Dear Amanda, while Yellowface by R. F. Kuang has its flaws, like the racism the book sweeps over, it ultimately should be a part of a 10th-grade English curriculum at the A-school because of its portrayal of the toxicity of social media and cancel culture. My main issue with this novel is the casual racism the author uses and then does not acknowledge the issues with it. Usually, I think adding racism to a book is important if a character is a person of color or if it is a book primarily about race, but that is not the case. For starters, when June first meets the two white male movie producers for The Last Front, they try to shift the book’s whole narrative so that a white person is the main focus, which is the opposite of the book. Additionally, when June asks for authentic Asian actors, one responds, “‘The problem with Asian pop
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Now she is genuinely benefitting from it. She is benefiting from the views and also from her new novel that will go “for more money than any of [her] previous works.” (318) The author is trying to tell us that cancel culture does not work. No matter how many times a person does something wrong, it won’t do anything but help them. The author is hoping that people who believe canceling someone is ok will stop. Even if they did something absolutely horrible, they will still gain something. Another reason this novel should be taught is because of how the author depicts how addictive social media can be. The author compares social media to a drug, with the highs and lows of the feelings June receives from it. The first time June ‘blows up’ on social media we see is the positive side or the high of the drug. When June first released her book, she met “The infusions of likes and congratulations” responses. . . [She sits] in front of my screen watching the numbers tick up, enjoying the little serotonin boost every time [She gets] another furry of notifications.”
Now she is genuinely benefitting from it. She is benefiting from the views and also from her new novel that will go “for more money than any of [her] previous works.” (318) The author is trying to tell us that cancel culture does not work. No matter how many times a person does something wrong, it won’t do anything but help them. The author is hoping that people who believe canceling someone is ok will stop. Even if they did something absolutely horrible, they will still gain something. Another reason this novel should be taught is because of how the author depicts how addictive social media can be. The author compares social media to a drug, with the highs and lows of the feelings June receives from it. The first time June ‘blows up’ on social media we see is the positive side or the high of the drug. When June first released her book, she met “The infusions of likes and congratulations” responses. . . [She sits] in front of my screen watching the numbers tick up, enjoying the little serotonin boost every time [She gets] another furry of notifications.”