What bothers me about William Hung

American Idol: Season 3 Forum

What bothers me about William Hung – one man’s opinion (and ranting)

I have to admit I found William Hung to be funny and refreshing at first. His audition with American Idol was amusing and good for a laugh. And that’s where it should have ended. William should have gone back to his classes and concentrated on getting A’s on his exams. But at some point, things got out of control. It’s the combination of internet websites, media, record companies, merchants, and William himself all contributing to this “madness.” Upon close examination, the common thread here is money. That’s the bottom line. I read somewhere that William will not appear on TV shows unless the price is right. Right now, it is feeding frenzy and anyone with the know-how is jumping in to cash in. This in itself is not such a bad thing, considering we live in a free country with a free economy. But there are other considerations….

· William Hung’s appearance fits the stereotypical Asian male image to a tee with his small slanted eyes, buckteeth, Chinese accent, and overall goofiness. Does anyone think that William Hung would have gained such fame and notoriety if he were very handsome or athletically built, or had big eyes? I seriously doubt it. I am an Asian American male. It bothers me that in order for an Asian male to be noticed and be successful in the entertainment industry, he has to do a “circus act” on TV and make himself look foolish (or be a Kung Fu master like Jet Li or excel in classical music like Yo Yo Ma). Can anyone name one Asian actor or musician who commands and maintains the kind of fame and popularity as say, Brad Pitt or Mick Jagger, for instance? Does anyone come even remotely close? Don’t say Mike Shinoda or Chad Hugo. They’re not the front men in their respective bands. William Hung reinforces the Asian male stereotype as a goofy looking geek who has no musical talent or otherwise, and is only good for a laugh. This stereotyping is being perpetuated not only by the media but also by the fans including the Asian population. I understand it comes from ignorance, but I find it sad regardless.

· I am a working engineer. I know how much work and effort must go into engineering classes. I’ve been there and it is no picnic, folks. The last thing an engineering student needs is this type of distraction. I have seen some engineering students’ semesters ruined by something as normal as girl problems. William himself admitted that he struggles in his classes. Hit the books, William!

· Some say he has shown a positive attitude in responding to the judges at the audition and thereafter. I guess I can’t argue with that. But as an engineer, I can confidently say that most engineering students would have given a similar response. To me, William Hung was merely explaining and rationalizing his predicament. This is a natural response for an engineer because that is a part of what engineers are trained to do. Let me give an example of a real positive attitude. Picture an engineering student slaving away on Friday and Saturday nights in a library studying for a difficult exam. Maintaining a positive attitude to finish studying while his liberal arts major buddies are getting wasted at parties is an agonizingly painful exercise. It requires serious determination and perseverance. Sure, most engineering students would not put themselves in front of Simon Cowell and company to be scrutinized in front of a national TV audience, especially if they know they are short on talent. But since when is having dignity a bad thing? My point is that it takes a heck of a lot more positive attitude to study as an engineering student than clowning around on national TV.

· Some people say they are laughing with him, not at him. Laughing with him about what? The fact that he is having fun? The fact that he is making money? Do you laugh with the lottery winner you just saw giving a press conference on your local news channel? Do you laugh with Hugh Hefner as he is partying his life away with endless parade of hot young blonds? Like it or not, if you think William Hung’s performance is funny, you are laughing AT him. When you see a comedian making a joke, you are laughing at his joke. His performance is intended to make you laugh. But William Hung is genuinely serious about his singing. At least that’s what he says. There is no joke intended. So if you are laughing at his performance, you are laughing at him. I don’t recall laughing at a music performance even once in my life, until William Hung came along.

· Some say he is courageous. This bothers me a great deal. One could say that he has guts. That is as far as I would go. Personally I think he is oblivious and has a very thick skin, and that’s about it. But courage? A firefighter risking his life to save others; that’s courage. Better yet, how about young American soldiers William Hung’s age, risking and in some instances giving their lives in foreign countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, in the name of patriotism? That is COURAGE. Heck, from what I’ve seen, many of the other losers on American Idol have shown just as much “courage” as William Hung, if not more.

· I hear and read young girls saying things like “he is so adorable and cute” or “he is so lovable, I want to marry him,” or “he is a breath of fresh air,” or “he is so sincere and is not like other guys.” Give me a break! Ladies, wake up and look around you. Take a closer look. There are millions of William Hungs all around you, with positive attitude and all. You probably passed them by at work or at school today. These are the guys you wouldn’t even think of talking to. In fact, if you didn’t know who William Hung was and he walked up to you and talked to you with nothing but sincerity, you would think he is a creep anyway. You may vaguely remember that goofy looking guy with buckteeth asking you out with a trembling voice one day. What did you do? You probably gave him some lame excuse about washing your hair or, worse, just simply laughed at his face. That guy could have been your William Hung. These are the guys that need a little encouragement from YOU to break out of their shell and realize their full potential. Sadly, the reality is that most of these women are only enamored with William Hung’s sudden fame. And his fame will eventually fade away.

