NigaHiga

Known as that Asian on YouTube from Hawaii, Ryan Higa, "NigaHiga," is the number one channel on YouTube.  Since his start back in 2006, Ryan Higa along with Sean Fujiyoshi started posting videos on YouTube that consisted of lip-syncing, comedic skits, and rants.  Since Ryan Higa has moved to Las Vegas for school, his videos are solo and have featured his friends who are also well known YouTube personalities such as KevJumba and Chester See.  Higa’s videos are made for comedic enjoyment; his skits include making parodies of movies a series he calls “Movie in Minutes,” to his thoughts on trends such as the most recent one in his video “Sh*t __ Says.”

Ryan Higa does not address his ethnicity as much as KevJumba, but to him, he doesn’t see the need.  Higa’s videos are based off what everyone has encountered.  He has posted vidoes with the title “Off the Pill” expressing his opinion on various subjects like Justin Bieber and any current trend that is happening in our society.  Aside from his YouTube videos, mainstream media has noticed Ryan Higa.  Higa and Fujiyoshi have their own film Ryan and Sean’s Not So Excellent Adventure (2008).  Recently he has made an appearance on the Nickelodeon show Supa Ninjas as an evil deejay who puts people to sleep.  Higa’s popularity on YouTube allowed him to be able to be featured on the same level as mainstream celebrities.

Even though Ryan Higa does not address any part of his ethnicity in his videos, he is still popular because of his videos.  His audience on YouTube is not just Asians, but everyone.  In most of Higa’s recent videos his fellow YouTube celebrities make cameo appearances.  One of his videos features D-Trix from Quest Crew as they show viewers how they can become a YouTube celebrity themselves.  This past month Ryan Higa has reached over five million subscribers.  He is also part of a group called YTF (Yesterday Tomorrow Forever) with KevJumba, D-Trix, Chester See, Victor Kim, JR Aquino, and Andrew Garcia.  Ryan Higa has been part of Wong Fu Productions and Far*East Movement’s ISA Concert series serving has a host, and also worked with WFP in their short film Agents of Secret Stuff.

When Higa moved to Las Vegas for school and started posting solo videos, fans kept asking “Where’s Sean?”  He answered this question when he released his three million subscribers video showing that Sean was always there.  Fans have missed the dynamic duo ever since Higa moved for school.  Its rare to seeSean in any of his videos, unless he is home in Hawaii.  Like most YouTube celebrities, Ryan Higa had no intention of becoming the number one channel.  He simple posts his videos for people to enjoy.   Sure he might use an Asian accent in his video, but it is only for pure entertainment.  Besides, if he knows that his jokes might be taken as an offence, he is quick to say its only a joke;  in a video he replaces Sean, but in the description he explains it was all a joke.

WongFu Productions

Meeting in college and being in the same program, Philip Wang, Ted Fu, and Wesley Chan began to work together and created the company Wong Fu Productions.  This team has been creating videos as posting them online long before YouTube was created.  Before graduating from UC San Diego, Wong Fu Productions released their first full-length movie A Moment with You.  After graduating, WFP moved to Los Angeles to pursue their company; they have also began to do college tours to promote their movie and to meet fans.  Soon after, they have created their own t-shirt brand and the “AreYouANiceGuy” store because fans have been asking where they can get a shirt that Phil was wearing, designed by Wes, in their mini series “Just a Nice Guy.”  In 2009, WFP met David Choi, another YouTube artist, through friends and made his first music video to his song “That Girl.”  After meeting David Choi, they have also met other YouTube personalities such as Kevin Wu “KevJumba,” Christine Gambito “HappySlip,” Cathy Nguyen, and Ryan Higa “NigaHiga,” each who they have worked with on various projects.  WFP has also started a partnership with Far*East Movement and created the ISA (International Secret Agents) Concert series that had featured popular YouTube personalities, well known performers (B.O.B, Sean Kingston, and Roshon Fegan), and winners of MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew Poreotics and I.aM.mE. Recently, WFP has worked with international pop star Leehom Wang for his new music video “Still In Love With You.”  Phil, Ted, and Wes had no intention of having their company to become what it is now.

