ABC comedy Fresh Off the Boat 'fails its Asian-American author'
Asian-American, on whose life the TV show is loosely based, blasts it for perpetuating racial stereotypes and for misrepresenting his life
When it debuted in February, the ABC comedy Fresh Off the Boat was heralded as a landmark for diversity.
"Diversity on TV takes a step forward with ABC's Fresh off the Boat, which boosts Asians' scant presence in prime time," began a New York Times review.
"The show has a radical quality simply because it arrives in a television landscape with few Asian characters," wrote New Yorker TV critic Emily Nussbaum. "... Simply watching people of colour having a private conversation, one that's not primarily about white people, is a huge deal. It changes who the joke is on."
But for Eddie Huang, a Taiwanese-Chinese-American chef and author of the memoir on which the show is (very loosely) based, the mere presence of Asian-American characters doesn't mean the show is doing much to challenge TV's status quo. "For the record, I don't watch Fresh Off the Boat on ABC," he tweeted Wednesday. "I'm happy people of colour are able to see a reflection of themselves through Fresh Off the Boat ... but I don't recognise it."
He followed with a string of criticisms of the show, including that it perpetuates Asian stereotypes and misrepresents his life.
"Why do sitcoms have to avoid real issues and instead appropriate the symptoms of our problems for entertainment? I don't accept this," he wrote.