American Born Transformer

Gene Luen Yang's "American Born Chinese" kind of made me start wishing that I had a Monkey King deity as my own father. Or at the very least, a flying cloud to get around on. I don’t think transportation gets better than that. Though, I suppose Jin Wang would disagree. Somehow he would rather separate himself from any Chinese attributes in an effort to become just as boring as everyone around him. Come on, Jin, a flying cloud doesn’t sound cool? Really? I bet if Optimus Prime transformed into a cloud instead of a truck, you’d start to see things my way.

It seems goofy, considering how short this story was, that I was so surprised by the reveal on page 214 – that Danny was actually Jin Wang. It was an effective technique on the part of Gene Luen Yang, though, as the “Danny” portion of the comic felt almost entirely separate from either part before or after. It proved how radically different a transformation can be, or more specifically, how different Jin wanted to be. In the short amount of time that he was present, Danny carried himself with much more confidence and suddenly appeared to have a reputation he wanted to protect, rather than dismiss. When he finally took control of the Chinese influence in his life (as represented by Chin-Kee) it was only in an attempt to beat it up and get rid of it.

What I find interesting is that, for the most part, Jin doesn’t idolize the kids around him, wanting to be more like them for who they are. (Granted, his options for role models are a bully who makes lame jokes and another bully who eats his snot, so, you know…) There is never a point in the story where Jin explicity states that he wishes he were more like Peter or the other kids who play football. It’s an interesting distinction, since the first insecure reaction someone has about not fitting in would typically be to emulate those around them. I kept reading “American Born Chinese” waiting for a montage where Jin tries to force himself into the same kind of clothes as a classmate, for example, or try to become really good at football. Instead, he simply does not want to be himself and ultimately tries to get as far away as possible from being foreign. This is evident in the fact that he avoided Suzy as much as possible and was initially aggressive towards Wei-Chen – even in the fact that his packed lunch changes from dumplings (32) to a white bread sandwich (34, 37). Wei-Chen had a similar character arc. He did not want to remain an emissary of Tze-Yo-Tzuh, but also did not want to be like the humans around him. Ultimately he conceded to neither and instead turned to a wholly self-serving lifestyle. The resolution came creatively through the bubble tea scene, as both Jin and Wei resolve to seek out a better version the traditional Taiwanese drink –seeking something representative of their heritage rather than shunning it.

Overall, I thought Yang’s story corrected the assumption that transformations aren’t always a means of becoming more like that which is around you. It can instead be a more personal urge to discover ones unique identity. In fact, I’d really like to transform myself – from now on I’ll be Peter with a flying cloud, instead of the boring Peter who walks on the ground.

Yeah, Jin, get jealous.