“Hwaiting” for the Spotlight: Exploration of Korean Immigrant Representation in the Television Series, Kim’s Convenience
How does Ins Choi explore and depict nuanced elements of immigrant life through the use of authorial devices and filmmaking techniques in the television series, Kim’s Convenience?
Andersen S.
Throughout film and television history, East Asian immigrants have flourished and developed alongside the entertainment industry through racial discrimination and hardship. From the Silent Era to modern movies and television, East Asians have emerged successful in the industry, becoming beloved throughout its history. Ins Choi’s Kim’s Convenience is a modern television series, adapted from his play of the same title which seeks to explore immigrant life in Canada through the perspective of the Kims, a Korean-Canadian immigrant family. The show saw immediate praise due to its genuine portrayal of Asian immigrant life and being a pioneer in pushing representation on the big screen.
The television industry outside of Canada has seen shows like these in the past, such as 2015’s Fresh off the Boat; however, it is also important to acknowledge the history of Asian representation in Hollywood which built the foundation for these shows to thrive today. Whether it was early movie stars such as Japanese-American Sessue Hayakawa or Chinese-American Anna May Wong, the history behind the treatment of Asian actors and producers paints a picture of the systematic ways in which oppression has hindered success. Despite their ultimate prosperity, both actors faced immense difficulty advancing in their careers; whether it was yellow-face policies in Hollywood which denied roles from Asian actors in favour of white actors, the perceived hindrance of their accents, or the omnipresent nature of stereotyped casting and archetypes, immense roadblocks affected these actors’ ability to succeed in the film industry. Hence, a holistic investigation allows us to understand what progress has already been made, how the depiction of Asian stories and actors is becoming more and more nuanced and refined, and how those lasting legacies still plague and inform our media today.
Ins Choi’s Kim’s Convenience will undoubtedly leave lasting legacies, as it paved the way for immigrant stories to be told on a big screen for audiences of all backgrounds. Choi’s attention to detail throughout the show to historical events such as the gentrification of Regent Park, as well as his depiction of the cultural makeup of modern Toronto are only some of the many reasons why the show is so highly regarded for its accuracy, shown in a way through the immense diverse cast of characters. Beyond the controversial, racist storylines and tropes of later seasons, the show provides an authentic depiction of immigrant life in Canada, while also delving into the interculturalism and intersectionality with which many Canadian citizens identify. Choi’s intention to produce media about the underrepresented stories of Asian immigration is admirable, and when critically analyzing the show's teleplay, audiences observe the fruits of his labour. Through Choi’s time working on the show, he displays how writers like himself can find ways to depict nuanced elements of immigrant life by integrating the Korean language through dialectology, comedic techniques and filmmaking devices.
Dialectology
One significant change from Choi’s original stage play to the modern television adaptation is that the integration of Korean language becomes very limited and is not often seen throughout the series. This can be attributed to outside factors such as the appeal to the greater Canadian audience, and the format of the show being a sitcom and needing to be digestible and comedic. Despite this, Choi still aims to integrate elements of Korean culture into dialogue, such as the characterization of the Kim family’s parental figures: Mr. Kim and Ms. Kim. Throughout the show, Mr. and Ms. Kim are shown to have thick Korean-Canadian accents, and this choice not only acts as an auditory distinction to other members of the Kim family but also to the greater Toronto community, where the show is set. The use of dialectology, defined as the study of the variance in how a language sounds, and how grammatical structures vary within communities can aid in identifying specific dialectical choices Choi makes to characterize the Kim family.
The use of accents also helps to inform many of the plot points that occur throughout the series and is another way that Choi can display either the cultural differences these characters experience, or how they stay connected to their culture. Characteristics that comprise the Korean-Canadian accent depicted throughout the show are the integration of Korean language into dialogue, such as “여보” [yeobo], equivalent to “honey” in English, Mr. Kim’s exclamation “아이참” [aicham], and the use of “아빠” [appa, father] or “엄마” [eomma, mother], as well as “incorrect” grammatical structures in their dialogue. These are choices made to show that words with significant emotional value such as those tied to family, are often instinctual to a person, and thus spoken in their mother tongue. This is contrasted with their broken English, displaying their discomfort using the language. Both of these elements can be seen in this short excerpt from Season 1, Episode 5 “Wingman,” where Mr. Kim tries to hide a double-date invitation from Ms. Kim:
MS. KIM
Oh, Appa!
