As a professional, I had certain concerns before I went in. I asked if my hair would be ironed. Margaret assured me that it would and we were good to go! I never had it done before but this was going to be a big video production with dancers and smoke and catering. They’d definitely have a flat iron on set. This obsession began months earlier when Margaret casually mentioned wanting to make a video for Asian Adjacent and that I could be the Ryuichi Sakamoto character, like in Madonna’s Rain video. That guy’s got amazing hair. Damn him! This was going to require some incredible acting on my part to summon that kind of whale bone straightness. A wig was never an option for a Method guy like me.

The other thing you realize when you make a music video is how you really feel about a song. You’re going to lip-sync to it a few thousand times before you’re allowed to take off whatever harness you’re hanging from and they give you food. It helps to love the song. I LOVE Asian Adjacent. The fact that it was inspired by Margaret’s mistaken assumption that I was of some Asian ethnicity ( I’m actually Creek ) makes it all the more genius and flattering. It’s a seductive recording that could hold it’s own on any dance floor. Margaret delivered an incredible vocal to begin with. It’s was a dream to write with her and a delight to produce the track. Carmen Rizzo also brought it up to a whole other level, with his beats and exotic textures. Enter Tani Ikeda who directed the video. Tani found in Asian Adjacent equal portions of beauty, absurdity and bite. She even cut out my fat parts! If you’re going to spend a day in cage you couldn’t find funnier, harder working people to share it with.

Adjacently yours,
Grant-Lee Phillips

Margaret Cho – Asian Adjacent – featuring Grant Lee Phillips from Margaret Cho on Vimeo.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
“Asian Adjacent” is from Margaret’s Grammy-nominated comedy music album, “Cho Dependent.”
Get the song on iTunes here.
Get it on CD or Vinyl with automatic download of the whole album, from Margaret!

Margaret Cho – Asian Adjacent – featuring Grant Lee Phillips from Margaret Cho on Vimeo.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
“Asian Adjacent” is from Margaret’s Grammy-nominated comedy music album, “Cho Dependent.”
Get the song on iTunes here.
Get it on CD or Vinyl with automatic download of the whole album, from Margaret!

It was a really cool shindig, with lots of people I absolutely adore in the (white) house such as angryasianman (who is super hot and sexy in person btw – sorry to objectify you but you’re adorable), DJ Rekha, Kelly Hu and my old friend Kal Penn who actually works there! I saw him outside with a clipboard, which to me means working because nobody has a clipboard unless they are hard at work.

We were treated to lots of the good white house crème brulee and hot bhangra beats from DJ Rekha and then waited for the President to come and give a speech. I haven’t been to the White House since the Clinton administration, so it was a wonderful feeling to come back after all these years and feel so welcome. Even though the building is the same, the place has changed so much. All the White House staffers are so young! It’s really fantastic to see the younger generation so passionate about politics and devoting all their energy to the Obama administration. It’s rock and roll and very exciting!

Speaking of rock and roll, of course when Obama was giving his speech, I secured a spot right in the front row. I have been to enough rock shows and been a groupie long enough to know that when you want to get backstage, you have to stand in front of the lead singer, not directly facing him but slightly to his left, where the rockstar eye naturally rests. Anyways, during his speech, the president actually winked at me! He came down off the podium and walked over to me and held my hand for several minutes and told me he was a fan of mine and that I am very funny and he enjoyed my comedy immensely. He asked what I was doing and if I was touring and I said I was working for Lifetime and about to go on tour and overall, trying to represent. And he said, “well you are doing a fine job representing us all… a wonderful job! Very very funny!” and then he got pulled away by his multitude of security and staff and fans. It was an incredible moment for me and something I will treasure for the rest of my life. Because to me Obama is much more than the leader of the free world. Yes he is president and he is the most important dude on earth, but his meaning goes far beyond political office. What Obama represents to me is the idea that we have come so far as a nation in terms of race and acceptance and inclusion that we can have a president who is not white. I think that this resounds so deeply with me and all those who have felt at one time or another like ‘the other.’ Obama’s meaning in society today is practically mythological. His presence means we have arrived somewhere different. Somewhere better. This is the world I would like to live in.

