Is that You, America?

Granted, I’ve not only been out of America for months, but have been in China, a country not known for its accessibility, especially of foreign news or information. I’m grateful to my friends who send me snippets and news articles, keeping me somewhat posted on the outside world.

One way that I have seen parts of America while in Malaysia have been through TV and movies, and I must say, it’s embarrassing.

One waiter asked, “Where are you from?” I answered, “America.” (which still feels like a strange way to answer that question.) He replied, “You’re from America?? You watch Family Guy? I LOVE Stewie!”

Granted, I do watch Family Guy, or at least I did. And yes, Stewie is hilarious. But I found it strange to think that this man, who has never been to my country, is bonding with me over a show that is based on me laughing at…myself and my culture.

In KL I went to a movie in a real movie theater, a true over-seas treat thanks to the exchange rate: 14 Ringit/30 RMB/$5 USD. I saw the only English movie other than Yogi Bear, “No Strings Attached” with Ashton Kutcher and my girlfriend, Natalie Portman.

In a not-as-dimly-lit-as-I’d-have-liked theater where Kelly and I were the only Americans, it was another time of laughing when no one else was, and cringing from the portrayal of American girls. At dinner with Ashton’s father, Natalie states explicitly that they are “fuck buddies” who “just have sex sometimes.” One of Natalie’s friends at a frat party states, “It’s a frat party. All you have to do is be drunk and sexy,” as the camera pans out to her shorts with “WHORE” on the ass. Classy.

That being said, I laughed. I enjoyed it. I reveled, even, in the English on the screen and the Non-China setting. But when the movie finished, I ducked my head and tried not to be seen. I’ll admit that I toyed with the idea of talking in a British accent on my way out.

Actually, the first incident occurred in my Aunty Ann’s family living room where Kelly and I sat watching a movie with my cousins and aunts alike. It was called “Dance Flick”, a Wayans Bros. spoof of all the dance movies, especially focusing on Save the Last Dance. If you’ve seen it, you have too much time on your hands.

No really, if you’ve seen it, then you know just how embarrassed I was to watch it in front of this family on the other side of the world. If you haven’t seen it, let me try to explain the predicament I was in:

I was sitting with my Chinese family in a Muslim country, where most people have never met a black person and have never been to America. I couldn’t help but feel somewhat personally responsible for the American setting of the movie, and for the racism-made-funny-because-its-kind-of-true on the screen.

(I know that my family in Malaysia doesn’t have quite the view of diversity or understanding of black culture that I gained from my 7 years in New York. My cousin William, while driving me home at 2 am, asked, “Do black people and white people get along? Is everything equal in America?” I wasn’t sure how to respond. I thought of teaching and how I always make sure to tell the little ones that it’s not over just because we have black history month and are reading a book about Martin Luther King. But I also didn’t want to promote the view of America as racist, white-run segregation, or as I know his father says of it, “Goddamn blacks everywhere.”)

So there I was, watching a spoof where I couldn’t not laugh, but I also couldn’t help explaining (almost apologetically) why I was laughing. They’d never seen the original movies either, so it was difficult to explain how this “spoof” was funny, although extremely exaggerated. For example, the final romantic final kiss between the white girl and black boy who were to represent the Save the Last Dance couple, was interrupted by white guys walking by. The girl immediately took out her keys and pretended he was a valet. She stammered stereotypical proclamations like, “My car’s the one blasting COLD PLAY” and “Don’t steal anything.” In another scene one of the Wayans brothers came in, kissed his baby, before declaring “I’m out.” The mother said as he left, “He’s such a good daddy.”

I’ve never been so proud to be an American.