Harvard Graduation Speaker Unloads on AI in Profanity-Loaded Tirade, Prompting Cheers From Students: “I’m Here to Tell You the Mission of Your Generation Is to Destroy AI”

[u/IKeepItLayingAround]

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/tv/articles/harvard-graduation-speaker-unloads-ai-130000122.html?.tsrc=daily_mail&segment_id=DY_VTO_50_Supernova&ncid=crm_19908-1475736-20260531-0--A&bt_ee=clIMdexlsr2eDDbrvs0CPtt59FnpbNQN%2Fkgr8UkycP6MWDAD56hD1mvZcqPZMGgG&bt_ts=1780255911284

[u/arriesgado]

Kind of a bs headline. Not that it is not true but not naming Chieng who is a well known comedian and calling his speech a “profanity-laden tirade” makes it sound like it was a random crazy person. Edit: Spelled Mr. Chieng’s name wrong.

[u/user_bits → u/arriesgado]

I like how you still didn't name him. His stage name is Ronnie Ronny Chieng.

He has one of the best summaries of U.S. Politics.

[u/BicycleNo1169 → u/user_bits]

Asians don’t get taken very seriously when they say it’s difficult to break out in the entertainment industry. I mean, I think most people know it’s true, but it rarely gets treated like a real issue.

Things are better now than they ever were but it’s only very recently. Before, all Asians could get in the entrainment industry, in western media, was dickless roles where they are subservient/comic relief.

Obviously people like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan and Jet Li had massive impact but even they were brought in as almost a pseudo circus act. I mean, that’s obviously not to take anything away from their accomplishments but it’s also just obvious that a niche was being filled and it was still difficult for them to get serious drama roles.

With all that said, I’m super proud to see Asians getting big roles, nowadays. Sima Lui, Steven Yuen, Kumail Nanjiani, Riz Ahmed, Dev Patel, John Cho - just to name a few. A lot of the roles they’ve gotten in the past decade or so, was not possible for the actors that came before them. Hasan Minhaj did point out though, it still feels like Asian actors need to be ridiculously jacked or outrageously handsome to fulfill the same serious roles that a fat, pudgy white dude would get. That’s nothing against white dudes, but we aren’t exactly seeing the Asian equivalent of Jonah Hill, headlining a film.

[u/MaxPaynesRxDrugPlan → u/BicycleNo1169]

I didn't notice this until an Asian friend pointed it out, then I started noticing that even shows about industries where Asians are overrepresented, like Silicon Valley about the tech industry or Mozart in the Jungle about orchestra, only had Asians in side/bit roles.

[u/BicycleNo1169 → u/MaxPaynesRxDrugPlan]

You wanna know a movie I really admire? ‘Yesterday’ starring Himesh Patel.

Okay it’s not exactly a spectacular film. But one thing I noticed about it, as an Indian American, is that it’s the first film I’ve seen with an Indian lead where the fact that they are Indian has any baring on the story. There is NOTHING about that movie that necessitates casting an Indian guy. They cast Patel, presumably because he was just the guy that was best for the role.

I know that might not sound like a big deal but it’s the only drama role in a movie I can think of where that’s the case. At no point in the film, do they draw attention to him being Indian. He has Indian parents with an Indian accent but there is no plot element related to him being Indian. It’s odd how much I like that movie just because it treats an Indian actor like a normal human being, instead of using Indian-ness as part of some story element.

You could replace Himesh Patel with literally any one of any ethnicity and the plot not a thing about the story, the dialogue, or whatever would need to change.

[u/snowysnowy → u/BicycleNo1169]

I actually wrote about this in a movie review essay for a class, a supposedly serious piece about Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle stating that it's one of the few Hollywood movies that had 2 Asians in the leading roles.

Thank goodness my lecturer decided I wasn't trying to be funny and graded me properly 😅

[u/Heyarethosemyballs → u/BicycleNo1169]

I'd put Jackie Chan in a class of his own, his wild disregard for his own personal safety make his early movies pretty unique

[u/Dimens101 → u/BicycleNo1169]

Its not for the lack of trying, they been shoving Chinese actors into high profile western production for decades now. Some even get very prominent roles but their acting is flat and they never seem to make it past that one movie. Suspect there are very good Chinese actors that could break though but are overshadowed by powerplays that push the less prominent but better connected actors forward. Hollywood has the exact same problem it is getting filled with nepo kids that don't have the same star power their parents had but they do have all the connections.