stephanie jacobsen in melrose place
by Guest Contributor Angry Asian Man, originally published at Angry Asian Man
If you’ve been watching the tube, you probably know that there are no new ideas out there. Thus, there’s a new version of Melrose Place coming to the CW this fall. Starting next week, actually. It’s the return of 1990s trash TV!
It’s worth noting that Stephanie Jacobsen is in the cast as “Lauren Yung,” a medical student who must come up with a creative way to pay her tuition. You might recognize her from the feature-length Battlestar Galactica installment Razor or her brief stint on The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
I’ve seen the pilot of this new Melrose Place, and it’s pretty much everything you’d expect. Hey, it’s not like the old show was high quality television either. Oh, and the “creative way” Lauren comes up with to pay the med school bills? Just watch the promo above. Yup. Melrose Place.
Wait, the Asian girl is the both an overachieving med student and a prostitute?
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
EMP wrote:
Oh please. Yet another character that has to resort to crime to pay the bills: (Weeds, Breaking Bad, Hung, etc….) Oh Hollywood…To quote Ned Flander’s beatnik parents: “We’ve tried nothing and we are all out of ideas, man!”
Posted 04 Sep 2009 at 9:37 am ¶
n wrote:
They managed to cover ALL the bases!
Posted 04 Sep 2009 at 9:54 am ¶
[dave] wrote:
dang.
Posted 04 Sep 2009 at 10:26 am ¶
thesciencegirl wrote:
I guess they couldn’t choose just one stereotype.
And of course, her clients are all hot like the guy in the commercial, right? Maybe she’ll find a white knight to save her. ha.
And just to bring a dose of reality: I’m a med student. Med school is expensive, but that’s what loans are for.
Posted 04 Sep 2009 at 2:17 pm ¶
Michelle wrote:
No lie, I didn’t even realize that the girl was supposed to be Asian. At some points she looks vaguely Latina. I guess as long as she fills some sort of stereotype, then the CW doesn’t care.
People, if we really want to stop racism, then we HAVE TO STOP THE CW! Seriously! Carmen, are you listening? Stop racism? Stop the CW. All your hard work will be erased by the vapid and blatant racism that they are feeding to the all important pre-teen audiences all around America. Mark my words, they will grow up to from militia groups!
I have a dear friend who auditioned for that part. Cute girl. Black. Wears her hair natural. Went in for the part. Her agents called her to tell her that the casting directors loved her, thought she was so amazing, but “she is a Black girl in Hollywood. Doesn’t she know she needs a weave?” I am not making this shit up!
Posted 04 Sep 2009 at 9:26 pm ¶
ashlynn wrote:
Damn. Again, I’m a little lost.
Have you ever seen The Player’s Club? The main character was a broadcasting major who danced to pay for school.
It’s pretty true to life…it does happen. Though I don’t understand why this character needs to be a full out prostitute (way to amp up the drama, CW)…oh fuck, I’ve lost my train of thought…bbl.
Posted 04 Sep 2009 at 10:05 pm ¶
Michele wrote:
Ashlynn, How often in the real world do women strip and prostitute to pay for school? That is one of those Law and Order fantasies for the students of Hudson University that are about to be murdered. Most med students get loans. Loans.
Posted 05 Sep 2009 at 8:33 am ¶
EvilAngelfish wrote:
The Players Club was a movie written by Ice Cube. I can’t say for sure if it’s based on the true story of someone he knew (because everyone claims to know someone who’s just dancing/stripping/etc. to pay for tuition) but the idea that it’s true to life is dubious at best. I’m sure there have been some individuals who couldn’t get Stafford Loans or scholarships or anything and decided that their best option was to strip/turn tricks but it’s a whole lot closer to a Hollywood fantasy than an everyday occurrence.
@thesciencegirl & michele,
amen! if they really wanted to amp up the drama, they should have had her selling drugs (not that I advocate that sort of thing). I’m certain more financially desperate med students are closet drug dealers than prostitutes.
