Asian Culture Discussion Thread

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Name too exotic, stereotypical or racist now?
Really? Maybe “Joe Tsai” or “Lee Tsai” would have been better.
:rolleyes:

Wonder what Chef Jose thinks?

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wuchi01 said:
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Name too exotic, stereotypical or racist now?
Really? Maybe “Joe Tsai” or “Lee Tsai” would have been better.
:rolleyes:

Wonder what Chef Jose thinks?

A93DFFC4-066D-426C-B819-ADFB03F7FBBD.jpeg
Click to expand...

it’s a reach for an American company trying to sell frozen Chinese food. Trader Jose eh is common enough name but Yao is the only “known” Ming. If you’re gonna pander with “ethnic” names make it subtle imo. the whole thing is just really corny and unnecessary to me.

also those are real people and real chefs not namesakes of frozen food, of course they deserve actual respect.
 
frink85 said:
it’s a reach for an American company trying to sell frozen Chinese food. Trader Jose eh is common enough name but Yao is the only “known” Ming. If you’re gonna pander with “ethnic” names make it subtle imo. the whole thing is just really corny and unnecessary to me.

also those are real people and real chefs not namesakes of frozen food, of course they deserve actual respect.
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Think real hard before you tell me “Lee” is more palatable than “Ming”.
And you want to bring up “Yao”.
Think real hard before continuing this conversation.
I @ you specifically somewhere else private.
 
wuchi01 said:
Who makes Trader Joe’s food products? The very same companies who already make the exact same food items. Trader Joe’s just gets to put their name on label and sell at lower price.

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Who-s-making-Trader-Joes-food-brand-relationships-6680520.php

And regarding your idea that all products should be under the “Joe” name. Why does “Joe” get to be the only name used? You don’t know anybody Asian named “Ming”, anybody Latino named “Juan”, anybody Italian named “Giotto”, etc?

Said before, I don’t have an English name. What is wrong with my given Chinese name? Why the heck should I Anglicize my name.

The straight use of an actual foreign name is not exotic nor racist nor stereotype. Aunt Jemima and the Washington football team’s name have a proven historical lineage to actual prejudice. Not comparable.

Edit:
Do I need a white high school gal to tell me what names are acceptable and not racist, exotic or stereotype?
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bruh you’re missing the point. you’re using an extreme to prove your point. i’m not saying you or anyone need to anglicize your name, that’s not the same argument of telling a white-owned company to stop exoticizing ethnic cultures via name and brand designations. i knew two chinese students named Ming in high school but does that mean it’s suddenly the name that represents all chinese youth? they might as well call their chinese products Trader Fu Man Chu’s

i’m really curious as so how “trader ming” or “trader jose” adds any value or pays respect to the regional origins of their products.

you might not be offended by trader joes use of ming, jose or grotto because it might not seem as important relative to other movements against racial injustice and discrimination, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a salient issue for some or that it needs to be dismissed as petty. if thousands of people signed that petition, there’s validity to the argument it poses
 
moe200069 said:
bruh you’re missing the point. you’re using an extreme to prove your point. i’m not saying you or anyone need to anglicize your name, that’s not the same argument of telling a white-owned company to stop exoticizing ethnic cultures via name and brand designations. i knew two chinese students named Ming in high school but does that mean it’s suddenly the name that represents all chinese youth? they might as well call their chinese products Trader Fu Man Chu’s

i’m really curious as so how “trader ming” or “trader jose” adds any value or pays respect to the regional origins of their products.

you might not be offended by trader joes use of ming, jose or grotto because it might not seem as important relative to other movements against racial injustice and discrimination, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a salient issue for some or that it needs to be dismissed as petty. if thousands of people signed that petition, there’s validity to the argument it poses
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Don’t need a high school white girl with a social media petition to tell me that a name use is stereotypical, exotic or racist. Use of a foreign name by itself is none of those things. And if you only use the “Joe” name, you have effectively whitewashed everything with the corporate English name.
This isn’t the Cause to fight for.
 
wuchi01 said:
Don’t need a high school white girl with a social media petition to tell me that a name use is stereotypical, exotic or racist. Use of a foreign name by itself is none of those things. And if you only use the “Joe” name, you have effectively whitewashed everything with the corporate English name.
This isn’t the Cause to fight for.
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For a person who hates the concept of "race-baiting" you certainly bring up the girl's whiteness a lot. Would it make the petition any more or less legitimate if it came from an Asian person? Also Why is the name "Ming" or "Jose" perceived as foreign when there are American-born Chinese and Latino people with those names?

