The Donger

I actually liked “Long Duk Dong” when I saw 16 Candles as a kid because he sort of epitomized all the Chinese foreign exchange students that my parents sponsored to come to America back in the 80′s and 90′s. I didn’t really hate him because I was never made fun of by being called Donger. Maybe I went to really liberal schools. I did however come to realize much later the impact a stereotyped character like “the Donger” could have on an entire race and generation and to some degree is still perpetuated today with John Cho’s nerd in Harlod and Kumar and the annoying geek(some say adorable) that Masa Oki plays in Heroes. Somebody needs to change that.
Check out this study on the NPR here. (Notice how they introduce Martin Wong as Eric Nakamura)