Random Thoughts
Yesterday this charming photo of Chris L. from Funker Vogt and Agonize showed up in my news feed on Facebook.
To say I was not amused by the photo would be a massive understatement. Pissed off is more like it. I debated about whether to share it directly on all the social media outlets I have accounts with but with a great deal of thinking, I decided to go for it and posted it on Facebook, Instagram, and on Twitter (on both my personal account and the account for the Twin Cities Underground blog I run) this morning. Haven't gotten much feedback on Twitter but I have gotten some response to the photo (which were of disgust).
As an Asian American this to me was nothing more than yellowface. All that was missing was the slant eyed gesture that racists likes to make when mocking Asians. Now that non-POC folks no longer can get away with poking fun at black and Hispanic people, it seems to me that making fun of Asians are the last acceptable form of racism. I say this because when I was scrolling through the comments of this photo on Chris L.'s Facebook page, all the comments I saw were people saying this shit was funny or adding more fuel to the fire with more anti-Asian jokes. To see no one holding Chris L. accountable for his racist photo was really disappointing which lead to my decision to share the photo on all my social media accounts and now my blog.
I found a really great article from a few years ago that really has held up well over the years which is worth reading called Why Is It Still Okay to Make Fun of Asians? . The article really goes over the reasons about Asians stereotypes (let alone the stereotypes), why people make fun of Asians, and why Asian representation in Hollywood is so important .
A friend of mine brought up the issue of cosplay which is an interesting subject. It is very tricky. Here is a great article I found called To All White Cosplayers who Cosplay as POC Characters. Honestly? A part of me feels uncomfortable about the topic however as long as no one dresses in blackface, brownface, or yellowface, I am willing to be mature enough to let non POC dress up as POC characters. Just be respectful and don't be a massive racist dick about it. Oh and being Asian, do NOT go for the slanty eyebrows and Fu Manchu mustache if you are dressing up as a character who is Asian. Yeah no, that's not cool and it looks rather comical and foolish.
Finally, I am not going to call for a boycott of Funker Vogt and Agonize (the bands Chris L. is a member of). I am not crazy about the cancel culture on social media however I will call him out on for this stupid photo and to give him a brief lesson that this is not funny, it is racist AF, and I as an Asian (American) and fan of industrial music will not put up with this crap. If I am seen as sensitive snowflake, fuck it! I rather be a snowflake than a bigot thank you very much. I personally though will NOT be listening to his music ever again. That is my personal choice. I will let social media run its course.
To say I was not amused by the photo would be a massive understatement. Pissed off is more like it. I debated about whether to share it directly on all the social media outlets I have accounts with but with a great deal of thinking, I decided to go for it and posted it on Facebook, Instagram, and on Twitter (on both my personal account and the account for the Twin Cities Underground blog I run) this morning. Haven't gotten much feedback on Twitter but I have gotten some response to the photo (which were of disgust).
As an Asian American this to me was nothing more than yellowface. All that was missing was the slant eyed gesture that racists likes to make when mocking Asians. Now that non-POC folks no longer can get away with poking fun at black and Hispanic people, it seems to me that making fun of Asians are the last acceptable form of racism. I say this because when I was scrolling through the comments of this photo on Chris L.'s Facebook page, all the comments I saw were people saying this shit was funny or adding more fuel to the fire with more anti-Asian jokes. To see no one holding Chris L. accountable for his racist photo was really disappointing which lead to my decision to share the photo on all my social media accounts and now my blog.
I found a really great article from a few years ago that really has held up well over the years which is worth reading called Why Is It Still Okay to Make Fun of Asians? . The article really goes over the reasons about Asians stereotypes (let alone the stereotypes), why people make fun of Asians, and why Asian representation in Hollywood is so important .
A friend of mine brought up the issue of cosplay which is an interesting subject. It is very tricky. Here is a great article I found called To All White Cosplayers who Cosplay as POC Characters. Honestly? A part of me feels uncomfortable about the topic however as long as no one dresses in blackface, brownface, or yellowface, I am willing to be mature enough to let non POC dress up as POC characters. Just be respectful and don't be a massive racist dick about it. Oh and being Asian, do NOT go for the slanty eyebrows and Fu Manchu mustache if you are dressing up as a character who is Asian. Yeah no, that's not cool and it looks rather comical and foolish.
Finally, I am not going to call for a boycott of Funker Vogt and Agonize (the bands Chris L. is a member of). I am not crazy about the cancel culture on social media however I will call him out on for this stupid photo and to give him a brief lesson that this is not funny, it is racist AF, and I as an Asian (American) and fan of industrial music will not put up with this crap. If I am seen as sensitive snowflake, fuck it! I rather be a snowflake than a bigot thank you very much. I personally though will NOT be listening to his music ever again. That is my personal choice. I will let social media run its course.
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