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--- blog:2025:0830blaugust_27 [2025/08/30 03:00] – [Blaugust 27: Heritage in King Of The Hill] scumsuck
+++ blog:2025:0830blaugust_27 [2025/08/30 19:35] (current) – [Inconsistencies] scumsuck
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 The Souphanousinphones are explicitly stated to be Laotian, with Kahn and Minh having a good bit of real life history informing them((This video is a good recap of specifics - Dekahnstruction by Squirrel Tactics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q5pJS-m3lk)).  This is interesting because Laos is a bit of a lesser-known Asian country, and that's lampshaded by Hank's asking ignorantly "So are ya Chinese, or Japanese"?  Connie was born in the USA, but is still connected to Laotian culture compared to John's kids, due to her parent's stereotypical fanaticism for good grades and immigrating for a better life/"the American Dream".  I was fascinated by this tidbit as a kid growing up, because it was so rare to see Asian characters in cartoons let alone Laotian characters.
-I was also fascinated by the inclusion of John Redcorn as a character, because as an Asian kid growing up I thought it was cool when characters were not only explicitly not white, BUT ALSO had long black hair CUZ I had (have?) long black hair!  John is mostly referred to as Native or Indian, with not much more provided about tribes or family.  It's likely that the showrunners, being middle-class white US-Americans, didn't put that much effort into researching specifics, and the character of John Redcorn isn't 100% clear on his own heritage, but today I'm here to <del>autistically</del> artistically connect the little crumbs of information we get about side characters with about 30 total minutes of dialogue.  Because I love you.
+I was also fascinated by the inclusion of John Redcorn as a character, because as an Asian kid growing up I thought it was cool when characters were not only explicitly not white, BUT ALSO had long black hair CUZ I had (have?) long black hair!  John is mostly referred to as Native or Indian, with not much more provided about tribes or family.  It's likely that the showrunners, being middle-class white US-Americans, didn't place that importance on specifics, and the character of John Redcorn isn't 100% clear on his own heritage.  But today I'm here to <del>autistically</del> artistically connect the little crumbs of information we get about side characters with about 30 total minutes of dialogue.  Because I love you.
 [{{blog:2025:08_29_6168.jpg| Bobby hill at the book store reading at the intersection of Ethnic Studies and American History with a cup of milk is EXACTLY what I look like right now.  But I have black hair cuz I'm Asian.}}]
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 It's been pretty fun to read through internet threads of people asking "why do Indians have funny long names" and then watching people clap back with "they're translated you pee pee head, like how your totally "normal" white English name probably translates to Fears God and Jesus, Son of Smith The Third if we were to write about you as an exotic foreigner".
-==== Cumclusion ====
+===== Inconsistencies =====
+The main inconsistency is that the land that John is trying to reclaim (Dale got 12 acres of land back for him!) is not where the Pueblo people historically occupied.  Any cultural/historical inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the show can be explained by John not knowing all the facts about his ancestry, as many non-white people in the USA may find it difficult to trace their family, especially with 90's technological limitations.  John Redcorn may be of mixed ancestry, and only chose to tell Bobby about the Pueblo part of his heritage.  And the show was mostly written by non Native American people, and created by a white guy, and those dudes probably aren't the most knowledgeable about Native American culture.
-The main inconsistency is that the land that John is trying to reclaim (land back!) is not where the Pueblo people historically occupied.  Any cultural/historical inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the show can be explained by John not knowing all thefacts about his ancestry, as many non-white people in the USA may find it difficult to trace their family, especially with 90's technological limitations.  John Redcorn may be of mixed ancestry, and only choosing to tell Bobby about the Pueblo part of his heritage.  And the show was mostly written by non Native American people, and created by a white guy, and those dudes probably aren't the most knowledgeable about Native American culture.
+Many of these cultural clues for John's heritage are going to be a little mixed up.  White American writers often confuse different Native American tribes for each other, and put them under just a big "Native American" name.  It's pretty similar to how American writers mix up different aspects of Asian culture, like (example) thinking Japanese people celebrate Chinese New Year and do Tae Kwon Do (that's Korean!).  A lot of King of the Hill's humor is based on stereotypes for all the characters, whether they're white lawn-mowing rednecks or over-achieving Asians escaping their home country's genocide.
