How Much Money Guys 5'6 & Under Need To Make To Compete With Tall Guys 6'+ (Discussing how impactful your height is when it comes to dating, whether AI technology is a good or bad thing, Asian Born Chinese show coming soon & more) | BARBERSHOP TALK

In this Barbershop Talk episode, Mike and Leo unpack how height plays a role in finding a partner,  AI influencers/Deep fakes, and the release of the upcoming show 'Asian Born Chinese' featuring Chinese mythology and gods on Disney+.

1:51 - Leo talks about expediting his LA plans -Talking to a realtor
3:25 - Leo putting down an offer for a home in LA
5:30 - How Leo's LA plan went from 5 years to 2 years to 3 months
9:00 - Intro to the first topic: study how much short men need to make to compete with someone who is 6.'
10:15 - Shorter guys have to make up for their height in other areas like dressing well, being fit, being funny, etc
12:40 - Taller guys will get more initial opportunities than the shorter guys, so they have a better chance of finding someone as opposed to shorter guys 
15:15 - A guy can be a couple of inches taller, but a woman will think they're the same height 
16 - Boots can help you feel and look taller for guys on the shorter end
17:36 - Second Topic Introduction
18:36 - AI-generated rapper lands record deal 
21:00 - What happens once AI becomes so realistic that we can differentiate between real and fake?
23:29 - Tom Cruise & Chinese Elon Musk deep fake
26:45 - How deep fake could take fake news to the next level 
27:37 - Asian Born Chinese topic introduction 
31:55 - mike and Leo talk about growing up watching the 1996 series Journey to the West 
34:00 - Will we see a Game of Thrones version of Journey to the West soon?

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Transcript

Mike Tran: 0:00

Hey, what's up guys? Welcome back to the AM podcast. I'm Mike, you're host, and I'm joined by my co-host Leo Chan. And today we're doing a barbershop talk covering three different topics today. Um, these are just topics I randomly come across that I feel is worth kind of talking about and sharing our thoughts. And just in case you guys are new, we actually have three different series. This one's the barbershop talk and you think can think of it like. Getting your haircut and the sort of conversations you have in a barbershop. So it could be pretty much anything. Um, and then the other two is called Level Up as well as the spotlight. The Level Up is where we just, you know, provide you practical advice on tips that you can take with you in your life to improve yourself to get to that next level. And then our Spotlight series is where we just pretty much highlight Asian American guys doing exceptional things that don't get a lot of publicity. So hoping that inspires you, but. Yes. Today we're doing a barbershop talk, three topics. Um, how you doing, Leo? It's been what, two, three weeks? Three weeks I think.

Leo Chan: 0:58

I think. three weeks went by pretty fast, but yeah.

Mike Tran: 1:02

Yeah. Tell me about it, man.

Leo Chan: 1:04

Just, you know, getting busy out here in California, but, um, you know, making moves, seeing what's happening out here. Right.

Mike Tran: 1:13

Yeah, I can't believe it's already at, the end of the month. Um, so just for context, uh, Leo. And his girlfriend went out to LA to try out LA before making a bigger move. So they were gonna spend, I think a month there, get the feel for it, see, you know, how the opportunities are for, you know, the acting career as well as other, uh, opportunities. And the last time I spoke with him, you were speaking with the realtor. tell me what's going on. You're speeding things up. So what happened? So it's supposed to be a temporary 30

Leo Chan: 1:42

Um, I mean, you know, just kind of like after the first week, uh, getting our routine in, getting used to what we always do, which is like working out, doing our work and it's okay. It felt kind of normal, our usual routine. So everything's kind of like business as usual. Uh, honestly, like it really just felt like I was missing my stuff, like I was just missing. My PlayStation, I was missing like my nighttime routine, um, like the comfort of my own home. So other than that, it's like there's a lot of good things in LA for us. So I was just kind of looking for fun, looking at open houses, and then we saw this one place that was so nice. It was like a three, four loft that I was. I never thought about buying a place so we like literally saw on a Tuesday by Thursday, made a decision, put an offer in by Friday. We spent all day in San Diego putting in the offer with a long processing and all that.