As for "This isn’t the Cause to fight for," you may not agree with a cause or action but doesn't mean it lacks value or purpose for other people and communities. If a white person wants to utilize their time to advocate against discrimination, I'd prefer that over apathy and ignorance.
 
moe200069 said:
For a person who hates the concept of "race-baiting" you certainly bring up the girl's whiteness a lot. Would it make the petition any more or less legitimate if it came from an Asian person? Also Why is the name "Ming" or "Jose" perceived as foreign when there are American-born Chinese and Latino people with those names?

As for "This isn’t the Cause to fight for," you may not agree with a cause or action but doesn't mean it lacks value or purpose for other people and communities. If a white person wants to utilize their time to advocate against discrimination, I'd prefer that over apathy and ignorance.
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Yes who brings forth the petition matters. You, me, any Asian person can give qualified experience of being stereotyped as foreign, exotic. All these years and no one brought such an important issue up?
This is the Cause you want to continuously defend, then by all means go for it. Thousands also believe the Earth is flat and Virus isn’t real.
Package name is discriminatory? My reaction isn’t apathy and ignorance. It’s against Stupidity.

“Also Why is the name "Ming" or "Jose" perceived as foreign when there are American-born Chinese and Latino people with those names?”

Did I just not make this same point multi times. Check the tape. Use if foreign name by itself is not stereotypical, exotic nor racist.

You don’t like the Names used. Great. Not all Asian people have or want an English name. Use yours with pride. Just as I use mine too.
 
wuchi01 said:
Yes who brings forth the petition matters. You, me, any Asian person can give qualified experience of being stereotyped as foreign, exotic. All these years and no one brought such an important issue up?
This is the Cause you want to continuously defend, then by all means go for it. Thousands also believe the Earth is flat and Virus isn’t real.
Package name is discriminatory? My reaction isn’t apathy and ignorance. It’s against Stupidity.

“Also Why is the name "Ming" or "Jose" perceived as foreign when there are American-born Chinese and Latino people with those names?”

Did I just not make this same point multi times. Check the tape. Use if foreign name by itself is not stereotypical, exotic nor racist.

You don’t like the Names used. Great. Not all Asian people have or want an English name. Use yours with pride. Just as I use mine too.
Click to expand...

bruh who said you need to change your own personal name? no one's telling you to change your name to Greg or Jason so it's easier and more recognizable for white people; I'm not trying to betty brown anyone. suggesting a company change its branding to be less offensive =/= to telling a person to anglicize or americanize their name. you're conflating the two.

I'm not gonna argue whether or not something is stupid, if you want to be pejorative, go ahead. the names of brands and packaging might seem innocuous or harmless but it's part and parcel to a larger issue of systemic racism. TJ's intent might have been harmless and indeed an attempt to be "inclusive" but the process of a group of non-Asian or non-Latino people identifying common "Chinese and Mexican names" and then profiting off that is problematic. as Frink and others have alluded to, if there were more representation at the table perhaps someone would have thought to first say, "actually, this is probably not a great idea."
 
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wuchi01 wuchi01 at the end of the day, I respect your sentiments. I don't have to agree with you to see your point as having validity. Asian communities aren't a monolith and we have different values. i see debate as healthy. do you, my G.
 
moe200069 said:
wuchi01 wuchi01 at the end of the day, I respect your sentiments. I don't have to agree with you to see your point as having validity. Asian communities aren't a monolith and we have different values. i see debate as healthy. do you, my G.
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moe200069 moe200069

We’re all good. No harm, no foul.
Always good just to hear out a conversation.
Thread’s been good for learning and understanding current issues and trends.
Will always support everyone here throughout NT and real Life.
Looking out for each other is important. Peace.
 
frink85 said:
IMO Apu isn't being mocked in the show, he just exists as a character. In the same sense that every other character in the show is an exaggeration of some sort. He's a different ethnicity than most/all of the town but no one points it out as an issue either positive or negative (aside from the immigration episode lol). It sucks that those guys got bullied over that but that isn't necessarily the problem with Apu moreso than representation, portrayal in other media and kids being jerks.

Someone like Fez from That 70's Show would be more of an issue IMO, he's actively made fun of and his "otherness" is pointed out constantly. Shoot, it's even his name. Within the context of the show it makes sense I guess.

I hope I'm understanding your argument. I also have to disclaim that I will defend this show to my death lol.
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I agree with you this argument hinges more on the factors outside of The Simpsons then in it.

My main problem is that I don't think studios in general are allowing any Indian characters if they aren't to be laughed at. Which is my main issue with Apu or similar minority characters contextualized in media. If the argument is that these racial things aren't a big deal when it's more in the vein of Apu because everyone is experiencing it, then it should be the same when it's positive.

