Fresh Off the Boat 211 – “Year of the Rat” Review

Fresh Off the Boat “Year of the Rat” continues the amazing blend of cultural reflection and solid situation comedy.

Review in a Tweet: “#FreshOffTheBoat “Year of the Rat” perfectly captures the feeling of wanting everyone to understand, but not wanting to teach everyone.”

Fresh Off The Boat “Year of the Rat” sees the Huangs getting everything in order to celebrate Chinese New Year with their family back in Washington, D.C. But Louis’s mix-up with their plane tickets forces them to spend the holiday in Orlando. Desperate to find other Asians to celebrate with, the Huangs stumble upon the Asian-American Association of Orlando, which is hosting a less than authentic interpretation of a Chinese New Year celebration.

Fresh Off the Boat starts the new year with an episode about the new year… Chinese New Year. Being mostly Chinese, I am personally disappointed in myself for knowing almost nothing of this celebration. I have never celebrated it other than going to China Town in San Fransisco to play with fireworks and watch the Lion Dance. Mostly, I’m disappointed in the lack of Red Envelopes in my life. “Year of the Rat” perfectly embodies mine, and likely many other American born/raised Asian children’s initial view of Chinese New Years. American raised Asians may know of the cultural signficance, but don’t value it as much as immigrants do. This is likely due to having a much larger emphasis on the New Year celebration of January 1st, and reflected in the Huang children’s obsession over the Red Envelopes. “Year of the Rat” also embodies the values immigrant Asians place in Chinese New Year in the Huang parents. Not only does it hold significant cultural value, it holds a large family value.

The best part of the episode, is that it captures what many minorities have to deal with, and that is white people trying to celebrate another culture but inadvertently being offensive as they try. To the majority population, it may seem as if the episode aims to make white people seem ignorant and insulting… and that’s because that is exactly how it is in real life. The enthusiasm is applauded, but please respect the culture instead of trying to reap from it.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with white people celebrating Chinese New Year, but celebrate it correctly. This goes for all American Minority Holidays.

Again this is not to bash on white people for trying, it’s to bash on them for half-heartedly doing so. If the white people celebrating Chinese New Year seems ignorant and insulting, it’s because they are. Wait until the end of the episode to see how it is correctly done. Everyone is allowed to celebrate and partake in everyone’s culture, but it has to be done with respect to it not just because of intrigue from it.

Fresh Off the Boat “Year of the Rat” continues the amazing blend of cultural reflection and solid situation comedy. I wouldn’t say this is one of the best episodes of the series in regards to its humor, but it is one of the best episodes that embody the cultural gaps between minorities and white people. Fresh Off the Boat returns to 2016 with a strong representation of what makes the show so great. Not only does the show spread knowledge about culture and situations from a minority perspective, it wraps it up in a humorous package that resonates.

Catch ABC’s “Fresh Off the Boat,” airing at its new time slot on TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2 (8:00-8:30 p.m. EST).