She's here! It’s time to meet your new neighbor on Sesame Street, Ji-Young. The neighborhood's first Asian American muppet made her debut on Thursday, and the episode made a powerful statement about home, belonging, and the impact of abuse amid a rise of anti-Asian racism in America.
Titled "See Us Coming Together," the special aired on Thanksgiving, and celebrates the diversity of Asian and Pacific Islander communities. Starring and directed by longtime Sesame Street actor Alan Muraoka, the episode focuses on Ji-Young, who is Korean American, and features special guest appearances from Marvel star Simu Liu, tennis champion Naomi Osaka, comic book legend Jim Lee, actor Anna Cathcart, and chefs Melissa King and Padma Lakshmi.
Sesame Street uploaded the whole episode to YouTube, so you can stream it below:
The special is set in the lead-up to a Neighbor Day party on the street, and tackles an important conversation about racism early on. Ji-Young experiences racist abuse while on her way home to get a guitar string, a moment that sets the tone for the whole episode. "A kid yelled out at me to 'go back home.' It really, really, really hurt my feelings," she tells Alan, Elmo, Tamir, and Canadian To All the Boys... star Anna Cathcart, who is Chinese and Irish. "It made me feel sad. And scared."
"Elmo doesn't understand. Wasn’t Ji-Young just at her home?" asks Elmo.
"What they meant was that she should leave Sesame Street and this country," Alan says. "There are some people who don't believe that Asian people like me and Anna and Ji-Young belong in this country....What that kid said to you was wrong. We all belong here and we should all be very proud of who we are and where we're from."
"We all belong here and we should all be very proud of who we are and where we're from."
In order to support Ji-Young after her experience, Alan takes her on a tour through the neighborhood, meeting neighbors and celebrating the traditions and diversity of the Asian and Pacific Islander communities, from a basketball-playing bus driver from the Philippines to teachers from India. Of course, this is Sesame Street, so the celebrity appearances are strong throughout, but they're all poignant conversations about belonging and celebrating who you are.
Shang-Chi star Simu Liu turns up with Big Bird, organising games for Neighbor Day. "You're Simu Liu! You're an actor and you’re doing your own stunts and you’re in movies and stuff!" exclaims Ji-Young in a highly relatable fan-out moment.
“You know what? I didn’t always know that I could be one,” says Liu. "I'm Chinese and when I was growing up, I almost never saw anybody like me in movies and TV. And when I did see people like me, they all played the same kind of character, always in the background. And that made me feel like I could only be one kind of thing when I grew up...That's why I love being in movies. I can show people that look like me, that our stories matter."
Tennis champion Naomi Osaka makes a brief appearance through video message, and here to talk about how sharing food from different cultures can bring neighbors together, Indian American chef Padma Lakshmi makes samosas, and chef Melissa King, who is Chinese and born in California, makes dumplings — despite cooking beside Cookie Monster who “appreciates culture” by inhaling everything in sight.
Comic book legend Jim Lee teaches Ji-Young about celebrating our differences through creativity. "My family moved here from Korea when I was little," says Lee. "When I was little, I would read comics. In fact, I learned English by reading comic books about superheroes. I loved them because the superheroes were so different from other people. I could relate because sometimes I felt like I didn't belong."
"So, what did you do when you felt that way?" asks Ji-Young.
"Well, I started drawing my own superheroes. I created stories where my heroes worked with their friends to make the world better,” says Lee. “Sometimes what makes you different from others is your superpower...You belong here. So it’s important people hear you. Your voice matters.”
"You belong here. So it’s important people hear you. Your voice matters."
Between each meeting, Ji-Young and Alan have a brief conversation, meaning there's room for reflection on Ji-Young’s ongoing fear that the person who was racist toward her might be at the Neighbor Day party. Alan gives her tips on managing experiences like this, but also the importance of standing up to racism (something Sesame Street has been doing a lot of work on, with specials and resources), and reminding her to ask for support from her friends.
The puppeteer behind Ji-Young, Kathy Kim, who is also Korean American, spoke to the importance of the character being seen by Asian American kids. "One of my favourite things about Ji-Young is that she’s super proud of her Korean heritage and she’s so happy to share it with other people,” she said in a behind-the-scenes video. "To be able to be the representation that I did not have as a kid is…you can't put words to it."
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"I also want specifically for Asian American kids to see themselves," she added, "because the more kids see people who look like themselves reflected in the media that they take in, the more they know that they do belong."
You can stream the episode above or on YouTube.
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