"K-Town" MTV's Asian "Jersey Shore"

[Vinsanity]

Originally Posted by ndfmnlf

Oh okay. So when an ethnic group segregates itself from American culture, they are attacked as racists and told to go back to their own country. But when another ethnic group assimilates into American culture, they are called "artificial" and "entitled". Brilliant.

I see how the post came off wrong, but as an American Asian living in SoCal, I see what he's getting at. Basically, the phenomenon that he's criticizing is guilty of doing both. He mentioned that "they will only notice you if you're deem worthy in their eyes", so essentially, they self-segregate from other groups. It's not as much about race/nationality as it is a collective superiority complex among social groups, but it just so appears that most of those they choose to associate with are other Korean-Americans with a similar mindset.

And he also mentioned how they haven't assimilated the "real" American culture, and at first that statement struck me the wrong way, but I think he means that they embellish in the "MTV culture" and little else beyond that, whereas our culture has so much more meaningful things to offer, that they might actually appreciate if they took the effort.

That said, I know very well that there are plenty of Korean-Americans who don't exhibit these traits, and I happen to know a few of them myself. The funny thing is that they like to express their woes of the negative traits of other Korean-Americans as well.

Long story short, the show will do for Korean-Americans exactly what Jersey Shore did for Italian-Americans. It will be entertaining, but at the cost of exploiting a few negative qualities.

[californio sur]

Originally Posted by Vinsanity

I see how the post came off wrong, but as an American Asian living in SoCal, I see what he's getting at. Basically, the phenomenon that he's criticizing is guilty of doing both. He mentioned that "they will only notice you if you're deem worthy in their eyes", so essentially, they self-segregate from other groups. It's not as much about race/nationality as it is a collective superiority complex among social groups, but it just so appears that most of those they choose to associate with are other Korean-Americans with a similar mindset.

And he also mentioned how they haven't assimilated the "real" American culture, and at first that statement struck me the wrong way, but I think he means that they embellish in the "MTV culture" and little else beyond that, whereas our culture has so much more meaningful things to offer, that they might actually appreciate if they took the effort.

That said, I know very well that there are plenty of Korean-Americans who don't exhibit these traits, and I happen to know a few of them myself. The funny thing is that they like to express their woes of the negative traits of other Korean-Americans as well.

Long story short, the show will do for Korean-Americans exactly what Jersey Shore did for Italian-Americans. It will be entertaining, but at the cost of exploiting a few negative qualities.

I think the cultural groups who criticized "Jersey Shore" were more upset over the sexual behavior rather than the fact that the cast had Italian ancestry [though not all members were]. So the fact that "K-Town" will focus on Korean Americans has less to do with the Korean culture and more to do with the sexual conduct of young Americans living in a section of Los Angeles who happen to be Asian. Attractive Korean-Americans having fun seems harmless to me.

[Bunjee]

You guys should know they're also doing a "Persian Version" of Jersey Shore. Also presumably set in L.A.

The whole "Italians from Jersey", "Koreans from K-Town", whosis from wherever...it's just about subcultures. They're neither representative nor relevant. It's MTV. It's a TV show. I'll poke fun but it's really hard for me to take seriously, so to make serious indictments would be more self-reflective. Sure, a meta-analysis might yield some fancy fruit, but it's really not worth it. So Snookie's getting rich. Says nothing to me about my life.

[Hwy phantom]

Another thing to keep in mind when watching these so called "reality" shows, especially the ones on MTV, is that they're not not truly real. From what I've hear there is quite a bit of scripting, editing and plain old acting going on.

[RobinsonCrusoe]

it's all about the money i suppose. they get to act like buffoons on tv, engaging in petty drama, but in the end, they'll be laughing all the way to the bank when they demand $30,000 per episode.

That's like a year's salary for an entry-level job. Per episode.

Maybe they're not as dumb as they look? Maybe WE are the dumb ones for publicly ridiculing them, but privately tuning in for every episode and thus continuing to feed the Hollywood machine.

[8move8away8]

Sorry but...ASIANS??? REALLY!!?? How boring will that be...all they do is nails...and study. yawn.

[californio sur]

Originally Posted by 8move8away8

Sorry but...ASIANS??? REALLY!!?? How boring will that be...all they do is nails...and study. yawn.

The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right. ~Mark Twain

[PittNewbie]

Originally Posted by 8move8away8

Sorry but...ASIANS??? REALLY!!?? How boring will that be...all they do is nails...and study. yawn.

Yeap right but at the end you will be the one busing tables for them. White Americans are an ethnic minority at all the top local schools.

[TimC2462]

Originally Posted by Censorship Data

Yes

If you would re-read my post, you'd see that I generalized against a group of Korean Americans living in Los Angeles. Yes, I am guilty of generalizing against a group and I could be wrong, but this is based on my personal experience in dealing with them.

And yes, I am a Korean American, just not from the Los Angeles area.

[TimC2462]

Originally Posted by Censorship Data

Uhhh that's what I said, you're generalizing Koreans living in Los Angeles. What don't you get?

You, specifically.

I openly admitted that I was generalizing against Korean Americans living in Los Angeles.

You on the other hand, made it sound like I was generalizing against the entire group of Koreans. There is a key difference between Koreans and Korean Americans.

Now I'll switch the tables on you; are you Korean? And if so, are you sure?