Big Trouble in Little China: Deep Thoughts About Using Stereotypes to Subvert Storytelling Expectations

Deep Thoughts About Stupid Sh*t: A Pop-Culture Podcast

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We’re reasonable Guy(girl)s, but we’ve just experienced some very unreasonable things!

The 1986 film Big Trouble In Little China elicits some deep thoughts from Tracie in this week’s episode. The interwebs ask whether BTILC's storytelling is woke or problematic, and we suggest the answer is ‘yes.' While the campy depictions of Chinese and Chinese-American culture are over-the-top and dripping with stereotypes, they do not make their subject the butt of the joke, and in fact seem to be winking at the audience. At the same time, Jack Burton (Kurt Russel) thinks he’s the hero, but he is very much Wang Chi’s (Dennis Dun) sidekick. In fact, Jack is so ineffective as a hero he spends most of the key fight scene unconscious and instead of a romantic and passionate kiss, he receives a face-wipe after defeating the big bad. It’s a delightful subversion of the heroic, manly white hero we’ve been conditioned to expect.

This is gonna take crackerjack timing, don’t wait to press play!

Our theme music is "Professor Umlaut" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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We are Tracie Guy-Decker and Emily Guy Birken, known to our family as the Guy Girls.

We have super-serious day jobs. For the bona fides, visit our individual websites: tracieguydecker.com and emilyguybirken.com

We're hella smart and completely unashamed of our overthinking prowess. We love movies and tv, science fiction, comedy, and murder mysteries, good storytelling with lots of dramatic irony, and analyzing pop culture for gender dynamics, psychology, sociology, and whatever else we find.

פרקים

1. Big Trouble in Little China Analysis (00:00:00)

2. Escape and Rescue in Chinatown Palace (00:17:09)

3. Hollywood's Cultural Appropriation Debate (00:27:38)

4. Inclusive Representation in Popular Culture (00:35:40)