 

Wong Fu Productions most recent mini-series  about coming home to an interracial family

Now, since these three are Asian-American, they do incorporate their race in their videos.  One of their first videos they made while in UCSD, “Yellow Fever” was about how Asian girls can get a white guy for a boyfriend, but a Asian guy can’t get a white girlfriend.  The video follows Phil as he finds explanations of why this is so.  In the process, we see Phil having no luck in finding a reason and getting a girl, even though he has tried everything Andrew, his white friend, has told him to do.  As years went on, they still include their race in their videos.  Recently after hitting one million subscribers, they’ve created a video for this occasion of how they should celebrate this milestone:  visit their one-millionth subscriber.  When discussing who the person will be, they automatically assume that the person is an Asian girl.  After debating who the person will be, they made the visit.  It turned out that their one-millionth subscriber was an Asian male who despised them for causing his long-time girlfriend to break up with him because of their short Strangers Again.  WFP have started to release their new short series Home is Where the Hans Are.  A series about a son, coming home from a two-year absence, learns that his family is now an interracial one.  It shows how Derek, the son, is coping with the news.

With each person that WFP have met, they have work together.  Shortly after meeting Kevjumba they worked on a mini series called Funemployed, which also featured a cameo from NigaHiga.  They also made a short film with Ryan Higa called Agents of Secret Stuff, that have included cameos from more of their friends:  D-trix, Arden Cho, and Smosh.  With all the success that they have reached so far shows that with the support of fans, they can achieve great things.  WFP is apart of the “YouTube” community, especially in the Asian-American community.  This company has shown that with talent, you can be known on almost a mainstream media aspect, even if it is just YouTube.

DavidSoComedy

DavidSoComedy is one of those YouTube stars that recently became better known after one of his videos went viral. Though with only about 200,000 subscribers, his videos have been viewed more than 21 million times. Coming from a Korean background, DavidSoComedy makes video blogs and does amusing rants about various topics, most of them addressing Asian issues. With a video response to the infamous student at UCLA ranting about Asians, DavidSoComedy got his start on YouTube through the upload of “Vlog #4: Asians in the Library – UCLA Girl (Alexandra Wallace) going wild on Asians.” 

By analyzing Alexandra Wallace’s video scene by scene, he tries to comically defend the actions of Asians mentioned in the video. While he admits some of them may be true, as I admit I can personally relate to some, DavidSoComedy does express his frustration with her statements. Her comments were simply racist because of the way she conveyed them. Most of his viewers were in complete agreement as well, one viewer wrote,

“I love this video responding back to the crazy chick's video. So ignorant, It's just so sad that people have such a general distaste for another race. Open your mind people, everybody!”“

Another person even acknowledged the absurdness of her claims,

“‘American's’ don't even have ‘American’ manners! We suck in general, we have no manners, yet alone respect for each other, which is proven by this girl's ridiculous rant. And secondly, I SEE WHITE PEOPLE ON THEIR CELL PHONES ALL THE TIME YAPPING AWAY IN COLLEGE LIBRARIES!!! AND I"M WHITE!!! Being rude just varies from person to person. There is no such thing as an ENTIRE ethnic culture to not have manners. So blond girly girl that love pink and goes to UCLA.....STFU!!!!!!!! And David..thank you.”

As this viewer acknowledges, some of Alexandra Wallace’s assertions could be relevant to others, Asian or not. She just chose to target Asians specifically making it appear that she is racist.

