American Born Chinese

Jin’s mother once said she married Jin’s father because he had the thickest glasses. His thick glasses, to her, meant that he spent hours studying and therefore had a strong work ethic. This, in turn, corresponded to a high salary and to him being a good husband. She counsels Jin to focus on his studies so that in the future, he can have whatever girl he wants—but only after he has a master’s degree.

As Jin explains this to the reader, he pleads with Wei-Chen to tell Jin’s parents that they’re together so that Jin’s parents will let Jin go out. Wei-Chen insists he can’t lie, but Jin tries to say that it’s not really a lie, but a “delayed truth.” He points out that Wei-Chen was the one who said this was the chance of a lifetime and if he doesn’t help now, Jin will never get this chance. With a sigh, Wei-Chen agrees.

Jin tells the reader that he has a cousin named Charlie. Charlie is a few years older and once warned Jin to not bother dating until he could drive. Since Charlie smelled like old rice, had a bad haircut, and had extremely strict parents, Jin always thought that Charlie was just being cynical. But as Jin bikes up a hill, huffing and puffing due to Amelia on the handlebars, he’s not so sure. Jin tries to look cool and strong in front of Amelia, but by the time they reach the theater, Jin’s armpits are so smelly that he knows he can’t put an arm around her.

Jin and Amelia sit awkwardly in the theater until Amelia remarks that the movie is about to start. Jin quips that it’s because they “lurned off the tights” and then winces. Despite this, Jin spends the whole movie drooling, watching Amelia, and listening to her breathe. She giggles and clutches his shoulder during the dramatic parts. With 20 minutes left, Jin’s hair appears to crackle with a kind of electric energy. He feels suddenly confident and begins to stretch so he can put an arm around her. When he remembers that he stinks, he excuses himself. His parents have never heard of deodorant and never bought him any, but Charlie once mentioned that he could use powdered soap from a public restroom. Jin scrubs powder into his armpits until a theater employee walks into the restroom.

Jin races back to the auditorium and retakes his seat next to Amelia. As she sighs over the romantic ending, Jin experiences another jolt of confidence from his hair and puts his arm around Amelia. She’s shocked at first, but leans into Jin, much to his surprise. Jin is ecstatic. As they leave the theater a bit later, Amelia talks about the movie and Jin notices suds on Amelia’s bare shoulder. He realizes that the powdered soap bubbled up and is now bubbling through his shirt. Amelia invites Jin to get a milkshake with her and doesn’t seem to notice his odd behavior—or the bubbles on either of them. Jin clamps his arms down to his sides and follows her. Greg and his date leave the theater right behind Jin and Amelia, and Greg looks at them with concern. Jin and Amelia drink their milkshakes happily.

That night, Jin feels haunted by the possibility that Amelia was just too polite to say anything about the bubbles. He wonders if Amelia thinks he’s a freak whose armpits bubble. At school the next day, Jin desperately confides in Wei-Chen. Wei-Chen insists that Amelia probably didn’t notice, but he offers to sneakily find out if she did. He adds that Jin’s mother called while Jin was out, and Wei-Chen spent two hours trying to make her forget why she called. It worked, but Wei-Chen had to agree to go shopping with her on Saturday. She’s going to buy Wei-Chen shoes and an electric wok. Glumly, Wei-Chen says that Jin owes him.

During a class that Wei-Chen has with Amelia, Wei-Chen approaches her and asks how the date was. Greg, who’s horsing around with other boys, watches curiously. Amelia says she had lots of fun. Wei-Chen asks if Jin was nice and funny. Amelia answers affirmatively, but is confused when Wei-Chen asks if Jin was bubbly and motions to his armpits. With a laugh, Wei-Chen tells her to forget he asked and then gives Jin, who’s watching through the window in the classroom door, a thumbs up.

