look.

So all of the ‘badass-ness’ that could come with doing a tribute K-Pop number is lost, because it is not a tribute, it is number that has a lot of mockery behind it.

TFP has to land the choreo squarely on the shoulders of the choreographer, Jenna Johnson.

No Bueño, Ms. Johnson!

Likely because it IS MAY, which is AAPI Heritage Month, they thought a K-Pop number would be a great fit.

But it is NOT a great fit, it is YELLOWFACE and here is why – Adam Rippon is painted.

Yes, Adam Rippon, for those at home who do not get this, the role model and who is always spouting that he wants to represent for his peeps – is spray painted a different color and they put him in a bowl cut black wig, (at his request) and that – in a very, VERY nasty way, does make him resemble – not completely – another ethnicity.

Also, perhaps his Peeps, to him, are not AAPI – but that would be hard to fathom, as the LGBTQ Community in Cali does have quite a lot of AAPIS in it.

Now, many of you will say, “Well, but Rippon is gay”, and the answer to that is this – even members of a minority group can display ignorance and racism to a different group.

If members of the LGBTQ Community can put on their Tindr or Grindr or whatever dr they subscribe to quantifications like “No Fats, No Femmes, No Asians“, or hide their racism behind the old trope “I’m just not attracted to that”  to hide that they do not consider people of other backgrounds sexually attractive  or just ‘less than’ – then the LGBTQ community has some issues they have to work out, ‘in house’.

In other words, you can be Gay, and still have problems with People of Color, Trans people, Trans People of Color, and LGBTQ people with Disabilities.

TFP is not saying Adam Rippon has issues with any PoC in any category, but she is saying there is often a disconnect about the intersectionality of bias and how it affects choices made by various peoples.

Adam Rippon is a White Cis Homosexual Man – and while in many ways he did not have privilege because of who he is, in other ways, he does have it. For example, the idea of painting oneself did not seem offensive to him, because his skin tone is, ahem, without extreme melanin of any kind.

There were several steps to get to ‘this approved look’, and literally any one of at least a dozen people at ABC could have pulled the plug on the wig and the spray tan.

A costume is a costume – this one looked like it was stolen from a regional production of La Cage Aux Folles out of Jacob’s closet of Albin’s cast offs, but…it was a costume with M.C. Hammer Pants and glitter.

The body paint and the wig – that is the issue here. White People do not get to be ‘Asian for fun!” – cuz TFP will tell you, when you turn on a television, and see people mocking you, it is not fun.

The stylist, the make up artist, the executives, CARRIE ANN INABA, any of them could have said “Y’all, this is not flying as long as there is breath in my body, especially as this is AAPI Heritage Month, it’s about as sensitive as a meteor shower hitting Utah’.

But they did not. Because even though ABC is the home of breakthrough, landmark shows like….oh – FRESH OFF THE BOAT, which is the ONLY show on all of network television to portray an Asian American Family – it did not occur to them that YELLOWFACE was offensive.

So how far have ‘we’ come, honestly? How much are ‘we’ accepted? One must wonder.

To the MUA and Stylist and to Adam Rippon himself, TFP is gonna say “You missed the Boat’ on this one, this one is fresh off the racism.

Check your privilege.

Or take it up with the Huang Family on Friday Nights this Fall.

Also, Adam, how you gonna paint yourself when you are on the same damn show as Mirai, and you know personally the Shib Sibs, and Nathan Chen – what are you gonna say to them about this mess? How are you going to make this up to Kristi Yamaguchi?

Also BOO to Carrie Ann Inaba, who, in her critique, did NOT call this sh*t out!

CARRIE ANN!

This is not where you hold yourself back and say ‘Well I am a judge and ballroom dance is crazier than a rat in a coffee can with it’s costumes and spray tans and ruffles so I am not going to say a damn thing.”

Speak up and speak OUT!

This is where you say “Look, I know that you wanted to free dance and pay tribute, and everyone loves a good dress up, but this is not a tribute to K-Pop or in any way appropriate – what do you think you look like, what were you going for here?”

Cuz Carrie Ann, you are ON THAT SHOW!

People look up to you!

AAPI’s watch that show, in part, because YOU are a representation of US – top of your field, visible, not acting, having opinions – you know you had opinions, you should have said all of them.

ALLLLLLLL

However TFP doesn’t hold Carrie Ann responsible for the bad choices made by Adam Rippon, Jenna Johnson, the Make Up Artist, and Stylist, this mess is strictly on them and whatever Executive said this was ok.

TFP fines them fifteen days of 8 hour barre class and a hundred and twenty whacks of the wand to all involved – Adam Rippon, Jenna Johnson, the MUA, the Stylist, the Wig person, and the Executive.

This was a big mistake, huge.

TFP out.