Maya ishii peters8/23/2023 The audience is grounded by the racism that Maya experiences and the constant fighting between Anna’s parents. Though most of the episodes are laugh-out-loud funny and cringey, there is also a level of seriousness throughout the show. Season 1 explored topics like drinking, smoking, masturbation, and first kisses. Seeing full-grown adults act like middle schoolers adds an extra layer of comedy to the show. What makes this show stand out from other school-based comedies is that the two main characters are played by adult women, while the rest of the characters are played by actual school-aged children. In Season 1, Maya Ishii-Peters (Erskine) and Anna Kone (Konkle) start their first day of seventh grade in the early 2000s. PEN15, created and starred in by Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle, follows two middle school girls. I’d like to say thank you to Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle for creating such a memorable, meaningful show for this Hapa chick.PEN15 is back for Season 2, once again delivering raunchy, embarrassing episodes that will make you feel like you’re in middle school all over again. Watching Maya receive the applause she deserved for playing a battered, bitter, middle-aged housewife with a heavy New Yawk accent brought me back to my glory days of children’s theatre. Those times were less cutthroat and pragmatic than now, where my career is determined by my look and authenticity. As a kid, I was cast for my talent and potential. But hey, it was children’s theatre! Theatre has always been my escape, becoming something I’m not in real life. Like during the “Posh” episode, I found myself deeply emotional remembering my own awkwardness performing in children’s theatre - a middle schooler in a dusty, raggedy gray wig, playing roles I was too young for. The last two episodes build up to an epic finale, the school play, and our beloved Maya is cast as the lead! Recognized for her talent, she gets to play the meaty, nuanced, and wildly age-inappropriate role of Debra. But I wanted to be Posh! I wanted to be Baby! Why didn’t I have a choice like the other girls? Needless to say, shit got a little too real and took me back to a very dark, triggering time in my youth.įast forward through two amazing seasons, and we arrive at the penultimate episode of season two. Scary Spice (aka Mel B) is undoubtedly a gorgeous, fierce, badass leader. The only ethnic girl in my friend group growing up, I also HAD to be Scary Spice, because being Asian was the closest thing to being the dark one. As my bestie, Sam wrote about in his piece, “ PEN15 Triggers Your Mixed Insecurities,” my reactions were all too familiar to any Hapa watching the ridicule and shame Maya experiences from her YT girl classmates. In each episode, Maya's scenes contained light quips and references to growing up mixed-race. I found myself more and more hooked as I continued watching. Watching the pilot episode, I had a sudden, visceral reaction to seeing a leading Hapa character (Maya Ishii-Peters) portrayed by the impeccable Maya Erskine. During my time in quarantine this year, I (like so many others) started binge-watching television series, and I finally embarked on the PEN15 journey, through a recommendation from my fellow Hapa Mag colleague (and brother from another mother) Sam Tanabe.
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