For the entire morning, Jin dreams of his future with Amelia. In his daydreams, Amelia quickly says she loves Jin. They get married, have sex, and have a baby with curly hair just like Jin’s permed hair. He knows he’s getting ahead of himself, but he’s blissfully in love. During lunch, Jin excuses himself to go buy the custodian an orange freeze. He catches sight of Amelia walking with one of her friends and feels a jolt of confidence, but before he can follow her, Greg calls to him. Greg asks Jin for a favor: to not ask Amelia out again. Jin asks if Greg likes Amelia. Greg says that he likes Amelia like a sister, but she’s a good friend and he wants her to make good choices. They’re almost in high school, and Amelia needs to pay attention to who she’s spending time with.

Jin stares at Greg, dumbfounded. Greg apologizes for his request sounding so harsh, but says he just doesn’t know if Jin is the right match for Amelia. He asks if they’re “cool” and Jin says that they are. Greg asks if Jin will do him the favor, and Jin grudgingly agrees. Greg happily leaves with a wave and a smile. Jin looks back one last time at Amelia and then stands near Wei-Chen and Suzy, staring off into space as he eats his sandwich. In class, he imagines angrily refusing to follow through with Greg’s favor and feels a jolt of confidence, especially as he imagines punching Greg in the face.

When the bell rings, Jin’s hair seems to crackle as he marches through the hallways to where Amelia chats with a friend and Greg. Jin calls to Amelia, but Greg answers first. His hair crackles with even more power than Jin’s. Jin’s confidence fades and he stands awkwardly for a moment before turning and walking away. Greg says to Amelia that Jin is nice, but that he’s a bit of a geek and has weird hair.

Outside the school, Jin finds Suzy sitting on a low wall, waiting for Wei-Chen to get out of his math group. He sits down with her and asks if she’s okay. Suzy says that Timmy said something mean to her. When Jin doesn’t ask any more questions, Suzy says that over the weekend, she went to a birthday party for her best friend from second grade. They’d gone to Japanese school together but hadn’t seen each other in a while, and Suzy was thrilled to see her when Suzy’s mom said they were going. Suzy says she realized quickly, however, that her friend didn’t want to see her at all—their moms just wanted to hang out, so Suzy’s mom brought her along. Suzy spent the party watching TV alone.

Suzy recounts that she was so embarrassed. As her eyes fill with tears, she turns to Jin and says that earlier, Timmy called her a “chink.” She realized that she kind of feels embarrassed like she did at the party all the time. Suzy cries and Jin experiences a burst of confidence from his hair again. He leans in and kisses Suzy. Suzy angrily punches Jin in the face and asks what’s wrong with him before striding away.

Jin sits at home with an ice pack on his cheek when the doorbell rings. It’s Wei-Chen. The boys stare at each other, and then Wei-Chen confusedly asks how Jin could even think of kissing Suzy. Wei-Chen says Jin could’ve told him if he had a crush on Suzy; he wouldn’t have abandoned Jin. Sadly, Wei-Chen says that Jin has completely broken his heart. He continues that he and Jin are alike. They’re brothers. Jin is shocked and angry. He spits that he and Wei-Chen are nothing alike, since Wei-Chen only cares about his “stupid girlfriend” who isn’t Jin’s type anyway. Wei-Chen asks why he kissed Suzy then, and Jin replies that he doesn’t think Wei-Chen is worthy of or right for Suzy. He suggests that she could do better than a F.O.B. like Wei-Chen. Wei-Chen punches Jin on his other cheek and storms away.

Jin glumly ices his cheeks. That night, he struggles to fall asleep. He plays the day’s events over and over in his mind and comes to the conclusion that he told Wei-Chen the truth, and Wei-Chen needed to hear it. By three a.m., Jin believes this wholeheartedly. He falls asleep and dreams of the herbalist’s wife. She tells Jin that he’s finally “done it” and asks what Jin wants to become. As she clicks on her abacus, Jin transforms into a blond boy. He wakes up long before his alarm clock goes off. Jin’s head hurts, but his bruises are gone. He stumbles to the bathroom in the dark and turns on the light. Jin is now blond and tall. Amazed, Jin touches his face and decides he needs a new name: Danny. The laugh track claps at the bottom of the frame.