From its witty dialogue to its cast of endearing characters with small-town charm, “Gilmore Girls” was the perfect show for so many kids of the early 2000s.
But for a lot of Asian-American girls like me, who had rarely seen anyone on TV who looked like them, it was even more special because of Lane Kim, its Korean-American character.
Lane was really all of us second-generation kids, living in two worlds. She wrestled between adhering to her militant Korean mom and being the rock-and-roll rebel she really wanted to be. We saw so much of ourselves in her because ultimately, she mirrored our coming-of-age experiences without being an Asian caricature so often depicted in comedy sketches or old movies.
She was an American teenager. Our kind of American teenager.
In honor of the “Gilmore Girls” revival titled “A Year in the Life,” which premiers November 25 on Netflix, here are 11 times Lane Kim smashed Asian stereotypes.