Starring Margaret Cho, as Herself
By Zihao Huang
(Editor’s Note: This is the fourth installment of Kollaboration SF’s Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month series on prominent APA figures in media. Follow us on Tumblr and FB, and check in every week of May for new profiles and features!)
Margaret Cho is one of the boldest, most controversial, badass Korean entertainers out there. How many Asian American icons out there defy every known stereotype? And of those, how many make a living being completely true to who they are? Besides being a comedian, author, a singer-songwriter, an LGBTQ activist, an ex-BDSM enthusiast, a Bear-lover, an actress, a tattoo connoisseur, and host for her show celebrating female sexuality--Cho is also every Asian American parents’ worst nightmare.
On the bright side, Cho is a role model for newer generations of Asian Americans that many people didn’t have growing. A role model not in the sense of the sex-drugs-and-rock-and-roll, but through the way Cho lives her life unapologetically true to herself, while not compromising the many facets of her identity and upbringing. Margaret Cho grew up among "old hippies, ex-druggies, burn-outs from the '60s, drag queens, Chinese people, and Koreans” in San Francisco, where her parents ran Paperback Traffic on Polk Street and California Street. As a local-bred legend, Cho has built herself into a legend that crosses international borders (kinda like Anna May wong but with hella more drugs and sex and self-acceptance).
Cho made her first TV appearance at a time when there were no major Asian-American role models in mainstream media; in the show All-American Girl, Cho felt pressure to starve herself, to make herself more Asian, to make herself less Asian, to basically do the impossible and satisfy everyone’s expectations. As a result, Cho struggled with substance abuse and addiction along with self-image issues, which she later turned into moneymaking material for her comedy routines. In her comedy she puts extra emphasis on the message of loving every part of you, as you are—after having struggled personally with these issues. In the face of society’s ridiculous expectations as a queer woman of color (and so much more), Margaret Cho has essentially laughed off her haters and decided instead to live as authentically as possible. Cho has done what early predecessors like Anna May Wong could not, and I believe that her work will continue to inspire people—especially those who don’t fit into society’s cookie-cutter molds—for ages to come.
Zihao is a writer, screenplay enthusiast, and unapologetic glutton for good books & films. [email protected]
