Initially, I used to be thrilled to enter the just about solely Asian American house of “Beef.” Getting to observe two Asian American leads channel their repressed second-generation anger into an escalating street rage incident? It was the present I by no means knew I needed.
I additionally deeply appreciated how “Beef” effortlessly included Korean American specificities: Steven Yeun’s character, Danny, pausing a rant to reply his mother and father’ KakaoTalk video name in a saccharine tone, the 2 cousins catching up at a sullungtang restaurant, the Korean evangelical church with a wailing reward workforce. I marveled at all of them.
Stuffed with inside jokes for Korean American communities, “Beef” felt refreshingly freed from white-pandering tropes. It felt like an onscreen expertise that was made for Korean American viewers like me. That’s why, a couple of episodes in, I used to be particularly devastated to find out about David Choe, the actor portraying Danny’s bullying, unstable older cousin Isaac.
In 2014, on a taped podcast Choe co-hosted with Asa Akira, he bragged about forcing oral sex onto a Black masseuse in Los Angeles. Regardless of Akira repeatedly chiding him — calling his confessional conquests rape — Choe barreled on, partially admitting to “rapey conduct.” When retailers began to cowl Choe’s graphic account, he later retracted his assertion by excusing his podcast as a piece of fictional artwork.
As a Korean American sexual assault survivor, I discovered it virtually not possible to separate the artwork from the artist. This query looming over “Beef” — whether or not Choe was or was not in truth a rapist — distorted my total expertise of watching the present. As a substitute of having the ability to take pleasure in its cathartic portrayals of Asian American rage, I discovered myself disturbed each time Isaac appeared onscreen, questioning how a lot of the character’s aggression was a efficiency and the way a lot of it was channeled from Choe’s documented misogynoir. The toxicity of Cousin Isaac hit uncomfortably near dwelling.
“Even when Choe’s account actually was fictional, his glorification of a rape fantasy on a public platform considered by hundreds of followers brought about irreparable hurt.”
Choe’s efficiency has been praised by critics, and his artwork for the show’s title cards acquired further acclaim. As an artist, Choe made most of his fortune in 2007 by portray murals for Fb’s headquarters and making the prescient name to take firm inventory as cost. On the time of Fb’s IPO in 2012, his shares have been value $200 million. In 2017, Choe was commissioned to color the Bowery Mural Wall, which was instantly opposed by different road artists.
Choe continued to face no tangible penalties for the podcast and made a muted comeback in 2021 with the docuseries “The Choe Present.” Framed as half celeb portrait-painting, half remedy session, the present featured visitors starting from Choe’s former podcast co-host Akira to actor Rainn Wilson. Disney flagged Choe as a controversial character, however the present — which Choe absolutely funded — was acquired by FX.
Throughout these previous few weeks after “Beef” was launched, the podcast video of Choe has surfaced but once more, main some critics to question the show’s problematic casting choice. Netflix, A24, “Beef” creator Lee Sung Jin, Ali Wong and Yeun (the latter of whom are mates with Choe and really useful him for the function to Lee) first remained silent amid web pleas for remark.
On Friday, Lee, Wong and Yeun released a statement that acknowledged the video and never a lot else. Choe has requested DMCA copyright takedowns of the circulating clip by way of his charitable basis.
It wasn’t till I’d already began “Beef” that I came upon about Choe’s unsavory previous. I completed the present out of appreciation for the present’s different parts. However then a sense of dread settled in my abdomen. Choe’s presence sophisticated lots of the scenes full of Korean American nuance, and in the end a lot of the present itself.
To be clear, even when Choe’s account actually was fictional, his glorification of a rape fantasy on a public platform considered by hundreds of followers brought about irreparable hurt. Within the clip, Choe perpetuates rape tradition and normalizes sexually violent language as a supply of humor. The decision to cast him, primarily based on some form of artistic justification by the collection creator and on his friendship with Wong and Yeun, was not needed. There have been probably different certified candidates who weren’t a real-life embodiment of Cousin Isaac’s worst qualities.
It’s disheartening to have to write down an essay like this after I was absolutely able to embrace and have a good time the present. However contemplating the cultural capital of platforms like Netflix and the ability of Hollywood casting administrators, I hope that this backlash reminds them that their inventive selections have far-reaching penalties past their very own creative visions. It’s necessary to carry them accountable and demand that they don’t financially help those that contemplate sexual abuse a joking matter.
“Beef” was made with viewers members like me in thoughts. However Choe’s substantial function within the present turned a compelling piece of Asian American artwork into one which brought about profound discomfort for me and other sexual assault survivors.
Sadly, that’s how patriarchy capabilities. It’s a type of distraction at finest and a instrument of oppression at worst. This incident has taken away the enjoyment derived from watching a seemingly innocuous comedy.
And that’s a disgrace for not solely all of us viewers, however the representational strides that “Beef” accomplishes for Asian Individuals.
