American Born Chinese

I like how the book American Born Chinese uses three different story lines to drive home a point. There is the monkey king myth, an autobiography of the author, and the Chinese cousin who comes to visit. I particularly enjoyed the parts of the story dedicated to the Chinese cousin. It played off of stereotypes depicting Chinese in the media. On page 51, we have just been introduced to the character Chin-Kee. He has come to visit his cousin Danny and interrupted a study session in which Danny is trying to ask his study partner on a date. Danny shows panic in the first panel with raised eyebrows, widened eyes, and a gaping mouth. The next panel shows Chin-Kee drooling over Danny's study partner. There is a large amount of drool dripping from his mouth. He also has two large buck teeth coming from his upper lip. I find that part interesting, because the other two caucasian characters just have solid white mouths. There is no distinction between their teeth at all. Chin-Kee speaks, and the words show his stereotypical speech, "Dis pletty Amellican girl wiff bountiful Amellican bosom must berong to cousin Da-nee!" This panel also has Chin-Kee's persistent laugh displayed at the bottom. "HA HA HA HA HA." I think this is to show Chin-Kee's playful and embarassing presence. In this same panel you see the girl looking confusedly, maybe frustratingly, at Danny. Then, the next panel Chin-Kee says he is coming to school with Danny. His eyes are not open in either panels. The next panel shows Danny's panic. A curved line to show his head swiveling and the word "MA!?" in a bubble. The font is bold. This shows the urgency of his question. This page alone shows the immediate dislike of the character Chin-Kee. That is continued in the rest of the story about Danny and his cousin.
While reading this section I kept thinking of the movie "Sixteen Candles." The plot is similar to that movie. A caucasian has an embarassing Asian relative come visit. They then take them to school with them and are embarassed by their overpowered sex drive, their mannerisms, and accent. The characiture of a Chinese person here is ridiculous, but I saw it in Sixteen Candles (minus the "traditional" Chinese clothing). There's the classic line in the movie, where the Chinese boy character, Long Duck Dong, is looking for his new girlfriend, "Ohhhhh, sexy girlfriend!" It is amusing, but at the expense of Asian Americans everywhere. This is the picture our media has painted of a young Chinese boy who has come to America.