-Many of these cultural clues for John's heritage are going to be jumbled up because white American writers often confuse different Native American tribes for each other, and put them under just a big "Native American" name.  It's pretty similar to how American writers mix up different aspects of Asian culture, like (example) thinking Japanese people celebrate Chinese New Year and do Tae Kwon Do (that's Korean!).  A lot of King of the Hill is based on stereotypes for all the characters, whether they're white conservative law-mowing rednecks or over-achieving Asians escaping their home country's genocide.
+There's also the aspect of US American culture for non-white people in real life actually BEING mixed up together as part of the "melting pot".  Asian Americans kids often hang out with each other, regardless if they're Indian (from India!!!) or Vietnamese or Chinese, because they're already being thrown under the Asian umbrella by their non-Asian peers, and there is a little bit of shared culture from immigration and food and parenting and stuff.  Hell as I've said before, when I was growing up I tended to latch onto ANY of the rare characters or cool people that was not just some white dude (lemme tell you about how Asian kids LOVED Rey Mysterio...)  because... being non-white is its own sort of upbringing in the majority-white United States!!  Some may find umbrella terms useful for solidarity, and to find connections through shared experiences and common goals.  While others may prefer to identify as their more specific identity - see how Ted Wassanasong expresses disappointment in Kahn for equating his Laotianness (and vengeance against white dudes lol) with Chinese railroad slaves.
-There's also the aspect of US American culture for non-white people in real life BEING mixed up together - Asian Americans kids often hang out with each other, regardless if they're Indian (from India!!!) or Vietnamese or Chinese, because they're already being thrown under the Asian umbrella by their non-Asian peers, and there is a little bit of shared culture from immigration and food and parenting and stuff.  Hell as I've said before, when I was growing up I tended to latch onto ANY of the rare characters or cool people that was not just some white dude (lemme tell you about how Asian kids LOVED Rey Mysterio...)  because... being non-white is its own sort of upbringing in the majority-white United States!!
+As for inconsistencies in-character, it can be inferred that John wasn't that connected with his heritage before his current New Age Healer occupation.
+> There aren't too many former roadies who own their own healing centers.
+> In my vision, I saw a majestic tree blowing in the wind.
+> But the tree had no roots, and was lifted up and blown away.
+> I knew then that the tribal elders had interpreted my vision correctly, and that wrangling groupies for Winger was no way to live my life.
+> [[https://transcripts.foreverdreaming.org/viewtopic.php?t=87837|- John Redcorn,  S7E12 Vision Quest]]
+A lot of John's character is based on him seeming like a wise mystic, but he's mostly bluffing it to sell an image (and sell his body) to the non-Natives of Arlen.  At his core he's just a regular dude who likes dad rock, driving, and beer.  It's likely that he doesn't have all the facts lined up about his heritage either, since he's learning himself.  It's an interesting duality of subversion and stereotypes that's realistic to me.  You can also see the subverted stereotypes mirrored in Kahn being the Asian over-achiever and strict parent with a fake accent -- but even Kahn just likes to sing Def Leppard and shoot the shit in the alley rather than talk about Buddha all day.  I like that it grounds these characters as real flawed personalities, and it's a nice pushback on the expectations that many have on People Of Color to be perfect all-knowing representations of their race that can recite every wikipedia article about their country.
+===== Cumclusion =====
 But anyways.  That's enough for today.  I feel like I can talk about racial stereotypes in cartoons all day long let alone the way they're handled (for better or worse or surprisingly woke for the 90's in the era of South Park and shock jock radio) in King of the Hill LMAO don't you hold your breath for my blog post about Kahn and Connie!  But yeah this is still part of my "ode to a dude" blog series so I have to also analyze the Native American heritage of cartoon characters Nathan Explosion, Brock Samson, and Wolverine.  Soon... this might go past Blaugust.