In a series of tweets, Raphael Bob-Waksberg the creator of popular animated web Netflix series Bojack Horseman and actress Alison Brie, who voiced Vietnamese-American Diane Nguyen have stated that they have made unforced "racist" errors in the show.
Raphael, in a tweet, confessed the mistake and wrote:
"I also make some unforced errors there, like saying about the conception of Diane, "She’s going to be fully American, her race is barely going to play a factor and she’s just going to be a person," which is a very ignorant way to talk about a WOC, real or fictional!"
I also make some unforced errors there, like saying about the conception of Diane, "She’s going to be fully American, her race is barely going to play a factor and she’s just going to be a person," which is a very ignorant way to talk about a WOC, real or fictional!
— Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) June 24, 2020
Elaborating upon the error, Raphael said, "Even in the small ways we wrote to Diane's experience as a woman of color, or more specifically an Asian woman, we rarely got specific enough to think about what it meant to be SPECIFICALLY VIETNAMESE-AMERICAN and that was a huge (racist!) error on my part."
Even in the small ways we wrote to Diane's experience as a woman of color, or more specifically an Asian woman, we rarely got specific enough to think about what it meant to be SPECIFICALLY VIETNAMESE-AMERICAN and that was a huge (racist!) error on my part.
— Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) June 24, 2020
Describing how he did not intend to come up with a stereotypical character, Raphael mentioned, "The intention behind the character is I wanted to write AWAY from stereotypes and create an Asian American character who wasn't defined solely by her race. But I went too far in the other direction. We are all defined SOMEWHAT by our race! Of course we are! It is part of us!"
The intention behind the character is I wanted to write AWAY from stereotypes and create an Asian American character who wasn't defined solely by her race. But I went too far in the other direction. We are all defined SOMEWHAT by our race! Of course we are! It is part of us!
— Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) June 24, 2020
In another tweet, Raphael has also mentioned how he should have roped in Vietnamese actor and writer for the show. He tweeted, "For the Vietnam episode, we brought in @cest_la_vyvy as a consultant and actress. Vyvy was ENORMOUSLY helpful and we couldn't have made the episode without her. But hiring a consultant for one episode is not real representation."
For the Vietnam episode, we brought in @cest_la_vyvy as a consultant and actress. Vyvy was ENORMOUSLY helpful and we couldn't have made the episode without her. But hiring a consultant for one episode is not real representation.
— Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) June 24, 2020
Raphael wasn't the only one associated with the show who regretted the choice. 37-year-old actress Alison Brie, who gave her voice for Diane Nguyen took to her Instagram and apologised for missing the opportunity to represent the Vietnamese-American community "accurately and respectfully".
"I now understand that people of color, should always voice people of color," Brie wrote on her Instagram.
"We missed a great opportunity to represent the Vietnamese-American community accurately and respectfully, and for that I am truly sorry," she said.
"I applaud all those who stepped away from their voiceover roles in recent days. I have learned a lot from them."
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