After much anticipation I'm disappointed that the show was a let down and what was with the crap ending? anyway I expected more from the writer(s) and I can't believe they portrayed the asian wife in such a stereotypical way! Even the dialogue, I mean you just knew an immigration question was going to be part of the script.
"I wanna do that dance till I forget where I am"
I can see where you are coming from but I think they showed how she was ignored by the others and even by Miles, she was clearly seen by Miles as a trophy wife rather than a real person with real feelings.
I think it was more subtle than a blank sterotype and the viewer was drawn into feeling for her being part of a group that she didn't feel comfortable with and with people who had no intention of interacting with her.
They could have explored this more but there probably wasn't the time.
:S Your stereotypical Asian woman is quick-tempered and leaves her husband as a result of a phone call?
And even if that's true, so what? Stereotypes are there for a reason, they're the most commonly known and recognised example. It doesn't have to be a negative thing, and for this show a character as such was necessary for the plotline to unfold. What should the writers do then? Follow the Political Correctness Brigade and make her black? WTF? Then they'll call them racists... :/
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Imho it's true that Me Linh wasn't really as well drawn as the rest of the characters, but i agree this was probably more down to time constraints than anything. Don't forget Milly's character is half-indian. Is her hard-working, perfectionist ways stereotypical of other asian women?
All of the characters have some stereotypical aspects (particularly Miles), but with the time we've spent with them we're able to see round them and appreciate a bit more depth.
Me Linh's character was there to show us Miles typical unsuitable choice of partner, but also to show how the group could be so exclusionary towards outsiders (particularly Anna).
"God saved me from drowning... then kicked me to death on the beach."
I saw nothing submissive about Me-Linh. She was quietly seething with envy when she first met Anna, and that bad feeling quickly boiled up to her departure. Submissive does not equal silent, which was what she was at the beginning of the show because she met everyone for the first time and felt awkward. Submissive would mean that she agrees to whatever Miles suggested and is dependant upon him. This was clearly not true, since she left for Edinburgh after she got the phone call. She seemed to be jealous of every woman connected to Miles.
Stereotypes are built up over time, and by the majority. If what you say is true and Me-Linh is the perfect stereotype of an Asian woman, why aren't there more Asian women leaving their husbands due to them being quick to leave and "not able to cope with the social atmosphere"? Divorce rates are the lowest amongst Asians, which might suggest that Asian women have the capacity to take more punishment and stay with their partners in fear of shaming themselves over divorce. Me-Linh clearly did not belong in this category.
If it is so dangerous to write racial stereotypes as according to you, then should all Asian women in shows be written as "booze-guzzling, shag-monster imbeciles" instead? Because that's not a stereotypical view of Asian women, therefore it must be good writing and the characters must be multi-dimensional? :/
>Stereotypes are built up over time, and by the majority. If what you say is true and Me-Linh is the perfect stereotype of an Asian woman, why aren't there more Asian women leaving their husbands due to them being quick to leave and "not able to cope with the social atmosphere"? Divorce rates are the lowest amongst Asians, which might suggest that Asian women have the capacity to take more punishment and stay with their partners in fear of shaming themselves over divorce. Me-Linh clearly did not belong in this category
This has to be the most ignorant, unfounded and over-generalized statement I've read today.
when anna said to miles something along the lines of "you expected it to be easy didn't you?" (implying that by marrying an asian he wouldn't get any lip), that in itself highlights the stereotypical view of asian women in this tv show. that and the immigration comment. I know a lot of people from the east who have come to England, speak very good english (english being their first language), integrate extremely well in the english lifestyle, particularly the london multi-cultural lifestyle and decide to stay on (and not do so by marrying for a visa but rather through their own merit and hard work in gaining permanent residency)
>If it is so dangerous to write racial stereotypes as according to you, then should all Asian women in shows be written as "booze-guzzling, shag-monster imbeciles" instead? Because that's not a stereotypical view of Asian women, therefore it must be good writing and the characters must be multi-dimensional? :/
I never said it was dangerous, just that I expected more from This Life 10 years on. and perhaps maybe it is time to expand the asian character because being a booze-guzzling shag-monster imbecile can apply to all races (you'd be surprised, a lot of asian countries are actually quite modern and they do - gasp - go out to bars and have a drink!) as at least it would be more compelling viewing than mei linh's character.