Politics are changing, and it’s tremendously exciting. If you live in San Francisco, I urge you to check out Theresa Sparks who is running for office there. She is another person, like Barack Obama, whose meaning and work and presence is almost mythological. Almost legend. Her story is much like that of Harvey Milk, and she is so similar that Stuart Milk has spoken on her behalf many times and also is a major player in her campaign for office in San Francisco. I have had the pleasure of knowing Theresa for many years. I first met her when she invited me to join the board of Good Vibrations, where I served for two years. I got to know her very well through our many board meetings and lots and lots of dinner parties talking late into the night. I was impressed by her on so many levels. Theresa Sparks is a transwoman who has fought homophobia and prejudice and hatred coming from so many different sides, eventually prevailing over so much ignorance to finally becoming President of the police commission. It’s incredible that a transgendered person is capable of surviving in the police force at all but to have the strength and passion and intellect and moxie to actually become the President of the police commission – it’s a downright miracle. I believe in Theresa Sparks and her continuing capacity for miracles. She has worked tirelessly for the LGBT community in San Francisco, focusing primarily on the transgendered community, which is the part of our family that always seems to get left out, and she is a true political icon and heroic figure for me and countless others.

Still, her campaign has been fraught with much ignorance. When seeking endorsement from the ‘liberal’ women’s political groups, Theresa has been told that they only support ‘real women.’ I think this is disgusting. Not only is Theresa Sparks a real woman, she is an inspiration to all women. She is a fighter, a survivor, a whipsmart businesswoman, a mother, the kind of leader my beloved hometown needs. She is someone who will change San Francisco, and in doing so, change the world, something that has to happen and happen right now. I no longer live in the beautiful city by the bay, but I still love it, I still care about what happens there and so I urge you to see what Theresa Sparks is doing. Like Obama, she’s a symbol that the world is changing. And we are all better for it.

I am angry about the hateful word he used. And I am super mad about the other thing….What does it mean that he has a “David Duke cock?” Is that supposed to mean that women of color are not sexy and beautiful? That women of color are unfuckable to him? That is rude and disgusting and I don’t care if his music is good (I don’t know it well, so I can’t say. I only love Jon Brion and Garrison Starr and Ani Difranco and Grant Lee Phillips and Tegan and Sara and Cypress Hill and Billie Holliday and Doria Roberts and Fiona Apple and Joan Armatrading and MIA and The Cliks and Miles Davis and David Bowie and Ben Lee and Susie Suh and Rachael Yamagata and Andrew Bird and I don’t know much about how John Mayer sounds).

What I do know, is to say you have a ‘David Duke cock’ is demeaning to women of color. What I know is it’s a slap in the face to all beautiful women of color. And I must say, it’s hard enough to be a woman of color in this world and feel beautiful. It’s hard enough to live in this skin and feel good without having rock stars saying that you are not worthy. We feel unworthy enough. Society tells us enough we are not worth it, by not including us in anything. By not showing us in our glory. We are not presented in the movies or TV as much as beautiful desirable creatures. We are barely shown at all. And then you – John Mayer – rock ‘god’ tell us that we are not fuckable? I don’t care if you don’t want to fuck me. But keep this to yourself. Keep the idea that you don’t like to fuck women of color to yourself. Keep it from our ears because we don’t need to hear that the man who would say “your body is a wonderland” really only means it if our bodies are white, if our hair is blonde. If we are Jessica Simpson. And only if we are Jessica Simpson.

Keep this from the ears of all the young beautiful young girls who love you, who have your posters on their walls and now are looking at those posters and feeling weird because they are not white and now your music, which they so loved, makes them feel bad inside. Like you don’t love them. Like you never did. Like if you saw them you would look the other way. Like they’d be invisible to you because they are not white. These young girls who are not white – they loved your music so much and you are paying them back for it with arrogance and blistering hatred that you don’t even know would hurt like it did. I am glad not to have known your music before this and been a fan of it, because if I loved you before and you said that, it would make me hate myself even more than I do already. This revelation of yours would have crushed me. If I was a young fan of yours and you said that it would hurt me so much. Thank god I am not. Was not. But I am hurting now for the many many many many many young girls who are fans of yours. You wounded them and they will never be able to heal. Ever. I hope you read this. I hope you think about this part of it. it’s not been talked about in press. But I hope you know that part. The young girls who love you who are not white. Think about them. So it keeps you from doing it again.

