No, I mean where are you really from?
Somebody from one of the Asian American listservs told me that the Evil Chinese Professor ad was filmed in Washington D.C. As usual, the Angry Asian Man has the scoop:
So yes, I was an extra for this commercial. The way I got involved in this commercial is by signing up to be an extra for Transformers 3, which was being filmed in DC. So I got an email from my Kollaboration staff (I am on the board for Kollaboration DC) saying that they were filming Transformers 3 (Our show just ended btw too, like a week ago). Some of us signed up to be extras and a couple of us got called for this commercial because the Transformers 3 shoot was full, and they informed me that it was for a conservative – political ad, so I was aware of the political stance (thinking it wouldn’t be a serious issue). So thats basically how I got involved.
I get this all the time. I think most people do. It doesn’t just come from white people. It comes from people of all nationalities. Annoying, yes. But a fact of life that I have grown used to.
I’m guilty of ‘where are you from’ but mainly when I was young, callow and generally unaware of how much it others people. I’m sure it’s as upsetting as when someone asks, “are you all black?” when it comes to how I talk (but that’s a whole other can of worms).