Secret Asian Man: Not So Secret But Often Ignored?

Jason Luong
Section A01
In response to : Secret Asian Man by Tak Toyoshima

When I first saw this in the list of readings, I felt somewhat glad. I am actually familiar with Toyoshima's work so, while reading these samples of A Secret Man, I didn't encounter any surprising turn of events in these comic strips. While the topics addressed in some of these panels may come off as sarcastic and cynical of the Asian American experience and dilemma, I found that Toyoshima is actually revealing, in a modern generalization of Asian American youth, who Asian Americans are in today's society. Sure, he is poking fun at many of the Asian stereotypes that have plagued the pan-ethnic community for decades and centuries, but, with his methods, he is disproving them. I recall this process as being coined reverse-stereotyping. This term refers to creating new, hopefully positive stereotypes that counter the old, assumedly negative stereotypes. Overall, I see A Secret Man as a presentation as to the challenges this generation of Asian Americans must face during the age of modern globalization.