American Born Chinese Lies and Deceit

Lies in American Born Chinese take the form of self-deception more than the deception of others. Sure Wei-Chen lies to Jin's mom, which turns out to be a big deal, but most of the lies have more to do with how we learn to reject our true selves in order to become fantasy versions of ourselves. And we don't think we need to tell you how that turns out.

Questions About Lies and Deceit

1. Why is Wei-Chen's lie to Jin's mom such a big deal?
2. What kinds of lies does the Monkey King tell?
3. How is Greg a liar?
4. If Chin-Kee's story is really a TV sitcom, how is American popular culture deceptive and is that always a bad thing?

Chew on This

American popular media is a disease—all it does is spread false, racist stereotypes.

It's not the responsibility of an American TV sitcom to portray truth—it's purpose is to entertain an audience.