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Themes and Colors
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Interior Chinatown, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Though set in modern times, Interior Chinatown features extended flashbacks to Willis’s immigrant parents’ pasts, portraying their respective journeys to the U.S.—and their experiences after they arrived—in an unromanticized light, highlighting the hardships that many Asian immigrants have endured to make a life for themselves in the United States. Willis’s mother, Dorothy, grew up in Taipei, one of ten children. When she was a child, she attended a screening of an American film; as she watched the stars illuminated on the cinema screen, she imagined the new life that she’d have in the United States—one “full of romance, glamour.” But her reality as an immigrant couldn’t have been more different. Instead of investing in real estate and getting rich in the supposed land of opportunity, she worked as a nurse, caring for old white people who would alternatively grope and dehumanize her with racial epithets.
Meanwhile, Willis’s father, Ming-Chen Wu, grew up in Taiwan under militia rule. After witnessing Chinese Nationalist soldiers shoot his father through the back, Wu vowed to travel to America to honor his father’s memory. But like Dorothy, Wu’s dreams of a better future are a far cry from what his future actually holds. Wu eventually moves to Mississippi to attend graduate school. Though he receives a generous stipend that makes him feel rich for the first time in his life, locals call him and his fellow Asian housemates racial slurs. A group of men beat one of Wu’s housemates—a Taiwanese man named Allen—so brutally that he suffers headaches for the rest of his life. Though Allen achieves wealth and success in his field, he later dies by suicide. And though Wu himself earns top grades and is accepted in a prestigious doctoral program, he ultimately discovers that nobody wants to hire him because of his accent. As a result, he’s forced to accept the roles society offers him, washing dishes and busing tables to make ends meet. After Dorothy and Wu meet and get married, they still dream of one day saving up enough money to leave Chinatown and make a better life for themselves elsewhere, but it never happens.
In turn, Interior Chinatown juxtaposes its immigrant characters’ lofty dreams of opportunity and upward mobility—their belief in the mythic American Dream—with the bleak reality of their existence in America, which is largely characterized by poverty, discrimination, and hardship.
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Immigration ThemeTracker
The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Immigration appears in each act of Interior Chinatown. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis.
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Immigration Quotes in Interior Chinatown
Below you will find the important quotes in Interior Chinatown related to the theme of Immigration.
Act 1: Generic Asian Man Quotes
In the world of Black and White, everyone starts out as Generic Asian Man.
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At the beginning of the book, Willis, the protagonist, introduces the character of “Generic Asian Man,” the role that all the Asian men who act on Black and White, a police procedural show, start out playing. Generic Asian Man—and all other Asian characters on the show, for that matter—is a stock character lacking in complexity and importance. It’s one of the many stereotypical characters that Willis plays over the course of his career; other such parts include “Background Oriental Male” and “Oriental Guy Making a Strange Face.” Though slightly different in name, all these roles have a generic, dehumanizing quality Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor a
He’d played his role for so long he’d lost himself in it, before some separation that happened gradually over decades and then you waking one day to feel it, some distance that had crept in overnight. Some formal space you could no longer cross.
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This quote comes from a longer passage in which Willis describes his father, Ming-Chen Wu’s, declining health and the impact it has had on their relationship. Willis regularly visits his father to bring him food, medicine, and other necessities that his father can no longer get for himself. In his 80s in the novel’s present, Sifu’s memory has degraded to the point that he can hardly remember who Willis is. But rather than attribute Sifu’s faded memory to a medical condition like dementia, Willis claims that his father’s acting career is in fact to blame for both his ill health Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laboru
Even for our hero, there were limits to the dream of assimilation, to how far any of you could make your way into the world of Black and White.
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This quote comes from a longer passage in which Willis gushes over Older Brother, whom young Willis (and every other Asian kid in Chinatown, for that matter) idolized growing up. Older Brother was impossibly perfect; he got excellent grades and was effortlessly cool and extremely popular. So, nobody in Chinatown was surprised when he became the next Kung Fu Guy—but they were shocked when he was fired under mysterious circumstances and then left Chinatown. Here, though, Willis considers how it makes a lot of sense that Older Brother wanted to get out—that he may have felt trapped and constrained by Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequat
Act 2: Int. Golden Palace Quotes
Be more.
