More and more, Asian Americans are being cast in a slew of reality TV shows. In fact, the brother and sister team, Tammy and Victor Jih, have just won this season’s Amazing Race competition. Their success stems not only from their raw strength and extended resilience, but also from their able calculation and handling of particularly difficult situations—including their quick rebounds from repeated missteps.
Hopefully, Tammy and Victor Jih will not all too quickly join the ranks of the soon forgotten in this increasing expanse of reality broadcasting after their brief moments of fame. Does anyone remember Yul Kwon? Yul is one of the winners of another long-running popular series, Survivor. Regardless, Yul’s celebrity status is now dim, eclipsed by other Survivor contenders with greater longevity in their prominence. (Remember Ozzy?)
As Amazing Race champions, the Jihs have definitely exhibited true prowess, but sometimes that is not enough. Consider how powerhouse-comedian Joan Rivers tramples over classy lady Annie Duke in last night’s Celebrity Apprentice finale. Vile bitchy drama emerges and is rewarded aplenty with extended celebrity prestige or complementary infamy.
Remember Ronald and Christina Hsu, the father and daughter team who competed in the twelfth episode of Amazing Race? Followers will recall the broadcast-worthy drama they contributed, albeit uncalculated and self-inflicted. Viewers, especially Asian Americans of this generation, would have clearly identified with Christina. Her father’s stubborn, self-righteous, and condescending attitude and demeanor towards her, and Christina’s pathetic, martyr-like deference to the evil elder ought to make your heart bleed and cry. Mr. Hsu seems not half as obnoxious as Joan River’s performance in Celebrity Apprentice, but has certainly stirred enough discomfort to merit momentary pause to their certain path to obscurity. Recent Amazing Race winners Tammy and Victor (and Yul of Survivor) will take the short route.
Who else is there? Remember William Hung, the vocally challenged accidental celebrity from American Idol? Oh well, that’s another story. How about Ongina in RuPaul’s Drag Race debut season? Imagine a flamboyant drag queen coming out to her family with her HIV-positive status via nationwide cable? But, that too is another story. The bottom line is, celebrity or non-celebrity, Asian Americans tend less to crank up the volume and play their own drama in full blast. Nevertheless, the quality and depth of the drama itself, though sometimes regrettable, shouts out effortlessly on the bullhorn.
Reality shows have become a pervasive presence in the current entertainment landscape. I surmise a majority of Americans knows someone who has in one way or another pursued celebrity fame via a reality television show. I do.
Rudy Zhao, then a medical researcher in New York, has been a remarkable competitor in Quest USA, a 2004 Chinese reality production broadcasted on the International Channel. While Rudy represents the Beijing team, he has in the show exhibited a remarkable personality that breaks free from the traditional Asian mold. In fact, his own teammates identify him as a sore thumb—i.e., “too talkative” and “too outgoing”. I like Rudy. Pure clean drama emanates from his true self, unrestricted yet uncontrived, forming a mold kneaded from East and West, a very close semblance to what we may describe as today’s Asian American.
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