 Is Disney's new American-born Chinese actually for American-born Chinese? Or will it pander to the mainstream audience? Yeah, we got to talk about it because the trailer just dropped for this very high-budget series from Disney plus Andrew. It's almost the exact same cast as everything everywhere. All at once plus Daniel Wu. And of course, the title is American-born Chinese. A lot of people are got to be looking at that like, Hey, that's me. That title is exactly what I am. What's this whole show about? I'm wondering that because I'm very ABC. But anyways, guys, we're going to talk about the multitude of reactions here. We know a lot of familiar faces that are in this show. Obviously it is on Disney plus, so it is a Disney show. So it might not be for everybody, but it could be good. I think a lot of people are wondering, David, is that based off the trailer, it does kind of feel or look like a lot of, I guess, Chinese-based material that we've seen in the past five years. Now, is that a good thing or a bad thing? We'll give our personal takeaways, guys. We are the hot-pot boys from silly to serious. You know, we're talking about it all. Please hit that like button right now. Real quick, Andrew, we got to talk about how American-born Chinese was actually originally a novel by Jean Yang. It's a bestseller. One of the storylines is a kid who's like kind of nerdy. He wants to be cool. There's another storyline with the monkey king. There's another storyline with a white kid in it, like interfacing with his cousin, who I guess is like very stereotypically an Asian nerd and the original guy feels sort of ashamed by that and it's all interwoven together. Why do you say, Andrew, that the trailer had like a mishmash of Chinese-American movie themes? Okay, because we've been keeping up with the material and maybe you have too. But obviously, just actor-wise and cast-wise, it's a little bit of everything everywhere all at once. Big hit, Oscar. Everybody from that movie, like 80% of the cast is in there. Yeah, it's amazing. It was a great movie, though. But also some Chain Can Dunk vibes because it's a Disney movie and Ben Wayne. And it's also about a nerdy guy trying to be cool. So those are very adjacent stories. And I think that this is the central source of like some criticism, but also some people being like, oh yeah, it looks good. It looks like a mixture of all five things. And other people are, dude, it's a mixture of all five things. No way I want to see that. And that's so funny. People can't have just different reactions to the same statement. I love this. It's a mix. I hate it. It's a mix. So that leads us into our first internet comment, Andrew. I love this squad of actors changing drama to drama. It's just like the dramas in Asia where they keep the cast together. But then I guess on the other side, it's also maybe bad because it's just the same actors being in everything. Nah, it reminds me of Hong Kong cinema when Andy Lau and Tony Lerng and then all those guys from Infernal Affairs. Oh, Eric's saying RIP. Yeah, Eric's saying RIP. And then even everybody is like in the same movies. Yeah. And like one time the guy's like the cop and the other one, he's the dialogue. He's like that. Sometimes they're the crooked cop but they all play cops at some point, right? Yeah, it is very interesting. I mean, maybe that's just how all Asian things are destined to be. I know K-dramas as well sometimes keep the same cast together. Hey, well, let me tell you this, man. Everything everywhere all at once, man. That sure was a big hit. Let's get the gang back together. Then there was a lot of comments about the graphic novel that it was originally based off of how close is it going to be? Is it going to be a loose adaptation? Why is everything based off of a book? Because C.R.A. was based off a book and why is everything based off of a book? I mean, if it's a successful story already, guys, I mean, a lot of things are based off of previous stories. Aladdin, nothing is really like unique anymore. Like nothing's like super original is based off some mythology or some folktale or some book that did well because to be honest, that's great source material. It's a great story already. Yeah, I also think it provides a floor for the material but also a floor in terms of demographic base because the book was already a best seller. I want to come out right now and say that Disney has always impressed me. Maybe it's a Disney thing so it's not fully for me but Chang Can Dunk was way better than the trailer showed. Yeah, yeah, we do got to say that. So I think American born Chinese will be way better than the trailer showed if you think the trailer is kind of... And also it depends on who cut the trailer and sort of like the eye from the trailer editor. Moving on, somebody was like, oh man, I think Michelle Yo is total perfection, beauty, confidence, and intelligence. God, I cannot tell you how much I love this woman. And there were some other ones about... Wait, David, are we shocked that this guy says he's an astrophysicist? No, I mean... Even though based off the astrophysicist... I don't believe in the multiverses but... By the way, I do think that Michelle Yo has this classiness that reminds people of almost Hollywood stars from the yesteryear, almost like Audrey Hepburn from England and things like that because they capture that sort of colonial boarding school thing. She's a... Yeah, very, very classy lady. But I would say that right now studios and nobody can really change society. Let's just say in the Western world there is a lot of fetishization. Let's be honest, right? I'm not saying everybody but I'm just saying there's a healthy amount of it or like a lot of it. Or unhealthy amount. Yeah, unhealthy amount of it. How do I use that word? But like there's a heavy volume of fetishization