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This quote comes from a flashback to Willis’s childhood. In the flashback, Willis had been running around his family’s apartment, pretending to be Kung Fu Guy when he accidentally knocked a teapot full of hot water off the table. Some of the water from the teapot landed on his mother, burning her. After the incident, though, Willis’s mother didn’t scold him. Instead, she pleaded with him not to be Kung Fu Guy. “Be more,” she advised him. With this advice, Dorothy tries to teach young Willis a lesson he won’t learn until adulthood, after he’s achieved his dream of playing Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus c
You’re here, supposedly, in a new land full of opportunity, but somehow have gotten trapped in a pretend version of the old country.
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The broader purpose of all of Act 2 is to familiarize readers with the book’s setting of Chinatown and then to analyze what Chinatown represents thematically. Here, Willis considers the irony of Chinatown: it is located in the U.S., the “new land full of opportunity” that Willis’s parents and so many of the book’s other immigrant characters moved to in hopes of seizing some of that opportunity to create better lives for themselves, and yet they’ve all ended up in Chinatown, “trapped in a pretend version of the old country.” There are multiple ways to interpret this quote. Readers may Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in
Maybe they make one of us Kung Fu Guy. Maybe a few good scenes. Maybe a poster, in the back, real small. And then what?
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Late one night, Willis joins a group of young men chatting in the hallway of the SRO apartments above Golden Palace where he lives. The men are all talking enthusiastically about their shared pipedream to become Kung Fu Guy, the closest an Asian person can get to becoming a movie star in the world of Black and White. Willis, however, dampens the mood when he suggests that being Kung Fu Guy isn’t actually as great an accomplishment as the men think it is. It might give whoever gets to be Kung Fu Guy “a few good scenes,” and it might Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Del
GREEN (turns to you) You speak English well.
GENERIC ASIAN MAN Thank you.
TURNER Really well. It’s almost like you don’t have an accent.
Shit. Right. You forgot to do the accent.
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This passage comes from a scene of Black and White in which Willis is acting alongside the show’s leads, Turner and Green. At this early point in the novel, Willis is still playing background characters for the most part, so he’s excited when the role he’s playing in this scene, Generic Asian Man, is at least a speaking part, even if it’s still not that interesting. But Willis is unused to having speaking parts, and in his excitement and nervousness he forgets to put on the phony Asian accent that the part calls for, and Turner and Green (or the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperia
Act 3: Ethnic Recurring Quotes
“I’m working with them now. This could be good.”
“Happy for you,” he says. He looks skeptical. Worried.
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This is a discreet conversation that occurs between Willis and his father as they film a scene for Black and White. Willis has risen through the ranks to snag a role as “Special Guest Star” on Black and White. It’s not all that important or robust a role, but it is a speaking part, which is a rare thing for Asian actors like Willis to come by in this novel. As Willis and the detectives enter Golden Palace, Willis encounters his father (who is playing the stock part of Old Asian Man, practically the only role that the show will Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellendus. Dolores aut voluptatibus. Voluptatem qui voluptatum. Voluptatibus sed placeat. Aut tenetur autem. Fugit voluptates in. Quidem impedit sunt. Excepturi ullam nobis. Ducimus odio quo
No. But you’re going along with it. Look where we are. Look what you made yourself into. Working your way up the system doesn’t mean you beat the system. It strengthens it. It’s what the system depends on.
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Willis, playing the role of “Special Guest Star,” is shooting a scene of Black and White with Miles Turner and Sarah Green when Green calls him “Chinaman,” though she appears instantly mortified and insists that she didn’t mean to do it. Willis apparently breaks character to criticize her, but Turner interrupts, arguing that Willis is overreacting and that there are worse names one can be called (Turner is a Black man and is most likely referring to the n-word). Furthermore, as he outlines in this quote, Willis has only himself to blame for accepting a role on Black and White, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellendus. Dolores aut voluptatibus. Voluptatem qui voluptatum. Voluptatibus sed placeat. Aut tenetur autem. Fugit voluptates in. Quidem impedit sunt. Exce
Are you doing the right thing? Something about this feels wrong.