DavidSoComedy also does two other videos in which he focuses on Asian stereotypes in general. He attempts to clear up the assumptions that people have about Asian people. Though his intentions to determine what is fact and fiction about Asians are good, he does base this off his own experiences which become problematic. For example, he discusses the idea that Asians are bad drivers. As he said, he use to get upset when people assumed this, until he got his license. It’s common for new drivers to mess up a few times or so, not Asians in general. Asians are not the only people who are bound to be bad drivers, anybody can be a bad driver regardless of race. As this is only one example that he bases these generalizations off his own life, this could be applied to most of the stereotypes that he mentions. By imitating Koreans and their accent to prove his points, DavidSoComedy fails to clarify Asian stereotypes for he bases it off a specific ethnic group, as many of his viewers have pointed out.

Though still entertaining, DavidSoComedy is one of many YouTube stars that have used the topic of Asian stereotypes to boost his popularity.

Poreotics

Known for their popping and robotic choreography and crowned champions of season five MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew, Poreotics has started to take the dancing world by storm.  This dance crew of six Asian-Americans, three Vietnamese and three Filipinos, have had the opportunity to work with many well known celebrities.  These celebrities included Justin Bieber, for his music video with Usher and his My World Tour in Manila, Philippines, Bruno Mars, and Ganesh Hedge, a Bollywood choreographer and international celebrity.  Poroetics has also been featured on Disney’s Shake It Up and a video with NigaHiga (poreotics.com).

In their first television performance on ABDC, Poreotics did a first by creating a dance routine to Taylor Swift’s “Love Story.”  Before the performance, Mario Lopez asked one of the members, Can Nguyen, why they wear sunglasses while they perform.  Can answered, “Well, because we the Asian, we have the small eye, and we like robot,” in a Vietnamese accent (1:14-1:30).  Now, they included a couple of Asian stereotypes when describing themselves, small eyes and accent but in no way do they discriminate the Asian culture.  During their time on ABDC, while creating a routine, Poreotics have mentions that they had ABD: Asian Booty Disease, because they had a hard time shaking their hips for a specific challenge. While traveling the world, the Vietnamese members of Poreotics made a dance video to a Vietnamese song.  This shows that they do embrace their ethnicity of coming from Vietnam.  They have also performed at Kababayan Fest, a Filipino event, as their fame started to grow.  In fact, they do have fans that are not Asian-Americans.  This dance crew has inspired many to follow their passion, especially if it is dance.  They teach dance workshops that attract dancers from all walks of life.  During the holiday season of 2010 and 2011, Poreotics performed at Disney’s California Adventure Park’s ElecTRONica.  I was lucky enough to see my favorite dance crew live multiple times at this place.  While waiting for them to perform, the audience was not full of Asians; there were Caucasians in the crowd cheering for them.

 

Since working with celebrities, the mainstream media has recognized Poroetics for their talent.  Poreotics have been nominated for MTV’s Music Video Awards for “Best Choreography in a Music Video,” for Bruno Mars’ “Lazy Song” and performed on the Teen Choice Awards.  One of the members is even in the new Step Up movie.  Many fans, like myself, were disappointed to see their performance on the award show to be cut off by commercial.  Soon after this has happened, the Poreotics team went to Facebook and Twitter to reassure their fans that their performances were supposed to be a minute long.  One of the Poreotics member, Can Nguyen, went to Twitter stating how he feels that dancers do not get recognition in the industry like musicians and actors because they work just as hard.

Poreotics is an Asian-American dance crew that has been noticed by the industry and has fans who are Asian and who are not.  They are proud of their heritage as they show it in their dance videos and how they portray themselves.  They have traveled the world sharing their love of dance with others; inspiring people and being inspired by people.  This dance crew has proved that with hard work and a passion for what they love to do shows that you can make it in industry, even if you’re Asian.

ChesterSee

With well over half a million subscribers on YouTube, ChesterSee first got his start on the infamous site by doing covers of popular songs. It wasn’t long after that he soon began to upload videos of himself singing his original songs. He has since then included miscellaneous sketches to his uploaded video collection and has been featured on Disney Channel’s Disney 365 segment.

