Fresh Off the Boat, loosely based on Eddie Huang's memoir. An Asian American family on network TV in a family 90s-era sitcom. That's not nothing. It is a watershed moment in American culture. It paved the way for Crazy Rich Asians. It paved the way for Awkwafina, Lulu Wang, Hasan Minhaj and the plethora of new Asian voices we're seeing in film and TV. Representation matters. You don't fully comprehend how much it matters until it is achieved and you realize what the world has been missing out on. Not only does it normalize your own experience, it exposes white society to broader expectations of normalcy too. While maintaining its cultural specificity, it also clearly demonstrates that we all undergo similar experiences. It was always pleasing to identify my friends and family being represented on screen in these relatable characters. Constance Wu and Randall Park became mainstream stars in their own right. And we watched the kids grow up over the last six years. It has been a good run. Let's hope we don't have to wait long for more Asians on network TV.
