When Disney+’s Chang Can Dunk was first announced, many questioned the idea of an Asian person centering their story on basketball and — from the look of the photos released at the time — his style of dress, which could be construed as appropriating Black culture to benefit another race’s story.
Writer and director Jingyi Shao dispels this notion. And after viewing the film, I agree that the story only uses the guise of basketball and “dunking” as the center of the story, but it’s a much deeper story than basketball. It’s one of Asian American identity, growing up, and Chang’s (Bloom Li) complicated relationship with his mother (Mardy Ma).
“Writing this film made me really reflect on my high school experiences,” Shao told The Nerds of Color. “[It] actually brought up my relationship with my mother, which has evolved a lot over time. One of the biggest realizations that really helped me turn the film into what it is today is the fact that my mom was actually going through a lot of the same things I was going through.”
In the film, Chang eagerly enters his sophomore year with the notion that things are going to go his way. He styles himself differently, sporting a new hairstyle and even new kicks in order to stand out. He befriends the new girl (and crush) in school Kristy (Zoe Renee), but is deterred when the school’s basketball star Matt (Chase Liefeld) expresses interest in her too. Chang, who is 5’8”, challenges Matt that Chang could dunk by Homecoming — in twelve weeks time. A feat that seems nearly impossible due to Chang’s lack of dunking skills. Chang and his best friend Bo (Ben Wang) recruit basketball YouTuber DeAndre (Dexter Darden) to teach him all he knows in order to win the bet.
Although it feels like a similar premise to White Men Can’t Jump and Boogie, Shao shared there were a lot of discussions on the topic of appropriation versus appreciation when it comes to Chang’s love for…
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