I try to think about Duran Duran, and how I loved them and how they always had women of color as objects of desire in their videos. In “Hungry like the Wolf,” Simon was chasing down a beautiful black/asian mixed girl. In “Rio,” she was latino with curvy hips and black hair and a bright bright smile. If they’d said something back then like what you said John Mayer, I would have killed myself. I would have died. If they said only white girls got them hard, it would have been the end of me.

It’s sickening to think that we can exist in a world where these words of hate can be cast off quickly without repercussion or blame. People forget. But that doesn’t make racism go away. It infuriates me because I can’t cast off my ethnicity with an apology. These are people who have never been discounted because of their race. They’ve never been left out of a comedy show because they’ve already got an asian or a gay or a woman. They’ve never been passed over for a part because the producers decided not to ‘go ethnic.’ They’ve never had to endure the invisibility that people of color live with on a daily basis.

I am so used to being invisible it stuns me when people pay attention to what I say. I am so used to blending into the scenery that it’s shocking that anyone cares what I do. I am so used to people looking at me like I am ‘the help’ that it doesn’t even bother me. I just stay there and I try to help. And I don’t care. These stars who toss about racist hateful speech have never felt what it feels like to be called something hateful – that they cannot deny. They’ve never been in that situation, when you are a victim of hate, but you have to agree. That is what racism is. What hate speech is. Why it’s so terrible is that the word you may have called me – it’s correct, in your racist estimation. It hurts because its meant to. That is why we don’t use those words. Because of the history and the pain and the shame and the tears and the rage they have caused.

Even though I love Lenny Bruce, I do have to say, I disagree when he says that these words can’t hurt you. I think they do. They hurt me. When people use hate speech, it hurts me. It hurts even though I am not that particular race. It hurts because I know what it feels like to be in an inescapable skin. I can’t escape this color. I can’t be the right color. I can never.

It could be hard too for those who are not ‘of color.’ I am never going to be white, and I’m never going to know what it feels like to have the responsibility of not being a racist. I guess I feel bad for white people sometimes because they do have to watch what they say, but then again, it really doesn’t matter does it? Michael Richards is back on tv, and it’s cool. Everyone’s forgotten his terrifying, violent rant that to me sounded like what klansmen would say before they lynched someone in the 30s. I don’t know him, and I don’t know personally that he’s a racist. All I know is that in the two times that I have seen him in public, close enough to touch, he has been screaming at someone, and those people were not white. I guess he was sorry because he got caught doing what he normally does and it was on TMZ and it made him look bad to the world. He was super sorry about it. Way super sorry. And that is nice that he was sorry. He even went to Mexico behind it, as if there was some special retreat for racists there where you could read bell hooks and Angela Davis and Cornel West all day and think about what is wrong with you and right with them.

Dog the Bounty Hunter never left the small screen. His racism was kind of just buried under that amazing mullet. I don’t know if he is racist, but I think his hair is racist.

And Mel Gibson never had to stop making movies. He is even in a big one now. Really big. And no one mentions a thing.

Does racism hurt your career or is it good for it? I don’t know. If I was white, I think I would try to be as racist as possible because it keeps you current. Keeps you relevant. People will tweet about you more. People will be outraged but you’ll still be on the homepage of Yahoo and everyone will want to know exactly what you said, when you said it, and how you said it. And aint that showbiz?

I have had it with the inherent racism in so many different types of products. I can’t wear a sleeping mask, even though I must sleep many times during daylight hours because of my work schedule. Almost every kind of sleeping mask I have ever tried pushes my eyes back into my skull. I don’t have deep eye sockets. My eyeballs are seated at the front of my face, which is common in most Asian faces. And so I stay awake all day long when I desperately need sleep. Because of racism! I have never had a pair of glasses fit properly because I don’t have a raised bridge on my nose. My nose will not support eyewear. It’s like the world would rather I not see. I don’t wear sunglasses because of this bizarre phenomenon. It seems that 1/4 or more of the earth’s population is in the same boat as I when it comes to glasses. We are the boat people who are not supposed to sleep, not supposed to see, and not supposed to take pictures to witness what is happening to us!

If you can find me a non-racist pair of glasses, a sleeping mask that will not hold my head hostage and a face detection camera that understands that Asian people are not ‘blinking,’ then you will have found the beginning of true progress.

