Channel 26-KTSF
It may be a bit premature to post about Channel 26 since my exposure to their programming has been limited to "Fruity Pie" and a glance at their website. They are a TV station devoted to programming for and about the Asian American community in the Bay Area, with most of their shows in Mandarin or Cantonese. Sounds like a good thing, yet...
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They currently air a commercial about staying in school that shows a white teenager walking into a shop owned by an older Chinese couple.
"Hi," the teenager says shyly. "Um, I'd like to buy a wallet."
"Ah!" the proprietess beams. "For your high school graduation."
"Um, no," he says. "I, uh, dropped out of school."
The woman's face falls. "One moment, I'll be right back," she says politely. She goes to the back and whispers with her husband in Chinese. They glance over their shoulders at him.
The woman returns with a tiny wallet that she hands to the kid.
"Uh...gee, this wallet is kind of small, isn't it?" he says, inspecting it.
Cut to blank screen that says, "Dropouts make 45% less than high school graduates. Stay in school."
(Now I have to admit that this is actually the most hilarious commercial I've seen in years. It plays on Chinese parental expectations and values, which is a good way to preserve the model minority life path for future generations, if you're into that sort of thing.)
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From the Channel 26-KTSF website:
"Every month, KTSF picks eight new faces to appear on our "Face of the Bay Area" station ID. If you feel your personal history proudly represents your ethnic heritage, send a short email to <<>> and tell us about yourself."
This is followed by a letter from a viewer whose family was featured as suitable "Faces." Take any model minority profile and insert it here, and you will get the contents of this letter. "My husband and I immigrated here from Taiwan and Hong Kong and Japan, studied hard to get advanced degrees, and are raising two sons who play violin and piano and are bilingual and study hard and play with other kids in the neighborhood. We are so proud to be another first generation Chinese immigrant cliche."
Nothing wrong with being hard-working immigrants pursuing conventional notions of "the American dream." Republicans love those kinds because they keep quiet and don't ask for social services. But aren't these rather narrowly-defined qualifications for being able to "proudly represent [one's] ethnic heritage"? It seems that a TV station that claims to be devoted to "issues facing the Asian community in the Bay Area" should reflect the diversity of that community in their images and messaging. Instead they seem to promote traditional Chinese ideals about what makes someone successful and happy - and a worthy representative of their culture and race.
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More postings to come, perhaps, when I have actually spent a little more time watching...maybe I'll learn some Chinese along the way, too.
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They currently air a commercial about staying in school that shows a white teenager walking into a shop owned by an older Chinese couple.
"Hi," the teenager says shyly. "Um, I'd like to buy a wallet."
"Ah!" the proprietess beams. "For your high school graduation."
"Um, no," he says. "I, uh, dropped out of school."
The woman's face falls. "One moment, I'll be right back," she says politely. She goes to the back and whispers with her husband in Chinese. They glance over their shoulders at him.
The woman returns with a tiny wallet that she hands to the kid.
"Uh...gee, this wallet is kind of small, isn't it?" he says, inspecting it.
Cut to blank screen that says, "Dropouts make 45% less than high school graduates. Stay in school."
(Now I have to admit that this is actually the most hilarious commercial I've seen in years. It plays on Chinese parental expectations and values, which is a good way to preserve the model minority life path for future generations, if you're into that sort of thing.)
+++
From the Channel 26-KTSF website:
"Every month, KTSF picks eight new faces to appear on our "Face of the Bay Area" station ID. If you feel your personal history proudly represents your ethnic heritage, send a short email to <<>> and tell us about yourself."
This is followed by a letter from a viewer whose family was featured as suitable "Faces." Take any model minority profile and insert it here, and you will get the contents of this letter. "My husband and I immigrated here from Taiwan and Hong Kong and Japan, studied hard to get advanced degrees, and are raising two sons who play violin and piano and are bilingual and study hard and play with other kids in the neighborhood. We are so proud to be another first generation Chinese immigrant cliche."
Nothing wrong with being hard-working immigrants pursuing conventional notions of "the American dream." Republicans love those kinds because they keep quiet and don't ask for social services. But aren't these rather narrowly-defined qualifications for being able to "proudly represent [one's] ethnic heritage"? It seems that a TV station that claims to be devoted to "issues facing the Asian community in the Bay Area" should reflect the diversity of that community in their images and messaging. Instead they seem to promote traditional Chinese ideals about what makes someone successful and happy - and a worthy representative of their culture and race.
+++
More postings to come, perhaps, when I have actually spent a little more time watching...maybe I'll learn some Chinese along the way, too.
posted by Justina at 2:57 AM
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