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Awkwafina (Shang-Chi) is being accused of cultural appropriation by some, for previous use of a “blaccent” while she was rising to fame
- Thread starter Cheesebu
- Start date
- Entertainment
What's wild to me is I think she could just connect a couple dots and say she shouldn't do any accents at all and get away with even a token apology but here we are with this coming up yet again.
I went to college in queens and while I loved it, I couldn't really lay claim to knowing the nyc experience. I met a couple people who spoke with what might be called a blaccent but was in no way the norm in my experience so 🤷♂️
Lol now we get the "it's only whites mad at this" argument. We (black folks) been talking about this women for literally years. Y'all don't listen.
It is the leftist goto when someone wants to dismiss a legit criticism.
I think the code switching stuff is weird since she can clearly speak without using AAVE. It's not like she's Fat Joe, who clearly speaks consistently in what I would call a Bronx accent using heavy AAVE expressions. And has worked with black spaces for decades. Also, her blaccent is clearly exaggerated.
No one would want to readily admit and say "I adopted AAVE because on some level I do not believe black culture is valuable enough to value or pay respect to the community it originates from" because they would rightfully be looked at as an asshat.
So instead the bassackwards "I grew up around it" excuse is coopted instead.
some of these bans are hilarious lmao
people just never learn
The New Day recently even asked if he wanted to battle with them and Wale, and Cena respectfully declined, saying "it's a young man's game" lol
people just never learn
fwiw cena is about the culture, especially during the Thuganomics era
The New Day recently even asked if he wanted to battle with them and Wale, and Cena respectfully declined, saying "it's a young man's game" lol
but back when he was the rapper wrestler, he was using an exaggerated accent, and now as a big movie star, its completely gone.
idk much about her but that accent stuff is p embarrassing, especially after her "I don't do voices" remark.
OP
OP
This isn't new. It's been covered every time she's in a big production.
Vulture wrote a longer piece on it in 2018. They weren't the only one. Lots of major outlets covered the issue (including Yahoo Movies, which is linked in a video below).
Who Really Owns the ‘Blaccent’?
While Awkwafina successfully imitates something in Crazy Rich Asians, it’s not black language.www.vulture.com
It comes up every time she's in the news. Not sure what you're trying to imply by saying the "timing" is an "issue."
She answered a question about her used of blaccent in 2018 (while speaking without one).
She literally said that it is OK for her to do the accent because "as a people" Asian Americans are still trying to figure out their identity.
I don't think she really thought that answer through.
Yea sorry I presented it as new news. I saw it first on a Disney fan site, and read another article but they didnt include dates.
Thank you to everyone who explained things in more detail, it's a lot more complicated and frankly, worse than the articles suggest.
I wouldn't say it was hugely exaggerated, but it's also been a good decade or so since I've heard those old promos, so I'll take your word on it. However, he's never tried to excuse/handwave the issue away like Awkwafina and say he refuses to do accents.
There's a pretty sizable difference in context that is being omitted.
Has he ever even been called out on it? He also has nothing to handwave cause hes white
This seems to be a running theme here. None of the examples of other non-Black entertainers using AAVE/blaccents or what have you, can be shown to have had a whole-ass career trajectory based on that (same with Black folks making jokes at the expense of Asian accents). So some of them did a stint as a rapper....okay? They then grew up. Awkwafina hasn't.
Honestly, not that familiar with the situation, but if she's been doing this shit while being outspokenly against similar stuff being done for Asians then in many ways that makes it look way worse. I'm willing to forgive to an extent young people doing stupid shit out of ignorance because they can learn and grow past that, but you can't really claim ignorance if you've got the awareness to realize it's a shitty thing when it's being done against your group but have no qualms doing it to others. Like, at that point it's clear your criteria is whether or not you personally benefit or lose from this type of behavior and are perfectly fine doing something you know is shitty as long as you stand to benefit from it
The backlash centered around her and Shang-Chi is new. I just meant that her use of a blaccent and the refusal to apologize for it isn't new.
I haven't seen any interviews where she contradicts the answer she gave in 2018, so you'd presume she still thinks it is OK.
Not to my knowledge (I even tried to google it during my previous reply). His fellow POC wrestlers certainly haven't at least, and from what I could find, they either didn't mind it or outright encouraged it.
The main thing is that during that entire time, Cena was always respectful of the culture. Awkwafina being hypocritical about the entire thing shows that she isn't.
Y'all really just hearing about this now? She ain't the first girl to drop the blaccent once she got big, black twitter tried to tell y'all in like 2017 lol
This thread sure has alot of bans for what should be a pretty simple open and shut case, Awkwafina is a massive hypocrite.
I don't follow Ariana Grande at all so when I saw pics of her here and there I thought she was black, never realised my error until I saw a pic of her during her nickelodeon days.
I don't follow Ariana Grande at all so when I saw pics of her here and there I thought she was black, never realised my error until I saw a pic of her during her nickelodeon days.
NinjaScooter explained it earlier but her stage name is derived from jokes like this:
People named after regular, everyday objects but spelled/pronounced differently.
