I’m going to jump into the hornet’s nest here and respond to a piece that’s been shared with me (or at me, given that I’m the father of Hudson Yang, the show’s lead kid) many, many times now. It’s a reasonable piece, and one that’s worth reading and sharing.

But I also think it’s a prime example of Asian America’s tendency to hedge our bets and play “Yes, but…” with our artists and creatives — while failing to support the kind of alternatives that fuel a truly independent media.

I attend a lot of Asian American film festivals and theater productions. It’s part of what I do, as a working culture writer who’s spent the past quarter of a century [EDIT: Er, yeah, not decade — thanks for the correction and for making me feel super-old, Jeff Chang] covering this community. And it still staggers me how under-resourced our media arts institutions are; how thin the audiences get beyond the big featured screenings and productions; how dependent the organizations are on non-Asians filling out the audiences in rooms that sometimes hold well under a hundred people.

I contrast that with cultural organizations in other communities, which are able to build and expand support from within their own worlds—with “mainstream” stars who make a point of going back and lending their glamor to the places that made their careers possible. With audiences and donors that are overwhelmingly reciprocal — African American, Hispanic, LGBT individuals gathering to preserve and progress signature institutions and emerging individuals who share their stories and backgrounds. Yes, they struggle, as all arts organizations do in this climate. But they don’t struggle alone.

And that brings me back to the article.

Honestly, no single show is anyone’s “saving grace” — not even the actors and producers responsible for it. (Hollywood is cruel, and you’re only as good as your last show.)

But as someone who was partly responsible for taking down the last big chance for us to smash down the primetime network firewall — and who has covered our two decades of wandering in the Hollywood wilderness since — I have to say:

Is there another community that is as self-critical of its creative output without actually supporting a market for better creative output?

I mean, I read quotes like this —

And while I am thrilled to see that mainstream media, for the most part, has accepted Fresh with embracing arms, I’m seeing quite the opposite reaction on Facebook. Many of my peers take problems with various aspects of the show, whether it’s Park and Wu’s accents or how certain themes feel forced (e.g. Asian families not saying ‘I love you’ to each other, being competitive with in-laws, ‘smelly’ Asian food, etc.). There seems to be a general dissatisfaction rooted in misrepresentation.

—and I despair a little.

The bottom line is that if you don’t like how Fresh Off the Boat represents Asians (and it’s not supposed to represent all Asians) then support something that you do like —rather than just spending social media minutes tearing down FOTB, or anything else that has a chance of breaking through the Great Wall of Media Racism surrounding our community. Critique, yes — but present an alternative. Or make one yourself. Standing on the sidelines and lobbing hand grenades while not casting a spotlight on something else, or better yet, actively supporting it, is a good way of ensuring that we have nothing at all. (And then we can all go back to complaining about that.)

No, we shouldn’t put all of our eggs in the FOTB basket. God forbid.

But if you’re critical of FOTB, then please support indie Asian American filmmakers and musicians and YouTube creators. Buy Asian American books. Enable riskier and more diverse programming with the only votes that matter in our media economy: Your wallet and your attention.

And if you have a platform that’s loud enough to shout, and to prompt other Asian Americans to share, then why not use it to promote some of the incredible rising talent around us too? It may not get as many clicks, but it might make a difference in a young artist’s life.

In short: Put eggs in other baskets — don’t just crack the ones we have. Because, to paraphrase Jessica Huang, “Eggs are LIFE. Your future comes from these eggs!”