At first glance ChesterSee does not come across as Asian, but looks can be deceiving. With a Caucasian father and an Asian mother, Chester’s Caucasian side seems to dominate his physical appearance. He has featured his mom in two of his videos and has made it clear that she comes from a Filipino background. In one of his more recent videos, he even dedicated an entire video to her cooking a famous Filipino dish entitled “Cooking with Momma See (episode 1 Chicken Adobo).”

Considering the kinds of videos he usually uploads, this particular video strayed from the norm. In the beginning of the video, Chester created an intro song for his mom in which he describes her cooking a variety of cuisines. His mom starts off by stating that her son wanted Filipino food and proceeds to go to the market. Chester accompanies his mom in what seems to be a Filipino store and films her buying the various ingredients. He makes a short appearance in the video as she prepares the Chicken Adobo and declares his love for the food by a simple “MMMM”.

Though no video has yet to be uploaded in continuation to the series, at the end of the video Chester asks his viewers what they would want his mom to cook next. By completely deviating from his normal videos to upload a video of his mom cooking a Filipino dish, Chester shows the love for his mom and the love for his Asian side.

Many of his viewers were surprised at the fact that he is Asian, but we’re mostly in agreement that it was great he showed his Asian side. Most of the comments also appeared to be from Filipinos, as many commented which Filipino dish they wanted her to cook next or acknowledged they were Filipino as well. Despite him physically looking Asian, ChesterSee happily shows his Asian side with lots of pride.

AJ Rafael

AJ Rafael is a Filipino-American musician.  From the beginning, Rafael has always had the support of the Filipino community to be able to live his dream.  Posting videos online ranging from covers to his own original songs, Rafael has been recognized for his talent.  Recently, AJ Rafael has had the opportunity to be noticed in mainstream music.  These opportunities were competing in “Billboard’s Battle of the Bands” for the chance to perform at the Billboard’s Music Awards and The Glee Project.  Even though he did not win any of these competitions, he did not stop making music.  In the summer of 2010 he has released his first full-length album “Red Roses,” and this past month he has been on his first South East Asia tour, called “Red Roses Tour.”

Like most artists who want to be known, they all had their share of struggles, and AJ Rafael is no different.  While on his “Red Roses Tour” in South East Asia, Rafael and his team had planned to visit Australia, but had to postpone his performances due to unforeseen circumstances.  Of course, every celebrity will also have their share of haters.  In one cover video, he made his own jazz rendition of Bruno Mars' “Just the Way You Are.”  Comments from viewers ranged from full support to disagreement with his choice of making this song into a jazz song.  These comments included, “Better than the original” and one that said, “the jazz version really sucks.”  After a few weeks that the video has been posted, Rafael has said that if they still like the original song, they shouldn’t give him any hate on that video.  One comment that stood out to me from this video was, “wait…an Asian...that can sing…holy shit.”  Apparently to some it is a surprise to see an Asian-American to have musical talent.  After this comment has been posted, Rafael’s supports came to his side by saying this isn’t something new and that there are more Asian-American singers on YouTube.  One viewer even mentioned Charice, another Filipino singer who is internationally famous.

AJ Rafael is a perfect example of a person who is passionate about what he loves to do and is following his dream, even if it means having to confront haters and having to disappoint his fans when he has no power to change the circumstances.  He is not your typical YouTube artist, like Jeremy Passion or Alex Goot; he’s a Filipino-American who embraces his culture.  He has performed at Filipino events in California, one such as Kababayan Fest, and also appeared on local Asian-American cable TV (channel 18)..  His first tour was in South East Asia, the last stop being in Manila, Philippines.  One of his dreams came true while in the Philippines; he was featured in one of the country’s top television shows “ASAP,” and sang with one of his idols Gary Valenciano.  Rafael shows us that his talent and hard work can take him far, and the support he receives, whether from Asians or not, motivates him even more to follow his dreams.

