Note: the featured image for this blog post is from IMDB. Click the link to be taken to the original. I do not own this image.

During today’s times with all the civil unrest and social movements for justice, in addition to protesting, many people are using their wallets to voice their support for Black businesses. They’re coming out in droves to support stores and shops owned by Black Americans. Such efforts are occurring as more people recognize the inequalities in our society and want to help bridge the racial wealth gap that also exists for Black people in this country. It’s a wonderful thing seeing people of all different backgrounds support our underprivileged American brothers and sisters who have suffered for so long in many areas of their livelihood.

However, our help and support should not stop there. It is our civic duty to not only support Black businesses, but Black creators as well. Art and creative works made by Black people are especially important because they are educational, eye-opening, and inspirational. They give us a glimpse, a small peek, into the perspective, worldview, life, and experience of Black Americans, of what it’s like to live in America as a Black person.

I have turned to consuming many works made by Black creators such as watching the television show Black-ish and the movie Just Mercy starring Michael B. Jordan; studying the script of Get Out; seeing documentaries such as 13th; listening to Michelle Obama’s newly released podcast, and much more. Recently, I was introduced to a beautiful webseries shared to me by my good friend Christine from Christine’s Cinema Corner, an aspiring (and really insightful!) film critic. 

And let me tell you guys, you really, really need to watch this webseries that I’ve recently just watched!

Called Do Better, it is a dramedy webseries made by Darboe Productions, directed by Christine W. Chen and written by Amie Darboe. It is a story that follows the daily lives and struggles of six Asian and Black friends.

First of all, how often do you see Asian and Blacks characters just chilling together on the screen? Secondly, ever since the horrific and tragic killing of George Floyd, many have been quick to call out the racism against Blacks that is present in other communities of colors.

While I do acknowledge that there is racism against Blacks and people of African descent within Asian communities, I will say that such sentiments are predominantly in the older and usually immigrant generation. The Asian American youths who were born here in America are generally more accepting and have made friends with people of various colors and backgrounds. 

That aside, the interactions between these six Asian and Black friends mirror the friendships I had in my college days. The people in my circle of friends were two Nigerian Americans, an Egyptian American, and an Indian American. 

Besides my personal connection with the story, I found so many other factors that I loved about the series that I will share with you all today. Many of them include several important social, gender, and racial issues that matter in our current time and that affects various people’s lives.

This is what I love about art and film: its ability to bring attention to issues and invite discussions on certain, sometimes uncomfortable, topics.

I have already watched Do Better three times and have shared it with three friends. Here is my list of the moments or issues that this webseries introduced and explored that make me love and want to recommend it to everybody!

Warning: There are some spoilers below!

Here’s our full list. I will go through each point in detail below.

1. Systems of Oppression. And Racism?
2. Were They a Bit Harsh to the White Guy?
3. Asian Women Fetishization
4. Asian Women and Black Women Dating White Men
5. Sexism in Medical/Health Practices
6. Cheating
7. Romantic Relationship Issues
8. Dating vs Fucking
9. Censorship
10. Racial Inequalities
11. BIPOC Friendships
12. Cultural Appropriation

1. Systems of Oppression. And Racism?

In the series, the audience is introduced to six Asian and Black friends. One of which is Brenda, an Asian woman, who has been secretly dating a white man named Liam. She introduces her boyfriend to her circle of friends and asks them if they like him. They do not, and are openly disgusted and are outright about their refusal to accept him into the group (of colored friends).

Wanting them to not judge Liam based on his skin color alone, Brenda begs, annoys, and even bribes (some of) her friends to hang out with Liam to get to know him a little more. However, before she does that though, she gets into a little debate with her friends–Justin, a Black man, who is married to Malika, a South Asian woman, and April, Justin’s sister–about whether or not they are being racist to Liam for not letting her date him and for judging him based on the fact that he is white.

I thought this debate was interesting because on my Twitter account several months ago, there was a user who had claimed that white people could not experience racism. This tweet set off a huge debate in the comments.

There was a white person who had said that even he, as a white person, believed it was impossible to be racist toward him. Another white person chimed in and had said that he had grown up in an area where he was one of the very few white people at his school. As a result he was bullied and claimed that since his race was (one of) the issues for his treatment, he said that yes, it was possible to be racist toward white people. However, another person had responded and said that what he had experienced was actually discrimination, not racism.

