I mean this is obvious. But so many posters from NYC who vehemently think that talking like this in skits and speaking normally everywhere else is fucking code switching.
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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
None of my friends do any of those roles, so again, I'm not defending her. In my own personal situation, my friends and I do turn our accents on and off depending on the situation, whether it's for a public thing or not. The question I'm asking myself now is if your natural accent is a blackcent and you're not black, should you never be allowed to waver from that ever so that you can justify it? Or is your personal identity so offensive that you need to learn to change it at a fundamental level so everyone is satisfied? Even if you're exaggerating it for some performance. I don't know.
You can read it yourself:
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It is actually apt to topics raised in this thread too.
Being inspired by Jesse Owens to run 100m sprints is different than conveniently adopting a fake accent caricaturing Black people when it benefits you.
there is zero evidence that Akwafina's accent is natural, on the contrary, the fact that it so clearly isn't is the crux of the criticisms against her. so again I'm not sure how the direction you are trying to take here with your personal anecdotes is at all relevant to the thread.
There is no evidence anywhere that it's her natural accent. Not even a statement from Nora. There is a fuck ton that says it isn't. You're making up fan fiction to defend her.
She doesn't even talk like that in her autobiographical show!!!!!
Should she make a statement? Probably. I don't care if she's eviscerated. I also understand that if it was me, I would NOT be enthusiastic about having to make any kind of public statement about my personal identity/my childhood that I'm caricaturing on my own personal show or any other performance where I put myself into it.
I've only related my personal experiences. Feel free to bash her all you want.
I swear we had a version of this thread when her show came out. lol
It's very weird though, Eddie Huang is basically the same too, although he admittedly owns up to the fact that he identifies with Black culture in part because there was no Asian culture when he was growing up.
It's very weird though, Eddie Huang is basically the same too, although he admittedly owns up to the fact that he identifies with Black culture in part because there was no Asian culture when he was growing up.
That's a pretty big distinction though, and one that if she had done herself I'm assuming a lot of people wouldn't be upset, or as upset with her.
So not really very weird at all?
It's especially a problem with her because when asked why she chose it, she said she just wanted a "stupid name".
Well, I saw it's weird because he then made what I took to be a fan fiction movie about himself. It's about a young Chinese man who grows up in NYC and is so good at basketball that he's going to be scouted but his Chinese-ness alienates him from his Black peers and his Black girlfriend.
But maybe I'm just reading too much into that film. lol
But that would seem like her reasoning wasn't that it was stupid because of the spelling, but because she made a hip hop name out of a brand of water.
Like... I don't even know what to think of it after watching it. Maybe if you don't know who Eddie Huang is, the film reads more as your standard boring Asian can't fit in type of story instead of wishfulfillment.
I think this is the point I thought I was tryin to make too, but maybe this would be worthy of a different thread.
She thinks so little of the names she's mocking that she chose one based off a brand of water.
It comes down to if you think she's appropriating black culture for her career and that's it, I empathize with you feeling offended by it. If you think she's not allowed to exaggerate in her performances so she can proudly prop up the black influences in her upbringing, I don't really agree. Awkwafina herself doesn't really matter here b/c I don't know if she's faking or not. It's just purely on what she's kind of representing to me now in this thread about some asian americans' upbringing.
Honestly I can't say she deserves any of the benefit she's getting. She doesn't seem to care about black culture(outside of what it can do for her) or have many black friends??? She definitely purposefully hams up the accent, so even if there was any genuine aspects to it she'd still be making a mockery of it. She has stated she would never do that with Asian accents because she doesn't want to mock her people aka Asians. If she was actually down though, she would probably have considered people who spoke aave to also be her people or at the very least people worthy of respect, and if she respected them, then she wouldn't fake an accent because she wouldn't want to mock them.
it comes down to the fact that you have to be foolish and naive, or more likely just willfully ignorant, to think there is anything authentic or natural about her "akwafina" caricature.
Sorry, exaggerate was too much. I've literally only seen her in one movie, so I don't know. I mean "If you think she's not allowed to portray in her performances her black influences in her upbringing, I don't really agree."
Damn, when it comes to shitting on black people or defending someone who does it, this forum doesn't disappoint. Every damn time.
I'm just digging myself into a bigger hole with you, so i'll just leave it again with "The question I'm asking myself now is if your natural accent is a blackcent and you're not black, should you never be allowed to waver from that ever so that you can justify it? Or is your personal identity so offensive that you need to learn to change it at a fundamental level so everyone is satisfied?" Forget about Awkwafina. That's what this thread came to be about for me.
i think the problem is you continue to insist that what Akwafina does is a "natural accent"
If you don't see how you insistence on bringing in your irrelevant personal anecdotes and even saying "forget Awkwafina" and trying to make this thread into something it's not in order to deflect from the reason this thread was created is a problem I don't know what to tell you.
And neither does her one Black friend who only appears in one episode.
Since I don't have any new, disingenuous arguments to defend Awkwafina, I will instead post some out of context discussion around the topic. Debate me blacks.
Bruh, this was covered in like page 2.
1)The problem is that her accent isn't natural; its old and dated and sounds wrong for someone her age. She's not a 47 year old dude from the Bronx
2)She only uses it when she's playing her minstrely comic persona. She's not doing it when she's getting interviewed, when she's doing drama, when she's literally on a show with two POC's heavily using slang…she only uses it in her 'comedy'.
