JT: Hi guys. JT Tran here, and today we have a really special guest. One of my
good friends, Eliot Chang, voted number 2 most funniest Comedy Central comedian. Now
normally on our channel, we talk about dating, confidence, girls. But today, I want to address
something different because Eliot, if you guys don't know Eliot, is actually one of the very few
successful Asian men in the entertainment and Hollywood industry. So a while back, one of your
videos went viral and it was you talking out at a college molding the young minds of America.
And it had to do with Asian stereotypes in the media. You want to give them a quick background
of what you said.
Eliot Chang: Yeah because basically, this is a diversity workshop that I've been doing for a long
time. Not every school wants to do it, but I'd say 90-95% of the schools want me to do it, where I
just talk about how Asian men and women are portrayed in the media and how that actually
affects us in real life. Because people don't realize that the media does influence real life all the
time and especially, with Asians, I think a lot, and if you're not Asian, how would you know
that? But we live it every day. I'm sure you see it with your students who are like "You know, for
some reason, I'm an Asian dude and I'm treated a certain way when I try to talk to girls," and I
really believe that is because girls who grow up in America have been affected by what they see,
how Asians are portrayed. That's pretty much the just of what I talk about.
JT: Right, I've watched it myself and if you guys haven't, you should definitely check it out. One
of the things when you're Asian, you get pigeon-holed. It's called heuristics when you go up to a
girl -- not every girl has these mental shortcuts that they take, but there will be a percentage that
will base their decision on you based on what they say in Hollywood and the movies and the
media. Some of it is good, hardworking, family-oriented, stable, safe to be around. But, let's
admit it, some of it's pretty bad.
Eliot: And when it's bad, it's really bad!
JT: What are the stereotypes that we face?
Eliot: Number one is that we're just not sexually attractive. That's what I get. Forget the whole
small penis joke thing but I've noticed that every Asian dude, it just seems like he's not an option.
He's not even on the radar.
JT: We're just not dateable.
Eliot: Yeah, we're just not dateable; we're not even sexual beings. Growing up, because we're
guys and obviously, we're sex-minded, I notice that all the time and I'll tell my friends and
they're like "I don't know what you're talking about." And I'm like 'Yeah, because you're not
portrayed that way."
JT: Yeah, so obviously, there's a sexual, worker-drone, not leaders, not very masculine and it all
plays a part. I remember growing up and there were just no role models other than Bruce Lee.
Now, great role model, love him! But here's the thing: The man's been dead for 30 years! We
need new guys! But I think that comes to the second part, is the fact that. Do you believe in
today's media landscape that has been changing -- because we've got Steve Yun from The
Walking Dead. There's John Cho in "Selfie" and there are a couple of other parts. And again like
Eliot here, you are out there and you're working the mean streets of Hollywood. Do you think it's
been changing and how, as you as an Asian man, how does it feel doing Hollywood, facing these
obstacles?
Eliot: I do think it's changing. I definitely think the changes are a slower rate for Asians as
compared to other ethnic groups. Obviously I think in the black community, the Latino
community -- those actors are way more assertive, more aggressive, maybe they have other
media watchdog groups pushing for them harder whereas, I don't see a lot of people pushing for
more Asian representation.
JT: You know what, a really quick side note. Do you remember when Jeremy Lynn came out?
Huge, I love Jeremy Lynn. This was the first time I ever saw a reaction where someone called
him a derogatory racist name and BOOM, guy got fired. I've never seen that before. So it's like
you were saying, these watchdog groups, we need to build up a momentum because there are
very few Jeremy Lynn's out there.
Eliot: I was going to mention also we have John Cho, Steve Yun, but the fact that we have
Jeremy Lynn, it helps that basketball is so popular. If Jeremy Lynn were a badminton player, no
one would care. But thank God he's good and he's in basketball. So I think things are changing,
they're changing very slowly, but I see it changing and for me as an Asian performer in
Hollywood, seeing these changes now is very exciting. I'm lucky that I'm doing a stand up now.
If was trying to be a comedian 20 years ago, I don't think anyone would've ever heard of me. It
just wasn't the right time in America. But now, with all of these changes going on, I'm really
excited. Not only just because for me personally, it benefits my career, but I'm excited for the
changes that are going to be coming in the future for Asian men and women in the media.
JT: Do you think -- and this is something that always comes up with my students -- they're like
"Oh, it's changing," or "China's going to be really important." But here's the thing. I love seeing
more Asian representation, but is that really going to effect the guy that can't talk to girls now? Is
it somehow, the #[genuine? 05:50:07] attraction, you're going to get some of that pixie dust on
you?