But this is Black and White. They let you have a part. You can’t stop now.
You look at your dad. He shifts his eyes away, and you know in that moment that he is disappointed. But he won’t ever say it. You’ll never talk about it again. He’s gone, slipped back into Old Asian Man. He’s not going to make the choice for you. It’s your role to play.
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Willis, as “Special Guest Star,” is shooting a scene of Black and White with Turner and Green when the detectives demand he tell them anything he knows about where the money in Chinatown comes from. Willis knows that there’s an illegal gambling den in the SRO apartments above Golden Palace and ultimately does decide to lead the detectives there, but in this moment, he undergoes a fleeting moral crisis about where his allegiance ought to lie. If he tells Green and Turner about the gambling operation, the Chinatown residents operating the den—good people who Willis knows are just trying to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Vol
Act 4: Striving Immigrant Quotes
Who knows how they calculate these things but someone did and figured out the optimal amount of time. Optimal for them, of course, not for you. Not for anyone who needs to make a living as a Delivery Guy, or a Busboy, or an Inscrutable Background Oriental. Not optimal at all. It feels like an eternity and no matter how much you might need the cash, whatever your sob story, sick baby, hungry kid, Mom needs her medicine, casting won’t even touch you for the mandatory cooling-off period. Doesn’t matter to them. When you’re dead, you are nobody.
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This quote comes from a longer passage in which Willis describes the process and reasoning behind Asian actors like him “dying.” Because the characters that Asian actors play on Black and White are all fairly unimportant background parts, they’re often killed off and written out of the show. And though the world of Black and White considers Asian people to be as generic as the characters they portray on the show, for continuity’s sake, it’s still necessary to wait a while before recasting the “dead” character in a new role, just on the off chance that somebody recognizes the face Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Li
When she was dead, she got to be your mother.
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In the context of Interior Chinatown, being “dead” refers to the 45-day period during which actors are out of work following their character being written out of a script and before they can play a new part; this waiting period is necessary to prevent viewers from mistaking the actor’s new character for their old (dead) character. When Willis was young, he loved when his mother “was dead,” since that was the only time “she got to be [his] mom.” With this observation, Willis gestures toward one of the book’s central themes: how embodying the one-dimensional Asian stereotypes on Black and Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Volup
But the one that Wu can never quite get over was the original epithet: Chinaman, the one that seems, in a way, the most harmless, being that in a sense it is literally just a descriptor. China. Man. And yet in that simplicity, in the breadth of its use, it encapsulates so much. This is what you are. Always will be, to me, to us. Not one of us. This other thing.
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This quote comes from a longer flashback to Willis’s father’s early days in the United States. He immigrated to the country from Taiwan to attend graduate school in Mississippi. Wu and his housemates, who were all immigrants from various Asian countries, experienced various degrees of racism from locals, which included being called numerous racial epithets. Here, Wu considers the name that at least on the surface seemed “the most harmless”: “Chinaman.” Wu considers how the name’s being “literally just a descriptor” might make it less hurtful or offensive than other slurs. Yet that same “simplicity,” he decides, is in fact Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusa
Your mother weeps, and dies. Weeps and dies. Weeps and doesn’t die. Just weeps. Because now, your father is no longer a person, no longer a human. Just some mystical Eastern force, some Wizened Chinaman. Her husband is gone, Wu is gone, even Young Asian Man is gone. They took him away from her. He is lost now, in his work, in who they made him. Distant. Cold, perfectionist. Inscrutable. No descriptors, anymore, no age or build, just a role, a name, a shell where he used to be. His features taken away and replaced by archetypes, even his face hollowing out.
This is how he became Sifu. This is how she lost her husband. How you lost your dad.
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This quote appears near the end of a long passage in which the narrative flashes back to Willis’s parents’ early days in the U.S., following them as they meet, fall in love, get married, and have Willis—all the while struggling to get by in a world that discriminates against them for being Asian—and then for not being Asian enough. Here, Willis explains how his father became Sifu (Kung Fu Guy), a transformation Willis now fully understands to be a tragedy rather than a point of pride. Willis emphasizes the tragic nature of his father’s transformation into Sifu (that is, when Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt.