Mike Tran: 2:39

What the hell

Leo Chan: 2:40

talked ourselves into buying it, moving here in like three months and then that Saturday driving back, uh, our offer. By someone else, like someone else substantially went higher, which was like, damn, because we weren't even thinking about buying the plays, let alone going 65 over asking at our offer and then someone else went even higher. So that really lit a fire in us to really make this like big life decision in the span of a week. So the past week we've been looking at so many places in. Mostly looking at like loft apartments and looking for specific things that we really wanted. and yesterday we found another really good spot that literally just went on market for like a day and we're like, We need to jump on it. So we put an offer in yesterday, we saw it yesterday at two o'clock, and then by eight o'clock we put an offer in officially, and this is before they even have an open house. So in the span of like two, three weeks, we like learn how the housing market works. We underst. Open house, put in an offer, you know, all the real estate talk. So it's been a big learning experience. Um, but I think a lot of things really mentally prepared us to be at this point. Um, and so it was just kind of like a good push to do it.

Mike Tran: 3:58

That's crazy. And yeah, I, I noticed right away like how busy you were cuz uh, you, like, you're normally, you're super fast on responding. But I, I saw, I notice a little bit of a draw, so, Okay. I, I know Leo's extra busy has to be super busy. And then when you told me about moving, I was like, damn. Okay. That sounds crazy. And now it all makes sense because you said you literally learned about the whole housing thing within a week, how to put an offer,

Leo Chan: 4:21

it is been stressful. It's been stressful. It's been like an emotional roller coaster cuz you're on the high to get the house and then you don't get it and you're like, Aw man. And then you just like up and down, up and down. And also it was during the week where, There were actually a lot of events in LA and then my friend came to visit us and my mom came to visit us. So it was like being a tour guide at the same time of looking at a house at the same time as working and doing all that stuff So it was a very busy week. It felt like a month last week.

Mike Tran: 4:50

that's what New York prepared you for right? days like that. Congrats. So It sounds like if you get an offer accepted, That means you said you're gonna move there within three months or in three months from

Leo Chan: 5:02

Uh, probably three months just cuz like I'll lease in New York ends the end of the year. so it kind of plays out with the timing cause like a part takes time for closing and all that kind of stuff. Um, and then, And then just figuring out like the move, uh, and things like that. yeah.

Mike Tran: 5:21

That's crazy. And so, how are the auditions going? Has that increased a bunch or, I mean, I know you've been networking

Leo Chan: 5:29

No, it's been good. Um, just trying to keep up, like I still average a few auditions a week. Last week, I didn't even check the website as much just because too busy,

Mike Tran: 5:40

Yeah.

Leo Chan: 5:41

but at least like I just know like there's more and more opportunities out here versus in New York. So that's been good.

Mike Tran: 5:49

Damn. Congrats. You guys. That's a lot. I mean, from, from the conversation we had to, to this conversation, that's like a night and day change. Cause last time we spoke you were just settling in. We'll see how this goes. And now we're, we'll talk about buying a house, like what

Leo Chan: 6:04

time was, uh, last time was like a five year plan. Like last time was like a five year plan, and then maybe one year, two year. And then now I was like Oh, I think we can move here in two months. Like, I think we're mentally really ready. Um, yeah. But we're basically down to two options that we really, really like, Like, we're like obviously one, we already put an offer. This one is actually technically a townhouse.

Mike Tran: 6:28

hmm.

Leo Chan: 6:28

In LA at least, at least within the budget we're looking at. There's very few places that has like a private garage and everything, and it has, it just has so much more room compared to everything else. And then another one we're looking at is a lot cheaper, but it's also a lot smaller. But it's a like a loft apartment, so like, like a two floor loft apartment, which is very different. Like you don't really see that kind of stuff in New York. And so looking at that as like, this would be such a Start fresh change from New York on the usual apartment. So That's what we're like really looking for.

