 Damn, this is pretty Chinese. Korean content is angry and Chinese content is sad. Is Netflix new series beef exactly what Asians need right now? I am here with Ronnie Chang's number one favorite Asian comedian, Vic Tran to talk about it. Hey, what's up? I'm Vic. I'm here to replace David permanently, just like you all asked. Yeah, subbing in for David today. Um, we got a we got to talk about beef, man, because a lot of people and not just Asians are saying that this might be one of their favorite Netflix series in a long time. Yeah. And if the non Asians are saying that, that means it must be good. Yeah. So we're going to go through the comments section. We'll go through our own takeaways, like what we compare it to and kind of where does it stand compared to a lot of the other Asian casted content that we're seeing recently, because it is pretty different, but also similar to some two. So please hit that like button. Check out other episodes of the hot pot boys. This one's about beef. Yo, so yeah, I mean, Ali Wong, Steven Young, a lot of other characters. And there are a lot of other Asians that I actually recognize from LA that I do know. What would you compare this to? Because I think looking at the coming on the heels of like, you know, American born Chinese is coming out. Shang Chi, there was like everything everywhere all at once. Like, where does this fall? I feel like this show kind of stands in a category of its own because it's an Asian American story where the characters aren't victims, you know, and they're just like bad people. And I relate to that. I really do. I think it's an honest look at being just a human in America who happens to be Asian. Who do you relate to the most in that show? Unfortunately, Danny. All right, Steven Young's character. Unfortunately, you know. Why? Why? Why? Why is that character so good? I mean, you're you're Vietnamese and Filipino. You never lived in LA. And this is a very like LA based show, although I will say it's obviously relatable to everybody. But like, what is it about that character that you're like, dang, I had not seen an Asian male character like that before. Well, I just feel like, you know, he's kind of broken down. The world is kind of shitting on him. You know, he seems a little depressed and I'm just I'm I'm having like a breakthrough about me right now. As I say this, but like, you're spacing out. You're like, oh, dang. Now, it's just I feel like the choices that he makes are very relatable. I don't think I would do everything that he did, but I could see where he's coming from. Yeah, I think you you had some comparisons like to non-agent shows. Like, what would you say this show is like, because I think it's A24 produced it. So it's like still kind of like everything everywhere all at once, but obviously not as nutty and not about like some kind of like supernatural stuff. But I guess like what else would you compare it to? Well, I feel like there's a similar theme between this and a show like Breaking Bad where like every character in the show has a breaking point and does something that you might not agree with. But I think that makes the characters more compelling and more relatable and more human. Yeah, I think for me, I definitely actually am getting some and I don't mean to be stereotypical just because it's a lot of Koreans in the show and it's written by Korean parasite vibes because there is kind of this class difference between the rich and the poor. And then even the house in it, Ali Wong's house kind of looks like the parasite house because it's all concrete and it's like very rich and like, you know, it's like multimillion dollar kind of has that design. No, yeah, no, it totally looks like it has a basement where and then also yeah, I mean, that's that's where I would say and it's very it's like a dark it's a dark comedy, right? It's a dramedy or whatever they want to call it. But yeah, I mean, I think for me, being Chinese, obviously, I'm very in tune with the Chinese based content like American born Chinese and like Shang Chi, which are all they're all Disney things. So I think the Disney stuff is all kind of similar to an extent or there's going to be some shared themes. But there's no like I like kung fu, but I don't you're I don't need to watch every Asian show like with kung fu. They don't they don't always need like the monkey king or something like that. You know, I think there's a place for that. Yeah. But I'm like, no, no, no, this is more like a farewell in everything everywhere all at once. But I guess like as a like as a Vietnamese and Filipino guy, like how do you see like, do you view like the Korean content as different than the Chinese content? I guess from the outside point of view, no, not really. I never made it that distinction in my mind. But now I'm starting to see the difference. I feel like Korean content is angry and Chinese content is sad. Dude, definitely. I think the Koreans, yeah, they got more rage in their content. Maybe that's what I relate to so much. Do you agree with the statement being on the little bit of the outside of the East