Musings from Brian J. Noggle

Who Questioned Emil Guillermo's Virility?

In today's SFGate.com, Emil Guillermo looks at the microphenomenon that is William Hung and finds what he expected: anti-Asian American racism. (Hurry, that's a perishable link.)

For those of you who don't know, William Hung wanted to be a contestant on the television show American Idol, but whose cover of a Ricky Martin song, "She Bangs", proved so awful that he didn't make the cut. Instead, he was thrown out at audition, but since these auditions aired, became an anti-star of sorts. He's made the rounds of the television shows and has a CD coming out. America likes an earnest, but ultimately undertalented, performer. Sure, it's funny, but it's also endearing. A lot of us can project ourselves into William Hung.

What does Guillermo project? Seemingly, a lack of virility:

With William Hung, is there any other reason to extend the joke on America except that it plays to a racist image of the ineffectual Asian-American male?

What is Hung but an infantilized, incompetent and impotent male image? Strong? No. Virile? No. Sexy? The guy's a virgin.

You know what, Emil? A lot of people are virgins, and some of them don't care for it. The modern message indicates you're a freak if you're not getting head in third grade. I haven't seen William Hung in action--I get my entertainment and pop culture news on the Internet-- but I wouldn't be so quick to call him infantilized, incompetent, and impotent. As a matter of fact, those words don't tend to come to mind for most people unless they're writing television ads for male supplements. Those men are incompetent.

Guillermo hits the v-word again with this bit:

It wouldn't be so bad if we saw positive images of Asian-American males in the media. But, for the most part, we've been invisible, and the images have usually come with martial-arts enhancements.

Bruce Lee's combative persona has been the most virile and most enduring icon for Asian-American males. But the stereotypes that predominate are the sinister and inscrutable or ineffectual and effeminate.

Jeez, buddy, give it a rest. You're so caught up in making William Hung's name ironic that you fail to see what makes him iconic: that he's an underdog member of a multicultural society that appreciates underdogs.

Guillermo might want me to prove it:

You certainly wouldn't see them glorify a black man who couldn't sing and dance on "American Idol." Nor would they prop up a clumsy, tone-deaf white person.

He's wrong. For starters, Don "No Soul" Simmons was a joke in 1987. But that's not the point.

America braces people who sincerely try, often even if they're not the most talented. When I look to my hometown sports teams, I see that the fan favorites are often blue-collar players, not the superstars. The St. Louis Cardinals have had Joe McEwing and Bo Hart; the St. Louis Blues have had Tyson Nash, Mike Danton, and Dallas Drake. They play their hearts out, but they're not eight-figure players.

Still, we lesser mortals can see ourselves in their positions and can root for them to succeed beyond their ability.

Well, some of us do, anyway. Others, like Guillermo, have other projections to see.

- posted by Brian J. @ 6:37 PM