Eliot: I think it will help a little bit, but the fact is, if you're just a shy guy, Asian, white or black,
just because the landscape is changing for your ethnic background, if you don't learn to talk to
girls, I don't think it's going to help you that much.
JT: I see what's in the #[K-pop? 06:11:29] scene. There are all of these other Facebook groups
that are like: #[? 06:15:23], white girls or just black girls. And they've kind of got a fetish thing.
And some of them are really into the K-pop thing. But I don't encourage my students to go for
those girls because it's sort of based on stereo type. I want the girl to appreciate me for who I am.
As opposed to "I've got to do that K-pop thing, that k-pop hairstyle." I'm not going to do that.
But what would you say to guys that are trying to get into Hollywood, Asian guys who are out
there? Because one thing I find difficult is my students -- I have hundreds and thousands of
reviews but very few want to do video reviews, they just don't want their face out there.
Eliot: First of all, I get that. I think people don't want to be put on YouTube. I think it's just a
human thing too, people are like "I'm just really shy with the cameras." But I think you're right, I
think with Asian men or women, I think they're even way more reserved when it comes to that.
Because they're not used to seeing Asian faces on any kind of screen, so they're like "I don't want
to be the first one to do it," you know?
You and I, we've gone through a couple of different pilots, Asian-American oriented. I was
talking to this producer, and she was trying to get Asians to be part of the cast and she's telling
me it's like pulling teeth. It was all Asian girls and no Asian guys want to get out there and put
their face. How are we going to change the face of Hollywood if we don't put ourselves out
there? If we don't see the positive change, then we need to become it and it's up to each one of us
to do that.
I don't want to get deep, but it's like as Gandhi said: "You need to be the change that you want to
see" and you're right. If there are Asian-Americans just sitting around going "I want to see more
of us out there," well then WE have to do it. You can't just sit there and wait.
JT: No one else is going to do it.
Eliot: No one else is going to do it. I'm not saying that every Asian should go out there and be an
actor. What I'm saying is, if you are an actor, performer, singer, dancer, comedian, whatever it is
that you're going to be, you have to be willing to put yourself out there and make a splash. You
can't be passive because, first of all, entertainment is an aggressive thing. You can't be passive in
an aggressive business, it doesn't make any sense. So if you're going to be an actor, you've got to
choose very bold roles. You've got to choose to play it a very specific kind of way. For me
specifically as a comedian, luckily I write everything I say. Luckily, I'm also very outspoken as a
person anyway so I'm not creating a character.
JT: You have an advantage of molding your personality, people should see. When you're an
actor, you don't really have that sort of freedom.
Eliot: So, as a comedian, I can control what I say so I can choose people. As an actor, the only
power you have -- this will answer your question -- as an actor, what we can do, and it's very
hard, you have to turn down those roles that you think are crappy for Asian-Americans. And I
know a lot of actors are not going to do that because they're like, "Look, I've been offered this
part, it's been 3 years since I've gotten a gig. I'm going to take it even though it's demeaning to
Asian men." I walk out on so many auditions a lot because I am a comedian and I can make
money in other ways, I can get on T.V through stand up. So there are times I'll get an audition
and they're like, "Hey, can you do this with a really geeky accent and can you play it really
weak?" And I'm not rude, but I just say "Hey, you know. I don't think I can give you what you're
looking for so let me not waste your time." So I turn down roles very politely, but I do turn them
down because I spent a bunch of years creating what my persona is on stage. I've created a
message with my comedy and I'm not going to go against that.
JT: A positive Asian brand.
Eliot: Brand, exactly.
JT: It is a double-edged sword and it's hard for me to put myself in the struggling Asian-actor --
what is that one guy that does The Hangover?
Eliot: Oh, Dr. King. King Jao[?]
JT: Yeah, pretty famous, I'm sure making a lot of money. Would I shoot to do that, probably not.
I don't think you would either, but he's famous and he's probably rich so, I want to do a
comparison of the LGBT community. Now, it's important for us, similar to what they did in Will
and Grace. It was the first exposure that America had to someone that was gay, someone that
was popular, so it was three dimensional. And then over time, slowly through that exposure and
other shows, the LGBT community got accepted; people saw them as three dimensional human
beings and now look at us now. It's like 60% of America is accepting gay marriage and I think
that this is very similar to us. We need to get out there, whether you're a comedian or an actor or
trying to be a movie star. I know it's a personal choice whether or not you want to accept those
kinds of demeaning roles, but I think it's very important for us to get noticed and then we can
craft our message, much like LGBT community did in getting accepted for marriage equality.
