The Fairy Princess is excited to share that the Nickelodeon show, BOSSY BEAR is premiering on March 6th at 11am.
Parents of small Korean American Children, and in fact, the rest of the AAPI community, can rejoice that there is AAPI content specifically FOR their children WITHOUT excluding everyone else – and that, is actually what is important.
Because you see, ‘our kids’ live here, in the United States.
Literally EVERYONE, no matter the heritage, can fall in love with BOSSY BEAR. That is the kind of show it is – and having seen some preview episodes and also having seen her son, (who is slightly above the age range for Bossy, but more in line with Bissy, his older sister) be captivated by seeing that specific, yet universal representation was…exciting. TFP‘s not going to lie – it was exciting.
While yes, there are pockets of the USA that can seem like you are living outside of the country, our kids are straddling the very real hurdles of being cross cultural, and there are very few cultural touchstones that address this issue. Oftentimes when one tries to make their particular culture stand out, the other people who are not in ‘that world’ do end up becoming the target of the jokes – and an integrated world, is what ultimately, we are all striving for.
TFP has never advocated for a ‘only us’ kind of casting process, nor a world where Asian Americans use the tactics of white supremacy to exclude other Asian American Pacific Islanders from a project.
It was really nice to hear that on the panel discussion hosted by Nick Cho “Your Korean Dad”, that the young voice actors included – when asked what other actors they would like to work on the show with – that they did not exclude on the basis of Korean heritage.
They wanted to work with Jackie Chan, they wanted to work with Simu Liu, of course Sandra Oh came up, and Randall Park (most well known for playing a Chinese dad on Fresh Off the Boat and doing so brilliantly) and so on – if this show takes off as TFP thinks – that is totally powerful – to think that the Asian American community can deal with the vestiges of white supremacy and it’s ‘us vs them’ issues – and negate them by being open and thinking first of the talent that individual brings to the project.
She has celebrated each and every AAPI performer whose talent put them on stage or screen to be celebrated – because she knows from being mixed Asian herself – that people are not where they were born, that talent is undefinable, and that the best way to advocate for diversity and inclusion is to practice it yourself, in all forms.
FYI also shout out to those Parents in the LGBTQIA Community – BOSSY BEAR has Lance Bass and Michael Turchin recurring as parents to Bissy’s bff, aka her ‘Squirrel Friend”.
Bravo to the young Actors of BOSSY BEAR – Jayden Ham, Jaba Keh, and Claudia Choi, they are already thinking and living inclusively!
It was a win. We take that win.
Congratulations to all!
Another “win’ to be had – the Asian American Film Lab has launched it’s announcement of the 72 Hour Shoot Out.
What is it? It’s a competition. You gather your team, you hear what the theme is, and you go write it, shoot it, edit it, and submit it, all in 72 hours. It is exhausting. It is exhilarating.
You can win cash, you can win prizes, you can win one on ones and mentorships – it’s a rare opportunity to ‘jump the line’ and show us what you got.
DO IT…you know you want to. Heck, shoot it on a phone, hold up a flashlight to light it – go ahead, you can do it.
REGISTER HERE
Congratulations are due, yet again – to Kristina Wong, who took a brief jaunt from performing her solo show to accept the Doris Duke Award for her work on Sweatshop Overlord – not ONLY that, she has signed with the giant CAA also, she is one of TFP’s longtime LA friends – we met in a Basic class at The Groundlings – and LOOK at her NOW, biatches!!!
TFP did a podcast with one of her Besties from Childhood, and you can listen here – it is on UMMA, and while she is not Korean, having spent almost 20 years with a Korean American male, she picked up a few things:
Here is the link, thanks to Patrick Walsh for having her:
And now…for the folks in the back…we are EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE…..ing..
Absolutely an achievement.
That is the first thing TFP wants to say – absolutely an achievement everywhere all around the world – The Daniels are definitely visionaries.
Also, as the AAPI Community let’s note some things:
If we are still counting ‘firsts’, this is but a step.
If we are still counting ‘breakthroughs’, this is a moment.
When we are able to stop counting, we will have arrived.
“WE’ have gotten very excited in the past with films like “Slumdog Millionaire’ and shows like “Squid Game“, like “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’, like “Joy Luck Club” being super quick to declare victory when what they were, were shooting stars. Look at the sky long enough, you are bound to see a celestial moment.
We swoon over directors coming from Asian countries, and think that they are going to ‘change the game’, when really – what they want is to come here, get Hollywood money and Hollywood stars for as long as they can, and then go home.
