When people say his TV show is racist, he’s like, ‘I don’t know if you know any of us.’
Curator: Robby Berman
It's okay if you think his family's entertaining. He agrees.
"Fresh Off the Boat" is one of the hottest shows on TV right now.
The show is based on the real-life story of celebrity chef Eddie Huang, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Taiwan.
The breakout star of the show is Constance Wu, who plays Eddie's mom Jessica.
Jessica is quickly becoming a fan favorite, but some people are concerned that her portrayal, and its thick accent, is offensive.
While Huang has mixed feelings about how honestly the show captures the harsher, more complicated aspects of his family's experiences, he's got no patience for people who think it's racist.
Huang's not claiming to speak for every family's experience. Just his own.
When he hears Jessica speak on the show... Well. He hears his actual mother — a complicated, real person with opinions, flaws, goals ... and yes, an accent.
Other viewers take issue with the character of Eddie.
Specifically, his love of hip-hop.
Well, about that...
The two things people always make fun of me for is "you're fat and you think you're black." — Eddie Huang
What bothers Huang the most about these complaints is that they try to define what an Asian family is allowed to be in America.
And he's having none of it.
He's encouraging the shedding of stereotypes — positive and negative — that prevent people from viewing Asian-Americans as whole human beings.
It's natural to worry that a humorous look at a group of people might give outsiders the opportunity to develop fresh, harmful stereotypes.
But if you always worry about that, how can you tell anyone's story without filtering out everything that makes them unique? And in this case, so relatable and funny.
Really, it's a discussion worth having.
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