in the Western world towards Asian women. I think that studios do calculate that and they're just going to utilize it because it's not like they can change it. Their job is to get ROI based off the pre-existing societal dynamics. Yeah, I agree. Somebody said, wait. So Michelle Yo is Malaysian. Ki Hwe Kwan is Vietnamese. But they're just all Chinese. This is real confusing to me. Yes, the Chinese diaspora is confusing, man. I get what you're saying. Because they're like, you're there in American born Chinese but I thought he was from Vietnam and she's from Malaysia. That's sauteing the food. That had nothing to do with the Monkey King. It is confusing when you say, oh, this person's Chinese. So they're from China or their roots are from China? Like, no, no, no, the roots are from Malaysia. But originally China, right? Right. Look at the Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia is so gigantic and it is so like historical. I'm just saying all of them speak Mandarin. I'm just saying all of them speak Mandarin. Even Ki Hwe Kwan speaks Mandarin. And Cantonese, I think. Yeah. Somebody said, I'm Asian American and I personally want to come out and say that I hate these AAPI shows. It doesn't appeal to me. I could tell they're trying way too hard in so many aspects. I would rather watch Motherland content from back in Asia or even just regular American content. I do not like this mix. Well, you know, we're looking at the demographics and the rising Asian immigration here to this country. And we believe that making shows like this means that there's a great market for this. So it might not be for everybody, but it's going to be for a lot of people. Right. And not everybody's going to like it. You know, different people like different things, especially Disney things. Like we said, Andrew, they're not designed to appeal to your ultra hipster like a 24 like Lions, not Lionsgate. But you know, one of those other hipster movie production. You know what I thought was really cool in this story. I heard that there's a lot of like five versus ABC dynamics like the ABC feels one way about life is maybe not as confident. And then the fob who's actually mystical comes from like who's like the offspring of a deity. He's very confident in himself. So there is kind of like some relatable topics that we've discussed on this channel where a lot of like aspects that have yet to be fully articulated in the Western narrative. Yeah. Somebody said, hey, listen, I hear you out, but you're being small minded. They got to appeal to the entire USA market and beyond. So that's why it's not very similar to Asia Asia content. So whether you like it or not, you just got to shut up and support it. You don't have to support everything, but I think that it is going to surprise you. That's my guess. Somebody said, I'm an ABC and I'm so sick of this Wusha Pien dynastic ancient mythology theme that is like 70% of Chinese things. Why can't we be modern like South Korean content or Japanese content or at least a mix Japanese content is so futuristic and Chinese content is so stuck in the past. Yeah. I mean, a lot of people are looking at beef that just came out and beef the Netflix series with Ali Wong and Stephen Yon is actually more based around like the Korean American community in LA. Dude, what if this Korean American stories are always present based Japanese American stories are always future based Akira, whatever, right? And Chinese stories are always ancient based. Whoa. It seems like it holds true guys parasite modern day. Not going to lie. Sounds logical. Good way to put it. But in somebody said, yeah, even when Japanese do things like the Monkey King because essentially Goku from Dragon Ball Z is essentially literally just based off the Monkey King. It's still modernized and not old school. So somebody said, why do you think Chinese are so old school about everything? Because we got we got all the old school. Yeah. The old school is Chinese. That's the ancient culture. I'm not saying everything is Chinese today. And when did you notice that some people are really proud of that, but other people are turned off by that because it could go both ways. Like we say, there's a lot of dynamics. You could slice it both ways. Listen, for me, I am proud that China has such an illustrious ancient history. I'll never I don't ever want to discount that. But I do myself live in the mud. I am not a deity from 2000 years ago and like just aging. Like if I was not from the song or Tong dynasty, David, if my soul was actually 2000 years old, I would think of this life as just a little blip in the world history. But since I am a human and I'm living right now, then I have to be concerned with how I am viewed right now. That's a good point. Somebody said, let me guess, there's still going to be some major white actors in this, but there will be no major black or Latino actors. Huh? I wonder why something called American born Chinese will still have major white roles in it, but not for other ethnicities. Hmm. Is it because of white adjacency or because Asians are specifically Chinese worship whites? I can't speak on this one guys. Hey, that's that's a good point. See, I will say this. No, good. That's why I've always was a fan of rush hour and even cradle the grave with jet Lee and DMX. Not as good, but it was like I'd like to swing and shout out to sucker free city. You go go watch that movie. Yeah, Ken Lerner and Anthony Anthony Mackie. Go watch that movie. Sucker free city. The this of course was a huge comment section. And I put it north towards the end. This was from non Asian people. Go for it. This looks like it sucks. Not for me, man. They see. I can just tell from the face of these people to hate America, but they got the nerve to throw the Chinese American in there when it should just be Chinese born