What's good, internet friends? It is time, once again, to meet the Angry Reader of the Week, spotlighting you, the very special readers of this website. Over the years, I've been able to connect with a lot of cool folks, and this is a way of showing some appreciation and attention to the people who help make this blog what it is. This week's Angry Reader is Thuc Nguyen.
Who are you?
I'm Thuc Doan Nguyen, a Vietnamese refugee, Southerner and now Angeleno, former New York and Londoner. I'm American and EU. I run The Bitch Pack, a group that is tired of the entertainment landscape's status quo, and I issue The Bitch List, which has upped the ante to highlight the work of Women of Color and other under-represented groups, giving credence to writers who can pass things like The [Ava] Duvernay Test.
It's like our friends at The Blood List and The Black List, but not completely about genre or over-all Hollywood fare -- it's for female, male and all gendered bitches who aren't into tone deaf writing racist, sexist stories and putting them out into the world.
What are you?
I'm a screenwriter, trained at UCLA and by having worked for Warner Brothers and Jerry Bruckheimer Productions.
I'm also a culture writer for various publications, most recently The Hollywood Reporter and I do write ups for Final Draft's website about films.
Where are you?
I'm in East LA in a neighborhood full of People of Color where it's easy to park, in the middle of a mini-haunted orchard/urban farm, by some hiking trails that aren't too creepy and near where I can get some real Asian food.
Where are you from?
I grew up in North Carolina and Southern Maryland, on a rural route, next to vast Amish farms, over by where The Blair Witch lives and the first recorded American ghost story "The Blue Dog" took place. I'm very aware that I'm a DC/Mid-Atlantic kid too- I grew up watching politics and basketball. I was born in Can To, Vietnam. I identify as a Camberwellian SE5 8QW and a Lower East Sider still too.
What do you do?
I advocate for better representation in the entertainment industry and I write Vietnamese-American woman leads in feature film scripts and television specs. I write in multiple genres and am fond of satire.
What are you all about?
I'm all about POC and WOC being able to express their voices without things like white feminism, racism and sexism getting in the way.
I'm into: people understanding respectful boundaries, nice mindful people, a lot of alone time, car travel, drum and bass-to Satanic doo-wop-to country music, Asian fruits, Southern culture (Southern Gothic) and cool dogs.
I'm great with being supportive in the creative endeavors of others -- and receiving support -- when it's give and take.
What makes you angry?
Things that make me angry aren't tough fixes. They take awareness. I am very angry when others have no sense of anyone else's time or space and lack common courtesy. People who are only out for themselves have no place in my life. I'm also angry when people have no manners. It's simple to say please and thank you or respect other people's time by doing things that take a few seconds to make someone's life easier.
Bad representation in film and television in front of and behind the camera angers me. I'm super angry when white people try to center themselves in everything -- they need to learn how to help it. It would be nice if everyone could be more aware of others. I often find that instantly white people/women place just about anything they see/read/hear into a world and context of a white writer or creator instead of allowing ideas from Black people and POC to just be themselves and share their original specific ideas and stories. I'm also fucking pissed off that any rational human would think Asian-American films are "a trend." Human beings are not a trend. I'm with Lulu Wang where I want to be considered a creator, not an Asian-American --- fill in the blank ---. Do white guys go, "Hi, I'm a white writer."? No, they do not.
Poor correspondence drives me nuts. It makes me mad when people who don't know me, after writing basically "Hi", then write "Hey, do you want to read my script?". I'm a writer, and I don't know you. What am I going to do with your script for you? I hate it when people over-step my boundaries or treat me like I work for them when I've never even met them before. You'd be surprised how often I get these kinds of messages. Another thing is when people just write: "Hey" and nothing else or launch into things they expect you to know about them like who they are without any context.
The idea some people somehow have, that others are simply here to serve you in asinine to me. People really think Asian-American women, Women of Color sit around all day waiting to perform free labor for everyone? Fuck that. What incenses me is when people plain think I'm stupid or naive and underestimate me. It's insulting.
Have respect. Have manners. Don't be desperate. Don't try to take advantage of others. Be nice to others. Oh, and don't spam people. It's easy. ;)
