He also is delighted that, “We've been talking representation, and I don't think there's ever been a show like American Born Chinese on television that is so well done - the story is amazing, and it features an entire Asian cast.”Īs for infusing the narrative with the Asian culture, Cretton feels that, “audiences want the generic version of culture, or a surface representation of a culture. Of course, a lot has changed, but I want the audience to see it.” But it's a conversation that needs to be had. And it's okay, because that is something for us to talk about and to make progress, to be better. In fact, when I was on set playing this character, I went through that range of emotions. Quan points out that, “when the show comes out, I think the audience is going to have a range of emotions some are going to be very angry with it, some are going to think it's funny. They will be born in China, but American citizens with American parents, but live in China.Ke Huy Quan stars in 'American Born Chinese' AMERICAN BORN CHINESE - “Hot Stuff” KE HUY QUAN (Disney/Carlos Lopez-Calleja)Īs for casting Quan, Yu says, “We had a character that surprises you - without giving anything away, and, Ke is nothing if not an actor who surprises you.” This has made me wonder what our daughters will be.

Last year, during election season in the US, Chinese officials praised the increasing numbers of Chinese-Americans running in American political races because their success is China’s success (I scoured the Internet to find those articles, but I couldn’t find them anywhere! But I know I read them! If you know what articles I’m talking about, please link them in the comments). To many Chinese, no matter where you are from, where you were born, or where you may live, you are always Chinese first.

In China, your ethnicity is more important than your nationality (though many Chinese also don’t see a difference between being ethnically Chinese and nationally Chinese). The most important thing is that you are American, It doesn’t matter what your race is or where you are from, if you are an American citizen, you are an American. You can choose to hyphenate your ethnicity as a sign of respect to your heritage, but you don’t have to. It doesn’t matter what your race is or where you are from, if you are an American citizen, you are an American.For Americans, the ethnicity is less important than the nationality. To me, this shows a big difference in how Chinese and Americans emphasize race.įor Americans, the ethnicity is less important than the nationality.

in the phrase “Chinese-American,” the ethnicity is the adjective and the nationality is the noun. An adjective describes a noun and is typically unnecessary information. GRAMMAR TIME! In the phrase “American-born Chinese,” “American-born” is the adjective and “Chinese” is the noun.

An american born chinese