MovieChat Forums > Fresh Off the Boat (2015) Discussion > Fresh Off the Boat has ruined Constance ...

Fresh Off the Boat has ruined Constance Wu's brilliant Jessica Huang character

posted 6 years ago by TMC-4 (20123)
1 reply | jump to latest

https://slate.com/culture/2018/11/constance-wu-fresh-off-the-boat-crazy-rich-asians.html

Wu has followed her big-screen success in Crazy Rich Asians with a disappointing Season 5 for her scene-stealing character. "The actress is as nimble as ever, but sometime last year, the writers seem to have forgotten what makes Jessica such a brilliant character," says Inkoo Kang. "She still gets to throw flames, but now she’s forced to apologize for them, repeatedly. Her self-possession coarsened into self-absorption, Jessica has become yet another immature character in need of life lessons, alongside her middle- and high-school-age children. It’s a humiliating (and groan-inducing) turn, with insulting implications for the immigrant culture she represents." Kang adds: "In other words, Fresh Off the Boat has made Jessica into something that was unimaginable just two years ago: a petulant, off-putting idiot. And since Jessica was by all accounts the show’s most interesting character, her decline has correspondingly tanked the show’s watchability."

[–] brux (14724) 6 years ago

her character is so unsympathetic and cold except when her schemes backfire on her and she is forced to be humble. it is interesting to see how they navigate the nuances of this show. As a white American it is sad to see the social commentary about the American kids with no father, or the father who dumped his wife for a younger woman with big boobs.

Go to China and find out how many rich men have multiple families. A girlfriend of mine told me about how her dad died and at the funeral there were 3 other secret families that he had. been keeping. That is pretty common. I don't mind pokes at American culture in the least, there is a lot to poke at, but the Chinese are very weird, and very racially monolithic, and not to mention so superstitious.

After all these are Chinese people who came to the US presumably for some reason. I guess though it is hard to come up with so many episodes of some story that is written just right, and overall I have found the show quite humorous.