Kahn Souphanousinphone and The Typical Asian (Invisible Narrative)

Today in society Asians are one of the most forgotten minorities when it comes to talking about harmful stereotypes or prejudice in our society. Whenever people think about the word Asian or Asian American in general, the type of people that first comes to their head is Chinese, Japanese, and Korean who are the East Asians. Or they would think about people from the Middle East or India. Although they are not wrong about these people being Asian, they are forgetting the fact that there are a lot more Asian ethnicities than just the typical Asians that have been listed above.

This idea is being perpetuated into the mainstream media. In mainstream media although the directors in a film or a show would allow Asians of a different background or color to be shown on television, the way that they portray these Asians voice, behavior or interaction with other people will be shown as a typical Asian with typical Asian stereotypes that we constantly hear from other people or seen on t.v. People in control of media are putting all Asians into one category of what a real Asian is supposed to be through invisible narratives.

In this short clip from an animated cartoon called “King of The Hill” it shows of an Asian character named Kahn Souphanousinphone who immigrated to America from a Southeast Asian country called Laos. Although he comes from Laos his accent sounds more Chinese then a Laos accent. The Chinese accent is seen clearly when he is about to laugh at 0.32. The hidden narrative in this cartoon is the idea that all Asians sound like Chinese. Also at 0.21 when Kahn tries to get everyone`s attention by tapping on his cup and made a loud unpleasant cry to get everyone`s attention, the way he makes his cry is similar to a Cantonese word which is also pronounced as “waaay”. In Cantonese it is used in the same way as the clip in order to get people`s attention when you need to call out for someone. The meaning in Cantonese is hey. This shows that media is trying to group all Asians into one category and the fact that all Asians who immigrated to America has the same accent as Chinese people.

Kahn Souphanousinphone from "King of The Hill"
Source: "King of The Hill" Wiki

Additionally the way he is portrayed in his interactions and behavior seemed to display him as a typical ruff and gruff Asian person in certain parts of the clip such as at 0.10, 0.17, 0.21, and 0.30. This shows of the hidden narrative of the stereotype that all Asians who immigrated to America are always loud and rude. It also means that Asians are not polite and have no manners in America. This stereotype is constantly shown in mainstream t.v. 

           

Plus the fact that they used a Southeast Asian who has darker skin instead of a Chinese person who typically has lighter skin to match his accent seems to show the fact that he is being used as a comedic character who is not a nice person and is considered a joke based on his over the top interactions with people in the clip. At 0.30 when he points to Hank`s family not only does he laugh at them in a sinister Asian laughter but also the fact that he called them a “dumb redneck” shows that as a minority he is not a very good character at all.

Also Kahn is seen as a typical smart Asian who gets infuriated while teaching one of Hank`s friends how to use the computer at 0.43. The invisible narrative here is that all Asians are smart.

Not only that but Kahn is not voiced by an Asian voice actor but a white voice actor named Tony Huss. This tells us that people who are white has the power to shape and create what is appropriate and fitting for an Asian character.

Overall society has been fed with lots of misconceptions from the media and the people who are in power that creates these shows force a specific kind of stereotype of what an Asian is into our face. Asians are suffering from this and as a result a lot of other Asian ethnicities do not get the chance to voice out their experiences and let the world know that Asians are not the same and not all of us falls into the stereotypes that society has chosen to put us in. This also includes East Asians.