nanners84 May 30, 2017 Share May 30, 2017 After reading some posts in the episode threads about Jewish culture, I thought it would be interesting to have a topic discussing the show's depiction of different cultures. Personally, as a Filipino-American who grew up in a north New Jersey well to do suburb of NYC populated by many Asians and Jews, there is so much for me to relate to on this show. It actually means the world to me that many of my personal cultural experiences are being represented on TV because that rarely happens. They must have some Filipino writers, because the small details of Filipino culture are so spot on. The food, common names (I have both a Lourdes and a Myrna - Lea Salonga's character - in my life), same first letter names, the Catholicism, the love for hip hop dance moves and Star Search type entertainment, the inclusion of Lea Salonga, and all the nuances I can't recall. And on top of that, I love that it doesn't define Josh, that he is in himself a character and not just a token representation. The object of affection, even! https://www.google.com/amp/www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/amp/diversity-authenticity-dinuguan-how-crazy-ex-girlfriend-changing-tv-n501486 And the JAP rap battle was gold. I hadn't heard anyone use the term since I left NJ! Rebecca reminds me of many of the Jewish kids I grew up with - expectations and pressure from traditional roots (i.e., her mother) but with their own bit more removed secular and progressive American identity. Link to comment
Rinaldo May 30, 2017 Share May 30, 2017 4 hours ago, nosleepforme said: What I love about this show is that they also pay a lot of attention to having a diverse set of extras in the background. Nice little touches like that, which are usually ignored, make this whole West Covina world a little bit more realistic. Very true. Other series have intended to pay attention to such things, and it happens for the first half dozen episodes -- but then, not through ill will or intentional neglect, but just all the crazy things competing for attention while trying to get a weekly series filmed, it gets neglected and business-as-usual starts to take over. The fact that Crazy Ex-Girlfriend has resisted this entropy through two seasons shows that diversity really does matter to those who make it, and they don't stop thinking about it. As to the depiction of Filipino culture on the show, it's been written about often. Here are some of the first links that popped up on a quick search; there are plenty more (including video interviews). http://www.vulture.com/2015/11/crazy-ex-girlfriend-filipino-culture.html http://www.vulture.com/2016/04/asian-bro-crazy-ex-girlfriend.html http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/25/crazy-ex-girlfriend-star-rachel-bloom-on-why-tv-needs-more-asian-bros (The topic comes up toward the end of that last one.) 1 Link to comment
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