Categories: Uncategorized

Don’t blame me, I’m doing my part…

Tak Toyoshima looks at the lack of Asian representation in TV and movies and the touchiness that sometimes results in the latest installment of his web comic, Secret Asian Man:

Doesn’t the angry guy look like me? I mean, if you gave him longer hair on the top and an accordion and made him smile more often.

You can’t accuse me of not doing my part. Last year, I appeared on the HGTV series Love By Design as one of the eligible bachelors — I was both “the funny one” and “the guy who doesn’t live in squalor.” This year, I played “the quirky accordion rocker” on MuchMusic, and come September, on a new W Network series called Living Romance, I’m the guy they send out on the street to pick up women armed only with his wit and an accordion.

(At one point during the Living Romance shoot, someone phoned the producer, asking her if they had to “wrangle” — TV/movie talk for getting stuff or people; in this case, women for me to serenade — girls to appear on camera for my street serenading scenes. She answered “Joey had no trouble wrangling them himself.”)

So when I do get my guest appearance on 24?

Recommended Reading

Other relevant Secret Asian Man comics:

Frances Kai-Hwa Wang has two articles on Asian characterization in the media:

Where are the rock stars? As far as MuchMusic goes, my guess is that the rockers of Asian descent who’ve had the most live air time are (in order):

I suspect that the situation is worse on MTV, as their list has only James and Dave. MTV, feel free to call me.

Last year’s appearance on MuchMusic. Come to think of it, if you were to list live accordion appearances at MuchMusic in terms of air time, it would be: 1. Weird Al Yankovic, 2. They Might Be Giants, 3. Me.
Joey deVilla

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