'Beef' Season 2 Reactions From Asian Americans
by Morgan SlossBuzzFeedBuzzFeed StaffI'm the AAPI Culture Editor here at BuzzFeed, where I cover everything from trending news to pop culture to AAPI issues.
Note: This post contains mild spoilers.
Beef Season 2 is still trending — and still receiving mixed reviews from Asian Americans.
Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection
You might remember that Season 1 was quite the phenomenon. Starring Steven Yeun, Ali Wong, Joseph Lee, Young Mazino, David Choe, and Patti Yasutake, the hit Netflix show went on to win eight Emmys and three Golden Globes.
Andrew Cooper / Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection
From television critics to social media users, pretty much everyone loved Season 1. During an interview with Today, creator Lee Sung Jin said it was inspired by a road rage incident he experienced where the other driver honked, cursed at him, and drove away. "I was like, 'I'll follow you,'" Lee recalled. "I justified it (as): 'I'm commuting home, and this person happens to be in front of me, and if we go in different directions, I wouldn't follow them.' But we happened to be going the same direction home, for like miles and miles. It was like 30 to 40 minutes. So I'm sure in his mind ... it felt like I was just a wild lunatic stalking him."
Netflix
Season 2 of the anthology series stars Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Charles Melton, and Cailee Spaeny.
Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection
It also features incredible performances from Youn Yuh-jung, Seoyeon Jang, William Fichtner, BM (Matthew Kim), and Mikaela Hoover, and Song Kang-ho.
Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection
Like the first season, Season 2 was inspired by a moment in Lee's life. "I overheard a heated debate coming from a couple's home," he told NPR. "It was actually when I was retelling that story to friends that inspiration struck because, you know, my Gen Z peers were very aghast and asking, oh, did I call 911? Are you going to follow up? And, you know, very, very concerned. Whereas my millennial and Gen X peers sort of just shrugged and was like, I mean, come on."
Netflix
Generational divides and romantic relationships indeed seemed more of a focus than the Asian American experience this time around, something that has left many social media users divided.
An Asian American Reddit user called Season 1 a "revolutionary piece of media" due to its portrayal of "model minority pressure, immigrant family expectations, emotional repression," all through the lens of "asian american rage." They praised it for highlighting "the nuances of the asian american psyche" and for a plot "predicated on the culture of the protagonists." In comparison, "Season 2, while an amazing piece of media (i watched in full and will rewatch) abandons the cultural anchor of the asian-american experience. It reads as more of a White Lotus/psychological murder mystery thriller with a Kdrama twist."
Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection
Many Asian Americans in the comments agreed, with one Reddit user saying they "fully enjoyed" Season 2 but felt there were many missed opportunities surrounding Austin's mixed identity. They listed a number of things the show could've dived deeper into: "Not being enough for either culture. The loneliness in being a stranger to your heritage. The perpetual foreigner trope. Being in relationships where others cannot comprehend the complexity and grief that comes with your mixed, diasporic identity. Differences in childrearing and what is/is not considered acceptable to the Western eye. Growing up being raised differently than those around you."
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Another person wrote, "I did enjoy the season as a millennial but as an Asian American it didn’t hit the same as season one."
Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection
Of course, not all Asian Americans felt that way. Many loved Season 2 and praised it on social media.
"Genuinely blowing me away," one person said. "Maybe it’s okay to celebrate the Asian creative brilliance behind the camera instead of getting mad at how they added two white women to the main cast."
Michael Buckner / Variety via Getty Images
Another complimented Season 2's "complexity" and "layers within the racial and gender dynamics." They listed quite a few examples, including "Asian characters with power and influence over Western characters," "Some women characters being the 'smarter' ones compared to their male partner and being the active financial provider," "Asian men presented as attractive," and "Asian male character has mixed/confusing feelings with finally being around so many people who look like him for the first time, including an Asian woman he is finding to be attractive."
Netflix
Some appreciated the seasons for different reasons. "Season 1 expressed a lot of things I don’t think I’ve seen in American TV, namely Asian American characters being sloppy and impulsive while trying to deal with their inner demons and navigate micro aggressions," a Reddit user wrote, noting that Asian people driving is "so