The Musical That Refuses to Die

"Asian America has its own story to tell. Don't Buy Miss Saigon."



The hit musical Miss Saigon is the longest running and most enduring pop culture representation of Vietnamese people in the Western world. It's also full of racist, sexist and colonialist lies. Now, twelve years after closing on Broadway, everybody's favorite musical me-love-you-long-time is attempting to make a comeback.

With upcoming runs of the show in Minneapolis and several other cities, the Don't Buy Miss Saigon campaign aims to create awareness about this shitty Orientalist musical that refuses to die:

Don't Buy Miss Saigon: Our Truth Project

A photo and story project to counter the lies of Miss Saigon



We're talking about Miss Saigon. First, if you haven't already, read this dope essay by Bao Phi: War Before Memory: a Vietnamese American protest organizer's history against Miss Saigon.

Now check out this awesome photo/story project, Don't Buy Miss Saigon: Our Truth Project, created by real people with real stories to counter the racist, sexist, colonialist musical's lies.

Here's some more information from Bao about the project:

Bao Phi's lessons from Miss Saigon

In which a poet tells me everything I need to know about the hit musical



Just want to point you to this powerful, thoughtful personal essay by poet/community activist Bao Phi, who speaks about his personal history of protest against the musical Miss Saigon: War Before Memory: a Vietnamese American protest organizer's history against Miss Saigon.

Miss Saigon is scheduled for a one-week engagement in St. Paul's Ordway theater next month, and has already been met with considerable objections from the community because, well, it's a really friggin' racist show. And dude, this ain't the first time: Twin Cities is home to long legacy of protest of 'Miss Saigon'

I'm going to be completely honest: I've never had the opportunity to see Miss Saigon. I heard there's a helicopter on stage. Yay. But I'll take Bao's word for it. I definitely don't need to see this show.