Asian competition, because we always talk about this Korean Chinese stuff on this channel? Does it feel like Japanese stuff is always like futuristic? OK, Korean stuff is about the present modern day like issues. And then Chinese stuff is always tying in like ancient culture from the past. Well, I mean like Squid Game is like present day Parasite is like a present day story. So yeah, I guess, yeah, there is validity to that. I have Korean friends who I can tell are kind of like sick of seeing like the Chinese culture aspect, not necessarily that they don't like Chinese people. I'm not saying that. It's just probably what it is. I'm just saying it's like the ancient, ancient Chinese cultural aspect that's always tied into like Chinese movies and Chinese shows. Anyways, guys, you guys let us know in the comments down below what you think, but let's go through the comments section right now. A lot of people said, yo, this show is super relatable and amazing. People are actually acting like real people and not these cheesy sitcom networks and TV versions. This show is also really good for 30 to 45 year olds. Who? Yeah, it makes me feel real cheesy sitcoms. Are they calling out? Well, I mean, like, I don't know. I was fresh off the boat off the boat, Kim's convenience. Oh, OK. Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, they are they are kind of cheesy network sitcoms, but this type of show could not have existed without those types of shows. Right. There needs to be a balance. Oh, you thank you for giving them credit. Yeah. This show was a mixed bag of quality, good aspects and bad ones, definitely above average. And then this more critical comment said it was forced, predictable. This show kind of sucks. Who said what type of person said this? I don't think it's somebody who really looks at themself very hard. You know, it doesn't seem like an introspective. You got no problems in your life. You ain't struggle. Yeah, like if you watch past like the first episode, there's no way that you could say the show is predictable. OK, yeah, that's true. No, it is. I feel like if you know, if you watch the trailer, then the first episode is kind of predictable because you know what the story is about. Yeah. But then after that, it does kind of go down this like, oh, shoot, like, what's going on? Yeah, I think there's there might be some valid criticisms of the show, but being predictable is definitely not one. So you're writing, Vic, you're writing for the show. You're like, this show is good. I really love this show. Similar to Seinfeld. I mean, everybody is just so selfish in this show. I hate how unlikeable and selfish these characters are, but that's what makes it so good. It's because it shows Asians are just being not being these straight, boba loving churchgoers, blue pill do-gooders because human nature is selfish. So it's just Asians being human. Agreed? Yeah, no, I do agree. I think being selfish and having all of these, you know, negative human traits makes them more related. Do you think there was like this kind of goal of Asians wanting to watch other shows about Asians where it made Asians just look good? Like there was a sense when CRA dropped, and I still like that movie, but I understand why some people don't, but it was like Asians just want to see other Asians be rich, you know, and then there was like a string of rich shows, Bling Empire, House of Ho, which are actually rich Vietnamese people, but then it's like all this stuff where it's like, yeah, Asians just that's how we want to depict ourselves. And then we also just want to watch ourselves be like these really nice good boys like in Chiang Ken-Dung, American-born Chinese, even Shang-Chi is like he's a good Chinese guy, you know, in that show. Obviously it's Disney, it's a little different, guys. I can't compare Disney to A24, okay? But like, did you feel like that from the outside? Yeah, yeah, I mean, I feel like that contributes to the model minority stereotype, you know? Even if it's us, you know, creating that narrative, it's still adding to that stereotype. Even if it's, I guess kind of true, it's true for a large portion of people, but this is also true. Yeah, yeah, both types of Asian experiences should be depicted in entertainment. It's important for society to know. Yeah, this comment was, Koreans finally have something more relatable to them. Also A24 makes everything feel smart and hipster, whereas Disney stuff is super cheesy and cringe. And yeah, I mean, I would say this like, I think some of the Chinese content, and I can say this as an ABC, as an American born Chinese, where obviously I support a lot of the Chinese content, but I can watch it too and still be like, damn, this is pretty Chinese. Where I can imagine for non-Chinese people, they're like, hmm, I don't know. And then maybe Koreans are looking at like, well, like we have all this other content that's like Korean content that's like, I don't have to like watch this stuff. So like maybe I don't, you know? Which I understand, I get it, I get it. Yeah, that is an interesting point. Cause I do have, I