MR. KIM
While you here I just remember, uh, me and Mr. Chin is go out for dinner tomorrow night.
MS. KIM
Ok.
MR. KIM
Yah, I wants to tell you before but uh, it's, uh, so not important that I forget to tell you... before.
Throughout this extract, Mr. Kim often does not conjugate his verbs such as “I just remember” and “is go out,” as well as how he says “before” before and after the topic he describes. These are used both for comedic value, given that these are spoken in his heavy accent, as well as to characterize Mr. and Ms. Kim, and their discomfort using the language at times (Figure 1). It is also important to note that their day-to-day use of English is mostly unproblematic aside from pronunciation, however, given emotional or high-intensity situations (such as in the previous extract), grammatical consistency can falter.
Looking past common examples of how Choi explores the use of dialectology to depict how language impacts immigrant life experiences, he often depicts the Kims in various challenging, complex moral dilemmas, exploring how their culture can influence their decision-making. One such example of this dilemma explored by Choi is in Season 2 Episode 7’s “Sneak Attack.” During this episode, Janet’s white lie about being North Korean spirals out of control, as she puts on a fake Korean accent, and by extension persona to get into a film festival. She continues to abuse the misunderstanding that she is a North Korean emigrant to seek sympathy and additional benefits such as more free festival passes. Eventually, Ms. Kim finds out she is abusing this false identity and is eventually caught by the security guard.
SECURITY GUARD
What’s your film?
JANET
Documentary. About Korea.
SECURITY GUARD
North Korea?
Janet’s vague dialogue, shown as she does not specify which Korean she is, allows the security guard to create a narrative for herself that Janet is a North Korean emigrant. As Janet continues to fake her poor English, the security guard builds empathy toward Janet. At this point as well, the camera cuts from an over-the-shoulder shot of the two to a medium shot as the security guard begins to monologue about her experiences being from a corrupt country. The choice to cut to a medium shot visually changes the conversation’s tone from confrontational to empathetic. The proxemics of the subjects are personal given how closely they are related visually (Figure 2). Through the use of a handheld shot which amplifies the shot’s shakiness, and the positioning of both Janet and the security guard in the center of the shot, the audience can visually relate Janet’s fake refugee persona with the security guard’s real experiences of being a refugee.
JANET
Yah. Life there is… very hard.
SECURITY GUARD
My country too. So full of corruption. We march and the police come with the water cannons and we get hosed. So sore the next day from getting hosed all night but we get up, and we get hosed again.
JANET
Yah… like that.
SECURITY GUARD
So important what you do. (Opens door) Go, tell your story. Tell our story.
The result of Janet’s façade is confirmed for the audience verbally, as the security guard opens the door and tells Janet to “tell our story.” The use of the collective pronoun cues the audience that the security guard sees Janet and herself as one, as she believes they share the experience of being from corrupt nations.
This extract displays some of the more unconventional ways that Choi uses the Korean accent to manipulate the audience’s expectations. Up until this episode, the audience already has expectations about the characters and how they behave. The general plot of “unclear communication due to cultural differences or language barriers” has already been explored throughout the show, one such example being Season 3 Episode 1’s “Ddong Chim” where Jung struggles to communicate the playful nature of a “ddong chim” in English, which Kimchee takes advantage of to slander him in his corporate workplace. However, this exchange between Janet and the security guard is different—Choi displays how Janet manipulates her demeanor using a Korean accent and broken English to deceive the security guard. Throughout the rest of the episode, Choi conveys the effects of Janet’s actions and her guilt as she realizes the scope of her behaviour.
SECURITY GUARD
I know you from somewhere…
JANET
Yeah.
SECURITY GUARD
North Korea!
JANET
(without accent) Yeah! (with accent) Yah… that’s right.
