How to watch Sesame Street introduce Ji-Young, the neighborhood's first Asian American muppet.
How to watch Sesame Street introduce Ji-Young, the neighborhood's first Asian American muppet
She's here! It’s time to meet your new neighbor on Sesame Street, Ji-Young. The neighborhood's first Asian American muppet made her debut on Thursday, and the episode made a powerful statement about home, belonging, and the impact of abuse amid a rise of anti-Asian racism in America.
Titled "See Us Coming Together," the special aired on Thanksgiving, and celebrates the diversity of Asian and Pacific Islander communities. Starring and directed by longtime Sesame Street actor Alan Muraoka, the episode focuses on Ji-Young, who is Korean American, and features special guest appearances from Marvel star Simu Liu, tennis champion Naomi Osaka, comic book legend Jim Lee, actor Anna Cathcart, and chefs Melissa King and Padma Lakshmi.
Sesame Street uploaded the whole episode to YouTube, so you can stream it below:
The special is set in the lead-up to a Neighbor Day party on the street, and tackles an important conversation about racism early on. Ji-Young experiences racist abuse while on her way home to get a guitar string, a moment that sets the tone for the whole episode. "A kid yelled out at me to 'go back home.' It really, really, really hurt my feelings," she tells Alan, Elmo, Tamir, and Canadian To All the Boys... star Anna Cathcart, who is Chinese and Irish. "It made me feel sad. And scared."
"Elmo doesn't understand. Wasn’t Ji-Young just at her home?" asks Elmo.
"What they meant was that she should leave Sesame Street and this country," Alan says. "There are some people who don't believe that Asian people like me and Anna and Ji-Young belong in this country....What that kid said to you was wrong. We all belong here and we should all be very proud of who we are and where we're from."
In order to support Ji-Young after her experience, Alan takes her on a tour through the neighborhood, meeting neighbors and celebrating the traditions and diversity of the Asian and Pacific Islander communities, from a basketball-playing bus driver from the Philippines to teachers from India. Of course, this is Sesame Street, so the celebrity appearances are strong throughout, but they're all poignant conversations about belonging and celebrating who you are.
Shang-Chi star Simu Liu turns up with Big Bird, organising games for Neighbor Day. "You're Simu Liu! You're an actor and you’re doing your own stunts and you’re in movies and stuff!" exclaims Ji-Young in a highly relatable fan-out moment.
“You know what? I didn’t always know that I could be one,” says Liu. "I'm Chinese and when I was growing up, I almost never saw anybody like me in movies and TV. And when I did see people like me, they all played the same kind of character, always in the background. And that made me feel like I could only be one kind of thing when I grew up...That's why I love being in movies. I can show people that look like me, that our stories matter."
Tennis champion Naomi Osaka makes a brief appearance through video message, and here to talk about how sharing food from different cultures can bring neighbors together, Indian American chef Padma Lakshmi makes samosas, and chef Melissa King, who is Chinese and born in California, makes dumplings — despite cooking beside Cookie Monster who “appreciates culture” by inhaling everything in sight.
I like Sesame Street. I watch here in Brazil. I like of news personages. Ji Young (Welcome :)
ReplyDeleteHi an from Nigeria, it's interesting how far Sesame Street has travelled over the years. I enjoyed it as a child, wondering if Sesame Street still shows on any our local stations in Nigeria. Ji-young inclusion in Sesame Street is a great idea.
ReplyDeleteA muppet is a muppet... what kind of race are you talking about? What race is that dude muppet in the photo? Based on the color - carrot. Still positive that this whole DIVERSITY obsession about people's skin color will end. Did anyone mention that both puppets have black eyes? Maybe they need to create another task force to look at that... Moments like this remind me of Einstein's quote, "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe".
ReplyDeleteSince the beginning of the Muppets, there have been purple, yellow, blue and green Muppets. There have been frogs, pigs, giant birds and dinosaurs. Imaginary mammoth-like creatures, aliens, mythical beasts, and singing legs with faces. The fact that they rarely define Muppets is a part of what makes them special; you can identify with any of them, even ones that look nothing like you. ESPECIALLY one who look nothing like you.
ReplyDeleteI, myself, always identified with Rolf.
By defining a new Muppet as Asian American, aren’t you trying to tell people who they can associate with? I don’t think Jim Henson would like this very much. It feels like exclusion.
An Asian Muppet with round eyes…..talk about whitewashing.
ReplyDeleteThat Muppet doesn’t look remotely Korean.
ReplyDeleteIf I was going to introduce a character I think I might have gone with a more realistic appearance …..more narrow eyes. that is part of the beauty of Asians.
ReplyDeleteAnother step on the road to the Balkanization of America…
ReplyDeleteAsian American Muppets? Uhhh. Since the Muppets are not actually human, are they implying Asian Americans are not human?
ReplyDelete「セサミストリート」初のアジア系アメリカ人、韓国系の女の子が登場する感謝祭の日の放送分がYouTubeにあがってる。https://youtu.be/hcPXYRDFr-8
ReplyDeleteHmm Sesame street was always a pioneer.
ReplyDeleteWhy create this?
ReplyDeleteWhy Asian? why create rivalry? it's a children's show, no need for that.
ReplyDelete"She's here! It’s time to meet your new neighbor on Sesame Street, Ji-Young. The neighborhood's first Asian American muppet made her debut on Thursday, and the episode made a powerful statement about home, belonging, and the impact of abuse amid a rise of anti-Asian racism in America."
ReplyDeleteYou guys are a little late.
Interesting
ReplyDeleteI thought it was a children's show, and kids don't know about racism yet.
ReplyDeletebut it's very good to influence them so they don't even think in a racist way.
I Agree.
Delete"I also want specifically for Asian American kids to see themselves," she added, "because the more kids see people who look like themselves reflected in the media that they take in, the more they know that they do belong."
ReplyDeleteExactly that.
Why on Earth do we need puppets/muppets for representation???????????
ReplyDeleteThis is nothing like the Sesame Street I grew up with ;(
🤔 That's probably why CPAC banned Big Bird from their rallies !?! 🙄😁
ReplyDelete