Golden Globes: We have an Asian sighting

Margaret Cho skit stirs controversy

OO-O-O. Look, there's an Asian! There's another one. Oo-o-o. Is he one, too?

A couple of posts ago, I gave out the first annual Eddie Awards for Asian American performers because I thought there were no Asians at the traditional award shows. Well, I'm happy to say: I was wrong. There has been an Asian sighting at the Golden Globes award show.

Comedienne Margaret Cho made an appearance on the Golden Globes, not as a nominee, not as a presenter, but as a character who was supposed to be the newest member of the Hollywood Foreign Press, who vote on the Golden Globes. She was supposed to be from the unsmiling North Korean media. Unfortunately, the skit committed the greatest sin for a comedy skit -- it wasn't very funny.

The nervous audience didn't know if they were supposed to laugh, or they were too afraid to laugh because they might be caught snickering at what some consider a racist portrayal. instead of a way to joke about the Sony hack as a result of the satirical portrayal of North Korea's President Kim Jong-un in The Interview.

At first I was happy to see Cho in her cameo, -- at last -- but later, I had second thoughts which I'll discuss later.

Chrissy Teigan's "cry-face" went viral.

There were two other Asians on the show. Chrissy Teigan's husband won for writing the song used in "Selma," and as the camera is wont to do, it panned to Teigan's tear-streaked face. Within seconds, the sweet moment turned into a meme that went viral.

Less we forget, the presenter in that same category, was no other than Filipino American Prince! Oh, let it rain purple! Another Asian American!

Meanwhile, back to Cho, whose standup I really enjoy, her performance came under the scrutiny of Sonia Saraiya, writing in Salon. 

"It was a challenging, uncomfortable minute of performance—not easily condemned as 'offensive' or immediately praised as being “subversive.” The minute-long bit where Margaret Cho was actually onstage was closer to uncomfortable than it was to hilarious ..."

"Meanwhile, this industry in particular happens to be very, very white—of the 96 nominees, only 14 are people of color, most from just two films (“Birdman” and “Selma”). Four were nominated for the same award (the writers of “Birdman”). And two aren’t even in the film industry—singer John Legend and rapper Common. Of the 49 presenters, only seven were people of color—including two more musicians (Jennifer Lopez and Prince) and one television mogul (Oprah Winfrey)."

“These are the kind of jokes that are seemingly innocuous that can have incredible impact in shaping biases and prejudices,” says PaKou, director of 18millionRising.org, a movement to empower the Asian-American and Pacific Islander political voice.

“You have to consider your audience. How many people in that audience even know Margaret Cho’s body of work, her internalized issues with racism that led to depression and eating disorders? How many people know what is actually happening in North Korea? We are not in a post-racial world. There are people who see that and think if Margaret Cho makes fun of it, I can make fun of it.”

Time Magazine chimed in explaining why the only official Asian presence in a show devoid of Asians was so critical: "It’s the extra burden placed on women and comedians of color. White, heterosexual male comedians don’t have to carry the responsibility of representation."

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/jenee-osterheldt/article6148836.html#storylink=cpy

Cho, who in her short-lived sitcom All American Girl, was victimized by the producers wanting her character by more stereotypical, didn't apologize for the role she played in the awards show.

Two days after the Golden Globe, Cho tweeted:

In light of the defense of freedom of expression stirred by the terrorist attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, you'd think we'd give Cho and the Globes some slack.

UPDATE: Margaret Cho gives a more extended interview on her Golden Globes appearance in a Salon interview "Comedy is about offending" by Kevin Wong. 

We know the need for more roles for Asian Americans, but let's forget that for moment because the reasons can be complex and involves a lot about demographics, money and racism. Let's just try to simplify things and put forth a broader question. All this talk about Cho distracted from the real question the Golden Globe and other award shows should be asking themselves: 

Why are Asians, who represent the largest movie-going public in the world, and who have the most prolific movie production facilities in Hong Kong and Mumbai, extensive facilities in Tokyo and Shanghai, being ignored -- and, it appears, excluded from these ceremonies?

As Salon's Saraiya concludes, it seems the organizers forgot a whole continent.

###