SofiaTalksFilm

  PEN15 is a middle school era show that stars Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle. The show itself explores the difficulties of being an awkward pre-teen. The inclusion of an Asian character also explores ideas of assimilation and intersectionality.  Maya's character explores the extra difficulty of being Asian in a majority white area. In the first episode, Maya is targeted by her class and labeled 'U.G.I.S.' or 'the ugliest girl in school'. Although her Asian identity isn't put to the forefront of the conflict, it still plays a large part in Maya's identity.  The only times we see Maya's Asian identity is when she interacts with her family. An early episode shows her family praying at a shrine for Maya's grandfather. In the same episode, Maya's family is eating a typical American dinner with chopsticks. This is a perfect example of the assimilation that their family is going through in this suburban community. It would have been nice to look further ...

  Margaret Cho's comedy special, PsyCHO,  offered insight into how comedy affects the Asian American experience. Although some of Cho's jokes are uncomfortable or even offensive, most of this act gave insight into the life of Margaret Cho. Some of the jokes are rude or disgusting, but a lot of the jokes are relatable and hilarious.  When the majority of people in class said that they didn't like the special, I was kind of shocked. I do think that Cho did cross a line a few times, but I also was impressed with Cho's ability to laugh at the trauma of being a minority. I'm not sure if laughing at trauma is an Asian American thing or a queer thing, but I didn't feel as though the special was any worse that other comedy specials.  Obviously, I wasn't the target audience for certain jokes, and I am very aware of that, but I don't think the special was bad in any capacity. The queer jokes are what stuck out to me the most because I could relate to them, but the...