JKFilms

It wasn’t until recently that JKFilms’s videos went viral. With their videos mostly addressing stereotypes , Asians specifically, through comical portrayals, it was no wonder their two videos “Shit Asian Dad Says” and “Shit Asian Mom Says” drew much attention. Because of this new trend in making videos that focus on stereotypes that address a variety of people, JKFilms produced a video which they believed most people of the Asian culture can relate to.

Having incorporated the common attire for both parents, including outdated glasses and a wig that appears to have a balding effect for the dad, JKFilms does their best to portray Asian parents. As an Asian myself I believe they do a somewhat spot on impression of Asian parents. JKFilms is in no way degrading Asians, but merely addresses common actions Asian parents tend to do from the perspective of their children solely for entertainment.

In these videos, they act as a typical Asian mom and dad do. While many of the statements mentioned in both videos could be seen as true , not all of them are relevant to all Asians. Taking into consideration the thick accents of both parents and some other actions mentioned such as tapping the different fruits in the store, speaking from my own experiences, I would say these are not applicable to my parents. However, other acts such as treating a son and daughter differently, stressing the importance of grades, and enforcing many rules on their children, I was able to agree with.

With the referenced actions and comments in their videos having been based off their own experiences, it would be no wonder not everyone would be in agreement. As each family has their own different stories, and there are many other ethnicities within the Asian race besides that of JKFilms, it would be even more understandable.

Most of the viewers of these videos all appeared to have the same opinion. It was funny and relatable. As one viewer wrote,

“My mom is Korean and does most of these things, the accent was Vietnamese but still most Asians can relate.”

Even those who weren’t Asian themselves also seemed to find it entertaining and could still relate because of their own experiences with their Asian friends. Surprisingly, many others such as Arabians, Mexicans, and Bolivians also stated their parents acted the same way as well. However, I did come across one comment that immediately caught my eye,

“man Asian kids don’t think much of their parents..this is the worst ethnic parody.”

These comedians don’t necessarily look down on their parents, but I could see the concern of this individual. This could be portrayed in a negative way. Maybe these comedians are actually ashamed of their parents and conceal their shame through comedy. We don’t know. So where do we draw the line with this new phenomenon? As Racialicious addresses in “Exploring the Problematic and Subversive Shit People Say [Meme-ology],” some of the “people [who partake in these videos could be] using the meme to advance their racist opinions of certain groups.” What are these people’s true intentions? Many could be taking advantage of this new popular activity, yet viewers brush it off as entertainment as they find it to be relatable and true. Nevertheless, there are others who view it as offensive.

While I don’t believe this is the case with JKFilms, through the power of these Asian American issues, they were able to rise in YouTube fame. When first viewing the videos, did you find some or all of the stereotypes to be discriminating? Or did you find this video to be purely just for laughs? For those that are Asian, did any of the mentioned stereotypes relate to you? Or were they completely irrelevant to you?

HappySlip

Racial stereotypes are usually subjected to be used comedic material.  Christine Gambito is the woman behind the famous screen name “HappySlip.”  In this woman’s videos, you can see the typical Filipino family as she portrays it.  Gambito, like other Asian-American YouTube celebrities, addresses her ethnicity in her videos.  Her videos range from what a Filipino person would.  Atypical Filipino family has the mom having a hard time find anything in her piles of papers, having that aunt who thinks she knows everything, and calling all Filipinos with the signature “Ssstttt” sound.  In one video, she portrays a Filipino mom cutting a roll of paper towels in half so she can save money.  Christine Gambito’s main objective in all her videos are about what Filipinos do in their day-to-day life.

Christine Gambito has taken these stereotypes and uses them to her comedic advantage.  In no way is she making fun of her own culture, to me; she is making the Filipino culture known through her comedic skits.  In one video, she shows her viewers what happens at her house when karaoke is involved; she even asks her viewers if similar things happen.

