Breaking the Wrong Stereotypes

It's funny that when the Vancouver Canucks lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals at home to the Boston Bruins, a couple of stereotypes were shattered. The first was when our seemingly nice and mild-mannered Canadian neighbors up north - the cultural breathren of John Candy, Dan Aykroyd, Doug and Bob McKenzie and Michael J. Fox - decided to torch and destroy their own city in a riot. Okay, Detroit and Chicago are places where you'd expect sports-related riots to occur, but Vancouver? For a culture and a city which prizes itself in being super friendly and welcoming, overturning cars and smashing windows doesn't seem to fit in its ski-lodge and maple syrup culture.

The second stereotype that was smashed was that of the law-abiding and mild-mannered Asian high school kid Jason Li, who was expelled from Hugh McRoberts secondary school after photos on Facebook surfaced which depicted him holding up a hockey stick in front of a smashed up Bank of Montreal window sounding his barbaric yawp. This has also let to hilarious Photoshop alterations of the aforementioned photo, including a prospective new cover for EA Sports NHL 2012. As for me, I couldn't help but see a vague resemblance to Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho. I think it's the eyebrows.

My wife and I recently watched "Better Luck Tomorrow", a movie that's been out for a while, but one that we never got around to watching. I had an inkling of the plot, having a friend who went to the school where the Stuart Tay murder occurred, which inspired the screenplay. The tagline of the movie of "Never underestimate an overachiever" offers a nod to the plot of four Asian kids who are smart and high-performing high-schoolers (not surprising) who also operate a crime operation in their spare time (much more surprising). The movie's pretty good, and part of the intrigue is that these kids break the stereotype. Yes, they're high grade-scoring kids who pad their resumes with extra-curriculars, but they break the mold in that they tote pistols, take drugs and sell stolen property while committing the occasional assault or murder. Hey, I'm not condoning it - I'm just saying it's stereotype-breaking.

Such is the case with Jason Li. The scrawny Asian kid - not at all mold-breaking. The scrawny kid screaming with a wild look in his eyes threateningly wielding a hockey stick after trashing a bank - take that, those Asian-American Whiz Kids that graced the cover of Time Magazine. There's nothing honorable or redemptive about hooliganism, but this whole nonsense might make someone think twice about talking trash about my sports teams... or not inviting me to the next sports riot.