On the September 14th of 1994, ABC Network gave thirty minutes of their time to a concept never done before. That day, in a progressive lineup of women-led shows, there was one even more groundbreaking— All American Girl. The show followed the life of Margaret Kim, an Asian American girl, and her family. That night at 8 o'clock, all Asian Americans flocked to their TVs and stood for some sort of representation that didn't portray them as side characters in comic relief.

On the September 14th of 1994, the ABC Network aired a show that disappointed Asian Americans and regular viewers alike. The show was tacky; it tried to wear a mask of authentic ethnicity but stripped its characters of their right to be Americans. It propagated offensive jokes and the idea that Asian Americans didn't see themselves as Americans, and therefore neither should anyone else.

The show failed. The show failed because it had no genuine authenticity, but that's not the question. The question is: How did the show reach a point of no genuine representation while having a cast full of the people it wanted to represent?

There are two reasons behind it.

The first reason goes as Margaret Cho, the actor and face of the show, put it: "How could we be authentic when we weren't even trusted to tell our own stories", The show was produced by all-white directors and written by all-white writers for an all-white audience.

“The show became concerned with supplying the audience with a rendition of an Asian American family that meets stereotypical expectations,” writes Cassinelli. "The results were stale, obvious jokes, and troubling portrayals of authenticity.”

So, as Cho said, the show was never really about representation in the true sense. The show had a quota to fill, and once it was filled, there were no more reasons for effort and background intervention to be shown. This means the voices of the people who were being spoken to weren't heard. It was like a student of commerce submitting a history paper; failure was guaranteed.

The second reason is that the show stripped Asian Americans of being Americans. The show consistently showed hate and anger towards America in a way citizens of the country would not feel; very subtly, or perhaps not subtly enough, the show gave a clear message: Asian Americans weren't Americans.

And in this attempt to show a stereotypical "foreign" family, the show became incapable of resonating with any Asian that watched it. It was a cheap laughing stock with racist jokes that eventually started falling flat on everyone.

But that was twenty-eight years ago, this is 2023. A time of chatbots and incredible technology. Shouldn't Asian representation become better now?

See, when "All American Girl" failed, it gave producers and show networks a reason to stop airing Asian-led TV shows; after all, if this show by a beloved comedian didn't satisfy people, Asian Americans should likely always fail. This meant a new change wouldn't come for a long time.

Until twenty years later, another sitcom came

Fresh Off the Boat is about an immigrant Taiwanese family. Expectations were high, the content was promising, and the cast seemed good.

The result wasn't good. The show too fell back into old problems, and while this time the ratings and response were better, it greatly separated Asian Americans from their identity as Americans. On the set, there was reported harassment faced by the actress Constance Wu in her attempt to be a part of the script. Overall, it wasn't as groundbreaking as it should've been; it wasn't enough for Asian Americans, and it wasn't enough for the average audience.

So in the end, there is no light at the end of the tunnel here. In fact, the room is so dark that we can barely see at all, and nothing will be visible until Hollywood realises that Asian Americans are as much American citizens as they are Asian. Authenticity can only come if the person in charge of it has a voice. By making foolish jokes and actively degrading the accent and lifestyle of Asians, Hollywood tells us it doesn't care. Once the wallet is full, there is no priority placed on directorial art. If this keeps happening, then there will only be a repeat of another September 14th where Asian-Americans will flock to the TV and hope to see themselves in it, only to be disappointed, only to be told that they aren't American enough.

By Anushka Sharma

@midnightlibrxry