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“The Office” has been criticized for its portrayal of Asian Americans after an actress opened up about her experiences on the hit NBC sitcom. Kat Ahn, who played the role of Amy in the holiday episode “A Benihana Christmas”, recalled her time on the show. eight years after its final, according to the Washington Post. In the episode, Steve Carell’s character Michael Scott eats lunch at the famous Japanese steakhouse chain he calls “Asian Hooters.” He invites two Asian waitresses to an office party, marking one of them with ink to distinguish them. He then shows up at the party with two completely different Asian women. Ahn recalled that a colleague at one of his office jobs after appearing on the show attempted to write on his arm to wink at the “joke.” The Korean American actress said in a TikTok Video from January that she and another Asian American actress “Ugly versions” actresses who played the workers of Benihana. “All Asians are alike: we are one monolith and another, one great walking stereotype without personality or individuality.” she said of the episode’s message. “The whole joke was that all Asians look the same and that’s why Michael Scott couldn’t tell us apart. # problematic ” She suggests that the show may have gotten away with these damaging stereotypes when it aired. “Before waking up.” The stars who played Pam and Angela, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey, respectively, addressed racism in Benihana’s Christmas episode on their podcast, “Office Ladies.” They agreed that the scene in which Michael draws the Asian woman made them “cringe”. However, they provided a different explanation for the character returning to the party with two other women. “The idea here was just that Michael and Andy couldn’t find the original waitresses they had flirted with all night, and then they managed to get these two younger, more naive waitresses back to the office. , “ Fischer explained. Although Ahn was initially thrilled to be a part of “The Office,” she quickly realized that she was. “Just there to be the joke.” She said it helped her understand why BIPOC actors took on racist roles. “Sometimes you play a racist role because you have to pay your rent, want to join the union, or don’t want your agent to fire you,” she explained. “You are told to shut up and be grateful,” Ahn told the Post. “Actors have no power until they become a star.” This isn’t the first time an actor in the series has dealt with racism after its airing, according to Vanity Fair. Randall Park, who plays Jimmy Woo in Marvel’s “WandaVision”, said it’s not uncommon for “The Office” fans to refer to him in real life as “Asian Jim”. Ahn’s details of his experience come in the wake of the Atlanta shooting, which left eight people dead, including six Asian women. The shooter denies that his crimes were racially motivated, a point that has sparked widespread discussion about the fetishization of Asian women and the dangers it poses. Featured Image via Mulverine (left), Kat Ahn (right)
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