Chin-Kee is a supporting character in Gene Luen Yang's graphic novel American Born Chinese.
Biography[]
Chin-Kee is a startling caricature of negative Chinese stereotypes. He is Danny's larger-than-life Chinese cousin who, to Danny's embarrassment, comes to visit every year. He loudly speaks extraordinary "Chinglish" at all times, likes to play tricks on people, and possesses an unnatural sexual appetite. Chin-Kee in reality is the Monkey King in disguise. Chin-Kee's name sounds like the ethnic insult "chinky" when said aloud.
Personality[]
He demonstrates a high level of knowledge in school, but has very little self-control. Chin-Kee is also exuberant and shows a love for attention.
Physical Appearance[]
He wears antiquated Chinese clothing, the traditional queue hairstyle, and literally has yellow skin, buck teeth, and eyes squinting so tightly that the pupils cannot be seen.
Friendships/Relationships[]
Danny/Jin[]
Chin-Kee is more than just a bunch of stereotypes, he actually represents the fear of those stereotypes. Specifically, Danny's (or really, Jin's) fear of appearing non-white and non-American. For example, throughout the graphic novel, Danny's facial expressions range from cowering embarrassment, to bug-eyed horror whenever he's around Chin-Kee. Moreover, he tries to hide Chin-Kee by bringing him to school late and telling him to "'Stay quiet'" and by dragging him away during Chin-Kee's embarrassing performance of Ricky Martin's "She Bangs" in the library. Chin-Kee thus forces Danny to constantly confront the fear of being labeled as less than.
Gallery[]
Images[]
Trivia[]
- For the Disney+ American Born Chinese series, the character was reworked, and eventually became Jamie Yao, who is portrayed by: Ke Huy Quan.
- Yang said that when he heard some people argue Chin-Kee was cute, he stated that he wished he designed the character to appear even more like stereotypes.[1].
References[]
[]
v - e - d  | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|