See here:

                               

Asians love to sing karaoke the most because it is something that can be done in a group.  For Filipinos, it resembles serenades that were done in the rural towns (asianavenuemagazine.com).  It is also a great way to have fun with friends and family, especially if you’re drunk.  Not all of her videos are based on the Filipino persona.  In fact, she does vlog about other things, like her thoughts on movies, her love for the Karate Kid, and even when Facebook changed their layout…again.  Since most of her viewers are Filipino, like me, they can relate to her, so that makes it funny.  Those who aren’t Filipino can relate as well because some of the Asian stereotypes, like karaoke, tend to intertwine with other ethnicities.

Even though HappySlip is not as famous as her friends, KevJumba and NigaHiga, she is still popularly known on the YouTube community.  She makes her videos and vlogs to make people happy.  Sadly, she has decided to focus on her growing family.  Her videos will always make someone laugh, and she will always have fans to support her.  

KevJumba

KevJumba, real name Kevin Wu, is one of the top subscribed YouTubers of all time. He began making videos back in 2007 and currently has a little over 2 million subscribers. Known for his hilarious video blogs addressing a wide variety of topics, KevJumba, had his start in the YouTube industry by a simple upload entitled “I have to deal with stereotypes.”

Though he may encounter such stereotypes, coming from a Chinese background himself, it isn’t true for all Asians. While he comically does his best to defend the fact that he isn’t cheap, a nerd, and does have a social life, he does insinuate the absurdness of the general concept of stereotypes. In addition, he discusses stereotypes that other cultures may carry as well. With over 3 million views, the video was featured on YouTube ultimately boosting his YouTube career.

Over the years we see KevJumba begin to stray from the Asian stereotype rants and tackle other subjects. While his videos do vary, he nevertheless mentions Asian stereotypes in a humorous manner. In “Ask KevJumba,” his second most viewed video with over 14 million hits, he famously refers to the different grading scale Asians use compared with those who aren’t Asian (see time 0:48-2:12).

In most of his videos, a life sized poster of Yao Ming, a Chinese basketball player he commonly refers to as his hero, is also featured on his wall. With a recent reference to him wanting to be a Korean popstar and featuring famous reoccurring Asian American guests in his videos such as Jeremy Lin, Justin Chon, and Jamie Chung, KevJumba never forgets his Asian culture. Having been featured on the CBS News, The Amazing Race, and Cartoon Network, KevJumba has definitely risen in popularity over the years. He has even started a second YouTube channel, JumbaFund, in order to raise money for charities.

His first couple of videos dealing with stereotypes did receive some mixed reviews. While some of his viewers completely agreed with the Asian stereotypes, many got upset at the rest of the mentioned stereotypes that dealt with other races. On the other hand, one viewer was in complete agreement with the said French stereotype,

“I’m French and snails are my favorite food. I’m such a stereotype. ”

However, another viewer wrote,

“I don’t think any of this is true.”

As shown by these two examples, whether these stereotypes are true or not depends on the individual themselves. Perhaps one’s personal experiences actually addresses these issues and perhaps not.  As an Asian myself, I can hardly recall being described as cheap, a nerd, and lacking a social life. Maybe I’ve been called a nerd, but this isn’t true and is based entirely off the idea that all Asians are smart. This is not to say that I don’t identify with any of these stereotypes, I’ve definitely known other Asians that fit one or two of these descriptions, but this is based on their own experiences. Some come from a fairly wealthy family and others do not. Some take their education seriously and others don’t try as hard in school. The accuracy of stereotypes pertaining to one’s life depends on his or her surroundings and experiences, not on one’s race in general.

As time went on however, KevJumba did make it clear that his videos were not meant to be taken seriously. Though he doesn’t always have the complete support of all his viewers on every issue discussed, the general feeling of his Asian themes videos is that they are all quite entertaining. Though he vlogs on other topics, he always finds a way to bring it back to Asian American issues, the true reason for his fame. What are your thoughts on the way he approaches these issues? Is it discriminating against his own race when he uses such stereotypes? Or is it okay for him to use them because he is Asian himself?