However, if you ask for a positive Indian character in media, just replace some of the million white leads, then suddenly everyone is in tune with (white) people's emotions and it's gonna disturb the white audience to have a likable Indian character so that can't happen. That framework of their feelings being the only priority is why there's been so many negative Asian characters and hardly any positive ones. They're comfortable with "point and laugh at" characters and not positive ones. That seems obvious at this point. So to me, as a minority, I'm always going to support the exact reverse of that as long as that framework exists. Cause if it's not us balancing the scales even, then who basically.

Not trying to press you or the show. Just how I tend to think about this whole representation thing and why I almost always side with minorities. In the current framework, there's objective harmful effects (shame about ethnicity, culture, etc) from these characters that can justify, again objectively, why an Indian parent wouldn't want their children to experience it. If you aren't gonna put positive Indian characters in media because of (white) audience pressure, then at least don't put "negative" ones either from Indian audience pressure.

Yeah, I don't think it's really necessarily about Apu or The Simpsons. It could have been about Fez too. It just isn't as popular of a show. Kids right now from what I've seen on social media are using "Baljeet" to make fun of Indians. It can be anything under the current framework of representation.
 
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whatscomplex said:
I agree with you this argument hinges more on the factors outside of The Simpsons then in it.

My main problem is that I don't think studios in general are allowing any Indian characters if they aren't to be laughed at. Which is my main issue with Apu or similar minority characters contextualized in media. If the argument is that these racial things aren't a big deal when it's more in the vein of Apu because everyone is experiencing it, then it should be the same when it's positive.

However, if you ask for a positive Indian character in media, just replace some of the million white leads, then suddenly everyone is in tune with (white) people's emotions and it's gonna disturb the white audience to have a likable Indian character so that can't happen. That framework of their feelings being the only priority is why there's been so many negative Asian characters and hardly any positive ones. They're comfortable with "point and laugh at" characters and not positive ones. That seems obvious at this point. So to me, as a minority, I'm always going to support the exact reverse of that as long as that framework exists. Cause if it's not us balancing the scales even, then who basically.

Not trying to press you or the show. Just how I tend to think about this whole representation thing and why I almost always side with minorities. In the current framework, there's objective harmful effects (shame about ethnicity, culture, etc) from these characters that can justify, again objectively, why an Indian parent wouldn't want their children to experience it. If you aren't gonna put positive Indian characters in media because of (white) audience pressure, then at least don't put "negative" ones either from Indian audience pressure.

Yeah, I don't think it's really necessarily about Apu or The Simpsons. It could have been about Fez too. It just isn't as popular of a show. Kids right now from what I've seen on social media are using "Baljeet" to make fun of Indians. It can be anything under the current framework of representation.
Click to expand...

Positive representation is definitely an issue. Some progress is there with like Crazy Rich Asians or the lead actor in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend but still a long road to being equal. We're in a WASP dominated society/country/culture so that's gonna be awhile unfortunately. Now that you bring it up and I think about it, it's a damn shame that Apu (or any other "real"/positive character) gets mocked by outsiders but we know/expect that to happen just based on history and racism and hegemony. With no want/need for positive Asian characters by media creators, and real opposition to negative Asian characters/sideshows, where does that leave us?

I had to look up Baljeet, and wow little kids are jerks :lol: :smh:
 
whatscomplex said:
Kids right now from what I've seen on social media are using "Baljeet" to make fun of Indians. It can be anything under the current framework of representation.
Click to expand...

Don’t do social media so had never heard of this “Baljeet” thing as a trend. That’s effed up.


frink85 said:
Positive representation is definitely an issue. Some progress is there with like Crazy Rich Asians or the lead actor in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend but still a long road to being equal.
Click to expand...


Not sure was discussed before, but curious about the feedback and reaction to Crazy Rich Asians. Always found it kind of a stretch to compare with Joy Luck Club just because all Asian cast. The plot and theme couldn’t get much more different.
Not a big Rom-Com fan so that was meh. Also not a Crazy Rich Southeast Asian family either so the characters were unrelatable. Hear they’re doing a full trilogy like the books.
 
wuchi01 said:
Don’t do social media so had never heard of this “Baljeet” thing as a trend. That’s effed up.




Not sure was discussed before, but curious about the feedback and reaction to Crazy Rich Asians. Always found it kind of a stretch to compare with Joy Luck Club just because all Asian cast. The plot and theme couldn’t get much more different.
Not a big Rom-Com fan so that was meh. Also not a Crazy Rich Southeast Asian family either so the characters were unrelatable. Hear they’re doing a full trilogy like the books.
Click to expand...

For me the charm of CRA was that it was a good rom-com with an Asian cast and Asian cultural/societal themes and not treated as foreign/"other". Relationship/in-law drama, poor vs rich, etc are universal. Comparing it to JLC was lazy but it's been 25 years between movies with Asian casts so that was inevitable.

Plus, Gemma Chan :blush:
 
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