“Oh, boo hoo, I’m a poor helpless Asian Man. It’s so terrible being me.”
“I have to talk with an accent because no one can process what the hell to do with me. I’ve got the consciousness of a contemporary American. And the face of a Chinese farmer of five thousand years ago. Asian Man. It’s a fact. Look it up. No one likes us.”
“Not with that attitude they won’t. And by the way, I think I might like you. Maybe. A little.”
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This conversation between Karen and Willis occurs when they run into each other in the alley behind Golden Palace. They haven’t seen each other since they first met on the set of Black and White. At this point, Willis is still out of work—his character on Black and White has just died (or been written out of the script), and the show requires all actors whose characters “die” to wait 45 days before they can return to the show as a new character. The career setback Willis experiences when he “dies” puts him in a pessimistic mood, and so he Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequ
Act 5: Kung Fu Dad Quotes
You survey the room: drawings, hair ties, notes to herself. Seemingly every species of stuffed animal or creature, real or imagined, lined up like a royal court along the walls on the floors. Her friends, her audience. Her off-screen voices. She seems both more resourceful and yet more childlike at the same time—how she’s invented a world, stylized, so that its roles and scenery, its characters and rules, its truths and dangers, all fit within one room. How small it is, and overstuffed, and ready for expansion. How bright it is, how messy. This whole place, the objects in it, all from her.
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Willis visits his ex-wife Karen and daughter Phoebe, from whom he’s become estranged; Willis and Karen’s marriage broke down after Willis chose to stay in Chinatown to chase his dream of becoming Kung Fu Guy, and he seems to have been largely absent from Phoebe’s life up to this point. In the world of the novel, every character plays a part on one TV show or other, Phoebe included—she’s the star of a children’s show that teaches kids about all manner of subjects, including cultural diversity. Now, Willis sits with Phoebe in her bedroom and considers how the way she’s Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accu
The words coming out of your mouth, you can feel it happening, how you’re softening, changing into a different person. You were a bit player in the world of Black and White, but here and now, in her world, you’re more. Not the star of the show, something better. The star’s dad. Somehow you were lucky enough to end up in her story.
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This passage happens after Willis flees Chinatown to reunite with his ex-wife Karen and daughter Phoebe, from whom he became estranged after he chose to stay behind in Chinatown to chase his dream of becoming Kung Fu Guy while Karen left to star on her own show, taking Phoebe with her. Now Phoebe also stars on her own show, a children’s program about a young Chinese American girl, Mei Mei. Willis reacquaints himself with Phoebe, and when he enters her world, he’s shocked to find how different it is from his own. Phoebe’s world (meaning her personality as well as Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui simi
Act 6: The Case of the Missing Asian Quotes
“Hey,” Turner says. Off-script.
“I can’t do this anymore,” you say.
Turner smiles. “Yeah, man. I know.”
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After the jury delivers Willis’s guilty verdict, Willis delivers an emotional monologue in which he appeals to his fellow Asian American sitting in the courtroom, pleading with them to stop being the stock characters and living out the stories that other people have written for them and to start living life on their own terms; only once they see themselves as individuals will the rest of the world do the same. The courtroom then erupts in violent chaos, which ends with Willis being “shot” and killed. This is yet another confusing scene that blurs the line between the plot of Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellendus. Dolores aut voluptatibus. Voluptatem qui voluptatum. Voluptatibus sed placeat. Aut tenetur autem. Fugit voluptates in. Quidem imp
Act 7: Ext. Chinatown Quotes
Maybe, if you’re lucky, she’ll teach you. If she can move freely between worlds, why can’t you?
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In the novel’s closing scene, Willis watches his father and Phoebe sitting and laughing together in the kitchen. Though Willis has since stopped playing the role of Kung Fu Guy on Black and White and recommitted himself to performing the role that he now realizes matters most—that of Phoebe’s dad—his relationship with his father remains distant and broken. Earlier in this same passage, Willis observed that a hint of Sifu, the Mysterious Kung Fu Master—the role that Willis believes pushed his father over the edge and away from his family—remains inside his father. It’s the lingering presence of this unreadable, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis i