He was targeted for being white, yes; regardless, did any of the people who bullied him follow him outside of his community and prevent him from obtaining opportunities denied usually towards BIPOC? For instance, if he applied to a job, would his race benefit or hinder him from getting accepted? Getting promoted? Getting a raise? Et cetera. 

At that time, I had found that conversation enlightening because I myself could not offer an answer. However, Justin in Do Better provided the answer. He asked Brenda if it was possible for any of them–friends and BIPOC–to strip Liam of any of his rights in a world and system built to benefit people such as Liam. That was when I understood and got my answer.

Do BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) have the ability or, more specifically, the power to take away Liam’s right to vote? Do we have any power to deny him a place to live? Do we have any power to deny him a job? Prevent his promotion?

I don’t know what you personally believe and what your answer is, but this question posed for the audience to decide for themselves was a good one, especially for the first episode in the series.

2. Were They a Bit Harsh to the White Guy?

As we watch the interactions between Priscilla and Liam; Tom and Justin with Liam; and April and Malika with Liam, most of the comments aimed at him were generally negative. Priscilla, being half Korean and half Black, was the only chill one out of the group of friends. She believes that “love is love” and that Brenda is old enough to make her own decisions on who she can and should fall in love with.

On the other hand, when Tom, Justin, and Liam hung out, Tom and Justin vibed with Liam differently. At Liam’s house where the three men are watching a Warriors basketball game, Tom, the Asian man, said that he had “never met anyone in the Bay area who hated the Warriors as much as” he does. Joining in, Liam remarked that he was banned from the arena to which Tom said that he “would never go into enemy territory like that.” Justin then said, “yet look at whose house we’re in at this very moment.” Probably hurt by that statement, Liam said that “that stung a little” to which Justin responded with

“toughen up.”

I actually had a heated debate with three of my friends over whether or not Brenda’s friends were a bit harsh on Liam. Personally, I thought they weren’t. And Justin’s “toughen up” comment made me firmly stand with that belief.

One of my friends had argued that we, as People of Color, are no better than white people if we judge people by the cover of a book or in this case, by the color of the skin. However, I want to introduce you guys to a special lady named Jane Elliott, a diversity educator and former elementary school teacher.

She did an experiment that stirred up a community and brought her to national attention. Called “Brown Eye, Blue Eye,” she tried it on elementary school kids first before she was able to try it on college-level students. You can watch the entire experiment here below:

This video is from YouTube

It’s an approximately 51-minute video, but the experiment is so intense, the time flies by. The moment I want you to see is from the 31:48 minute mark to the 32:40 minute mark. Or watch it from this pre-marked video below:

Basically, the experiment was one where Jane Elliott made the white students feel uncomfortable for roughly (and only) 1-2 hours. One of them did not like the treatment she was receiving, so she ended up walking out. One of the Black students commented on this behavior, saying that the white student did what many BIPOC always want to do and that is to walk away from the mistreatment, the discrimination, and the racism BIPOC people face in America every day.

Yet, we don’t have the luxury of being able to walk away like that white female student was able to.

And that makes all the difference. We can’t run away from our skin color no matter how much we want to; thus, we have to “toughen up,” deal with it, and live with it. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. While white people benefit from the system and this world they’ve created. They are able to call 911 on Black people as if the police department is a customer service hotline.

Remember BBQ Becky everyone?

Basically, Jane Elliott’s experiment shows that (most) white people have been sheltered and coddled from the harshness of the world they’ve created. Oprah even invited Jane onto her show and tried the experiment on her own audience. In fact, here’s the first half of that show:

This video is from YouTube

You should watch the entire 32-ish minute video to see the white people in the audience’s reactions. Their comments show that they had miss the point of the experiment and essentially proved Elliott’s intent.

Fundamentally, when it comes to a little bit of discomfort and mistreatment, most white people cannot take it. Yet BIPOC wear our skin every day and therefore, cannot escape from the mistreatment or the effects of how the world perceives us.

Hence, so what if Liam’s feelings are hurt?

The realities of racism that People of Color, that Black people face–just see it yourself in Just Mercy !–is much worse than someone’s feelings being hurt. 

As I mentioned above in Reason #1, BIPOC deal with racism in the form of being denied promotions, raises, and even jobs (and housing!) based on their race. Those things affect our health, our livelihoods, and our future.

