There is so much talk nowadays about main character energy, but how much of that is actually in our control? While technically we all are the lead actor in our own story—after all, who else will live your life except you—is this really possible? We do not live in a vacuum; we live within a world of social constructs that are often beyond our control and steeped in white supremacy, ableism, capitalism, and Christian nationalism. Can we actually be main characters when the world may already have assigned us to the background depending on our identities?
Premiering today, Hulu’s 10 episode limited series “Interior Chinatown” invites us to examine the boxes society foists upon us, our complicity in accepting it, and how much agency we actually have to break out of them. What are our responsibilities to ourselves and our community as we navigate, rebel, or subvert these roles? While these questions are pertinent to anyone, “Interior Chinatown” examines them especially through the context of Asian Americans, and more specifically, the Chinese American lens.
Based on the award-winning book of the same name by Charles Yu, “Interior Chinatown” follows Willis Wu (Jimmy O. Yang), a background character who is trapped in a police procedural called “Black & White: Impossible Crimes Unit.” Willis yearns to be the main lead and more than what he is currently as a waiter in a Chinatown restaurant. After he inadvertently witnesses a crime, Willis reports it to detective Lana Lee (Chloe Bennet). From then on, Willis unexpectedly comes into the spotlight, causing havoc as he’s roped into uncovering his own family’s buried history while helping Lana solve the escalating crime in Chinatown.
A critique on Asian American representation
After being invisible in the media for so long, many historically marginalized people are satisfied just by seeing themselves represented on-screen. They do not care if it is not a meaningful presence. They just want to be noticed—even in the background.
But understandable as that is, all representation is not equal, and neither is it good. The kind of representation matters—as does who is telling the story and why.
It is this sort of superficial representation that “Interior Chinatown” scrutinizes and explores.
First, the show tells the story of people who we usually dismiss as ancillary, focusing on the background Asian characters that exist only to support the “real” story. Instead of the lead detectives Sarah Green (Lisa Gilroy) and Miles Turner (Sullivan Jones) on “Black & White,” we follow Willis the waiter, his best friend and fellow restaurant worker Fatty Choi (Ronny Chieng), new detective Lana Lee, and a myriad of other characters we usually ignore (like immigrant mothers). There is even a Kungfu Guy (Chris Pang), and I can’t decide whether it’s brilliant or a little too meta.
Second, “Interior Chinatown” uses the familiar visual language of film and television as a shorthand to highlight and comment on Asian character tropes, constantly breaking the fourth wall to criticize the very tropes the series is actively employing and expanding upon.
The visual references to Bruce Lee, Wong Kar-wai movies, ’90s police procedurals, and generic Chinatown sets immediately bring to mind the decades of various Asian representation on film without having to explicitly spell it out to the audience.
Of course, the series also explicitly spells it out. For instance, the show constantly shows Willis and Fatty discussing Willis’s dissatisfaction with being a “generic Asian man” and his longing to be the main character. The two friends even brainstorm for ways that Willis can break free of his designated role and become someone else entirely.
What I appreciate is that though we root for Willis to transcend his lot in life, “Interior Chinatown” doesn’t shy away from the consequences of doing so. We see how his actions affect his relationship with Fatty (who has to bear most of the ramifications of Willis’s side quests), his family, as well as the wider net of people he touches on a daily basis. The changes are not always positive—and that is true for the real world as well.
In another instance, there is a moment in the second episode where Willis asks why Lana isn’t chasing after criminals who rush by her at a crime scene. Lana replies that her job is to support detectives Green and Turner while they chase after the criminals. Willis is baffled by her passivity, and when he learns of her job history, eventually comments,“So what, you’re like a professional sidekick?” Lana seems to brush it off, but the line hits hard because the audience knows that Asian Americans and other POC are almost always the sidekick and rarely the hero.
Subverting tropes or just playing into them?
The most interesting idea “Interior Chinatown” plays with is how much can these characters defy what is built into their character profile of “waiter,” “best friend,” or “sidekick.” How far can they deviate from their predetermined roles, and just how much can they bend these tropes?
In episode two, there is a light-bulb moment for Willis when he realizes that he’s never left Chinatown, and though he wants to, he can’t actually leave the confines of the ethnic conclave. However, he thinks about what he, as a restaurant worker, can and cannot do, and comes up with an ingenious solution.
In another episode, Fatty is stuck working the restaurant alone and is rude to some white customers. These customers find him hilarious, and the next thing Fatty knows, he’s become a sensation. People flock to the restaurant just for the opportunity to be yelled at by him akin to the Soup Nazi in “Seinfeld.”
At first glance, this development seems like a good thing. More people means more business, and more business means more money. However, it quickly becomes apparent that Fatty is more spectacle than person. Though these customers see him, he is not actually seen. These people only engage with Fatty in ways that fit their predisposed notions of who Fatty is in their life: cranky Chinese waiter. He is dehumanized, becoming the punchline instead of a fully fleshed out person in his own right.
However, the most interesting turn of events is with Black American Detective Turner—who is starting to realize that nothing he does affects the predetermined outcome of events. As he questions his agency and awakens to how his role works within the construct of “Black & White,” he cannot even turn to his partner Detective Green, who is white and female, and is threatened by Detective Lana. Fittingly, Green just wants things to stay static, where she is the star of the show.
Because press was only provided with the first five episodes, I am curious if these Asian character stereotypes are eventually subverted or capitulated to. I can only guess that like life, it is a combination of both.
All 10 episodes of Hulu’s “Interior Chinatown” will be out on November 19. Check out the trailer and follow them at @InteriorChinatownHulu on Instagram.
Comments are closed.