Another is the tale of the Monkey King, a mythical god from the 16th century Chinese classic “Journey to the West.” The third is about a popular blond-haired, light-eyed teen jock who is embarrassed of his visiting cousin, who is an amalgam of every racist Chinese stereotype perpetuated by mainstream culture. One storyline follows Jin Wang, who struggles after he transfers to a school where there is only one other Asian American student. The graphic novel features three seemingly distinct narratives that are eventually revealed to be interconnected. Another was that the show represented the three different worlds that the story unfolds. That the adaptation retained that core premise was one of the most important things to the author. The main character eventually learns to accept himself through this friendship.” “And it turns out that this immigrant kid isn’t just from Asia, he’s actually from Asian mythology.

It’s a story about “a young man who is struggling with his own cultural heritage, with the way he looks, with the language his parents speak, becomes friends with this immigrant kid,” said Yang. (First Second / Macmillon Children’s Publishing Group) But after reluctantly befriending his new classmate Wei-Chen Sun (Jimmy Liu), Jin gets pulled into a battle over heaven between mythological gods. “It felt like I was playing a virtual reality video game.”īased on Yang’s award-winning graphic novel, “ American Born Chinese,” which premieres Wednesday on Disney+, follows Jin Wang (played by Ben Wang), a teenager that just wants to fit in, play soccer and win over his crush.

Whereas the promotional cycle for one of his books might involve appearances at events like librarian conferences, special advanced screenings of the TV series have taken Yang from the Bay Area to New York and even the White House.Īttending the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month celebration hosted by President Biden, which featured a screening of “American Born Chinese,” earlier this month “really felt like I was living somebody else’s life,” said Yang during a recent video call. For cartoonist Gene Luen Yang, the lead-up to the premiere of “American Born Chinese” has been “very surreal.”

What is the opposite of synonym