Xiran Jay Zhao

So, I discovered this person's work recently, and it looks like they have some interesting stuff. And indeed, I did enjoy the two videos that I did try (the "cat poetry" one and the "American-Chinese food and MSG" one).

However, I tend to be hesitant to pick up You Tube videos that cover serious topics the reliability of which I don't feel confident in determining. That sort of thing, after all, is one way that people can end up being rather misled, I fear.

So, I come here to ask, if I may—especially of those already familiar with the topics covered: How reliable is Xiran Jay Zhao? Are their videos well-informed and accurate?

(That said, I may cross-post this query elsewhere, as it does occur to me that this thread might naturally skew towards fans of Xiran Jay Zhao.)

Edited by ArsThaumaturgis on Feb 21st 2022 at 8:52:22 PM

With regards to these videos, they have posted sources and reading material on topics brought up in the description and Xiran themself is just the platform through which various southeast asians have come together to outline their viewpoints on Raya as a film in the three videos, so this is a rather unique case as far as their videos go.

Edited by Nouct on Feb 21st 2022 at 4:35:11 AM

In general, they are reliable about the information, but their channel skews pretty heavily towards Chinese-specific cultural stuff.

Like, their videos on Chinese stuff in media are very well researched and laid out and they use an appropriate angle for each video.

Like, the Mulan videos are about the mistakes made, but Over the Moon, since it was made by Chinese people, is more about the cultural details, that sort of thing.

Wait, is Zhao non-binary? Did I miss something?

Yep, they/them pronouns.

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Thank you both; those are encouraging points! ^_^

Oh yes, I'd noticed that much! Indeed, my knowledge of such things is limited, I daresay, and they are things that I might find interesting, so a well-informed perspective on it might be worth picking up, I feel.

Specifically, their Raya presentation is a group effort as well.

Interesting to know, and thank you. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten to see Raya itself, so that's ironically one part of their work that I actually don't intend to watch just yet.

Why Does Turning Red Get So Many Weird Reviews?!

I'm glad I'm not the only one tired of seeing "Meiling" as a default Chinese girl name, Eastern or Western in origin.

You know, the whole "why is nobody miserable because of 9/11" criticism has to be one of the most Americentric things I've seen in a while.

People are aware there are countries outside the US whose lives don't purely revolve around what's happening in the US, right?

Edited by DrunkenNordmann on Apr 21st 2022 at 4:53:29 PM

"You should be as miserable as we are right now,it's not fair!" that's what Enter's comments boiled down to

Plus, like...life went on? I was in middle school in the US post 9/11, and day to day, kids were still kids. Nobody was moping 24/7, tweens still obsessed over crushes and dating and social status, there were still boy bands and concerts and whatever.

The 9/11 thing also kinda died down outside New York relatively quickly (aside from stuff related to airlines). And then it ramped right back up in the build-up to the Iraq invasion. The stuff like the Dixie Chicks getting blacklisted and the nauseatingly patriotic garbage that was being put out mostly came from that second period and a lot of people kinda blend them together in their memories.

And that one resulted in the US and UK going in all gung-ho and everyone else being really suspicious and not participating. And the insipid Freedom Fries bullshit because France was the loudest country demanding concrete evidence.

Yeah, you’d think they’d at least restore historical justice and call them "Belgian Fries".

Yeah, as someone who WAS 12 when 9/11 happened, day to day it affected nothing. We had a really messed up day of school, things were all somber and weird for about a week, and then it basically went back to normal. Expecting this weird sense of dread and misery in Canada when it wasn't even the case in America is definitely one of the weirdest takes I've heard in a while.

It's such an odd point. I mean in fairness they were talking about racism at the time and as a Canadian I'm not going to claim that didn't happen hear, mostly against Middle Easterners but um, not sure why this would be relevant to their particular friends group, especially since their bully was racist and the main character is East Asian.

Clearly they remember the time differently I guess .-.

the raya videos are massive can i get a TLDW version of the points they bring up

i liked the movie personally but it sounds like it has some issues

Regarding TR, I do remember that Boys Band were on their way out in the early oughts (in the West at least), but I doubt that had anything to do with 9/11. >.> But there were probably still some big ones. Were the Backstreet Boys still a thing in ’02?

They had a hiatus from '02 to '04.

There's some solid arguments that that sort of thing had a little to do with 9/11, in that the US entertainment industry generally moved toward making and marketing works with more strict gender roles (something boy bands are always a weird fringe case for), but also, history doesn't happen all at once and it's very possible that a major boy group in that vein would have been able to stick around an extra year or two based on existing momentum.

And for in-universe fans like the main characters, they'd be likely to still be as ardent for the band even if their popularity in the US was waning.

Edited by TheEvilDrBolty on Apr 21st 2022 at 6:14:41 AM

In terms of music trends, it's also important to remember that the late 90s was incredibly strange in North America. There were a crazy number of random fluke hits, random revival trends, a grunge backlash and it didn't settle down into the trends of the early 2000s that we remember until like 2003. A boyband lasting into 2002 is completely plausible, especially since at the time, Canadian music trends were slightly behind the curve. (No MTV, Canada had Much Music, which tended to trend about six months late and also folded in a bunch of Canadian artists that MTV didn't touch)

@Aceina Sorry, answering this.

I haven’t watched all of it, but the gist is that:

• Raya’s world is supposed to represent "South-East Asia", a region that is not a monolith and has many countries and cultures that can vastly differ. The movie bit off more than it could chew, basically.
• The parts that are represented are rife with inaccuracies and oddities that make the world… not very credible to people who are actually from SEA. The design and name of the dragon is one example; or the word "Dep La", which could mean several different things depending on the tones but the movie isn’t clear on what the tones are supposed to be.

That’s what I can remember.

Edited by Lyendith on Apr 22nd 2022 at 3:14:38 PM

I'm sorry, what's this about Mr. Enter and 9/11? In Zhao's video intro?

Edited by RedHunter543 on Apr 22nd 2022 at 9:19:42 AM