The issue is scarcity. “We” all the letters of the AAPI diaspora spend countless hours obsessing over a dribble of half a teaspoonful of representation and then when we see it, we pridefully attribute the success to the actor’s background and we do not see the nuances of what makes them, them. This is a shame, because their backgrounds are so diverse – within the Asian world, and that should be celebrated, not glossed over to align with a monolithic megapower.
TFP will wait while you read this to make her final point:
Michelle Yeoh’s born name is Yeoh Choo Kheng, and she is Malaysian by country, Chinese by ancestry. Her Chinese heritage is Hokkien and Cantonese. She rose in the 1990’s in a series of Hong Kong martial arts films, which she was able to do because she had studied ballet. She holds a BA from the Royal Academy of Dance in London – they moved to the UK when she was 15. An injury made her switch her focus to Acting. After becoming VERY successful overseas and due to her language fluency, she was introduced to audiences here in Tomorrow Never Dies and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. She learned the Mandarin for Crouching Tiger phonetically. Everyone knows she has gone on to television series and giant films like Crazy Rich Asians – she is a supernova. She speaks Cantonese, Hokkien, English, Malay, Tamil, and French. She now does speak Mandarin, having learned it for a role.
Ke Huy Quan is Vietnamese American – his parents are of ethnically Chinese descent. At the age of 12, he rode the tidal wave that was Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, then Goonies – he was definitively a child star. However, Hollywood going to Hollywood and once he grew, well, the world is unkind to child actors who have the temerity to become adults. Since winning awards for EEAAO, it has been announced he will join the cast of LOKI, the series as well as the TV Adaptation of American Born Chinese. He speaks English, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Vietnamese fluently
James Hong is a Chinese American Actor who was born in Minneapolis. As a child, he lived in Hong Kong, and returned to the USA at age 10. After being in the army, he went to the University of Minnesota for Engineering, but finished his degree at USC. He began his career in the 1950’s and has been an Asian American Acting ‘staple’ ever since. He has over 600 credits on IMDB, a nd as he stated above – he started his career when white people were ‘yellowing up’ and though much has changed – he is a highly sought after talent and finally got his star on the Hollywood Blvd this past year – thanks in part, to the efforts of Daniel Dae Kim. Mr. Hong speaks English and Cantonese, but admits he was corrected by Ms. Yeoh.
Stephanie Hsu was born in Torrance, CA. She went to NYU. She was on GIRL CODE for MTV, and the Hulu show, THE PATH. She made her Broadway debut in SPONGEBOB the Musical, and then joined the cast of BE MORE CHILL, the musical. She will also appear in American Born Chinese on Disney +.
They have 10 Oscar Nominations – including BEST ACTRESS, BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, and BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – and they are repping a variety of Asian heritages- that is AMAZING.
None of them are ‘the same’. There is diversity in heritage, in language, in background. Should we refer to them all as Chinese? In part yes, in part no.
TFP is concerned that by limiting their backgrounds for those who do not know, as ‘only’ Chinese- ‘we’ as AAPIs give rise to the “for us, by us’ kind of thinking that is troublesome. It is a pervasive mindset, and she sees it in all milleus.
The way we are ‘supposed’ to view it is, “Well if that person, who is like me, can do it, I can do it too.”
Unfortunately the way a lot of the “Community” views it is as “I only want to see people like me, and work with people like me, and that will mean success.”
That’s a hard pass from TFP.
Hard pass.
Purity is not the win you think it is. Purity in animal husbandry leads to imbalances and health issues. Purity of heritage does not truly exist in the larger scheme of things.
Everyone everywhere all at once has to come together as a Community – blood quantum has been discounted by Indigenous peoples all over the world – but yet, we use it as a marking post within our own ‘groups’ and that, honestly, needs to stop. “We’ do it to one another like it’s just a forgone conclusion – and it has to stop.
Not trying to ‘yuck anyone’s yum’ the film is a great success and it is wonderfully accomplished.
However it is so great because all these people – not just Chinese people, not just people with Chinese heritage – came together to create something that is universally accepted as great. The Directors, the Crew, the Designers – they get their flowers too – and their flowers do not need to match.
If you are looking to create something – like the 72 hour Shootout, or some other kind of project – what you want is integration.
No one is only ever one thing – that is the celebration TFP wants to see.
Michelle Yeoh said in her acceptance speech “For all the little girls who look like me’ not “who have only the exact heritage I have” – so whether you are East Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, Western Asian, Northern Asian heritage – Mixed Heritage across the board – OF ANY KIND – this IS a WIN for YOU!
You get to come along on the ride. Your background is needed to enhance what you are working on – and your contributions are beautiful and necessary.
The vestiges of white supremacy have no place in celebrating this win, or any other.
If they win, ‘we’ win.
TFP out.
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