American Born Chinese S01E01: Chinese Mythology and Coming of Age – by Lagarde

Graphic novel film adaptation starring Oscar winners Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan cleverly combines American high school life with searing fantasy.

Chinese mythology meets American high school life in film adaptation of graphic novel chinese born american. Teenager Jin Wang (Ben Wang) tries his best to fit in, but it doesn’t go so well. However, he hopes to be accepted into his school’s prestigious football team because, like many of his peers, he logically wants to be popular. When Wang is one day assigned by the vice principal to supervise new Taiwanese exchange student Wei-Chen (Jim Liu), it leads to major changes in his life. First because Wei-Chen is ridiculed because of his origin.

As a result, Wang, who at some point also becomes the subject of a meme that goes viral, realizes that racism is alive and well in the United States. But chinese born american is not a social realism series that revolves around awareness. The opening scene already shows typical Chinese scenes with mythical creatures running through the fields and flying through the skies. It’s all tied to the fact that the Monkey King’s legendary iron staff was stolen months before a key moment around the autumnal equinox. And then there’s also a series within a series: a racially stereotyped sitcom starring Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan.

Interestingly, the American actor with Chinese and Vietnamese roots – who won the trophy for his role in Everything everywhere all at once (2022) – again sharing the screen with Michelle Yeoh, who was awarded for the same film. Perhaps that alone is a recipe for success. Yeoh plays some sort of Buddhist entity in the series who suddenly appears near the end of the pilot episode. The bottom line is that Jin must help Wang Wei-Chen in the aforementioned battle. Although this all also sounds like a metaphor for how you should feel as a non-white American in your own country. It’s indisputable chinese born american exciting subject.

American Born Chinese S01, from Wednesday May 24, 2023 in its entirety at Disney+