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Jul
8
Esther Ku
Esther Ku continues to generate discussion and controversy because of her comedy act showcased on NBC’s Last Comic Standing.
I asked not to long ago if beautiful Esther Ku will be the Last Comic Standing after she caught my eye on comedy contest and reality show. Such a question has not come without some debate on the pages of this blog.
Marie asks me in a recent comment:
I’ve just got to ask…are you rooting for her this hard JUST because you think she’s “a cutie?” or “beautiful?” Is that really a good enough reason to root for a comedienne who, aside from that crazy Mary Mack, is probably the absolute LEAST funny contestant on LCS? If anyone else performed that badly and wasn’t as attractive as you remind us that she is, would you root for them too? Just ’cause she’s trying to sell that ‘oh so wacky cute Asian girl’ thing will never make her funnier, just even more of a parody than she already is.
It’s a question that echoes other posts on the internet detailing why Esther Ku is viewed as a controversial figure by some because of her humor. Esther Ku‘s comedy touches a raw nerve because she relies on stereotypes about Asian Americans.
I’ve felt and expressed ambivalence about Esther Ku because of her material. A lot of her jokes aren’t funny. But, I still hold out hope that Esther Ku‘s comedic faux pas are just a result of her youth and inexperience.
Maybe we’ll see Esther Ku start writing material about universal subjects that rely less on stereotypes and more on life in these days as experienced by 20-somethings. Esther Ku would do well if she focused on dating or work life or a myriad of topics that would show growth beyond stereotyping and a concern for the human condition.
It’s a wish that other Esther Ku observers also express.
Writes FuguTabetai about Esther Ku:
I wanted to like Esther because she’s cute and asian. I won’t comment about whether Papa CJ is cute, but he’s asian too and has a bit of a geeky flavor to him that could be really funny. I think they both should have some really interesting experiences to mine for comedy, but I was really disappointed that Esther seemed to go for the obvious racial based jokes that aren’t new and aren’t funny. She has a few things that I think are funny, but she’s not very subtle, and some of her stuff is just depressingly obvious (asians can’t tell asians apart either! koreans eating dogs! were low points for me.) She is cute and bubbly though, and when she stays away from racial stereotype stuff (like when she was just talking about men buying women dinner) she is funny.
Comments
11 Responses to “Will Esther Ku Move Beyond Stereotypes?”
I think the fact that the ‘cute Asian’ thing seems to supercede her severe lack of comedic skill needs to be addressed. I think it bothers me because it kinda smells like Asian fetish from where I’m sitting. I don’t think she’d be getting a free pass with those jokes even if she were a cute girl of another race. The whole concept mystifies me, but I’m not a white man, so I guess I’ll never get it.
As far as her “youth and inexperience”, she’s been in the game for 4 years…if she hasn’t come up with anything wittier than denegrating her own race, and is relying solely on the hopes that white men find Asian chicks with ponytails hot, I wouldn’t hold out too much hope.
Sorry to be harsh. If she were doing standup in Podunk, I wouldn’t care, but this is nationally televised and my hopes are that they could at least raise the bar, not lower it.
Hi Marie,
You’re not harsh at all — it’s good to have a thoughtful debate.
I’m with you on the point that she gets a huge pass because she’s cute, Asian, and has ponytails.
There was another comedian who had a “high energy” show — supposedly — who made Asian jokes on LCS and was thrashed correctly by the judges. When it came time to evaluate Esther Ku, they showed her great love and suggested it was okay for her to make fun of Asians, unlike the other comedian.
You — and all of the other bloggers — are making me focus beyond her looks and on the content of her comedy.
GOOD! The show is called ‘Last COMIC Standing’, not ‘Last CUTIE Standing’….Her act needs to be judged on its merit not on whether or not someone’s got a hard on for self (race)-hating Asian girls who act like they’re 12. Wake up, peoples!
Attention all non-Asians! Now THIS is a perfect example of a sellout! Thanks Esther for setting us back a few decades. It really cuts much deeper when it’s perpetrated by one of your own.
And, no…it doesn’t make it alright just because a person of that same race said it. It makes it worst.
Thank you for letting me rant.
Hi Dragon,
Thanks for sharing your comments with everyone!