As a black person its wild seeing people catch bans defending Awkwafina. Awkwafina's a talented actress but its clear that she used black culture as a spectacle to gain attention/fame and dropped the act as soon as she hit the mainstream. We saw the same thing happen with Miley Cyrus recently and countless other performers throughout history.
This thread has been fucking soul-draining. A thread about fucking Awkwafina doing a performative black voice. Something that has been fucking obvious for years now. Something that is blatant if you watch her show and then watch her talk in any interview outside of it. It's not her "natural accent" or something she picked up from her black friends or whatever bullshit you want to handwave it away for. She's very clearly putting on a character, and an offensive one at that.
But instead, like a lot of other threads regarding black issues, it very quickly gets derailed to being more about what so-called allies' personal feelings are, because suddenly the criticism is hitting too close to their comfort levels.
And it just boggles my mind that it's fucking Awkwafina of all people who so many decided "yeah, this is the hill I'm dying on."
But instead, like a lot of other threads regarding black issues, it very quickly gets derailed to being more about what so-called allies' personal feelings are, because suddenly the criticism is hitting too close to their comfort levels.
And it just boggles my mind that it's fucking Awkwafina of all people who so many decided "yeah, this is the hill I'm dying on."
It's why I say we don't have allies, just temporary partners.
Oh wow, I had no idea her accent was fabricated for comedic purposes. That's fucked up. It initially rubbed me the wrong way but two of my friends told me she grew up in the Bronx, made it seem like it was natural.
I know a couple of people that are deeply into K-pop and J-pop. My knowledge of those areas is extremely limited but sometimes it feels like the admiration for black culture slides into appropriation or even mockery (depending on the artist).
Also, no one is saying Awkwafina is a terrible person. She had a trait that was harmful to another culture and it's completely fair to want to discuss it. Drive-by posters with their "I don't see a problem" cowardice need to fuck off (or use your ban time to think about why that behavior is fucked up). Ricky Gervais, Kanye West, stop defending these guys. Everyone claims to be an ally until their problematic fav gets brought up.
I know a couple of people that are deeply into K-pop and J-pop. My knowledge of those areas is extremely limited but sometimes it feels like the admiration for black culture slides into appropriation or even mockery (depending on the artist).
Also, no one is saying Awkwafina is a terrible person. She had a trait that was harmful to another culture and it's completely fair to want to discuss it. Drive-by posters with their "I don't see a problem" cowardice need to fuck off (or use your ban time to think about why that behavior is fucked up). Ricky Gervais, Kanye West, stop defending these guys. Everyone claims to be an ally until their problematic fav gets brought up.
Threads like this is why I don't take much of what ppl say here serious lol. Black 6'2 nigga with long dreads checking in…..
Black ppl do not have real allies. We literally have to hold our own nuts out here.
Black ppl do not have real allies. We literally have to hold our own nuts out here.
Except that it's happened every time she has been in a popular movie, crazy rich Asians, the farewell etc.
Only caught on this thread this morning. I'm with this take. What a mess.
Walking through this thread is like a minefield.
Sick and fucking tired of non-black people telling us how to think, feel and react to this shit. Check your fucking privilege, shut the fuck up and listen to the actual people who are trying to educate your ignorant asses.
Just can't with ya'll niggas that do the same song and dance every thread.
Sick and fucking tired of non-black people telling us how to think, feel and react to this shit. Check your fucking privilege, shut the fuck up and listen to the actual people who are trying to educate your ignorant asses.
Just can't with ya'll niggas that do the same song and dance every thread.
Anyone that calls themselves an ally is usually a person who just wants to pat themselves on the back and doesn't actually give a fuck is what I always say.
Hilarious thread. The amount of people willing to die on the hill for awkwafuckingfina is hilarious. She's been a culture vulture since day 1.
Been following your posts and I can tell you're just trolling and arguing in bad faith.
User Banned (1 Month): Dismissive Commentary Over Multiple Posts and Thread Derailment; Account in Junior Phase
I mean I tried to add some nuance to this thread by bringing my own personal experience in here, to try and bring it to larger discussion, but all anyone wants to talk about is awkwafina awkwafina awkwafina. So the lesson I'm taking away from this is don't bring personal anecdotes and life experience about a certain issue that's larger than a single celebrity to a thread that's purely about criticizing that someone (who btw I said I agree with should be criticized if she's not genuine).
As a black person I have never heard of a blackcennt nor do I think I care to learn about it any further cause Imo this is just too much.
We claiming accents as a race now lol this is too much
We claiming accents as a race now lol this is too much
Your personal anecdotes don't apply. So many people keep asking you the basic question "Do you think Awkwafina's schtick is legit?". Bringing up personal anecdotes around white, latin or asian folks who were born and raised in the hood around black folk has no seat at this table when talking about "Awkafina". It's just trolling.
If you want to talk beyond this specific celebrity, start the thread.
I honestly can't comprehend how you can have that many notifications pop up and not pipe down at this point. Bringing personal anecdotes into the discussion isn't a problem but endlessly twisting around to present your points as 'reasonable' when other posters are clearly telling you you're being dismissive is tiring.
So we have to conclude you're doing it for the attention. Let the discussion play out you aren't gaining anything here.