GROUP 5:
Racial Comedy & Asian Accents​

Overview

 Our topic of discussion is about whether the use of asian accents is funny and if they are problematic. This issue has been an ongoing debate within the Asian community as it sheds light on many controversial topics surrounding our community such as rooted racism, discrimination, and erasure. The use of asian accents is seen prominently in entertainment fields as a way to mock accents rather than appreciate them. Many people in the asian community felt that the use of accents in the entertainment field is often exaggerated and portrayed as a way that is offensive to those who have accents. Despite this statement, others argue that using those accents was not intended to discriminate against the Asian community, but was used as a way to joke around. Moreover, they believe that using these accents should be taken lightly and brushed off as it is used for entertainment purposes only. Our podcast focuses on bringing forward many asian experiences that contradict the claim that using accents is not funny, but discriminatory.

Discussion Questions:

• Are Asian accents funny? Are they problematic?

Podcast Link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vCL4Q2WOn5x9geY5P9PXOHcm2iOZ0zUb/view?usp=drivesdk

Full Transcript of podcast discussion: Transcript

“In the Background” — Research Section

Links to the Cultural Case Studies

• Assigned Cultural Case Study: Anjelah Johnson’s Nail Salon

• Group’s Relevant Cultural Case Study

• Assigned viewing: “Anjelah Johnson talks PC Culture and its impact on Comedy | Checkitow #1 - CLIPS | LATV” | LatiNation (2019)

• All assigned readings 

• 1 scholarly source: “Racial Accents, Hollywood Casting, and Asian American Studies” | Shilpa Dave (2017)

• 1 popular news media source: “How ‘Ching Chong’ Became The Go-To Slur for Mocking East Asians” | Kat Chow (2014)

• In our assigned scholarly source Shilpa Dave points out how often in Hollywood and the film industry, actors are characterized by their accent. Actors are told to either exaggerate their accents in a stereotypical way or to downplay it and disguise their racial identity, both shape the way different cultures are viewed in the public media. Our assigned popular news media source consists of Kat Chow speaking on how the phrase “ching chong” is commonly used as a way to mock Asians. She mentions that “ching chong” is just nonsense sounds based on how English speakers perceive Asian languages, adding that this “joke” has become normalized enough to be deemed as acceptable. For our additional research, our group compiled a collection of TikTok comments from real people who have firsthand experience being mocked for their accent. These provided insight on how it affects people emotionally and encourages others to acknowledge all racial identities as equal.

• Assigned Cultural Case Study: Anjelah Johnson’s Nail Salon 

  • mimics asian american accent

  • makes fun of Vietnamese women

  • talks about the stereotypical things they say 

  • makes the characters sound silly

• Assigned viewing: “Anjelah Johnson talks PC Culture and its impact on Comedy | Checkitow #1 - CLIPS | LATV” | LatiNation (2019)

  • she says people will change their minds a lot

  • she says what she wants to say and if someone doesn’t like it then change it

  • comedy is not the same comedy as before

  • she doesn’t think she did anything wrong

  • she thinks people can be sensitive 

  • This shows she doesn’t really think about how the joke hurts Vietnamese women

• Assigned popular news media source: “How “‘Ching Chong’ Became The Go-To Slur for Mocking East Asians” | Kat Chow (2014)

  • Many instances where “ching chong” was used to mock asian accents

    • Specifically Chinese Accents

  • After using that term-> unbothered, “unaware” of the discrimination, “no intention” to be harmful

    • Creates a space in which Asian people feel invalidated for their feelings

  • Pushes back our community as a whole by contradicting how much we fought to fit in with society (live up to their standards)

  • Still used in the present since it’s very stereotypical

  • This connects to accent jokes because both come from the same type of racism.

• Assigned scholarly source: “Racial Accents, Hollywood Casting, and Asian American Studies” | Shilpa Dave (2017)

  • Dev Shah doesn’t know if he should use a “funny indian accent” in his movie

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXdimuRg2RI

  • She emphasizes how language barriers, cultural misunderstandings, and service approaches can affect customer experience. 

  • Key lessons include speaking English more clearly and carefully, respecting customer privacy by avoiding over-asking personal questions, not being overly pushy with upselling services, and maintaining professional boundaries to create a comfortable environment. 

  • The salon owner appreciates Angela’s honest and funny portrayal, seeing it as an opportunity for growth and better service within the Vietnamese manicure community. 

  • The video encourages manicurists and salon workers to adapt to American customer service norms while preserving the warmth of Vietnamese culture, aiming to foster better communication, professionalism, and customer satisfaction.

• https://chinahandsmagazine.org/2024/10/14/comedy-as-commentary-navigating-asian-american-stereotypes-on-youtube/

  • comedy can be used to reinforce stereotypes using humor 

  • not all youtube/comedians are responsible with what they are saying 

  • Wong Fu Productions shows that Asian American comedy can be used without making fun of accents

  • You don’t need to mock an accent to be funny or relatable

• https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1311380.pdf

  • The overall pattern suggests that many participants still overvalue a “native-like accent” — that is, they treat accent as an important marker of English competence, even when dealing with other Asian Englishes.

  • Negative attitudes toward Japanese and Burmese accents suggest accent biases — possibly linked to perceived “foreignness,” lack of familiarity, or stereotypes about clarity and correctness.

  • The study investigates how Thai university students perceive and judge Asian-accented English — specifically accents from Burmese, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, and Vietnamese English speakers.

Cultural Artifacts

1. Gab Salvas - This comment challenges what Anjelah Johnson said in her nail salon video because it helps affirm that having an accent shouldn’t be correlated to not being smart.

2. Amanda Estrada - Her response is important because it talks about how certain accents are judged more because of stereotyping.

3. Mickie Jai - It is important to normalize accents and not make fun of them and connect to our case study on how some accents are perceived differently.

4. MucidTurtle - Bullying has affected many Asian Americans and Anjelah Johnson’s nail salon video helps these negative comments.

5. Alma Grapas - This commenter talks about how they were feeling empathetic and acknowledged that it can harm mental health when things like these are being said and accents are being made fun of.