Liam was hurt by Justin’s comment, but Justin’s counter telling Liam to “toughen up” is a great one. Okay, your feelings are hurt, but let’s make a comparison. When comparing Liam’s feelings to what Black people face, it is nothing compared to being wrongly imprisoned for a crime you did not commit. It is nothing compared to the humiliation you have to endure being patted down and being seen as a threat based on your skin color alone. It is nothing compared to being called degrading names, being hated or feared, or being shot at, or even killed for it.

In fact, there’s no comparison at all. 

You can brush a mean comment aside. You know what you can’t brush aside? A criminal record, a missing and/or absent father, a lifetime of being judged, feared, and/or hated for who you are when you had no control over what color skin you were born with.

One final note I want to make is that I really liked the seating arrangement of that particular scene between Liam, Tom, and Justin. Like a racial spectrum, Liam, the white man, sat on one end of the room; Tom, the Asian man, sat in the middle; and Justin, the Black man, sat on the other end. I thought it was deliberate, or at least really clever, since the webseries explores the topic of race.

The tensions and chemistry between racial groups are felt between the men. Tom can get along with both sides, but is obviously more connected with Justin since they are actual friends and both People of Color. There is agitation between Liam and Justin, first because Justin doesn’t appreciate Brenda dating Liam, but also because Liam lives a better life than Justin does even when they are both teachers.

3. Asian Women Fetishization

This topic is one of my favorites that was brought up in the webseries. And that is the issue of romantic relationships between Asian women and White men.

When Brenda’s friends ask her how she had met Liam, Tom accuses her of having been found by Liam because of a phenomenon called “Yellow Fever.” In other words, that white men chose, find, and/or prey on Asian women as romantic partners because of stereotypes such as them thinking that all Asian women are cute, submissive, obedient, petite, small (and therefore “tight”–you know where!), nurturing, caring, and youthful. 

Although Priscilla (the only person who was accepting of Liam) had said that “love is love”–and I wholeheartedly agree with that–I can’t help but feel disheartened each time I see an Asian woman paired with a White man in real life and in movies.

The media is a very powerful factor that shapes our perceptions, opinions, and realities of the world.

Given that statement, when you see many of these types of relationships not only in media but in real life as well, you can’t help but feel that it reinforces the stereotype that Asian women do not want to date Asian men and fall for White men, claiming that they are better partners. The media has already portrayed Asian men in a bad light and have made them seem ugly, undesirable, and un-sexy. When women of their own race humiliate them, refuse to date them, and/or openly reject them because of certain stereotypes too, it only keeps this nasty cycle going.

I will not name specific people, but there are several Asian/Asian American female celebrities, YouTubers, and even people in my own life who are dating White men. I personally do not like that even though I do believe love is love. Yes, men and women/heterosexual relationships should not be the only type of relationships or be the norm. Women and women, men and men, basically, people of every background and sexuality should be with whoever they love. They deserve to be.

However, there is a difference between falling for people you truly love and perpetuating a stereotype.

Look, if you can find a White man who loves an Asian woman because he loves her for her, great! But do NOT deny the fact and the existence of some (if not, many) White men who pursue Asian women based on the stereotypes I listed above. Do not deny and pretend that White men who pursue Asian women and fetishize them do not exist. They do, whether you like it or not.

I do not like these types of relationships being shown onscreen because it continues the stereotypes and affects my dating life. More importantly, it affects Asian men and their personal and dating life. You can hear about it from one of my favorite woke YouTubers, Pierre XO who happens to be YES, a sexy Asian American man who unfortunately lives in Prague right now.

Listen to his stance on the negative attitudes toward Asian men by White media AND Asian women, themselves:

This video is from YouTube

If you are also short on time, please at least watch the first 2 minutes, if not the first 5 minutes. Pierre brings up excellent points and shows that being undesirable affects Asian men and their confidence. A LOT. It really hurts them, to the point that some are actually suicidal and experience depression and a lost of self-worth.

If you are against body shaming, then you should agree that making fun of Asian men and their bodies is absolutely WRONG and UNACCEPTABLE! If it is NOT okay for us, as a society, to body shame women for being any shape or size, then it is ALSO not okay to make fun of Asian men and crack size jokes or anything negative about their appearance, as well.

I don’t know what your stance on this subject is (Asian women fetishization), but this webseries does a wonderful job of bringing this dilemma up to ask what the audience thinks. Or at least, gives them a chance to ponder the question.

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Part 2 of this post is now up! Please check out the next few reasons!

What do you think so far about what I have just discussed? Please comment below and join the discussion with me! 🙂