The Key & Peele Substitute Teacher sketch is also derived from those kind of jokes but coming at it from a different angle. (It was posted earlier but I'm posting it again because it's funny as shit and the sole reason why the phrase "Insubordinate and churlish" is a part of my vocab.)
www.youtube.com
People named after regular, everyday objects but spelled/pronounced differently.
The Key & Peele Substitute Teacher sketch is also derived from those kind of jokes but coming at it from a different angle. (It was posted earlier but I'm posting it again because it's funny as shit and the sole reason why the phrase "Insubordinate and churlish" is a part of my vocab.)
Substitute Teacher - Key & Peele
While taking attendance, inner-city substitute teacher Mr. Garvey has trouble adjusting to a classroom full of middle-class white students.About Key & Peele:...
www.youtube.com
Arent u basically describing awkwafina tho? Like her doing a stint as a rapper and using it then stopping?
from my understanding john cena apparently saved his wrestling career by doing the rapper/aave stuff. If you go back and look at those clips, he sounds nothing like that now. I never really liked john cena back in the days cause I just wasnt buying his image
No. Because she still uses the fake accent and rapper name. The entire anti-Black shtick is an inseparable part of her identity, and as a result, she and her fans have found themselves in the position of having to defend and downplay that anti-Blackness to keep the charade going. This is different from Mark Wahlberg going by Marky Mark for a few years (a name that doesn't demean another race, btw), then deciding to drop the shtick because even he knew it was embarrassing. Again, when he is billed on a project today, he's billed as Mark Wahlberg. Not sure why Awkwafina in this Golden Age of representation feels she cannot go by her real name, or at least something that isn't a middle finger to Black people, but that might be another matter for another day.
yea she should drop the name, but I thought she stopped doing the blaccent
Oh he is, but it's different. He's effectively made his coin by being black culture adjacent with hip-hop documentaries and commenting in sports and trash black reality tv. But for him he's absorbed it simply as pop culture and has no underlying meaning for what's happening underneath which is why he has all those gaffes. He's the white editors at Complex😀
But, at least he doesn't turn the accent on or off depending on the gig.
I'll never understand why she continues to use her rap name. Back then she was as irrelevant as Kreayshawn.
This has been a really illuminating thread. Thanks for the educational posts and examples, everyone. I always thought the Awkwafina name was corny but it's good to have a more thorough explanation as to why it's been and continues to be problematic along with the way she uses that accent.
That whole thing came into being because Stephanie heard Cena rapping backstage and thought it'd make a good "character."
I think bring Cena into the convo is kind of disingenuous because he's another guy like, Mark Wahlberg who completely dropped that shit entirely after acknowledging how bad that shit. That and WWE as a whole as a hotbed of fucking terrible stereotypes because it's run by an old racist shithead.
i didnt even know he acknowledged it. I just know I never was feelin it. Him and mark acknowledged it? I know em made fun of Mark on trl to his face. Thats all i know about Mark.
User Banned (2 Weeks): Dismissing Cultural Appropriation Over Multiple Posts
she does, watch her interview on TigerBelly, she has a very unique raspy ass twang to her voice
If anybody wants to see how little Era has changed in regards to this topic:
www.resetera.com
Crazy Rich Asians' Awkwafina & Cultural Appropriation
How do you guys feel about this article written by Muqing Zhang: https://www.colorlines.com/articles/performing-blackness-wont-fill-our-asian-american-culture-deficit-op-ed Basically first saw this article and her twitter account @muqingmzhang after Dumbfoundead and other rappers that I follow...
www.resetera.com
Man too bad we have a statute of limitations.If anybody wants to see how little Era has changed in regards to this topic:
Crazy Rich Asians' Awkwafina & Cultural Appropriation
How do you guys feel about this article written by Muqing Zhang: https://www.colorlines.com/articles/performing-blackness-wont-fill-our-asian-american-culture-deficit-op-ed Basically first saw this article and her twitter account @muqingmzhang after Dumbfoundead and other rappers that I follow...
It's hard to separate. Even on recent projects. She does have a distinct voice but it annoys me, even on animated movies. I think the whole accent is a foundation of who she is or her 'charisma'.
I got annoyed on that dragon movie when I heard her and that MCU movie has me nervous. Her blaccent is a problem and has rubbed me the wrong way.
You can't be serious. This sounds nothing like her minstrel getup.
If you're going to gaslight try harder
Lol, that is pretty damning. She sounds nothing like what she does in her films.
ok, maybe she exaggerates it way more in her movies or whatever. honestly, haven't seen much of anything from her but i did remember noticing a slight urban dialect when she was interviewed here, thought she was from new york. maybe it's the smoker's rasp i'm hearing. absolutely do not see how my post could come off as gaslighting.
To echo this sentiment: as someone who had no idea who she was before this thread, I've always assumed she was Black based on her name. Never seen anything with her in it but the name is clearly chosen for that purpose.
The card trick clip posted earlier in this thread is embarrassing and awful.
You haven't seen her work and you're making these kind of posts? You're right you're not gaslighting, you just don't know what fuck you're talking about. Enjoy your vacation.
I find her incredibly cringey and the worst part of Raya the last dragon precisely because of that forced blaccent.
ok, probably should have based my opinion off more than a single interview. you think i should be banned for this?
I think a good rule of thumb is don't post in threads about
People you put in so little effort to look into. How meaningful is your input going to be?