"I wanna do that dance till I forget where I am"
I'm glad that you mentioned Anna's "easy" comment, because it fully supports my claim. Miles assumed that all Asian women would be submissive, so he married Me-Linh. He was wrong, as evidenced by Me-Linh not putting up with his *beep* and subsequent leaving after having had too much stress. Anna enforced Miles' error upon us by saying "You expected it to be easy, didn't you?" I also remember Egg commenting that Miles had married Me-Linh assuming (wrongly) that she would be an "Asian barbie". What they are constructing is that we know Miles was wrong to stereotype all Asian women as 'easy to control'. That notion is unfounded and untrue. So if anything, the show is criticising stereotyping Asian women by introducing Me-Linh who is not akin to the stereotype.
I know lots of Asians who are hard-working too, in fact I believe that the average Asian works harder than the average Westerner (likely to be backed up by statistics somewhere, I'm not going to look it up) due to greater pressure from their stricter parents. I don't see what this has anything to do with the show.
You seemed to be quite upset about the immigration comment still. It was just one question put forward, off-the-cuff, and Miles dismissed it as being ludicrous.
"I expected more from This Life 10 years on. and perhaps maybe it is time to expand the asian character" - Sorry to disappoint you but they couldn't write intricate backgrounds to every minor character on a show. If your expectations are truly set that high, then it's wonder why you even watch TV. Me-Linh had just a minor role. Did you expect Clare/Melissa/the bailiffs to have fascinating back stories for them to explain in the story too? Personally I would've like to know more about Clare, but I didn't come to an internet forum to rant about why "we shouldn't stereotype all white camera-women to be quiet, bland, nerdy, frigid bitches".
Yes it may be a bit too much to ask of the writers to expand on the bit characters' backgrounds. My main point is that I was quite disappointed by the very obvious stereotyping that was going on. In fact, it's not just the Me-Linh character - I found the script could have been so much better and a lot of it was predictable, except the ending which imho was too far-fetched and didn't really make any sense.
p.s. Re: the "easy" comment, that re-enforces my point that there is a generalisation that an asian woman would be submissive, as assumed by anna and miles, and is the kind of stereotyping I am highlighting - the fact that that was part of the dialogue is enough.
"I wanna do that dance till I forget where I am"
"p.s. Re: the "easy" comment, that re-enforces my point that there is a generalisation that an asian woman would be submissive, as assumed by anna and miles" - Actually, it was only assumed by Miles, and the show went to great lengths to show how he was wrong to do so. Anna and Egg both criticised him for it.
"the fact that that was part of the dialogue is enough." Stereotyping exists. Not mentioning it does not make it go away. Especially when the show was quite pointedly against it. It was only part of the subject to be criticised.
>the fact that that was part of the dialogue is enough." Stereotyping exists. Not mentioning it does not make it go away. Especially when the show was quite pointedly against it. It was only part of the subject to be criticised.
of course stereotyping exists - i'm just disappointed that it was so blatant in this show. in fact, this reunion show seemed to thrive on cliches and stereotypes, which meant it fell short of being a brilliant reunion show. oh well
"I wanna do that dance till I forget where I am"
It was a bit sterotypical but who else would marry Miles except for his passport and/or money. It's not an uncommon thing. If it were any of the other characters who were with her then I doubt it would have been done in that way. But I think this was to show Miles's ignorance more then anything else.
shareI agree. As Warren aptly explained on his video diary: "Miles is not a good judge of character. He look one look at Me Linh and thought 'ah, Asian Barbie, yum yum!'".
BTW, who was the actress who played Me Linh?
IMDB's cast list is incomplete. I'm sure that the actress who played her is mighty pissed off that she is not duly credited for her role.
Yes, that racism was distasteful, went totally against the 90s series, and was all part of the mix of a truly awful TV movie.
"But I have infinite tenderness for you. I always will. My whole life."
If anyone's laying out racial stereotypes here it's you. I took time out of my busy booze-guzzling and philandering schedule to tell you that.
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