If You're Asian, I Want To Know What You Think About Netflix's "Beef" — I'll Go First
Unless you've been driven off the road and stranded in the desert, you've probably seen A24's latest series Beef. Netflix dropped the 10-episode series, starring Steven Yeun and Ali Wong, earlier this month and it's since generated a lot of buzz on the internet, including rave reviews, discourse around the Asian American identity, and controversy.
Since we're in an era of increased Asian representation and Beef follows the intense story of nuanced and complex Asian American characters, I want to know from fellow Asian folks: What are your thoughts or feelings on Beef? I'm talking everything from representation to the show's take on anger and generational trauma to the reception of the show.
As a mixed Korean American, I couldn't stop laughing when Steven's character Danny told his brother that their parents don't want mixed grandchildren to stare up at them with their "bug eyes."
For starters, the series centers around Asian American characters, but I think it's clear that — unlike Asian characters who are limited to their cultures and subsequently presented as flat in other stories — the characters in Beef are augmented by their cultures to create dimensional, complicated characters.
As Beef creator Lee Sung Jin told Variety, "Yes, these characters happen to be Asian American, but there’s so much more to them than just that ... Just the fact that they are Asian American says a lot on the posters, so allowing the show and the world and the characters to overtake that — it just happened organically more than anything else."
(Fun fact: Danny's background with the Korean church came from Steven's experience, while Amy's parents are Chinese and Vietnamese like Ali's parents).