Recently, there have been a handful of shows on television that have diversified the characters that are visible on the tube and garnered attention. “Fresh Off the Boat,” on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), is one of those shows.
Based on chef and businessman Eddie Huang’s memoir, also titled “Fresh Off the Boat,” the show centers around 12-year-old Eddie and his family, after moving from Washington, D.C., to Orlando, Florida. The television show is the first time in 20 years that a television series features an Asian family as main characters. Actress and comedienne Margaret Cho’s show “All-American Girl,” which depicted a Korean-American family, was the last one, and it was canceled after one season.
Thus far, “Fresh Off the Boat” (the show) has been the subject of praise. For Randall Park, who plays Eddie’s dad on the show, the chance to play this character was an exciting opportunity. Park told Vulture that he could relate to different experiences that are portrayed on the show and that working on the show has given him the opportunity to work on a show where the family looks like his.
The show has also been subject to criticism, however. One of the major criticisms that the show has faced is that the characters that make up the Huang family are portrayed as stereotypes.
To the contrary, Constance Wu, who plays Jessica Huang (Eddie’s mother), told TIME, “We shouldn’t be a voice for all Asians. We are such a varied group that there’s no one show that can be like, ‘This is what Asian America looks like!’ But we’re given that burden because we’re so rarely represented. If you see Tina Fey on television, you’re not like, ‘All white women are like Tina Fey.’ Yet people are like, ‘Oh, Jessica Huang’s not like my mother, but this show is supposed to be about Asians, so shouldn’t she be like my mother?’”
Wu hit the nail on the head. The broader issue is, as Wu argues, that the television show is under the extra pressure of representing everyone because a show like “Fresh Off the Boat” is so rare. This is a show in which the Asian-American family are its stars, not part of the supporting cast. There are few shows on major networks that speak to and represent different ways of being when it comes to identity. The show also lasts a half hour, which is a limited time slot to address different profound topics and issues.
It’s not realistic to expect one television show to represent all Asians, or all Asian Americans, when their experiences are all different. Not only are identities complex, so are international relations. There are many Asian countries that have had contentious and complicated relations with one another. To homogenize millions of people would be wrong and inappropriate. The specificity of the representations on the show will undoubtedly alienate some viewers, but as Wu argues, specificity is important in avoiding stereotypes.
Having shows on television where the characters are stereotypical is a valid concern. Eddie Huang himself wrote an article in Vulture expressing his concern that in order to appeal to a wider audience, the show was being watered down. The alteration of specific moments in his life to fit the idea of a universal narrative often strays too much from the book, which the show is based on. Operating under the pressure to try to appeal to everyone may put the show in a position where it can’t connect with any audience.
Viewers want to see themselves on screen, and they are right to want that. There are many powerful, funny and compelling stories that aren’t being told on television. Making groups of people appear invisible, excluded or stereotypical is a systematic issue that needs to change. A media environment that is open to telling stories that connect with more viewers is necessary.
Maybe the way I see this is wrong. I do have an outsider’s perspective. My identity is different than Huang’s, and I haven’t experienced events that Huang has gone through. At the same time, it seems to me that the journey young (television) Eddie is on so far is: figuring out what he wants, how to get it and what he’s comfortable with. I can relate to the show because I watch as young Eddie Huang works to figure out how to negotiate his identity, while at the same time watching how his parents deal with their own identities. In my own life and in my own ways, that is something I have experienced.
To my understanding, whatever flaws “Fresh Off the Boat” may have, the show is a step in the right direction, and it’s helping to have important conversations. It’ll be interesting to see how the show develops, and I hope it’s on television long enough to get the chance to.