feel like I struggle getting my non-Asian friends to watch Asian content that I think is good. And I think maybe just being so immersed in like Chinese culture, maybe like makes them feel alienated. But this show is something that I could, I could recommend to anybody and I'm so sure that they'll relate to it. Okay, what are some pieces of Asian content of the past 10 years that you would recommend your non-Asian friends to watch and that they could really easily digest? That it wasn't like too, too Asian. Oh yeah. I mean, Shang-Chi is pretty digestible. Yeah, I think that's an easy pitch cause it's a Marvel superhero, right? Yeah, yeah. Everything, everywhere, all at once. I mean, it's like a fun movie but I feel like that's also kind of a hard wreck because of how like sci-fi and fantastic it gets. You know what I saw? I know a lot of non-Asian people who watched it after it won all the Oscars. And what did they think? No, I think they thought it was like a crazy movie but I remember them telling me they're like, oh yeah, I'm gonna go watch everything over Wala once and you know, I'm like, like have you seen it? I'm like, yeah, you mean it won like seven Oscars. That's why you're watching it. I feel like they did themselves a disservice because whenever I watched it in the theaters, I enjoyed that it was like this Asian underdog story. But you know, they watched it from the lens of like, oh, this movie won all the Oscars? You know what I mean? I feel like they saw a different film. Right, right, right. Last comment was, I like how they made the show about two Asians but not really focusing on their Asian-ness although it's still sort of shown through the details. Yes, yeah, I love that. There were like little Asian nods in the show to where if you are Asian, you're watching like that Leonardo DiCaprio meme you're like, oh, there it is. You know, but it's not like, it's not so in your face. There is like some bits of like subtle Asian trait like memes in there. Like, all right, the Korean church scene is interesting because I know a lot of Koreans, I've been to a Korean church multiple times in my life and then even the whole basketball league bit, that was really funny because I played in a church basketball league before and it gets hyper competitive, man. It honestly brings the worst out of Christians. They're like become non-Christian like when they play basketball. The two details that sit out to me were I think they were like in the first episode is whenever he's yelling at his younger brother Paul and like get an argument and he's like, did you eat? That was like a big thing. And then another one was when he's inside Ali Wong's house and he sees the picture of his husband. He's like, oh, he's Japanese. That was like such a loaded statement. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So like little details like that. No, the Danny Cho and the massage chair scene because I love massage chairs. And you know all the massage chairs come from like Asia. I think they're mostly Japanese brands. Yeah, and they're insane. They're crazy. And they're super expensive, but they're they feel great. Yeah, my parents spent both of their stimulus checks to get one of those massage chairs. Good use of the stimulus check. Could have been used on something more frivolous. Yeah, we stimulated Japan's economy. The massage chair, the robotic massage chair economy. Yeah. No, I mean, overall dude is a super relatable show and it is something that I hope to see more of, you know? And I think that that it's a it's good content when you know that everybody can enjoy it and take away from it. And I think that ultimately this is very progressive. I think that obviously the very like culturally based shows I think are important too. Because that's even for a different audience. But I think when non Asians watch those shows they can even take away something maybe more from like the ancient culture and the specific cultural aspects. But yeah, obviously I love shows like this and having lived in LA it's like I can see it, man. I see I see this. I lived in K-town. I know. But yeah, basically any last words on this type of content. This is where does this rank of Asian content for you? It ranks very highly. I mean, if not, if it doesn't take the top spot it's at least top three. So just as Ronnie Chang gave you the stamp of approval you are giving Vic Tran is giving beef his stamp of approval. Yeah, yeah. And they both weigh exactly the same guys. Beef is Vic Tran's number one Asian content that you need to check out. Yeah, I would recommend it to anybody. All right, everybody. Thank you so much for watching. Leave your comments down below. Did you watch it? What do you think about it? Do you have any criticism about it? Or like where do you think it falls within this sphere or within this larger like Asian content sphere? Because you know there is a lot of more Asian casted and Asian faced material coming out which I think is important of course for representation and yeah. All right, everybody. Thank you so much for watching and until next time we out. Peace.