Throughout the rest of the exchange, the same conversation is mirrored but now set in the convenience store. Janet’s visible discomfort as she gives her gesture (seen in Figure 3), is another way that Choi characterizes Janet, showing her inauthenticity as she continues to lie visibly bothering her. Again, the security guard reiterates some of the same messages about her hardships and struggles, telling Janet to keep fighting. Janet’s shy echo of “fighting” is culturally relevant as well, given that the Korean language has many loan words from English. In this case, the Korean “화이팅” [hwaiting] is used as a phrase of encouragement or support, similar to “let’s go!” The use of the loan word here, especially with Janet’s demeanor is a way that Choi characterizes her guilt and embarrassment. Although she agrees with the security guard’s sentiment about social advocacy, she feels limited in authentically expressing her solidarity, restricting her to a reserved and superficial “화이팅.” Afterward, Ms. Kim confronts Janet about her actions, and Choi displays how Janet holds herself accountable for them.
MS. KIM
You pretend to talk like me to get free movie ticket? Why you is lying?
JANET
I’m not lying… I’m just saying things that reinforce her assumptions about who I told her I may have been…
MS. KIM
(pause)
JANET
and I didn’t think it’d go this far.
Throughout this confrontation, Choi shows the audience through Janet’s dialogue that she is fully aware of her actions. She understands the full scope and complexity of what she is doing, given that she knows she is presenting herself which creates a false narrative of who she is. On a metatextual level, Janet’s remark mirrors her father’s signature “Ok, see you,” which is another cue to the audience that Janet is fully taking advantage of her performative Korean identity. The use of various cinematic techniques also helps to inform the audience about this idea. Referring back to Janet’s remark, it is noteworthy that she is framed the same way her father usually is when behind the store counter. This is the first time she framed this way in this scene, and it can be attributed to Choi relating her dialogue, and by extension her persona with her fathers through the use of framing. As she is confronted by Ms. Kim, the camera is shaky due to the use of a handheld shot, and rack focuses on Janet in the background as Ms. Kim leaves. This represents the scatterbrained headspace she may have been in as she figures out how she can fix the situation after realizing that things have gone too far. The use of negative space in the way she is framed after Ms. Kim exits the shot also represents isolation and further reinforces the idea of guilt and shame. The episode concludes with one final interaction between Janet and the security guard, with her seemingly reaching a breaking point and confessing her true identity. Through this interaction, she is only capable of sympathizing with the experiences the security guard describes, but also simultaneously acknowledges her lack of lived experience too.
Through these extracts, the audience can understand how Choi characterizes what immigrant life could look like through dialectology. By describing what a Korean accent and immigrant identity could look like through Mr. and Ms. Kim, he creates storylines in which the accent and identity can affect day-to-day life and interactions. Furthermore, as these elements become settled and explored throughout the series, he can provide examples of how identity can be manipulated based on people’s innate tendencies to profile and make judgements about others. The use of various filmmaking techniques such as negative space and intention with proxemics is also valuable as it allows Choi to add depth and amplify the dialogue and interactions of the scenes.
Humour
The presence of humour throughout Kim’s Convenience is an integral part of what made the show so successful, and the unique way that the show uses humour to depict immigrant experiences allowed it to resonate with its audience. Choi integrates various forms of humour such as satire and irony, allowing him to not only depict immigrant experiences but also critique existing stereotypes and historical dynamics. Despite the show’s success however, it is also important to highlight that for a long time, East Asians depicted in film and television were often done so in bad faith, through humour and ridicule. As Paul Sun-Hyung, who plays Mr. Kim, puts it in an interview: “It’s interesting when you say we’re straying away from those stereotypes . . . that’s the reason why so many people are ashamed of their heritage. It makes a difference, that visualization and representation.”
It is because of the omnipresent nature of racism that the analysis of how humour was used in Kim’s Convenience can be challenging. However, Choi makes it very apparent that humour used in the show was a tool in which immigrant experiences can be depicted, and in some ways, help to critique racist and bigoted sentiments. One example is how Choi uses Horatian satire to critique modern Korean-Japanese racist tensions in the opening scene of Season 1 Episode 3’s “Ddong Chim.” The exchange opens with Mr. Kim trying to convince Janet to call the police on a car in a no-parking zone. It is revealed through back-and-forth dialogue that the brand of the car is Japanese.
