he is not a symbol of the “unassimilated” or “undesirable” asian – his rise to notoriety is an indictment of mainstream america’s preference to see asians – and other people of color – as characters, not people.

if william knew this and went for it anyway, then yeah, that’s problematic. it’s also the exact same thing 50 cent does. he acts the way white america wants him to act, so they can easily compartmentalize and not have to think about him as an actual human being.

but then who’s to blame? do we hold the person who is playing the game accountable? or do we blame the society that created the rules in the first place?

regardless, it doesn’t seem to be the case that william hung s aware of the game being played. i would love to talk to him; he seems to have a misplaced faith in the goodness of other people.

On the one hand, I feel that his rise to fame is the result of exploitation. He is not terrible, but he’s not superb. So why is he the one that Fox and the rest of America keep focusing on. I can’t stop thinking that it is because they are mocking him, and moreover the mockery is intimately tied to the fact that he is an immigrant and has an appearance that some might say lends credence to the yellow face stereotype. Whether or not this is really true cannot really be known.

Personally, I don’t think I dissed him. Maybe I was too busy minding my own model minority ass. I do remember laughing at him. Because he did not fit my preconceived notion of how a talented singer should behave and perform. Maybe I’m a victim of Hollywood and the record companies as much as he is. But if I never held preconceived notions, I don’t think I would be human. Nonetheless, I never went out of my way to make fun of William Hung. I assumed that he knew what he was doing and was merely pursuing his dream.

I could see why some AA musicians might feel compelled to dis him. If I were an artist who had worked long and hard to try to get the attention of a record company and then out pops the William Hung phenomenon, I might get a little ticked and then a little jealous. Of course, that is the artist’s problem with self-esteem, but I can see how that sentiment of disdain could arise.

I do extend some kudos to William for trying to cut an album, for ignoring his detractors. Even really talented musicians have had detractors. So kudos to him for trying to prove that he can be successful in a “non-traditional field”. Kudos to him for not caring what other people think. I’m not sure that he blazed a trail that the rest of us can or are willing to follow.

But maybe I’m just not as brave as Mr. Hung.

hell yeah api folk don’t like him b/c they don’t want to be seen that way! dude’s sex appeal was six feet under. sure women love a man who’s unabashedly himself, but Dub wasn’t getting any ridiculous booty from the fame. or was he?

joking aside, i cringed at the william hung phenomenon b/c it seemed to me like live action yellow face. and if william hung knew why he was getting the notoriety and continued to pimp himself out for laughs, isn’t there a little twisted exploitation/exhibitionism going on there?

Maybe he thought he could really get a record deal and put out music, and he just bit the bullet. Do I secretly wish he would’ve shut his mouth b/c he didn’t properly represent me?? hmmm. It’s just another fad API entry into the general consciousness, next to so many fads who’ve already dropped out from my memory.

Oh i was watching X files last night and the Chinese episode came on, where there’s this game that involves folks drawing chips from a bucket and losing their organs. Along with some humorous bits (including a non-chinese actor who spoke cringe-inducing phonetic chinese), it featured a pre-Charlie’s Angels Lucy Liu, who billed herself with the middle name Alexis (something like that). I think dropping the middle name and goign with the Double L was the key to her fame. Either way, is she worthy of a Giles Styles appreciation post?