"Mr. Wong" on Icebox.com
By Wesley Wong
Mr. Wong is a series of flash animations available at www.icebox.com.
Each episode is a few minutes long, and details the escapades of an
old Chinese butler named Mr. Wong. Mr. Wong is a butler for an over
privileged, rich Miss Pam, and is frequently the subject of her abuse.
The humor is crass, full of racial stereotypes and foul language in
the tradition of the South Park series. The first episode "Urine
Trouble", for example, shows a cruel Miss Pam offering to bring
Mr. Wong to serve her in Memphis only is he can pronounce the word
'cotillion'. Mr. Wong tries repeatedly but only manages to render,
through his thick Chinese accent, "catiwion". As Miss Pam
leaves the room, Mr. Wong gives her the finger.
The goal of this series is obviously to deconstruct this racial stereotype
through humor. By exaggerating the stereotype it forces the viewer
to consider its accuracy in modern times. The mockery of the stereotype
is balanced in that Mr. Wong is aware of Miss Pam's abuse, and in
his own quiet manner he fights back, such as giving her the middle
finger, or running over KKK members. It is questionable, however,
whether this is an appropriate manner to address the Asian stereotype.
To the privileged, and educated white viewer, this sort of humor is
certainly appreciated, and its purpose is understood. However, I wonder
what an Asian person would feel upon seeing this, and whether they
would be able to see beyond its derogatory surface and comprehend
it as an attack, rather than confirmation, of this stereotype. Furthermore,
I can see this sort of humor reinforcing the stereotype in the minds
of teens and children who may wander to the site, and not be able
to ascertain the higher purpose of the comic.
The animation itself is simple, but impressive considering the limitations
of Flash. Compared, however, to animation in television, the quality
is significantly lower. Animation is limited to the foreground, and
most of the background is static. This illustrates one of the current
weaknesses of entertainment over the Internet, as technology struggles
to keep pace with expectations, and true convergence remains in the
distance. While Mr. Wong and other animations on www.icebox.com
are an interesting distraction when sitting in front of a computer
at work, I still would much rather settle in on the couch to catch
an episode of The Simpsons. Perhaps if www.icebox.com
added a dimension of interactivity to their animations, it could present
itself a new medium, rather than a competing substitute to its television
counterpart.