PEN15 flips the script on the Asian "Tiger Mom" stereotype

HuffPost

"In pop culture, the Asian mother really only comes in one shade: overbearing tiger mom who can’t say 'I love you' to save her life," says Brittany Wong. "As for her kids’ future, the options are law school, medical school or disownment (Think: Lane Kim’s problematic, academic-driven mother on Gilmore Girls or Nick Young’s class-conscious mom in the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy)." Maya Erskine's PEN15 mom Yuki, played by her actual mother Mutsuko Erskine, offers a refreshingly different portrayal that is resonating with the Hulu comedy's Asian-American viewers. "With motherly grace, Yuki teaches Maya to shave ('once you start, you can never stop!'), rights her haircut wrongs (albeit by giving her a classic Asian bowl cut, but A+ for effort), offers spot-on friendship advice and reminds her that she’ll 'always be her little girl' at just the right time," says Wong. "Sure, you might say she’s just acting like a mom, but that alone is almost revolutionary given how monochromatic portrayals of Asian parents tend to be in movies and TV."