The legacy of Long Duk Dong

The popular 1980s coming-of-age movie "Sixteen Candles" was filled with a long list of high school stereotypes, from skinny nerds to clueless jocks. Perhaps the most memorable, or infamous, was that of foreign exchange student Long Duk Dong. Played by actor Gedde Watanabe, Duk Dong first appears on screen hanging upside down and proclaiming in thickly accented English to a stunned Molly Ringwald: "What's happening, hot stuff?"

With those words, Duk Dong became a favorite of young American audiences and a source of embarrassment and anger among many Asian Americans. Today's edition of NPR's "All Things Considered" features a story on Duk Dong and asks if his is the last of the Hollywood stereotypes. (Probably not, if you have seen some recent portrayals of Arab and Middle Eastern villains.)

Eric Nakamura and Martin Wong, co-founders of Los Angeles-based Giant Robot magazine, said they and other Asian American males grew up dealing with jokes and put-downs unleashed by Duk Dong, or "Donger."

"Every single Asian dude who went to high school or junior high during the era of John Hughes movies was called 'Donger,' " says Eric Nakamura. "If you're being called Long Duk Dong," Wong explains, "you're comic relief amongst a sea of people unlike you."

--Jesus Sanchez

Comments

[david Tran]

Eddie: Long Duk Dong is humorous because of his race. It's not a character that just happens to be funny. It's his nationality that's part of the joke, which is why asians are hurt and offended by this character. I've never met an asian person who wasn't upset about this character. That speaks volumes.

To Preston: Violence against gays and asians (even in NYC last year) occur more often than reported. And it's been extraordinarily difficult for gays to find acceptance in society or be represented accurately in the media. Instead of being bitter, I would have expected someone who has experienced what you have to be sympathetic to other marginalized minorities.

[Jerry Tou]

i didnt read through all the comments but i read the article. as for the article is concerned, stereotyping sucks. for any race but since the topic pertains to the asian american community, its a valid argument to a lot of unseen asian american hate crimes and stereotyping that happens in his country.

now for a comment that i would like to address... from Preston who begins with "Oh boo hoo... poor poor Asian Americans." and then complains about his life. i apologize that you were picked on because of what happened in your life and the cruel people around you but you're a prime example of being close minded and ignorant about stereotypes. this is later examined when he says "Sorry, but I just don't see any reason to feel sorry for an advantaged group of people with higher average IQ and socioeconomic levels when there are gay kids who are having guns put to their heads and murdered in junior high schools now."

that my friends, is a stereotype in a very bitter way and then launching it into another stereotype that he doesnt even know about. a word of advice for you all... do some asian american history research. learn about our slavery, internment camps, and hate crimes (for reasons such as teasing going too far or hatred for one asian nationality when physically another IE: beating up a chinese person for misjudging and hating the japanese culture)

so if there are any other ignorant comments after this, keep them to yourselves...

[Preston]

Oh boo hoo... poor poor Asian Americans..

Try growing up gay and disabled and the fattest kid in school from a broken home and an alcoholic father and then maybe you'll get a taste of what it's like to be picked on, made fun of, ridiculed, harassed, beaten up, have your homework ripped up, your books stolen, etc., etc., on a daily basis for thirteen years. And then, as a result of all this, be unable to work and have to live on a grand total of $601 per month from a disability check that doesn't provide enough to eat on, pay rent and pay the utilities. Or maybe you consider those "luxuries" for us who are unable to work and care for ourselves. Having made it through six years of college and a getting a degree doesn't make any difference either.

Sorry, but I just don't see any reason to feel sorry for an advantaged group of people with higher average IQ and socioeconomic levels when there are gay kids who are having guns put to their heads and murdered in junior high schools now. I got shot at myself in high school (they missed and hit my friend in the chin instead -- but that was only one incident of others). And then there was the time I got jumped on and had my shoulder broken. And then there were the countless times I was verbally harassed, threatened, terrorized, and told I was going to be beaten up after school. And being gay was only one of the issues I had to head with. And Asian Americans are complaining about a stereotype in a fictional movie. Oh puhleeeeeze....... give me an freakin break.

p p r e s t o n 6 9 (at) y a h o o (dot) c o m

[John]

Have I missed a bunch of movies featuring Arab and Middle Eastern villains? All the movies I've seen lately have a dorky white genius as the arch-villain.

Strangely though, the nightly news has a paucity of white arch-villains but more than enough Arab and Middle-Eastern evildoers to go around.

Of course, letting women drive/vote/hold jobs/retain their clitori/etc. and not causing violence and brutality to protest cartoons that suggest that Muslim fundamentalists are violent and brutal would go long way toward improving the Middle East's image in the world.

(Of course, we could help this too by using less gas so those jackasses have to find day jobs.)

[jackson]

oh come on. The movie was 20 years ago. We've come a long way since Charlie Chan. We have achieved our parents' dreams in this country. Now, look at the movies. Lucy Liu is one of Charlie's Angels. This newspaper called Chow Yun Fat the coolest actor in the world on Mar 12 1995.

And yes, looking back at it, seeing 'The Donger' was pretty funny.

[jason]

Eddie, I don't really disagree with you except for the larger point which is that Asians are rarely featured prominently in hollywood films as normal characters.

In the 80's there was long duc dong, Short-round in Temple of Doom, the guy in revenge of the nerds and the kid in the goonies. All of these characters were similar stereotypes of clever but really wierd and awkward Asians and all were prominent in my life--I'm a 29 year old white guy.

I think it all ads up to something and this issue should be taken seriously but at the end of the day long duc dong is still really funny.

[Kevin]

I don't know about you, but I think I'm going to go hang out with the Asians while the rest of you make each other miserable and gnaw each other to death. When y'all are done playing rich-kid one-upsmanship games, trying to intimidate each other, cheating the powerless, shooting, stabbing, robbing, dropping out of school, getting fat, and generally making the world a more miserable place, why don't you look over to the where people of all races who aren't mocking each other are living peacefully and happily.

[eddie]

In my opinion it is not the film makers who are insulting anybody. I believe it is actually those that take offense that are insulting themselves. Long Duk Dong is in no way representative of all asians. He is just one asian guy who happens to be funny. To say that they are trying to insult ALL asians is like saying Austin Powers is making fun off all people with brown hair. He's not funny because he has brown hair, he's fuuny and he has brown hair. Same with Long Duk Dong, he is funny and he is asian. If you assume that it is represntative of a whole race of people, you might have issues yourself with your own race that should be looked at.

[Suzette]

Cry me a river!!!...stereitype is a sad cycle that will never end, whether it's poking fun at the beautiful dumb girl, the short guy, the fat guy. Movies, pageants and people proliferate name-calling and stereotypes. Stereotype is like war, nobody wants it but it's going to be used for our advantage.