What’s so messed up about this particular situation is that because they are Asian American, I worry that North Korea feels less guilty about punishing them. They wouldn’t ever have the courage to do this to white journalists, especially white male journalists. Since Lee and Ling look like their own, they feel they can treat them like their own – and in North Korea, this is not a good thing. And since Asian Americans are not as easily defined as “American” I’m afraid that these two will get lost in the shuffle. It’s the strange rootless consequence of Asian American identity played out to the worst possible conclusion. Could you imagine the same thing happening to Anthony Bourdain? He could have negotiated his way out with a bottle of Crown Royal and some Marlboro reds. If Andrew Zimmern went there to eat live octopus and was nabbed by Kim Jong Il, he’d be free before the tentacles stopped wiggling in his mouth.

But this is a serious situation. I am not sure if people see Euna Lee and Laura Ling as American, but they are just as American as the notion of freedom of speech. Let my people go!

Angry Asian Man and Feministing both have links on how you can help.

Why is it better to have white actors play the roles of Asians? I don’t understand. Because it sells more tickets? I am not white and I have had no trouble selling tickets. Maybe the powers that be should ask me what to do.  I would tell them. “The Last Airbender” is the last straw to a lot of people:

—— Forwarded Message
From: Boone Adkins
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 2009 13:51:36 -0400
To: margaretcho
Subject: Racism Against Asians in the casting of The Last Airbender: Would you help us?

Dear Margaret,

I love your standup! Your comedy is as deep as it is hilarious, and touches on a lot of issues I feel strongly about. I’m a college student who is Asian American (I’m half-Thai) and who is involved with the LGBT community as an ally, so I feel I can relate to you from two angles. I’m emailing you to inform you of a controversy that you may not be aware of, and to get your support.

It boils down to this: The hugely popular Asian-themed (as opposed to European-themed) fantasy Avatar: the Last Airbender is being adapted from animated TV to a live action movie by Paramount Pictures. The fantasy world of the original series is very well researched and very ASIAN – kung fu throws fireballs, people wear kimonos and hanboks, the art style is influenced by traditional Chinese painting and anime, and everybody eats with chopsticks and writes in Chinese. There is also a heavy Inuit influence in the design and culture of the Water Tribe.

And yet the producers of this movie thought it would be best to forgo talented Asian kids and cast three WHITE actors in the leading roles! Even with Asian actors in supporting roles and as extras, it sends the message that ‘Only white people can be heroes. Asian people can’t save themselves – they need white heroes to save them.’ There are stories about Asian kids who auditioned who now think their race isn’t okay, that they have to be white to get a role. Possibly to try to soothe angry fans, Paramount recast the main villain with an Indian actor and several supporting villains with other dark-skinned actors. So the message is still that ‘Only white people can be heroes,’ but it adds another message that ‘The evil Fire Nation are dark skinned, so dark skinned people are obviously evil.’ It’s offensive to Asian Americans like myself, damaging to our children, and hurtful to fans of the original series.

I beg you to lend a hand. There’s a small grassroots movement protesting Paramount’s casting decisions. Just a few words would do so much! But don’t take my word for it – more information can be found at www.racebending.com (especially http://racebending.com/youcanhelp.php) and http://aang-aint-white.livejournal.com/.

Sincerely,
Boone Jaisard Adkins

———————————————
From: Crystal Knoll
Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2009 02:02:20 -0700
To: margaretcho
Subject: the last airbender

Hi Margaret!

I’m a big admirer of yours and a longtime fan.

I was wondering if you had heard about the new M Night Shyamalan film, The Last Airbender. It’s based on a recent Nickelodeon children’s cartoon, Avatar: The Last Airbender, which was an amazing series set in a feudal fantasy world of magic – but unlike most fantasies that are based on European legends and culture, it was based on a variety of Asian cultures and ideas. All the characters in the series were Asian or Northwestern Aboriginal/Inuit inspired, as well as all the architecture, clothing, a lot of the plot structure, etc.

The movie adaptation has started filming, and originally cast all four lead characters (three heroes and one villain) with white actors. The white actor playing the villain (Jesse McCartney!) dropped out and was replaced by Dev Patel, so now we have three white heroes and one brown villain. Did I mention the villain came from a nation of genocidal tyrants? Yeah.

Anyways, you blogged once about 21, and how that was white-washed. Maybe that was worse because it was based on real events, but since this movie is aimed at kids there’s a lot of us that think this is pretty egregious too.

