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The laugh track—the “HA HA HA” and “CLAP CLAP CLAP” that run along the bottom of panels in the chapters telling Danny’s story—symbolizes American pop culture and sitcoms, and specifically, the racist attitudes expressed in pop culture. Danny’s chapters take the form of a sitcom called Everyone Ruvs Chin-Kee. Sitcom television shows tell viewers what (and who) to laugh at when the laugh track plays, and in American Born Chinese, this is most often Danny’s Chinese cousin, Chin-Kee. Chin-Kee’s stereotypically Chinese antics and Danny’s embarrassed reaction to whatever Chin-Kee is doing are portrayed in an exaggeratedly humorous manner. By framing Danny and Chin-Kee’s chapters in this way, the reader has to confront the fact that the Chinese stereotypes embodied by Chin-Kee are common punch lines, even if the stereotypes themselves are racist, misguided, and not actually funny at all. In this sense, even if a laugh track is typically supposed to signal what’s humorous, the laugh track in the novel isn’t actually meant to be funny—instead, it symbolizes a culture that casts Chinese characters not as people, but as objects to laugh at due to their appearances, customs, and speech.
Get the entire American Born Chinese LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Laugh Track Symbol Timeline in American Born Chinese
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Laugh Track appears in American Born Chinese. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
...an illustration of a laughing Chinese person with buckteeth and a traditional queue hairstyle. A laugh track indicating clapping runs along the bottom of the frame. In a suburban California home, two...
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Chin-Kee bursts through the front door, larger than life, as the laugh track plays. He has yellow skin, a long queue, buckteeth, and wears traditional Chinese garb. Chin-Kee...
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Chapter 6
The laugh track plays as the bell rings, signaling the start of the school day at Oliphant High...
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...practice, and then asks about Chin-Kee. Danny morosely introduces Chin-Kee as his visiting cousin. The laugh track plays as Chin-Kee happily waves “harro.”
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...to charge Danny $100 and a date with the girlfriend Danny doesn’t have, and the laugh track plays. He walks away with his Coke as Chin-Kee giggles hysterically. Chin-Kee tells Danny, “Me...
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Chin-Kee answers questions correctly in chemistry and English, which embarrasses Danny as the laugh track runs. After school, Danny gets his detention slip. Chin-Kee taunts Danny and says that he...
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...and says it wasn’t Danny’s fault; in a way, it was kind of flattering. The laugh track runs. Danny hopefully asks Melanie if she’d like to see a movie on Saturday. Melanie...
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...peed in his Coke back in the cafeteria, Steve is disgusted and incredulous, and the laugh track runs. Danny angrily leaves the gym as Steve vomits into a garbage can.
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Chapter 8
...tall. Amazed, Jin touches his face and decides he needs a new name: Danny. The laugh track claps at the bottom of the frame.
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Chapter 9
The laugh track applauds at the sight of the high school library. Danny angrily walks in and overhears...
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...shakes with anger and then punches Chin-Kee again. Danny continues to punch Chin-Kee as the laugh track plays, but Chin-Kee begs Danny to stop and warns that he’s playing with fire. When...
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As the laugh track continues, Danny tries to come up behind Chin-Kee. Chin-Kee, however, hits Danny with different martial...
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Danny sweats and his fists shake as the laugh track begins to expand outside of the frame. He throws one punch at Chin-Kee and knocks...
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