There are a number of problems with the tired old “tired old stereotypes” criticisms that everyone keeps repeating about Ku.
First, it’s an utterly hypocritically and transparently false as _comedy_ criticism. Comics do it all the time–loved comics, critically acclaimed and less loved comics, hated and washed up comics. It’s bread and butter in the business. Self-hating schtick? Equally par for the course. Ever hear of Woody Allen? Or Jon Stewart?
More importantly. The real problem with the criticisms is that these are not “tired old” stereotypes. They are ALIVE AND WELL. As an Asian American, I have no qualms affirming 1) they reflect the way the majority of Americans do, at present, see Asians and 2), they reflect, in a distorted fashion, real characteristics of Asian identity and experience.
In effect, Ku’s act acknowledges that her audience shares these racist views and implicitly admits that she, like many Asian-Americans, has internalized them. That’s why it’s painful–that’s what people are finding “unfunny”–the exposure of their own racism. She should NOT move beyond jokes about these stereotypes, it’s what’s unique and powerful about her work. She should continue forcing us, against our will, to recognize that racism against Asians is not only alive and well, but that it has become insidiously disguised, that the rejection of stereotypes has become an excuse to, without penalty, hate real aspects of Asian identity and culture.
My god, when she asks the crowd “who doesn’t have an Asian fetish?” it’s astonishing how much depth that tiny little joke has. First, she’s TELLING her audience they ARE racist, that’s nerve. Second, by claiming she has one too, she’s pointing out that our supposedly post-racial american culture has fetishized her culture to such a degree that an asian can’t be attracted to another asian without it also being a form of pathology. This shit is serious, and I’m deeply disappointed that no one’s seeing it.
She’s ahead of her time. Too early, perhaps–so probably doomed. I really believe that with time people will catch on, maybe other asian comics we catch it and stick for her.
We like to pretend we’re (especially “we” the knowing, included audience) post racial, and her approach requires recognizing we’re not. That we can’t be “set back a few decades” since we’re already in a downward spiral.
Pete, I don’t really agree that she’s shedding light on some greater truth of how racist American society really is. But, granted you are right, can you just admit….
that she’s NOT FUNNY?
There’s really so little substance to her material beyond what I’d expect from a bunch of kids telling each other jokes in grade school. It’s “easy” humor.
I’d be more willing to buy your argument if her comedy had the slightest hint of intelligence to it. If her point is to get across a greater social commentary, maybe she’d fare better leaving it to a more qualified comedian/comedienne.
Pete, if the best defense you can come up for Ku is labeling people who don’t find her funny racist, then you’ve already lost.
Certainly there’s some observational stuff happening in there, some of it evokes a knowing giggle. However if one or two moments of insight are the best she’s come up with in over 6 years on the scene then you might want to enterain the idea that perhaps she just isn’t that funny.
Personally I feel that Miss Ku has potential. She is far from being hilarious but shes definitely a funny woman. I am basing this off of video postings on her myspace.
I would be lying if i said i wasn’t intrigued when i saw a cute Asian female. I wanted to see how funny she was, and to be honest i wanted to see her move forward because she was cute, and i would enjoy looking at her. Then i heard her full act on LCS, and as usual i couldn’t bring myself to watch a person kill them self on stage…however “cute” she is.
As far as jokes based on stereotypes…i found them comical, mainly due to her delivery. As far as the jokes…its just been done too many times.
As far as the remarks about racism…
I feel your giving her too much credit.
And as far as your other remarks about racism go… I feel these same ideas have been expressed about the use and reaction to the use of stereotypes countless times, and for all races.
The human race is racist, because we have races. People don’t like things that are different, this wont change.
Her jokes don’t shed light on how racist we are, but just affirming that it is ok to have these racist ideas. There is no self-reflection to change who we are, but only self-affirmation. There is no change but only a continuation of the same. Her jokes make light of serious issues and diminished them until cease to become issue but social norms.
There’s no contrast between her so-called joke and reality. There’s no twist, irony, or additional insight. It’s just slamming the existing stereotype right back into your face and reaffirming it and making a few non-Asians laugh AT Asians and not AT the stereotype itself. The joke is on her and everyone who looks like her. She’s a clown who humiliates herself, her family and her background for a laugh.