We’ve already said our piece about a local actor’s recent diatribe against being told to ham up his Indian accent as part of an audition for the upcoming Ah Boys To Men 4 (yes, there will be yet another outing in the tiresome series).
TL;DR — comedy that relies on hackneyed racial stereotypes as punchlines is unfortunate, but many Singaporeans dig that shit, and that’s why Jack Neo (and many others in the industry) use ‘em as a crutch. Shrey Bhargava didn’t need to participate in that audition if he felt so strongly about it, but alas, he did.
As for us, we’re nihilists and cynics; there’s no use at all in trying to change things. Racial tension will always be here to stay; bigotry and prejudice are never going away; casual discrimination happens all the time; privilege will rarely be placed in check; intolerance is an actual lifestyle for many; and Singapore’s never going to achieve racial harmony.
What we can do, however, is point out that injustice exists. If there’s one thing that Shrey achieved with his post, it’s that he exposed a chasmic divide between two segments of Singaporeans. On one side, there are the supporters who wholeheartedly agree that we don’t need this racist stereotyping anymore. On the other, there are the critics who accuse the actor of being an attention-whore, intentionally seeding conflict.
We don’t even need to state that all those who have voiced opinions putting down Shrey, demanding for him to stop being offended and basically insulting him outright… aren’t minorities.
So grab some popcorn, y’all, and take a ride down this new rift in societal relations as the internet drama unfolds (hurry, ’cause it will be totally forgotten by next week). Without further ado, we present to you a compilation of commentaries on the still ongoing saga.
Here’s a plea by veteran playwright Alfian Sa’at for us to do “so much better than to rely on racist stereotypes for amusement”.
Here’s blogger and anti-SJW warrior Xiaxue asking Shrey to “get the fuck off (his) fucking high horse” and educating him about the finer things about comedy.
Here’s anti-Chinese privilege stalwart Sangeetha Thanapal explaining why we shouldn’t listen to Xiaxue.
Here’s writer Donovan Choy on how he found nothing racist about the Ah Boys to Men audition, and how calling out racism at every slightest opportunity is “idiotic”.
Here’s Yale student Gregory Ng explaining why we shouldn’t be accepting of racist jokes in the first place.
Here’s a random dad who says he disagrees with the racial stereotypes in Ah Boys to Men, but knows that its humour has appeal.
Here’s Ah Boys To Men star Maxi Lim pointing out that Shrey might be mishandling his insecurities.
Here’s Shrey responding to Lim, saying that all he wants is mutual respect.
Here’s Yale-NUS College student Paul Jerusalem opposing the general arguments made against Shrey.
Here’s Xiaxue (who, for some reason, is really, really invested in this) exposing Shrey’s past in putting on accents as part of his shtick. She even crafts a montage. Boy, she really hates this dude.
Shrey responds, saying that he actually has no issue with accents — it’s the stereotypical role of minorities that he’s not happy with.
Here’s Paul again, asserting how we should hold all the parties involved in the movie to higher standards.
Shrey clarifies further about how the intention of his original post was to highlight an “ingrained form of racism embedded in our culture.”
Stay tuned for more updates.
