As another student fairly new to comics and graphic novels, I'm eager to address another stylistic element of the media. While each section of ABC is distinguished and introduced with a pictoral stamp, Chin-Kee is further introduced on page 43 in a television-like frame. The allusion to television continues whenever Chin-Kee is present, as many frames are bordered with audience cues to clap or laugh.
I know we touched on this idea in class briefly, how text reads as part of the image, but I often find the clapping and laughing in Chin-Kee's frames excessive. One could argue that the repetition strengthens the satire, or that Yang references television to further attack the John Hughes depiction of Asian Americans. I am unconvinced, however, that all cues are properly attached to scenes. I would like to know, particularly from those fluent in stylistic elements of comics, if this is a valid gripe or if I'm overextending my analysis as a reader. Should I really care where these clap clap claps and these ha ha has occur? Should I rather treat the cues as a unit and find an overall meaning instead of weighing them with (or against) each scene?
I find one particular misplacement of these cues to occur on page 198, the scene where Jin is fully realized as Danny. Visually, I suppose, the border of claps is engaging; I look at the repetition and think that more is better than less, that Yang is telling me to look here and see something I don't already know. The problem I have with this scene, however, is that the claps don't do enough to be indispensable. That is, I could interpret the scene without them. When is text as image overbearing? When does more become too much? Does anyone feel like their head is being beat with a pounding, pounding repetitive force that is pounding so loudly they almost forgot their heart was pounding too? I'll rephrase once more: when does art become distraction?
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2 comments:
I think the overuse of the "laughtrack" cues was entirely intentional. The whole Chin-Kee story is called "Everyone Ruvs Chin-Kee", a clear spoof of an already popular sit-com title. I think that it was done intentionally to show how the vents unfolding were (overexaggerated) cheesy primetime sit-com plots, and was probably a visual clue to help people realize that it was supposed to be satirical and not an accurate repesentation of what Yang was trying to say about Asian-Americans with Chin-Kee. Also, the media is often attributed as one of the biggest perpetrators of various stereotypes, so I think it may also have been a stab at the media by Yang for the role they play in perpetuating stereotypes. I definitely see how it could be distracting, but I think that was the point - to keep you from every truly engaging in the story as if though it were something one should be trying to relate to.
As well, the moment when the laughter is forcibly stopped--by Chin-Kee's beheading--is suggestive for the connections between indulgence of a stereotype (as through laughter) and its perpetuation. Then too, the overuse of Yang's laughtrack should be compared with the overuse of laughtracks in actual TV (rare indeed is the subtly-employed laughtrack!).
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