Good luck, Christina Cha, on Survivor: One World.
UPDATE:
Following GI Korea's lead, I probably should let her have a chance to get in a few words herself. Here's her Survivor interview:
She's a free-lance everything, as well as "not your quintessential Asian girl." Not sure if it's good that she's not following stereotypes or bad that she thinks loads of people are subscribing to them in general.
At any rate, I'll be tuning in to Survivor: One World (I always do) to see if I've been a bit harsh or not.
UPDATE 2:
I'm a terrible person. I shouldn't do this, but I just can't resist. See, I do much of my TV and movie viewing with "M," who is not a native English speaker, so we usually watch with the captions on. And every now and then you get a funny juxtaposition of picture and text, as below.
The truth is, I think I've been giving Christina Cha too hard a time, and not just by posting this screen cap of her in a compromising position. She actually has become the one player I'm rooting for this season (I don't usually watch until a day or so after the original broadcast so please, no spoiler alerts in the comments section).
This is in part because she has become an underdog. More specifically, there are a bunch of people there who have a horrible hate-on for her and I cannot figure out why. We the audience have seen absolutely no reason whatsoever for them to despise her with the passion they do, but they have been vicious.
What gives? She has has been friendly, she pulls her own weight around the camp, she hasn't backstabbed anyone, and she seems likable. So what gives with all that animosity?
Since it seemed to stem from that one Republican fellow who thinks he's a woman, I started to develop a theory. Colton is a gay person in Alabama and in the GOP who spews bigotry and intolerance toward others (e.g., "ghetto trash"). I mean, really? Irony much?
And since he seems to be the fountainhead of the river of vitriol reserved for Christina, I have to wonder if that, too, does not stem from, to put it bluntly, animosity toward Asians, or Koreans in particular. (Maybe he didn't get a job at the Kia factory.)
In the first few episodes, I really kinda felt sorry for Colton, whose early teammates seemed as homophobic as they were misogynistic. But then he just became this self-absorbed fireball of narcissism and evil, and I was kinda sorta standing up and applauding in front of MacBook when he was sent packing.
Yeah, yeah, I can attest that appendicitis is no fun at all and I wouldn't wish it on anyone, but it was very clear that karma bitch-slapped you, Bruddah.
And if I'm right that the Christina Cha hate-fest was racially motivated, what's up with Jonas Otsuji being part of that bevy of bigots? Seriously, dude. Maybe I should put up compromising pictures of you.
Nah, I won't. First off, it's the pics of Christina Cha that bring the thousands upon thousands of hits to Monster Island. And second, since Jonas and I both live in Hawaii, there's no small chance I might run into the guy (it's not hard to see celebrities here in Honolulu — "M" even had a class with Purple Kelly a couple semesters ago) and if so, I'd like to tell him I thought he did a great job on the show and shake his hand, without him lopping it off with one of the tools of his trade.
어쨌든, 크리스티나 차씨, 파이팅! (벌써 이긴지 안 이긴지 당신이 알지만, 제가 아직 몰라요.)
UPDATE 3:
It pays to watch Survivor's extra stuff. My hunch was apparently right about the hate-fest toward Christina having a racial component to it. Indeed, it seems appendicitis isn't the only thing with which Colton was afflicted: he also had a case of "chink eye."
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"I don't know any kyopo parents — especially if they're immigrants — who wouldn't be oh-so-proud"
ReplyDeleteshould be "would"
I was being sarcastic.
DeleteAll these Koreans you see on TV in embarrassing situations... Every kyopo parent I know — particularly the immigrants — would be completely horrified at that.
From the tattooed eyebrows to the overly whitened teeth to the navel ring and beefiness in lingerie, she is a Korean mother's nightmare as far as appearance goes. American beauty trends gone bad. Put on some clothes, lose the tan and ten pounds as well as the other stuff and she's good.
ReplyDeleteI'm not an fan of plucked eyebrows (which necessitate tattooed replacements) or navel rings. Regarding (slight) beefiness in lingerie, though, if she can change the stick figure aesthetic that seems so dominant in Korea these days, more power to her.
DeleteOverall, though, I agree she is a Korean mother's nightmare. Unfortunately, from political spokespeople to reality show contestants, the various kyopo pushing their way through to represent the Korean-American experience are often the least representative, most undeserving, and greatest embarrassments.
I wouldn't say Yul Kwon, Becky Lee, or John Park are embarrassing.
DeleteI don't watch American Idol, but from what I hear of it, it requires actual talent to move ahead, so that tends to weed out the talentless media whores (by definition), which would explain someone who is not as I described (e.g., John Park) making it there. (And I'm assuming he's a decent person.)
DeleteAs for Yul Kwon and Becky Lee, weren't they part of the Asian team in that one controversial season of Survivor (the one I didn't get to see!)? When a reality show, especially one like Survivor that still tries to live up to its better reputation, is tasked with casting a group of Asians rather than a token, things may be different.
And you know what, maybe we're giving Christina Cha a hard time over nothing. They are on a tropical island and they can't choose the publicity photos. Maybe she comes across a bit better than we're imagining.
Survivor is by no means a "respectable" program. Sure, it is a slick production, but is not above pulling the cheap ploy as I mentioned below. This was especially evident in some scenes featuring Cao Boi with the "exotic Oriental" music and editing. The producers had a hard time casting the Asian members and Yul actually refused the offer initially, but was approached again. American Idol accepts ANYBODY for an audition. You just need to be in the right age range.
Delete"lose the tan"
DeleteYoure such a fucking retard man...
Play nice, banjoadams (and everyone else).
DeleteI believe tans look good on those naturally tanned like some Latin Americans. But really not a good look for lighter skinned people, especially blond white women. Just watch "There's Something About Mary" and you will get my drift. Some people have no taste and will follow trends mindlessly aka banjoadams. LOL.
DeleteThey're the most high-profile kyopo reality stars. Anyhow, Yul talked about how racist the casting of Survivor was, how the producers asked him to wear a suit and glasses when everyone else wore casual clothes at the audition. It was done to put him into the role of Asian nerd. The producers were quite devious in how they cast that season, not telling any of the contestants that they would be divided by race until the last minute. Yul also had a conversation with Burnett and was stunned to see the level of ignorance displayed by this successful producer that you would expect to have some social awareness with all his travel and media experience. He even asked Yul what the problem with Vietnamese people was. I saw this on a KEI video on youtube. It's quite long. Yul was speaking about his Survivor experience.
ReplyDeleteI just shared my opinion of Christina, but she gets to choose her clothes. It wasn't meant to be snarky although I did offer a lot of criticism.
She is HOT! you guys are nuts for saying anyone would horrified
ReplyDeletePrudish parents = horrified their daughter in underwear on TV
DeleteKorean parents = prudish parents
∴ Korean parents = horrified their daughter in underwear on TV
Way to play christina, You are not only beautiful but intelligent in your playing of the game.
ReplyDelete