EShe’s at her… 4,591e episode. Since November 10, 1969, the educational program for children « Sesame Street » of the PBS channel has become essential in the United States, and several generations have grown up, accompanied by Toccata, Ernest and Bart, Macaron (« Cookie Monster ») or Elmo.
Over the years, she has addressed tolerance, diversity, homoparentality, in June 2021, but also real disasters such as the September 11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina (2005). And, fifty-two years after its debut, the series will welcome Ji-Young, its first American puppet of Korean origin.
Aged 7, she has two passions: playing electric guitar and skateboarding. She will debut in « See Us Coming Together : A Sesame Street Special », a Thanksgiving special on November 25.
For her first appearance, she won’t be content to share her love for rock, kickflip (a skateboard figure) or tteokbokki (a Korean dish). The show will follow her travels during a “Neighbors Day” during which she will be joined by other celebrities of Asian origin, such as Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka, American actress of Indian origin Padma. Lakshmi or Chinese Canadian actor Simu Liu.
We’re proud to announce #SeeUsComingTogether, a star-studded special celebrating Asian and Pacific Islander identit… https://t.co/7i3nexlMTe
Combating anti-Asian racism
Above all, Ji-Young will play a role in the fight against the prejudices suffered by Asians in the United States: in this episode, she will be confronted with racism when she is told to ” go home [dans son pays] » (« Go Home », an insult regularly used against Asian Americans).
Its appearance comes after nearly two years of heightened violence against the community of Asian Americans and the Pacific Islands, following, essentially, the appearance of the Covid-19 pandemic which has revived the anti-Asian bias and culminated with three shootings in the Atlanta area in March 2021.
In June 2021, in the episode “Proud of Your Eyes”, Alan Muraoka, an American actor of Japanese origin who, on the show, owns the Hooper’s Store, and the puppet Wes had already come to the aid of Analyn, a young American of Filipino origin who had been harassed because of her slanted eyes.
Accelerated creation
In a statement, Kay Wilson Stallings, executive vice president of creation and production of Sesame Workshop, the production house of the series, explains that the creation of Ji-Young and the airing of this episode meet the objectives that s. the series is fixed: “Give children and families, whatever their origin, the means to enhance their identity”. It is also part of the Coming Together project, launched in June 2020 by the CNN channel and “Sesame Street”, a few days after the murder of George Floyd by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, on May 25, 2020.
While the creation of new characters typically takes at least two years, Ji-Young saw the light of day in a matter of months. For Kathleen Kim, who will be handling the puppet, it was essential that Ji-Young did not fall victim to a form of undifferentiation. She explains to the Associated Press (AP): “It’s something that all Asian Americans have experienced. They [les Américains] put us in the “Asian” box. So it was very important that she was specifically American of Korean descent, not just Korean, but that she was born here. “