Saturday, May 8, 2010

Repping the team (aka, do we have to take Tila?)

I popped in on Johnny Cupcakes, today, to see their newest wares. I miss their Asian models like the gal with red glasses from last year's line. Actually, Ajumma wishes Johnny Cupcakes would hire an male Asian model. For now I'll settle for the kid who looks like he could be part Filipino.

This morning Ajumma attended a talk by Dr. Oliver Wang, a professor at Cal State Long Beach, who spoke about race and popular culture. He specifically discussed Asian American pop culture and the importance of seeing ourselves in the media. This got me thinking of representations of Asian Americans I saw growing up. Best I can recall, they were:

1. Connie Chung
2. Arnold Jackson's teacher on Diff'rent Strokes (played by Rosalind Chao)
3. Mac's wife Quon Le on Night Court (played by Denice Kumagai, of whom sadly there are zero photos online)
4. Data on The Goonies (played by Jonathan Ke Quan. He is practically the only Asian American male I remember from pop culture as a youngster. Thank goodness for Jonathan Ke Quan!)