Margaret Cho: Intersectional as fuck

April 1, 2021 8:33 AM

Gastrointestinal adventures in food poisoning aside, Cho is doing well. She is sober, after more than a decade addicted to opiates and alcohol. ... Cho loved the aesthetics of opium smoking. “It’s a terrible drug, it is a really big part of the difficulties that Koreans and Chinese people have had, it’s a big black mark on our history,” Cho says, pausing for effect, a comedian to her bones. “But the stuff is really cool!” Content warning: The Guardian's profile of the amazing comic Margaret Cho includes references to suicide, sexual abuse, addiction, and hate crimes against Asian Americans.
posted by Bella Donna (13 comments total)

For what Oscar has she been nominated?
posted by Ideefixe at 9:18 AM on April 1, 2021

Ask The Guardian because...unless she is also John Cho, that seems like an error.
posted by amanda at 9:22 AM on April 1, 2021

Over the Moon, an animated feature that used Margaret Cho as one of the many voice talents, was nominated for an Academy award for best animated feature according to Wikipedia. The journalist is exaggerating Cho's impact but it's still cool.
posted by Bella Donna at 9:29 AM on April 1, 2021 [1 favorite]

I've seen Cho perform a couple of times. She is amazing. I'm looking forward to her post-pandemic tour.
posted by hydropsyche at 9:33 AM on April 1, 2021 [2 favorites]

Thanks! I’m working a doc series for which she was interviewed for one episode but she never mentioned the Oscars.
posted by Ideefixe at 9:39 AM on April 1, 2021 [1 favorite]

Wise because of intelligence and rich experience, a willingness to live a life of walking through the fire eyes-wide-open to help us all understand it and heal. This is a kind of leader I want and support. Thank you for keepin' on Margaret, for continuing to learn and grow and teach.
posted by riverlife at 9:54 AM on April 1, 2021 [4 favorites]

Ideefixe: "For what Oscar has she been nominated?"

It's not called the Grauniad for nothing...
posted by chavenet at 10:00 AM on April 1, 2021

Ask The Guardian because...unless she is also John Cho, that seems like an error.

Looks like it's the second year in a row for John Cho!
(Who is not actually nominated this year, although Minari actor Steven Yeun is.)
posted by Strange Interlude at 11:19 AM on April 1, 2021

As is usual for any mention of Margaret Cho.

::ahem!::

Margaret Cho follows me on Twitter!
posted by Splunge at 12:22 PM on April 1, 2021 [15 favorites]

As is usual for any mention of Margaret Cho.

::ahem!::

Margaret Cho follows me on Twitter

**Best Comment Award**
posted by blurker at 1:49 PM on April 1, 2021 [6 favorites]

As an English person, I'm pretty confident it's my history that bears the black mark of any special problems associated with Chinese and Korean use of opium. Or at least would if you could distinguish it from the rest of the dried blood.
posted by howfar at 3:12 PM on April 1, 2021 [8 favorites]

You really have to work hard to get hooked on smoking opium. The Victorian-era form of the drug, known as chandu, is rare, and the people who know how to use it aren’t exactly forthcoming. But leave it to an obsessive antiques collector to figure out how to get to addicted to a 19th-century drug.

— “How Collecting Opium Antiques Turned Me Into and Opium Addict“
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 4:01 PM on April 1, 2021 [8 favorites]

To bring it back to the piece.... I really like how she’s addressing her changing perspective on things. Things which she used to shock and surprise audiences with back in the day, she looks at with a different eye now. Introspection and evolution as you age seems novel, in a way. It’s refreshing to see someone who works things out on a stage to continue that process. She has always been an outsider and will likely always be an outsider of sorts but she’s absolutely worth watching and I like that she’s still with us and going.
posted by amanda at 8:48 AM on April 2, 2021 [6 favorites]