The Guy With the Broken Penis

Melissa Hung
December 2, 2005

Well the latest one-night stand this last episode was a South Asian guy named Steve. Yes it’s a bit part, but hey, when do you see an Asian man getting it on in mainstream media? Especially in an interracial coupling? Not very often. I was cheering him on. Go Steve go! Yeah, an Asian American man! South Asian at that! In a non-Asian-specific role! Boinking the title character!

Unfortunately he shows up at the hospital the next day because he has a problem. You see, what went up hasn't come down yet. One of the doctors, the mean one, accuses him of taking Viagra. I winced. Just when an Asian man shows up on TV, not as a waiter or a laughable foreign exchange student, or an asexual nerd, but as a manly man bedding the main character, he gets accused of faking his manliness? Aahh!

Steve insists he and his performance are 100% natural and that he did not take any drugs. Thus poking and prodding (of the medical kind) ensues. He gets a little needy and starts to cling to Meredith a little. Understandable I think. I mean, he's got a problem down there and has to be in the hospital for it. How embarrassing. She, meanwhile, spends the entire episode being mortified that she "broke his penis." The whining goes on and on. Can she shut up already?

In the end, Steve is vindicated. He wasn't faking anything. He has a tumor that is putting pressure on some nerve, which is causing the Mr. to stand up. The episode ends with his manliness in tact. Yeah Steve! Steve asks Meredith if she would consider being more than a one-night stand. She declines as she is clearly not over ex-boyfriend-who-has-a-wife. Oh well, guess we won't see Steve anymore. Too bad. (By the way, does anyone know who the actor is?) At least we had a good episode with a positive portrayal of an Asian American man.

And for that I was really excited. It's kind of pathetic actually, that I'd get excited over such a little thing like a bit character on a guilty pleasure TV show. But we are so absent in the media that I can't help but take note when I see one of us on TV. For example, a couple years ago, I was really stoked to see a South Asian woman in a Ross commercial. Do I remember who else was in the Ross commercial? No. I remember the South Asian woman. She was bowling. I don't think I had ever seen a South Asian on TV before, with the exception of Parminder Nagra (Bend it Like Beckham) playing Neela on ER. And then there was a stylish Asian American couple in a Target ad (but hey, everyone in a Target ad is stylish). And recently, has anyone seen the Old Navy ad where Jeff (of East Asian descent) gives his white girlfriend a scarf for Christmas?

A friend of mine calls it Asian-spotting, this habit of taking note of the Asians in TV and movies. It's like an elusive sport since we're just not around all that much. I'm not the only one doing this of course. The Asian Pacific American Media Coalition just released a report on Asian Americans on TV.

They found that diversity on network TV over the past year has not only stalled, but is deteriorating in some cases. The number of regular roles in primetime television for APAs increased by 1 for a grand total of 17. But these weren't always quality roles. The number of recurring roles fell. I don't know if there will ever be a day when a Steve or Jeff or Ross Bowling Girl comes on TV and I won't even think about it because it would be such a normal everyday thing to see representation of the normal everyday world, a world that is diverse. Wouldn't that be nice?

Contributor: 

Melissa Hung

Founding Editor

Melissa Hung is the founding editor of Hyphen. She was editor in chief for the magazine's first five years and went on to serve in many other leadership roles on the staff and board for more than a decade. A writer and freelance journalist, Melissa has written for NPR, Vogue, Pacific Standard, Longreads, and Catapult. She grew up in Texas, the eldest child of immigrants.

Comments

Comments

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S wrote on Fri, 12/02/2005 - 4:21pm
More info hereincluding the actor's name...
xian wrote on Sat, 12/03/2005 - 12:05am
Thanks, we almost did twin write-ups of this episode, except yours was quite a bit more articulate.http://yellowcontent.blogspot.com/2005/11/greys-heterosexual-am-role.htmlAnyway, the guy's name is Sunkrish Bala, and he's being doing quite a bit of network TV lately.Good stuff, and Hyphen is one of the wonders of the world. peace.xian
deadmike wrote on Sat, 12/03/2005 - 7:18am
I am not sure that the Viagra thing was about his manliness. Just that with the plethora of ED drugs in common use, hospitals probably see more cases of priapism due to these drugs than due to other medical conditions. That being said, these kind of assumptions are dangerous: e.g. diabetics dying in a drunk tank because a cop thinks they "look drunk".
xian wrote on Sat, 12/03/2005 - 10:30am
I think deadmike has a great point. After all, Dr. Bailey's response was the proper medical hypothesis. I cringed too when she said it, but it was very different from the diabetic example because she performed the proper testing and made the correct diagnosis.Furthermore, I think the writer made one of their many points--the hazards of penis pills--while avoiding the racial stereotype. Very well written.
deadmike wrote on Sat, 12/03/2005 - 12:31pm
True. But that is me, always looking for the worst-case scenario to illustrate my point.Of course the other hazard of penis pills is the immense volume of spam that flows from their retailers....but that is another story.
xian wrote on Sat, 12/03/2005 - 12:56pm
Yeah, it's a blight on the society, except when your 60 year-old secretary prints out one of the emails she's received and says, "No I don't want my penis to be bigger!"
Melissa wrote on Mon, 12/05/2005 - 10:50am
Xian, Ha ha. Great minds think alike? Thanks for reading.Also, now that you and deadmike bring this up, perhaps it's not about manliness but about using drugs recreationally. Like that Sex and the City episode where Samantha got addicted to Viagra.
Anna wrote on Tue, 12/06/2005 - 11:49am
Who's that guy in the Old Navy commercial? He's cute!
Vina wrote on Thu, 12/08/2005 - 6:38pm
hmm this blog needs an rss feed. :D
SJ Dude wrote on Fri, 12/15/2006 - 2:19pm
Sunkrish actually went to a high school near me and is best friends with one of my friends. He will be on Notes from the Underbelly on ABC early next year! Watch for him!
Ricky wrote on Fri, 09/22/2006 - 11:48am
Who watches this show besides horned out post-menopausal white women? No male asian doctors, but three black physicians, come on? The main writer is a black female though, so i am not surprised.
a questioner wrote on Fri, 09/22/2006 - 7:23pm
just got your white sheet back form the cleaners Ricky?
Michelle wrote on Wed, 05/31/2006 - 6:51pm
OK...Anna...I totally want to know who the guy in the old navy commercial is, too!!! It's the madras one and he's wearing the long denim shorts and has dark hair...same one? who is he????