It’s no secret that the more I look the more I see GGMD themes in public media. 
I’m a bit behind the times in American television being in the UK, but I DIDN’T KNOW they had a GGMD theme in Glee!
Mike Chang, or otherwise known as “the other Asian dude” is a talented dancer. Tina is trying to encourage him to pursue his passion of dancing after high school.
What? An Asian majoring in dance? How is that possible?
He decides instead to do the ultimate Asian signature and go to college for “pre-med”. The whole episode shows the tension between Mike trying to abide by his father’s wishes, and Tina thinking you gotta follow your passion. Of course, because Glee is a fairy tale it all ends happily where Mike’s father realises Mike IS a talented dancer and so must then go to dance school.
Here’s a Glee cap for ya.
These types of conflicts are now so completely obvious that they’re turning up in popular culture. It’s really interesting to see well written popular television shows write in a story plot involving an Asian who wants to do something different with her life….
Gilmore girls is one of my FAVOURITE television series growing up. How many of us thought we were Rory, going through the tribulations of life, trying to figure out if you’re attracted to the nice boy next door, or the rough mean bad boy? Throughout Rory’s life though a terrific foil character has been Lane Kim. Lane goes through this double agent lifestyle. For her mother, she was this good Christian Korean who never stayed out late, only dated boys her mother approved of (and dates were composed of your boyfriend’s parents, your boyfriend’s aunts and uncles, siblings, and the whole package).. But throughout the seven seasons, we see Lane and her relationship with her mom grow into something more honest and more functional.
First we see Lane navigate the ways of finding (and then keeping!) a non-Korean boyfriend. Tough territory. The hilarious little additions to the plot of how Lane is secretly really into rock music and how she hides her rock gear under the bed, in the floor boards, and even has a funky disco ball in her closet. Her life is all hidden away from her mom that in “the Clamor and the Clangor“, Episode 11 in Season 4 when Lane’s mom stumbles upon Lane’s life, it all comes unravelling. Lane can no longer hold the double lifestyle any longer.
The fact that more of these type of stories are coming out in the media really show how people are aware of GGMD issues. I’m really glad that Gilmore Girls took seven years to unfold Lane Kim’s plot as it is a complex issue and it demonstrated how bad the tension can be.
Luckily, in Glee and in Gilmore girls there was a happy ending. It doesn’t always work that way in the real world unfortunately. What Gilmore Girls does well is it demonstrates that the negotiation around these issues is not a simple solution. It took Mrs. Kim many many episodes before she could come to terms with Lane’s dating habits (non-Korean), and the fact she’s into rock music. It even took Lane to leave the house under bad terms before they could come back together again as adults. Sometimes it may take families time before they can come back together again. Unlike Glee that washed over the issue in one episode (magically, Mike’s father sees what a wonderful dancer he is and is convinced his son will be a dancer instead of a doctor).
Finally, anybody have any comments about Priya’s dating life from the Big Bang Theory?
Have a great spring everybody!
