On Tuesday’s episode of Fresh Off the Boat, “Gabby Goose,” the Asian-American sitcom featuring Taiwanese immigrant family the Huangs poked a bit of fun at the use of hyphenated American names during game night at the Huang’s home.
Neighbor couple Marvin (Ray Wise) and Honey (Chelsey Crisp) argue over what would have been the best way to give clues for the movie Dances with Wolves during a game of charades, and Marvin’s answer shocks his PC-sensitive wife.
Marvin: No, for Dances with Wolves, you should've used that tomahawk-chop gesture.
Honey: Ooh. N-no. Marvin, we've talked about this. That gesture might not seem like a big deal to people of your generation, but it is offensive to Native Americans.
Marvin: I've asked you never to use that term "My generation." It's offensive to "Me-Americans."
Honey: Okay, but if you're gonna say it...
Me-Americans. Kind of has a nice ring to it!
And in this current political climate, maybe we could all take a lesson from Marvin and focus less on what separates us and more on what unites us. Maybe “Us-Americans” would be better. “Us” as in “we” and also as in “United States.”
It’s ironic that an Asian-American comedy would be the one to make us think about the issue in the first place, but maybe it'll rub off on the PC-Americans generation who might be watching.
