I am still in awe that I've got to meet the creators of my number one favourite YouTube channel, Wong Fu Productions on August 8th, 2018. I've been a big fan of their videos for 6 years now, and I can't believe my dream of meeting them has finally came true. I was stoked about this event ever since I bought a VIP ticket three weeks ago.
I arrived at Vancity Theatre an hour before the event. One girl told me that we weren't allowed to enter in the theatre until 1pm, so I decided to wait at the back of the six-people-queue. To my disappointment, there was no free Wi-Fi available (unless we were inside the theatre), so I listened to the new K-Pop songs I downloaded on my phone for a few minutes. I made sure that I had plenty of phone battery for photos and videos. One hour passed, and the queue was almost at the end of the building. The door wasn't opened yet. I was spaced out in daydream realm, picturing myself meeting Wong Fu Productions in the flesh. Suddenly, cheers and screams made me jump. I turned to see Phil approached from the bushes with a camera close to his face. I nearly dropped the big paper bag of snacks I was holding. (The snacks were a gift for Wong Fu Productions. I included a card as well.)
As he jogged past the queue while holding his camera to get a good view of us, I covered my mouth with my right hand to control myself from shrieking. Worst case scenario would be me losing my voice when I did shriek. I was stunned that Phil was literally in the same area. Jen and Wes were there too! Wes was holding a camera as well, and he high fived the first two fans at the front of the line. When the three representatives of Wong Fu Productions went inside the theater, I could feel myself shaking with excitement. A volunteer, who seemed to travel along with them in their tour, told us to form two lines. One for general admission, and one for VIP. So I moved in the VIP line.
The doors opened fifteen to twenty minutes late. I handed my ticket to the volunteer so that he could scan the bar code. Another person, who was a friend or colleague of Wong Fu Productions, stamped two red stars on the back of my left palm as a sign that I've bought a VIP ticket. Wes and Jen were setting up "Yappie" merchandise on a table at the other side of the lobby. Phil said that they were just getting everything ready, so please be patient. I nodded in reply, and I swore I could hear my heart beating nervously out of my chest. Holy crap, my Wong Fu fan mode was on fire! Good thing I managed to maintain my composure. Anyways, I was first in line to buy the merchandise. I bought two of the "Remodel Minority" shirts, because I wanted to give one to my friend, Angela Hu. She is also a big Wong Fu fan, and I wished she could come with me to the event. Sadly, the tickets were all sold out in a week or so. Plus, she wasn't sure of her schedule. I wanted to give her something from Wong Fu Productions, so I thought the shirt would be perfect.
Angela, if you're reading this, hope you like the shirt! And your welcome! ;)
After buying the two shirts, I entered the theater which was a big room with comfy red chairs and a gigantic red curtain covering the cinema screen. Once all of the seats were filled up, Phil and Wes welcomed us with a friendly and funny speech. It turned out that they arrived in Vancouver two hours ago. They looked tired and jet lagged, but they kept everyone pumped up and ready to watch all five episodes of their latest show, "Yappie" in one setting. Phil was even surprised when the curtain rose up automatically once the lights went off and the Wong Fu Productions logo flashed in front of us. I think he said "Whoa! This is the first time we are in a theatre with a curtain!" or something.
Phil was happy that we all gathered together to indulge in the experience of watching a Wong Fu series on a cinema screen, and I agree that it's different that watching at home. All our eyes were fixed on an independent YouTube creation displayed on a rectangular canvas. It's just wonderful technology magic. Plus the sounds were just much clearer. Best of all, I found myself laughing with the audience as we reacted to the funny scenes together.
The screening ended more than an hour later. Phil and Wes started the Q&A session, and they were hit off with some pretty deep questions. One of the questions is about comments from some people who thinks that the show "Yappie" portrays the negativity of Yappies. My favourite line from Wes is "Your career doesn't define you. Your relationship doesn't define you. You define yourself." This struck me the most, because from what I see, we humans are identified through our status in our family, circle of friends, school, work, and anything else that makes us commit for the rest of our lives. We think we should follow expectations from people around us and the world we live in. However, if we can change that mindset, we can instead define ourselves through our personalities, and not merely just our priorities. We all have passion for something. We all have interests for something other than just the labels relating to our race, religions, and jobs. We all have traits that make other people want to stick with us, to be inspired and motivated, to be involved in future memories with us.
