Q&A: Margaret Cho

The lady is an assassin

From The Pacific Citizen

Margaret Cho is willing to go there.

The half formed idea gathering dust in the back of your mind? She’s already screamed it at the top of her lungs. With Cho, there is no bitten lower lip, just unabashed, some times cringing candor.

“For me everything is fair game,” said Cho the morning after the world premiere of her latest show “Assassin,” which debuts simultaneously on a gay television network. In the show, she unleashes her frustration on the Bush administration, pokes fun at the media fascination over the death of the pope (“No. He’s not dead yet, but he may be after this commercial break!”) and tries to kill you with her one good eye. Trust us, it’s not pretty.

These are busy days for the comedienne. She just wrapped up her “Assassin” show tour in July and is planning to infiltrate our all our senses with her first feature film “Bam Bam and Celeste” and a new book “I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight.” She takes a moment to spend some time with the P.C., so close your eyes when you read this if you offend easily, but open your ears because the lady has something to say.

Pacific Citizen: Your shows have become more political. What ticked you off?

Margaret Cho: I don’t think it was anything specific. It was a combination of things — the war in Iraq and the gay marriages in San Francisco — that were happening all at once and they were things I wanted to talk about. 

PC: Besides the usual suspect — Bush and Cheney — who else made you angry?

MC: It’s the new conservative kick ass American attitude about dominating the world but without any kind of reason or consideration. Like how we’re looking at Iraq and not thinking about human beings there, but as something we need to dominate. It’s this conservative attitude that creates lazy thinking and these slogans that accuse people of being Anti-American if they question the government. I think you need to be able to question what the government is doing on your behalf. It’s that type of mentality … that’s like [a] jock itch. 

PC: What’s it like performing in the red states?

MC: It’s incredibly encouraging. They are so warm and receptive because it’s a different kind message from what they’re getting and it was a great thing. I wanted to see what I could contribute.

PC: One of the funniest parts of ‘Assassin’ is when you talk about being booked for a Republican hotel owners convention. How does someone book Margaret Cho and not know what they are getting?

MC: It’s really alarming. I was really glad to do it. But they couldn’t deal. I don’t know how they didn’t know. I think they looked at my race and thought, ‘Oh, she won’t be controversial.’ Of course, that’s just speculation, but that’s the only thing I could think of.

PC: There are some really personal moments too. Especially when you talk about your mom’s heart attack. Is she OK?

MC: Yeah. She’s OK now. That happened before the beginning [of the tour]. I was just very concerned about it and worried. I thought it was important to talk about it.

PC: Why do Asian moms stash money and goods in strange places?

MC: I think it’s because they have to mediate all these different worlds. Asian moms have to juggle their female identity, American society and family. They are switchboard operators trying to make a connection and it’s very hard.

PC: Do you feel ‘the burden of representation?’ in having to speak for an entire race of people?

MC: It’s such a weird identity. I’m not only speaking for this whole group, I have to live for this entire race and be the voice of this under-represented group looking for representation. It’s very strange and I try not think about it. That’s how I deal with it.

PC: Who do you look up?

MC: I look up to my mother. I look up to any immigrant who survives — my parents came here in the 60s and I really admire them doing something so brave. Looking beyond that, Sandra Oh, she’s a great actress. I love BD Wong … Lucy Liu who I also love. But there have been so few! We get one every five years!

PC: You star with one in ‘Bam Bam and Celeste’ - someone who shares your last name.

MC:  [John Cho’s] so much fun and so talented. It’s so fun to have another Korean American around because it’s so intense and he’s so like me in many ways. The film is a … love story about a couple of misfit kids who leave hometown to go to New York to be on a reality TV show. It mirrors my life a little. It would be what my life would be like if I hadn’t left home. I play my mother and myself very much.

PC: What’s difficult about being in your first fiction movie?

MC: It was a collaborative effort, which was difficult. I had to learn how to create a vision with others, so that was an interesting thing. I love the film.  And there’s always the [difficulties] of financing because it’s not mainstream family film. It’s so hard to Asian American film, but it’s not hard at all to make an Asian film. I don’t know why that is. There’s this love for Jackie Chan, but take the kung fu out … I can’t figure it out.

PC: Do you have political aspirations?

MC: I don’t know. Not right now. It’s not one of my priorities right now.

Other Readings of Interest

• Cho-Stopper: AAV Interview with "Notorious" Margaret Cho
  By Yayoi Lena Winfrey, AAV Contributing Editor
  Margaret Cho on the release of her film Notorious CHO