Throughout the history of television in the United States, it is a rare occurrence to see Asian Americans on the screen. With ABC television’s newer family show, ‘Fresh off the Boat’, we are seeing something radical happening. This is the first television show in twenty years to have a plot line that focuses on Asian Americans after Margaret Cho’s ‘All American Girl’.
The new sitcom is loosely based on a memoir by Eddie Huang, where he details his life growing up with immigrant parents in the United States chasing the American Dream. Although the show is based on Eddie’s life, his mother is a leading role and is played by Constance Wu. Despite this being only her second gig, the young actress nails the part. In an interview with Time magazine, she discusses her perspective of the show.
Some viewers are struck by how the show is executed, thinking it as racist or offensive, but the producer as well as the actors are Asian Americans and do not wish to perpetrate stereotypes, rather they wish to tell the individual story of this immigrant family finding its way in America. Constance Wu makes it a goal to portray her character responsibly.
Constance Wu tells Time Magazine, “So to anybody who accuses us of utilizing stereotypes, I would challenge them to point them out when they’re used as humor tools, because they aren’t. And I would challenge people to see if those alleged “stereotypes” are really there, or if they’re just the truth of the actual Jessica Huang, who is a real living and breathing woman in Orlando,” Wu said.
Wu is tackling the challenge of playing a role in an Asian American television show that some people might not fully understand, because there hasn’t been anything to compare and contrast it to. It isn’t part of a norm, but the fact that Fresh off the Boat is airing and being produced is the best step in making Asian Americans in media something we see much more often.
“I would say visibility as the stars of a show is important. That says that our stories matter. We’re not here to do the taxes of the white person, or to be the chipper best friend to the white person. It’s important to see Asians in those leading roles because it changes what I’m calling the anglo-heteronormative status of TV,” Wu said in the interview with TIME Magazine.
