{"id":362306,"date":"2021-03-31T20:00:51","date_gmt":"2021-04-01T00:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=362306"},"modified":"2021-03-31T20:00:59","modified_gmt":"2021-04-01T00:00:59","slug":"actress-calls-out-the-office-over-problematic-portrayal-of-asian-american-character","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/actress-calls-out-the-office-over-problematic-portrayal-of-asian-american-character\/","title":{"rendered":"Actress Calls Out \u2018The Office\u2019 Over \u2018Problematic\u2019 Portrayal Of Asian American Character"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Factress-calls-out-the-office-over-problematic-portrayal-of-asian-american-character%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=362306&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-4915.jpeg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<div readability=\"45.023017319964\">\n<p>An Asian American actress who had a small part in an episode of \u201cThe Office\u201d has condemned the NBC show for its \u201cproblematic\u201d portrayal of Asians.<\/p>\n<p>In an episode that aired in 2007, \u201cA Benihana Christmas,\u201d Kat Ahn plays the role of one of two Asian Benihana waitresses who are taken back to the office by Michael Scott, played by actor Steve Carell. During the episode, Carell\u2019s character cannot tell the two women apart, telling other male charters on the show, \u201cYou know how all waitresses look alike.\u201d He also puts a black mark on one of the women\u2019s arms to differentiate between the two.<\/p>\n<p>In a video posted to social media, Ahn called the jokes \u201cproblematic.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"paragraph\" readability=\"17.326203208556\">\n<p>\u201cI actually understood why BIPOC (black, Indigenous and people of color) actors play racist roles. You know, sometimes, you gotta pay your rent. Sometimes you want to join the union. Sometimes you just don\u2019t want your agent to drop you,\u201d Ahn detailed in a <a class=\"external-link\" title=\"(opens new window)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@phillykat5\/video\/6921057229965774085\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" aria-describedby=\"external-disclaimer\">video<\/a>&nbsp;posted in January, <a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/tv\/the-office-kat-ahn-calls-out-show-portrayal-asian-women\/\">according<\/a> to PEOPLE magazine. \u201cAlso, this episode was before, you know, wokeness.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"paragraph\" readability=\"13\">\n<p>\u201cThe storyline with myself and the other Asian American actress is that we were the \u2018uglier\u2019 version of the actresses at the Benihana. Also that all Asian people look alike, we\u2019re one big monolith, and we\u2019re just one big walking stereotype without any personality or individuality,\u201d she said. \u201cWhich is problematic.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"paragraph\" readability=\"22.825493171472\">\n<p>In a follow-up&nbsp;<a class=\"external-link\" title=\"(opens new window)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@phillykat5\/video\/6921838373644635397\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" aria-describedby=\"external-disclaimer\">video<\/a>&nbsp;post, Ahn said she had to take the role to pay her bills.&nbsp;\u201cLook, I took the role because it was a role,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat I realized is that you can\u2019t expect people to create roles for you if they don\u2019t know your experience, and that\u2019s why it\u2019s important for you to create your own content and have your own voice,\u201d Ahn continued, adding, \u201cAsian American creators have a long way to go, especially in Hollywood. But with the success of <em>Minari<\/em>, <em>Crazy Rich Asians<\/em> and <em>Parasite<\/em>, I\u2019m excited for the future for us to create roles that show us as three-dimensional human beings that aren\u2019t all psychos or stereotypes.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Speaking to The Washington Post last week, the actress <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/arts-entertainment\/2021\/03\/26\/asian-women-hollywood-portrayals\/\">said<\/a> she felt that she was&nbsp;\u201cjust there to be the joke\u201d when she was cast in&nbsp;the role.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div readability=\"22.954234972678\">\n<div class=\"paragraph\" readability=\"41.024590163934\">\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re told to shut up and be grateful,\u201d said Ahn. \u201cActors have no power until they become a star.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In 2018, Carell acknowledged to Esquire that \u201cThe Office\u201d would not be made in these politically correct times.<\/p>\n<p>It \u201cmight be impossible to do that show today and have people accept it the way it was accepted 10 years ago. The climate\u2019s different,\u201d the actor&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/family-guy-phase-out-politically-incorrect-gay-amanda-prestigiacomo\">said<\/a>, adding, \u201cI mean, the whole idea of that character, Michael Scott, so much of it was predicated on inappropriate behavior. \u2026 A lot of what is depicted on that show is completely wrong-minded. That\u2019s the point, you know? But I just don\u2019t know how that would fly now. There\u2019s a very high awareness of offensive things today\u2014which is good, for sure. But at the same time, when you take a character like that too literally, it doesn\u2019t really work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Office\u201d is currently available on NBC streaming platform Peacock. It\u2019s unclear if any episodes or scenes from the hit show will be removed, as has happened to numerous allegedly offensive media in recent years.<\/p>\n<p>Days ago, it was announced that two episodes of cartoon \u201cSpongebob Squarepants\u201d have been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/two-spongebob-squarepants-episodes-pulled-nickelodeon-n1262585\">pulled<\/a> from Nickelodeon \u201cdue to sensitivities surrounding the global, real-world pandemic.\u201d This week, Scholastic&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2021\/03\/29\/us\/scholastic-pulls-captain-underpants-spinoff-racism-trnd\/index.html\">pulled<\/a> a \u201cCaptain Underpants\u201d spinoff over concerns about Asian stereotypes. And last month, the estate of Dr. Seuss <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/six-dr-seuss-books-to-stop-being-printed-day-after-biden-left-out-author-from-read-across-america-day\">stopped publishing<\/a> six books over apparent racial insensitivities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i>member<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An Asian American actress who had a small part in an episode of \u201cThe Office\u201d has condemned the NBC show for its \u201cproblematic\u201d portrayal of Asians.In an episode that aired &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2311481,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-4915.jpeg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Actress Calls Out \u2018The Office\u2019 Over \u2018Problematic\u2019 Portrayal Of Asian American Character","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-362306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-4915.jpeg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Actress Calls Out \u2018The Office\u2019 Over \u2018Problematic\u2019 Portrayal Of Asian American Character","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2311481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}