If you want to know more there is a great website set up at http://www.racebending.com/

http://aang-aint-white.livejournal.com also has great posts about it,
and is the home of a letter-writing campaign. I understand you’re on tour just now and probably very busy, but we’d love to hear what you have to say about it!

Lots of love,

-Tally Knoll

———————————————

From: Min Yang
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2009 23:10:43 -0800
To: margaretcho
Subject: We Need Your Help! The Last Airbender Racist Casting

Hi Margaret, First of all I would like to say I am a big fan of you. I think you are a great role model for Asian-Americans and I am so impressed by what you have accomplished. I am not sure if you have heard about this controversy over the casting of the Avatar: Last Airbender movie.

I am not sure if you have ever seen this Nickelodean cartoon, but it is mega popular cartoon that features a world that is heavenly inspired by Asian cultures. The main characters practice martial arts that give them the ability to control four different elements: air, water, fire and earth.

M Night Shyamalan is directing the live action movie and they recently cast the four main characters of the show. In the cartoon, the four main character are clearly Asian and Intuit/Native American, but for the movie… they cast 3 White actors to play the parts.

http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/12/10/first-look-the-cast-of-the-last-airbender/

I am part of a large and dedicated group of fans who are trying to raise awareness for this clear case of discrimination. We are wondering if there is anyway you can mention this issue in your next video and please help us spread the word on this injustice!

You can read about all the issues and the letter writing campaign and demonstrations at the following sites:

1) Letter Writing Campaign
http://aang-aint-white.livejournal.com/

2) Blog by award winning Asian-American graphic novelist who is rallying industry professionals and other blogs
http://derekkirkkim.blogspot.com/2009/01/new-day-in-politics-same-old-racist.html
http://glockgal.livejournal.com/375625.html
http://ciderpress.livejournal.com/209919.html

3) San Francisco Chronicle Column on the subject
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2009/01/28/apop012809.DTL

4) Heated debates on the IMDB.com column… the amount of ignorant and racist comments you see here are shocking
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0938283/board/threads/

5) Facebook group
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=54866461619&ref=mf

I appreciate anything you can do!
Thank you so much,
Min

I am thinking about how straight white men have it so easy. They really do! When watching the Billy Bob crazy interview I was struck by how much entitlement he had! He felt he could be a complete asshole to the interviewer because he didn’t think he was being treated fairly. I have endured countless radio interviews where DJs have been completely racist towards me – mispronouncing my name, which should be totally easy (and also I have been in the public eye for coming up on two decades so they should have at least heard someone say my name at least one time, or they could venture a guess….hmmm, CHO…..now that wasn’t that hard was it?!) and haven’t lost it completely because I didn’t want people to get the impression that I was a loose cannon or overly defensive – because I wanted people to come to my shows and no one likes an angry comic – unless they are straight and white and male!!

I have had interviews where I have been told to my face that I was “ugly” and “fat” and asked, in real seriousness, how I dealt with that! I have been introduced with chinky music playing in the background I don’t know how many times! People think it is ok to be racist and ignorant toward me because it is generally perceived that I am ‘cool with it.’ I am not cool with it but we live in a society where racism isn’t viewed as such when it is directed at Asian Americans. How do you deal with this kind of stupidity when it’s so rampant?

This latest incident with Betty Brown, the lawmaker from Texas, is such a prime example of the duhduhdumbness that flourishes in our culture and I am completely sick of it. She needs to resign out of sheer inability to accept that Asian Americans are valid human beings with the right to have names that she cannot pronounce because she’s such an idiot.

Miley Cyrus made some chinky eyes
Standing behind an Asian guy
I don’t know if this should fly
As if there wasn’t enough to despise

I wasn’t necessarily a fan of
Her, her dad, or Hannah Montana
I tend to prefer the songs of Rihanna
Racism against Asians is simply bananas!

Oh Miley!
Chinky eyes make you look wily
prejudice isn’t thought of so highly
it doesn’t make us all smiley

Why is there nothing that Asians can do?
To make fun of other races as easily as you
Why isn’t racism against Asians taboo?
Why are we always so racially screwed!

All you have to do is pull at your face
To make your eyelids resemble our race
This kind of joke has no proper place
Miley Cyrus is a disgrace!