Posted 05 Sep 2009 at 10:18 am ¶
ashlynn wrote:
Well for one, I’m pretty sure that verry few women full out prostitute themselves(at least in the sexual way ) to pay for school, but stripping? Absolutely. It’s lucrative, quick, and for many, fun. I have known and met several students who have, and almost all of my female friends(and some male) have said that if they weren’t scared, they would definitely get into dancing to pay off their loans. It’s not as far-fetched as many may think- especially now that college is practically unnaffordable, and exotic dancing/burlesque have returned to the mainstream and have often been praised commercialized, and accepted.
But as I said before, it’s the prostitution that confuses me, as THAT is what seems beyond exaggerated- and obviously for the sake of ratings.
Posted 05 Sep 2009 at 4:54 pm ¶
aa wrote:
well, as a grad student/sex worker who has paid the bills by escorting, some of y’all are acting like the situation is completely implausible or like she’s doing the equivalent of selling crack to school children.
Posted 05 Sep 2009 at 9:22 pm ¶
Ramona wrote:
“Wait, the Asian girl is the both an overachieving med student and a prostitute?”
My thoughts exactly when I first saw the intro trailer to this character.
Posted 06 Sep 2009 at 1:00 am ¶
Khinky wrote:
It would be a lot more realistic if she just took out a loan… Or if they were going for drama they could have had her selling drugs, which is far more plausible than selling sex. It’s easier to grow/manufacture drugs to sell to fellow students than to “make house calls,” which are time-consuming. You could be studying, you know?
Posted 06 Sep 2009 at 3:31 am ¶
eli wrote:
Yeah, sex work is no where near as simple as tv shows like to make out.
I have a friend (I know, I know!) who has been doing sex work on the side for the last year, and for every one paying client she’s gotten, she’s probably had at least a couple of hours of admin with clients that don’t follow through, clients that want to argue back and forth about rates and safety precautions.
It’s actually been a really huge time-suck for her.
Posted 06 Sep 2009 at 10:20 pm ¶
ashlynn wrote:
@Khinky,
Looking at this in a realistic situation, she probably did take out a loan. But loans have to be paid, no? Obviously at some point, the traditional means were not attainable, and the character had to turn to something else. I guess my point is that I don’t see this as particularly racial, only in the respect that it’s another “(overtly)Sexy Smart Asian Woman” scenario. But the woman turning to other means to achieve her ultimate goal is a universal issue.
Posted 06 Sep 2009 at 11:35 pm ¶
Michele wrote:
College loans are paid after you graduate or drop out of school? Wouldn’t she pay her bills from her salary? Not from her fulfilling life as a prostitute.
AA, how many students in your graduate progam besides yourself are sex workers?
Posted 07 Sep 2009 at 5:09 pm ¶
aa wrote:
michele, as far as i know, i’m the only one, but i knew more than a few at my tiny liberal arts college. i was not attempting to say that everyone and their mother turns to sex work when the going gets tough. i was simply stating that it was neither implausible nor that terrible of a thing.
Posted 07 Sep 2009 at 10:28 pm ¶
EvilAngelfish wrote:
@aa,
forgive me if I made it seem like sex work is a terrible thing. Surely it’s not the best job ever, but those who do it do deserve respect.
I still find it implausible that a med student would resort to sex work to pay for tuition (although I’ve heard rumors that a former porn actor went to my med school a few years ago but was later dismissed) while still in med school because of a) the work load and b) the risk of a patient/administrator/etc. finding out about it. In my personal experience in higher education (undergrad, grad, med school), I’ve met plenty of students struggling with tuition and taking extra jobs but I’ve yet to meet any sex workers, so that’s why it seems unlikely to me. It also seems like a lazy cliche to have a woman (asian or no) turn to sex work when the going gets tough. However, I don’t know if I’d find it as unpalatable if the character were a man, just because of the (relative) novelty.
Posted 08 Sep 2009 at 9:48 am ¶
Kaonashi wrote:
@EvilAngelfish: That’s because a lot of the women (and men!) who are doing this don’t exactly advertise what they’re doing to fellow classmates–especially those who are doing escort work.
Posted 09 Sep 2009 at 6:36 am ¶