Chinese and they should make the whole thing in Chinese and make it over in China. Yeah, they would make it for cheaper over in China. There's nothing American about Michelle. Y'all having these eight hands with all these eight religious Confucian Buddhists. That was God's in there. What's so American about that? I'm American. I don't understand that. I like this comment. Can I have a show called American born German? Huh? Why not reverse racism? Yeah, I mean, hey guys, listen, anything Chinese right now to a certain portion of the population is going to be very controversial. Interestingly enough though, Andrew, I think there's so many different slices in a very big America right now. Disney is not banking on the people who just left these like comments to watch the show. Right. Right. Right. Yeah, they're they're not. We don't need a name you to watch the show. This is not relying on your view. Yeah. When we did our demographic research, we went ahead and left Cleetus off. We didn't factor that Cleetus was we didn't predict that he was going to watch the show. All right, Andrew, let's get into our takeaways, man. What do you think there were some people giving this show props? Some people said, let's wait and see. Some people are roasting it. Some people are like, man, why is everything so ancient? Where where do you stand on this? I think it's progress. I don't think that, you know, if you're not an avid Disney watcher, right? Maybe you watch the Mandalorian on Disney Plus, but maybe you don't care for the other stuff because you know, you don't love like the Disney vibe as much. I totally understand that you don't have to watch this series. I'm not promoting this. I did not get paid to promote it either, but I'm not telling you you got to go sign up for Disney. I'm going to tune into at least one episode. Yeah. Listen, if you're going to call it American born Chinese and ask what I am, I'm going to check it out. But no, at the end of the day, but don't don't actively hate it, man. Just support something out there. That's all I got to say. Why do you think all these stories have to do with a middle to maybe slightly upper middle class nerd who is trying to like is uncomfortable with their position in American society, but then somehow they like, I guess they gained some sort of status through some weird way of accepting themselves but also becoming like a superhero. You know, that's that was turning red as well. I think what we need to talk about more is why that in particular is such a Chinese American and Asian American male story. Right. This right here from Chank and Dunk to ABC to any other movie here in Kumar was even about an Asian guy who doesn't feel cool. Who's trying to overcome that? Why? Why is that the story? By the way, I think that that is a let's just say there's a pie slice of all the different archetypical experiences of Asian Americans. I do think it's quite a large slice, but I don't think it's even 50% of the pie. I think it's a very large slice of the pie, Andrew, but it also gets overrepresented because the kids from that experience go on to become script writers or book writers. I think it's I might disagree with you a little bit on this one. I think it's over 50%. I think it's extremely relatable. I don't think everybody feels it on the same intensity, but a lot of people can share some of these feelings of right because then why is even Shang-Chi a little bit like that, except he doesn't study hard. He's a little bit of an underachiever slacker type. And my whole point is I think we should be having this conversation more and it kind of relates to what John Cho said a few weeks ago on a podcast where it was like about being an Asian male. And this is just about being having an invisible pariah stamp on your forehead. This is such an Asian male dynamic. Like I just cannot. It's just I guess it's just defining of our experience. I think it is particularly defining of a lot of Asian American males that grow up around non Asians. Dude, all these stories are basically Asian guys like growing their dicks. Essentially going from small dick energy to big dick energy. That's what a lot of these stories are in a through a masculinity. All right. So I don't want to spoil it for people, but it has more to do with embracing and accepting your own identity rather than changing your identity. Do you think that that is a good message or a bad message? I think it is a good message. Ultimately for people's happiness, but I don't think it will actually change societal dynamics. If everybody's like, yeah, I was born a small Asian nerd and I just learned to love it because that's obviously that's good though. It's good for yourself to be happy, but it also is not going to change the placement of that dynamic in an American cultural positioning spacing. I don't know. You guys let me know in the comments down below man because like ultimately like there's a lot of Chinese based content that's coming out there with a lot of big stars. So you guys let me know. Are you excited about watching the show or not? And what else would you like to see? All right. So what if you're a person that's not happy about this type of content Andrew? Do you need to cheer while this candle burns or do you need to not cheer or like what if you don't fully like the way this candle smells as it's burning away? Support something else do I don't know say whatever doesn't matter. It doesn't matter because these things are getting made with or without you. Okay. All right. Everybody. Thank you so much for watching the hot pop boys. That is it. You let me know what you think about American born Chinese. Yeah, it could be good guys. Who knows? I have not seen it yet. Let us know what you think in the comment section below. Ambitious title name until next time we to hop out boys we out. Peace.