SAPAHM: Into the Badlands & Ali Wong

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Hi friends! SAPAHM! Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Heritage Month! What do Into the Badlands and Ali Wong have to do with each other? Very little!

But! They’re both popular right now, and they’re both Asian and/or Asian peripheral! Ali Wong is self explanatory. (OMFG somehow I accidentally typed “sexplanatory” which made me laugh and also maybe is accurate because she does talk about sex a lot in her specials?) So! I’ve seen both her Netflix specials! The first a few months ago, the newer one more recently.

I’m including trailers for both because hopefully they hit the highlights and you get the chance to watch – if you have your own NF account you definitely should watch them … and if you don’t, see if you can watch with a friend. I laughed until I wheezed.

But! Into the Badlands!

Baby Cobra was the first one.

Hard Knock Wife is the new one.

Now into the Badlands. It’s (loosely) based on Journey to the West which … honestly I’d say every Chinese [American] kid knows about, at least to some degree. I think it’s more focused on the “just journey” aspect and … rather a Western take on wuxia. Annyway, Sunny (Daniel Wu) is Sun WuKong (孫悟空, the Monkey King, Bajie is Zhu BaJie (猪八戒), the … well pig [dude]. >.> It’s an epic Chinese fantasy. The likes of The Odyssey or The Iliad. Only Into the Badlands is a futuristic take, with humans (only, so far), and a wonderful diverse cast of characters. Great costuming, and super badass women. Plus Daniel Wu and Lewis Tan. Being awesome.

Season 2 Trailer

This is the Season 3 Trailer.

Thank you, Lewis Tan.

I’m recommending these because I like them, first of all, but also because it’s all about the Asian Americans, but also not. I’ve also loved Ali Wong’s character on American Housewife. I’d love to see more of her in general. Also shout out to Fresh Off the Boat which was renewed for another season. Yay Constance Wu!

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