· It’s a fact that he has no singing talent. If anyone disagrees he/she ought to pick up a CD by Elvis Presley or Frank Sinatra and compare. The fact that he has been awarded a recording contract, I feel, is making a mockery of all the talented yet struggling musicians and true music fans everywhere. I also consider it a direct assault on the essence and spirit of music itself. The head of the recording company that offered William Hung a contract said “William Hung is this generation’s Elvis Presley.” Talk about blasphemy! I don’t know about you, but I am deeply offended by that statement. The King of Rock & Roll and William Hung do not belong at the same level, let alone in the same zip code (no, make that the same planet). If you consider yourself a true music fan and are planning to purchase William Hung’s new CD, I urge you to think twice before plucking down your hard earned thirteen bucks.

The emperor has no clothes on. Right now no one seems to see it or care. But once the reality sets in, the William Hung phenomenon will crash and burn just as fast as it has undergone its meteoric rise. When that happens, I hope William will have just as much positive attitude as he does now, because he will need it. But if I am wrong about any of this, more power to him. Only time will tell. I just wish everyone who’s caught up in the William Hung phenomenon would slow down, take a seat, take a deep breath, and think hard about what William Hung TRULY means to him/her. That is all I ask.

Trojan, welcome to the forum. I enjoyed your post. All the information I see on William is media hype. Thank you for the great post. We don't mind a rant here, as long as there is not any flaming. You did a well constructed post. I look forward to future posts by you.

wow....i can see how this would bother you. is like he's a joke... but he's doing this to himSELF and turning his own life into a joke. if he wants to be a punchline, thats his choice, but a successful person like yourself isnt a joke.

I can understand how he would not like negative stereotypes being out there.

Yes, since William Hung is the PERFECT example of an Asian male stereo type. At first I felt sorry for him, because on AI Ryan kept making fun of him and he was the "she bangs guy" but now he has a CD and he must know he can't sing. So he gave us all permission to make him a joke by becoming involved in it.

Trojan55, I loved your post, and I do agree with you. You have summed up everything that bothers me about William Hung in that post. I look forward to reading more of your contributions on the site!!!

definetley one of the better, well written...criticism..yet constructive..thank you..look forward to future posts..and welcome..this site rocks

Thank you all for your inputs. I am surprised that majority of the responses are positive. It's nice to know that there are sane and reasonable folks out there.

My post isn't only about the absurdity of the William Hung phenomenon. I wanted to write a commentary on our cultural and societal values, corporate greed (the record company in this case), media hype/manipulation, and the gullible public (and it's herd mentality).

Trojan, we hope to hear more from you at this site. We have a great bunch of posters here.

yeah i agree ; this thing with william hung is really getting out of hand. he sucks and singing.. and he annoys me. yeah i thought it was halarious at first but now that hes coming out with a cd i think its outta control.. what is up with alll these people. he can't sing why does he need a cd? yeah people like him but that doesn't mean they record a cd for a person who cannot sing at all.

I just want life to return to William free TV. He has had his 15 min. already.

Babixshanna08, welcome to the forum.

thanks. hes had his 30 min. too lol. i dont know why but he annoys me to death.. its something about him. but i admit for 2 dayz i was laughing about it..

omg i was about to put he has had his 30 minutes..and them i saw u did it..we think alike..haha

lol haha yeah i know
doEs anyone know how i can change my thing from rookie?

While I agree with most of what you said trojan, you have to remember that it's not as though William has been lied to about any of this. He knows people are laughing AT him, not with him, he knows he can't sing, he knows he can't dance, he knows he is a sterotypical looking Asian, he knows he should be studying for his engineering degree.

It's not as though he thinks he got this deal because he CAN sing or CAN dance or because he thinks he's a hot looking spunk. And quite frankly if he does think that, then he is a real moron.

You say it is about money, damn straight it is and William Hung will get his share along with BMG and however else in on the bandwagon. I see nothing wrong with William Hung exploiting his 15 minutes to make himself a bundle of cash, who knows, maybe he needs this money to help him through his University studies?