One of the things this new Wong Fu show touches on is interracial relationships, and I applaud Wong Fu Productions for revealing this on YouTube. I think interracial relationships are beautiful. Even though interracial couples may face difficulties in culture acceptance, communication with their parents, and whatnot, I highly respect them for talking their concerns with each other and finding ways to prevent misunderstanding. They choose to be together, because they love each other. They fall in love for their likes, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, and just all of the little jewels that make them shine as a human being. And it's these things that make their relationships long-lasting and compatible. Brett and Jessica are the example of this. After Brett realized that he has yellow fever, he couldn't stop worrying about it. His idea of setting up a blind date for Andrew and one of his white friends was kinda ridiculous, but in the end he was happy that Andrew decided to date Kaleena, a half black and half Japanese dance instructor. It also opened a path for Andrew, because he learned that it didn't matter if he's dating someone from a different race. Kaleena did want Andrew to "care for [her] being black", but she also wanted him to love her as a person ("Yappie" episode 4).
This show also shows the importance of people from all backgrounds to come together. The third episode of "Yappie" reveals Andrew who realizes that Asians of different ethnicity are separated, especially in his own workplace. Andrew encouraged his colleagues to combine their budgets and work together to make the Asian Pacific Heritage Month event possible for all Asians to celebrate the histories and achievements the Asian community has contributed. And in the last episode of "Yappie", Andrew wished that he could take action to encourage people to understand one another. Kaleena's line touches me deeply, which is "We need to listen to one another more" ("Yappie" episode 5). I wholeheartedly agree with her, because I believe that we need to hear each other out, to root for each other, and to work together to make our community better. I wasn't aware of the inequality Canadians face until I took Communication courses in Capilano University. I regretted for not contributing a lot in discussions or verbal activities about racial and political issues, but I was amazed by how open and passionate everyone else were in talking about their concerns and how they want to make a change for a better Canada. I thought I wasn't really a part of these things since I have only lived in Canada for six years, but the more I hear about these issues, the more I become aware that Canada is still in the works of making all nations feel equal and respected. And even though Canada is a multicultural country, there are still news about people being mistreated. If more of us in this country are willing to voice out and fight, maybe we can make a change.
"Remodel minority" is a term created by Andrew in the series. Instead of labeling us Asians as the model minority, I agree with Andrew that we should be called "remodel minority" instead. We can be the change makers who care about reaching out to people and having a voice to fight for what we believe is right. If I have the chance to go back to school, I would be very much obliged to write a scholarly research paper about this, because I think introducing this term would be revolutionary for people to know that the Canadian community has to change.
Okay that's enough of my scattered thoughts about my impression with the series. XD
At the end of the event, Wong Fu Productions had a meet n' greet session. I was in the VIP line, and I tried my best to control my excitement. The shorter the line got, the more I felt my heart was going to explode. Finally, when it was my turn, I passed my phone to the Wong Fu volunteer with my shaky right hand. Phil was about to shake my hand when I handed him my gift. His face lit up and said, "Aww thank you! You're so sweet!" Eeeeep! That was my inner squeal. He placed the bag of snacks on a chair nearby and shook hands with me. #fangirlinheaven. I then asked him to sign my "Yappie" card, and Wes signed it too. He didn't say a word to me, but it didn't really matter, because I know that he's a shy guy. I could tell that Wes was happy though. And after they signed my card, the volunteered took a photo of me sandwiched between Wes and Phil. It felt OMG so surreal! When they thanked me and moved on with the next fan in the lineup, it took a while for me to collect myself and to remember everything that happened at that very moment. The moment I met one of my biggest inspiration.
There's so many things I love about this YouTube channel. Each member in the Wong Fu team is very talented and genuine. They all know how to tell good, real, and relatable stories through videos. But most importantly, they represent the Asian commmunity as a group of people who transforms creative ideas and untouchable, interesting topics into enjoyable and meaningful content. They really have inspired me to never give up on my dreams of being a creative person and to use my own creativity to inspire others. I will continue to support them. <3 Wong Fu 4 Lyfe!
No comments:
Post a Comment