Raphael Bob-Waksberg

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One response to “Raphael Bob-Waksberg”

1. 

   Tomi Obayashi

   June 27, 2020

   Dear Mr. Bob-Waksberg,

   I listened to your Commonwealth interview yesterday and found it to be entertaining, engaging, thought provoking. I have been a late fan to BoJack Horseman but have recently seen most of the episodes. The character of Diane Nguyen has been interesting to me as an Asian American (I am third generation Japanese American) because there are few Asian Americans, especially Vietnamese American who have been in the media. I think you did a very good job of capturing who she was as a complicated character with many different layers, and one of them being Asian American. However, she was very much American and as your show has demonstrated she was American in every sense of the word. She spoke American English, not Vietnamese or English with a Vietnamese American accent; Her English was impeccable as it should have been. The point I am making is that during your interview yesterday, you repeatedly apologized for not using an Asian American voice. I would like to take aim at your apology as an Asian American who grew up in New York City and went to Oberlin College. I have NO accent and if I were to make a cold call to someone, there would be no indication that I am Japanese American, Hispanic American, African American, German American, French American, etc. My point being that the character of Diane was American and she was very well casted as her voice was without an accent and she was able to portray Diane as some one who was complex and struggled with many issues but she was still very American (without any accent). When you kept on apologizing, I felt like you missed the point of what American is. Perhaps your apology was misguided and that there should be more people of color who are hired in general because there is a vast disparity in the entertainment world but to single out the fact that Diane was an Anglo American voice is, I believe, not accurate and would bring back stereotypes that have been around for all too long. I would very much like to hear from you to understand your apology more and for you to clarify to the public what you meant with your repeatedly saying you were sorry. Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.
   Best regards,
   Tomi Obayashi

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