If he wants to go through this then who are we to judge? Can you honestly say that in his position you would say "No, I don't weant a record deal and music videos and adulation from young girls and all that money?" Of course you wouldn't say no, you would defer your studies for six month, ride the coattails of American Idol as much as you could and once it had settled down, you would go back to your old life, wiser and richer.

You would have suffered slightly in having people laugh at you and being recognized in the wider world, but after five years no one will know you anymore and you will have money from your 15 minutes of fame and a little something to tell your grandkids about when you get old.

Instead of replying to you directly, I'll add a link to an article I find interesting.

http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/guillermo/

I still don't think it is about racism, and I especially don't think it's about anyone being anti-asian. The joke would be as funny with a Hispanic singer or a black guy or an Australian person who looked like Steve Irwin.

Everyone has something stereotypical about them that can be exploited if they let it be and William is letting them exploit him.

I have read and seen some more interviews of William Hung. Here is a summary of what William Hung himself says:

He understands that he is famous for the wrong reasons, but he doesn’t care.
He is not doing what he is doing for money or fame.
He is genuine.
He believes in hard work.
He loves to sing.
He is a virgin and prefers to wait until he gets married to have sex.

Sounds like a guy that should belong to a church choir and/or a Bible study group, rather than in the music industry. These are all admirable qualities. The question is, why would a person with such a good character and high moral standards want to put himself in a place where there are temptations all around him? What typically goes on in the music industry goes directly against most of his beliefs. He also says he is contemplating suing some of the merchants making money off him illegally. His actions contradict what he says in my opinion. He is either extremely naïve, not thinking straight, or a liar. Whatever the case maybe, I for one would not be comfortable supporting him – especially if I were to truly believe his statements listed above.

Following are a couple more articles I find very interesting.


http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/merc...sip/8369074.htm

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0414/ng.php

You said,

"Apart from the first point, all of those things apply to the guy who won Australian Idol.
If he doesn't care if he's being exploited, who are we to judge him?"

I think you are missing the point I'm making. Please read message #8 on this thread. Although it may seem like it, I am not judging or knocking William Hung. I am trying to point out that William Hung was made by media hype and that the public has almost blindly put him on a pedestal. Is he deserving of such accolades? I'm not so sure. The following is a line from an article in Mercury News.

``He (William Hung) charges five bucks for photographs and autographs,'' said Yili Shi, a sophomore from the Chinese Student Association (at Berkeley), .....``I think he's arrogant.''

Whether I believe this Yili Shi character is not the issue. I think that this guy is just as credible as William Hung whose actions do not seem to mesh with what he says. And sure, there are many shady yet famous people in the music business. But they are "genuine" about their badness. What you see is what you get. People buy their CD's for their musical talent, not their character.

What happened to him is pure luck; it happened by accident. There will never be another William Hung, at least not in my lifetime. I believe anyone who thinks he is living an American Dream is delusional. America was not built on get-rich-quick schemes. There are millions of hard working MIDDLE CLASS Americans who are living the American Dream as we speak. I believe William Hung fans will serve themselves better by drawing inspiration from these people.

Great post trojan. I agree. He's getting too much attention.. for nothing. And charging $5 for an autograph? I really don't think he deserves all this. Sure, he has a great personaility and has confidence in himself, but there are other people with great personaility AND confidence and they are not earning millions of dollars and are famous for it. I just think it's gone too far.

I think the blame for this has to go mostly to the people promoting him. They are inflicting this poor excuse for entertainment (as comedy and of course, music - ha ha) for some easy money. But saying that, the more easily led amongst us (the public) should take some blame too because if they think they can release a CD of this garbage and people will buy it, there must be a demand. Maybe people need this to make themselves feel talented and that's pretty lame.
Of course, I have to place some blame on young William too. I don't fall for the "genuine person" thing. I believe it has more to do with lack of dignity and a craving for attention. He obviously has just enough intelligence to realise he's talentless so to allow himself to reach this stage means he cares less about artistic merit and more about his own fame and ego.
I don't begrudge the guy a bit of fun but at the same time, the level this has reached is a bit of an insult to more serious musicians and singers trying to promote themselves.

Very well said, Scurvy. I agree 100%. You might want to get that message out by posting on other sites as well. Say, in the "Inspiration" CD review section on Amazon.com, for instance? I already posted my review there. Yes, I did listened to the CD on AOL. It was so horrid I couldn't finish it.

Just a thought.

If it was me i would never of done that even though I would be rich and famous. I would not enjoy the thought that people are laughing at me .. and i'm getting famous for a stupid reason !

she bangs she bangs!!!