Perhaps, but as one puppet sings 8 times a week in Manhattan, “Everyone’s a little bit racist!”
The new CBS comedy 2 Broke Girls is coming under fire from critics who question the approach to the character of Bryce Han Lee, a Korean immigrant who owns the diner the girls have been working in. The problem for many reviewers is that Han’s chartacter feeds into many of the sterotypes associated with Asian-Americans: broken English, problems with pronunciation and lack of understand to America customs.
But when cornered on the issue, show creators Michael Patrick King and Whitney Cummings feel like people are seeing the situation all wrong. As Michael puts it:
“There’s a comic sweetness to him that’s an innocence, and the fact he’s an immigrant from Korea is part of his character.”
While Michael insists the character will get “rounded out” as time goes on, Whitney ventured to add further that this starting point makes sense for Han. She explains:
├óΓé¼┼ôThe character is not dumb. He just moved to the country six months ago. He literally doesn’t know the language. That doesn’t mean he’s dumb. In the subsequent episodes, we’re going to see how smart he truly is.├óΓé¼┬¥
Huh. We didn’t know he just moved her six months ago. Was that made clear in the pilot? We knew he had just purchased the diner not too long ago, but we didn’t know he was that fresh to the country. Maybe it that was better established, people wouldn’t be so quick to yell, “racist.”
Are U watching the show? Do U have any issues with Han’s character?