By Stacy Nguyen
Northwest Asian Weekly
In this latest column, we learn that Asians are sometimes the victims of themselves (or other Asians)—I mean, obviously in addition to being the victims of white supremacy.
Also, someone is getting maaaarried, and we need to band together and ruin TikTok for the young people by bringing our uncool selves to the platform. Why? I mean, it’s our birthright.
‘Married at First Sight’ white guy was not attracted to hot Asian wife ‘cause he’s racist … okaaay?
“Married at First Sight Australia” is literally a reality show about strangers (brought together by dubious professional matchmakers and show producers) who get married the very first time they meet. That’s just the first episode. The rest of the show details the ups and downs of each couple’s marriage.
One of the couples from the latest season is Selina Chhaur and Cody Bromley. They have had a difficult journey on the show, mostly because Cody is racist, and it’s often hard to be married to a racist when you are not white.
What went down is that in an episode that aired earlier in the season, the couples had to do this honesty challenge. And Chhaur asked if Bromley’s lack of attraction to her was because of her “nationality” (ethnicity) or look.
Dude was like, “I think it honestly did have something to play on it initially … I’m not racist by any means … Selina typically isn’t my type. I do usually go for that blond, surfy look. That’s just what I’m magnetized towards.”
Chhaur ended up in tears ‘cause duh she did. And then despite clearly being with a dumb and not-that-hot a**hole, she still insisted on carrying on with her future abuser.
Guess what? In yesterday’s finale, we learned that he totally dumped her as she wept on the couch next to him, with the show’s host was asking him, WTF. He was like, “I’m racist and she’s Asian, what can I say?”
No, I’m joking! He doesn’t have that self-awareness!
He was like, “It felt forced.”
Politician airs racist Sinophobic ad—plot twist! He is a Democrat!
Rep. Tim Ryan, a white guy Democrat in Ohio, ran a campaign ad that was all like, “China is communist! And they are winning! Don’t let them win!” I’m paraphrasing there. But that’s basically what the ad was about.
People are mad. Asian people are mad. He’s getting a lot of emails in his inbox right now, I’m sure.
Ryan responded back via a statement to NBC News that said, “I’ve spent my entire career sounding the alarm on China, who—thanks to a concerted strategy by their Communist government that has included currency manipulation, intellectual property theft, and artificially depressed wages, use of child labor, and brutal working conditions—has been our greatest economic adversary for 40 years … and I will never apologize for doing everything in my power to take on China and fight for all Ohioans.”
Pretty predictable for a white dude in power.
But here’s another plot twist, guys: The offensive ad in question was reportedly made by Left Hook Strategy, which is led by several Asian American partners, (none of whom appear to be Chinese though).
Can I also say I’m not all that surprised here either?
Nico Santos is getting maaarried
Photo from Nico Santos’ Instagram
“Superstore” actor Nico Santos, 42, was the center of a super public proposal at the 33rd GLAAD Media Awards just last week. He said yes! (His fiance is “Survivor” contestant Zeke Smith, 34.)
I usually don’t care about proposals because of patriarchy, but I was charmed by this one because it twisted conventions. Smith is white and and a trans man; Santos is Filipinx.
I love that these two created such a beautiful spectacle. I love that Smith got down on his knee to propose.
OMG Psy is on TikTok now, meaning I need to give my life back over to TikTok
Okay, here’s a public service announcement to all other elderly Millennials out there: Psy is on TikTok now, guys!
This week, the South Korean singer best known in America for the 2012 hit “Gangnam Style” finally joined TikTok! I say finally because if anyone was made for TikTok, it is this man, the originator of one of the most popular meme-dances of all time.
I left TikTok for a time because I lost too many hours of my life going down rabbit holes and I low-key got my feelings hurt when I watched videos of teenagers lamenting the fact that old people like their moms in their 30s were ruining TikTok for them.
I act out my pain by being vindictive though, so I’m pretty gleeful that Psy’s 44-year-old self has joined the platform and is bringing throngs of other oldass people to TikTok to make it uncool, as elderly people like us are wont to do.
By the way, Psy’s ninth album is reportedly coming out this year, too!
Amazon’s ‘As We See It’ features Asian lead who is also autistic
Over the weekend, I accidentally found and then subsequently binged “As We See It,” an Amazon Prime Video series about three 20-something roommates navigating life and love. I know it sounds like every other show out there, but the difference here is that the three lead characters are autistic and they are played by actors on the spectrum—which is unfortunately really uncommon on TV and in movies. So this is huge.
And the show is really awesome. I could wax poetic on why it’s awesome, but you need to see for yourself by watching it. One of the show’s stars is Sue Ann Pien. While Pien plays a 20-something, in actuality, the actor is 42. I bring this up only to say that Pien has evidently spent a lot of years honing her craft and playing smaller or background parts. This is her first starring role. I am so impressed by her perseverance and her passion as an artist. She’s amazing in this show. Watch it and watch her!
Stacy Nguyen can be reached at stacy@nwasianweekly.com.