MR. KIM
Ok! It’s Toyota but still, no parking zone.
JANET
How many times do I have to tell you Appa, Japanese people aren’t the only people driving Japanese cars.
MR. KIM
Janet—
MR. KIM & JANET
1910, Japan attack Korea—
MR. KIM
You buy Japanese, you is guilty by associationship!
In the scene, Choi depicts Mr. Kim giving the vehicle owner a hard time because it is a Japanese brand, and Janet’s line “how many times . . .” cues the audience that this conversation has happened many times before. Choi’s decision to have Janet and her father synchronously recite “1910, Japan attack Korea” also reinforces to the audience that this argument has happened many times as if Janet has heard it so many times she has it memorized and reveals the origin of Mr. Kim’s racist sentiment, as well as adds comedic value through Janet’s frustrated body language. Afterward, Mr. Kim states he believes if a person purchases a Japanese car they are “guilty by associationship,” butchering the phrase “guilty by association.”
Choi’s use of Horatian satire here, seen through the playful ridicule of Mr. Kim’s arguments, aims to criticize the childish behaviour that Mr. Kim is displaying, showing the audience that many racist sentiments are often juvenile and outdated. Mr. Kim still holds onto these grudges because of his age, given that he was born in the 1960s in South Korea and enlisted in the army before moving to Canada. This is also an example of what is described as “the immigrant time capsule effect,” a phenomenon which describes how immigrants’ perceptions of their identity are frozen in time from the moment they leave their nation. Given that the Kims immigrated from South Korea in the late 1980s, post-Japanese colonialism, and that their only interactions with other Korean immigrants were of similar age to theirs, it’s very plausible that Mr. Kim’s values and sentiments of the time, especially regarding Japanese racism, are now outdated.
As the conversation continues and Mr. Kim and Janet continue to go back and forth, the absurdity of Mr. Kim’s arguments is shown to the audience through the use of situational irony. Janet reveals how Mr. Kim owns a Japanese camera, to which Mr. Kim realizing even he is not following his logic states that he in fact “ripped off Japan,” and asks Janet again to call the police. The use of situational irony here ridicules the absurdity of Mr. Kim’s logic, by emphasizing his hypocrisy of judging someone for owning a Japanese vehicle when he himself owns a Japanese camera.
JANET
What about your Canon SLR camera?
MR. KIM
Appa get half price.
JANET
Your money still went to Japan.
MR. KIM
Half price, I rip off Japan! Talk to police.
The use of various post-production editing techniques in this scene also adds to the comedic value of the conversation. The intentional pauses after certain camera cuts emphasize the comedic timing, and can often provide further insight into the emotional delivery of dialogue, or reinforce their meaning. This is an example of how editors use pace to create comedic moments in storytelling. The shot of Mr. Kim seemingly stunned after being asked about his Canon SLR camera is an example of the use of pace by the editor, and the comedic timing as we see Mr. Kim’s exaggerated facial expression in reaction to Janet’s rebuttal.
Later in the argument, Mr. Kim repeats, with a much louder and more emotional delivery, the same line from earlier: “Janet! 1910, Japan attack Korea,” however this time with a wide shot alongside camera placement deeper into the store. The way the repeated phrase is delivered is almost like that of a cry or plead for help, and is directly compared to the same line from earlier through repetition, however, contrasted through shot composition. The urgency with which Mr. Kim exclaims this, alongside the cut to a wide shot depicting the two in the store is another example of pace used in post-production. The cue and slight delay in which the camera cuts, being Mr. Kim slamming his hand is done to allow the audience to insert themselves in the shot, as if they reacted to the noise in the store. The presence of objects in front of the camera gives the illusion of a customer looking over at the two, in conjunction with the delay to represent the audience reacting to the noise. The slight delay cutting to the wide shot is another use of pace by the editor to frame the scene from a customer’s perspective. The framing of the shot as well as making Janet and Mr. Kim small compared to the medium close-up shot before gives the illusion almost as if they were getting invaded, like Mr. Kim exclaims. The scene concludes with another use of humour through irony, as Mr. Kim in a calm demeanor orders Janet to cancel the call to the police:
MR. KIM
Nevermind, cancel order. We don’t need.