Eliot: Absolutely, and the thing is, it would be impossible to make every Asian actor in the
country agree, to hold hands and say "Yes! We will turn down all of those roles, boycott." But, if
we all turn down those roles, I will tell you that within a year, those roles will stop being written.
People wouldn't like those because no one's auditioning for these rolls anymore.
JT: So, we talked about Hollywood, but you know what's interesting is the New Hollywood,
which is do it yourself YouTube thing, because you've got [cab jumba?] and he correlated that,
his fame on YouTube, to The Amazing Race. I think that YouTube is one of the great equalizers
where we can become famous or well-known and parlay that because there's no barrier to entry.
There's no Old Boy's Club holding Asians back from getting on YouTube and presenting
ourselves. You do a lot of YouTube yourself right?
Eliot: Yeah and you know, it's funny because when I started doing the YouTube videos, I was
just doing it for fun. I didn't know if it was going to go anywhere. Now it created a whole new
fan base that I would've never had. I have so many people, especially internationally. I have so
many fans from Australia, I don't know why I have a big fan base in Brazil and they would've
never found me if it wasn't for YouTube.
JT: I was going to say, in the other clip that we did for you "How to Make Women Laugh," I get
a lot of hits from people that are Korean, Spanish, it's all from people you might not expect.
Eliot: And YouTube is great because, like you said, it equalizes everything because it's like the
Wild West. There are no rules, you can do whatever you want and if you start just doing things,
it will appeal to a certain audience and there are no rules. It's not like "You have to apply for a
license to be able to have a fan base." If you just pump out certain material, people will dig it and
then they'll sub to you and then that's it. It's been great. I've been able to, first off, start making
money off of YouTube and that's nice. But also I've just been able to directly -- someone can
write to me and say "Hey, I'd love to see a video about this:" and I can do it like that in a week
and get it up there. It's just a direct contact to your fan base.
JT: And you don't have to answer to "the man" right? You don't have to have a producer; you
don't have to go to a certain demographic.
Eliot: And we can control how we are perceived as Asians. When I'm filming something, no one
comes in like "Eliot, could you make that more gooky? Can you do an Asian man accent?"
JT: Tone down the sexiness Eliot.
Eliot: Exactly, but you can just do whatever you want and that's why I love YouTube, I love the
Internet.
JT: Alright, speaking of which, subscribe, great material.
Eliot: Right here too. If you want to pick up some chicks, right here.
JT: Alright Eliot. Any last words of wisdom for everybody here when it comes to Asian
representation, whether they're frustrated with what they see in the media or maybe they're trying
to get into the media themselves?
Eliot: The first piece of advice I would say is be prepared for what you're getting into. I think
that's why a lot of people quit entertainment, Asian or not, because they don't understand what
the world is like in Hollywood or just auditioning. It's a very rough, cold, hard-rejection kind of
society that we voluntarily enter. We are voluntarily saying "Yeah, I want all of this pain coming
my way."
JT: It's like approaching a girl.
Eliot: Exactly, but we volunteer to join this group that may not be successful and have to deal
with a lot of rejection. But as long as you know what you're getting into, it'll be easier to
overcome those hurdles. The second thing is to keep pushing, stay strong. And it's a fantasy, but
if all Asian actors could hold hands and say "We will turn down these crappy, demeaning roles,"
those roles would disappear tomorrow. And not to sound all Disney, but believe in yourself. You
have to believe in yourself, you have to believe that you are talented. If you have any ounce of
doubt that you might not be talented, don't even try this because you're not going to make it, it's
harsh. There's a lot of diluted people who think they're talented but there are people who are
really talented and they have faith in themselves and those are the people who usually end up on
top.
JT: And the rewards are exponential, they're just incredible right? You know, considering being
famous and making a lot of money. But even just at a Meta level, especially for us Asians, we
are defeating those stereo types and we are being positive role models for future generations so
this time, we don't have to wait another 30 years...
Eliot: For our next Bruce Lee.
JT: Yeah right? So, how can our audience find you Eliot?
Eliot: All you've got to do is type in Eliot Chang on YouTube or on Google and you'll
immediately find my Facebook and my YouTube and everything but remember it's E-L-I-O-T,
one L, one T and Chang spelled like every Chang in the world.
JT: And it will also be in the box below. Okay guys, thanks for watching.