JANET
But there’s an illegally parked car right there.
MR. KIM
But it’s Hyundai. No problem.
(Janet exits)
The humourous way in which Mr. Kim again asks Janet to cancel the call despite going through so much effort to convince her completely contradicts the reasons why he wanted to call in the first place. As Janet refutes him, describing how she is calling because there is an illegally parked car, Mr. Kim disregards her and states that because it is Korean, it is now “no problem.” Presenting the audience with such emotional tension previously, where it seemed that Mr. Kim was deeply invested in getting the car towed, just to subvert expectations and relinquish that tension is a dramatic and humour-inducing way Choi delivers the punchline. As Janet exits the shot with obvious frustration, she leaves the scene asymmetric as half the shot is now empty. Mr. Kim then turns around, confused as to why Janet had left, and is amplified further by the aforementioned empty half of the shot.
By exploration of the extract, Choi integrates humour through satire, irony, and various post-production editing techniques to create an entertaining scene and critique Mr. Kim’s racist sentiments through Horatian satire. Choi explores the nonsensical way that Mr. Kim holds a grudge against a Japanese vehicle as Janet constantly rebuttals Mr. Kim’s arguments, forcing his ridiculousness to be exposed and critiqued, which is a clear use of Horatian satire. Even when Janet eventually complies, the way in which Choi diverts the expectation that Mr. Kim will get his way, with Mr. Kim relinquishing responsibility for that illegal act is an ironic and humourous way in which the scene concludes. Despite this though, the same intentions of critiquing the racist sentiment are communicated subtextually, as the audience understands the illogical way that those sentiments are being justified. All of these authorial methods, alongside the use of filmmaking techniques such as shot types, camera placement, and pacing also amplify the emotional responses from the audience as the dialogues occur.
Ins Choi’s Kim’s Convenience is an example of how representation in media can be conducted skillfully and mindfully through the thorough exploration of immigrant identity and experience. Throughout the television series, the exploration of the standard narratives of immigrant identity such as language barriers and cultural differences was not only integral but also expanded upon through the core characters and their lives as depicted. The techniques Choi used such as intentionality with the dialectology of the characters through accents and Korean language integration, utilization of humour through Horatian satire and irony, and the plethora of cinematographic and post-production elements were all integral to the show’s authentic depiction of immigrant life. The first two seasons of the show under Choi’s executive production will undoubtedly be regarded and remembered as pivotal moments in the movement toward greater representation in media, and providing the necessary grounds for which its archetype in television can be further explored.
Despite the positive reception and praise the show saw during its initial run for its authenticity when exploring immigrant lives, its later seasons would be criticized for the racist and shallow storylines, which led to the show’s untimely conclusion. Since the show’s finale, many cast members have spoken out about the writing process as plot points became shallow, watered-down, and lacked significant character depth. The blatant racism in the writing room after Choi’s departure, as well as the unwillingness of producers to seek authentic representation inside and outside the show’s production, would be the metaphorical nail in the coffin.
From a one-act autobiographical performance created by an actor seeking representation to an award-winning television success that was prematurely ended, Kim’s Convenience will forever be remembered for counteracting racist tropes, and “hwaiting” for Asian representation in television.
Citations provided upon request.
This essay is a genuine exploration of immigrant life experience in Canada and all the nuances involved. It aims to include the nuanced and genuine sides of discussion like that of a conversation; after all, these things should be discussed conversationally rather than scientifically.
Andersen S. is a 12th-grade Taiwanese-Canadian student. He is the co-captain of the weightlifting team and participates in various leadership areas throughout the school. He’s a big advocate for personal health and well-being and loves to learn about all academic and real-world topics. Come say hi if you see him! :)