Mike Tran: 7:01

That's probably like gave you that motivation, like that space and all that. Like it must be much nicer.

Leo Chan: 7:06

There's just a lot of, it's a lot of timing. Like, um, it's like you can do the same exact thing a year later, two years later, but then. Little things, like if Alicia wants to go back to school and you want to get instate tuition, then you're starting a year later in that process. So a lot of things is kind of like, if you're mentally prepared for it, why wait another year? Cause then you're kind of letting this fire, this flame die down. And then you have another year in New York. It's just like, it makes sense. It makes sense. And I think like looking at these places was like, wow, what our money can get out in, uh, California versus New York,

Mike Tran: 7:42

New York. Yeah. That's exciting to hear. Hopefully. Yeah. Good news about the, the offer. Maybe we can catch that in the next episode. But yeah, that's an update. I wanted to make sure everyone got it cuz when I heard, I was like, damn from New York to la you know, like that's who would've thought. Um, but definitely. That's awesome. Um, so yeah, so let's jump into the episode today. So three topics today. Uh, I think, I don't know if you even. If I even prompt you the topics, but we're gonna jump into it. So the first topic today, this is something that I found online and apparently went viral. A uh, a financial influencer. I don't know her, I forget her name, but she brought up this study that was conducted by the University of Chicago back in 2006. Uh, titled What Makes You Click. It shows that short men can be as successful in the dating market if they earn more than taller men. The three guys that conducted this, they basically calculated that a men who is five foot six can do as well as a six footer if he earns 175,000 a year more.

Leo Chan: 8:51

wow.

Mike Tran: 8:52

And just to add in another, just add in another stat, someone who is six two can afford to earn 30 k less than a man just shy of six feet.

Leo Chan: 9:02

Hmm.

Mike Tran: 9:04

so it's so funny how every inch is like 20, $15,000 that you can get away with. Um, so all this got me thinking. Um, and I think it plays a lot in the dating world, obviously. And it made me think because our audience is largely Asian Americans or men, for instance. Um, I did a quick search. The average high for American men is five nine,

Leo Chan: 9:28

Hmm.

Mike Tran: 9:29

but the average high for Asian American man is five seven.

Leo Chan: 9:34

Ooh,

Mike Tran: 9:34

So now we have to consider, they probably include South Asians. So we're just a little different. I, I always seem like South Asians are a bit taller, so that number could be even lower. Because I, I feel like Pan Asians normally a bit, a bit shorter, from what I've known. So what are your thoughts? What, what do you think about that? Uh, when you hear about that, what are your

Leo Chan: 9:56

Um, I mean the first, the first study, the first numbers you are talking about, that's not about race, just in general, right? Yeah, so I, I think like, I think like over the years I've noticed that, um, The shorter guys always have to show that they have other things to offer because I feel like that is the whole Napoleon complex. I believe so. Like from my experience, like early on, at least, like when I first got outta college, I noticed like the shorter guys were like the really well dressed ones. Um, especially in like the corporate world. Like they were really well dressed, they were really funny guys. And then, you know, in some cases some of the shorter guys, Always going to the gym and I get it. So I feel like because of that height difference, they're trying to make it up with other ways. Um, so there you go. Like money, clothes, uh, it could be expertise in something. Could be, Yeah. just funnier. Uh, more built things like that to kind of have that advantage. so I guess in that way it's like, you know, if there's a height advantage, you gotta figure out other ways to have an advantage for yourself and not just be like, Oh, I'm short, so. Out of the game, I guess,

Mike Tran: 11:08

Yeah. And, and I think I wanted to bring up this topic because, you know, a lot of times, know, like a huge topic for Asian men has always been about like, dating and in the field of dating. Like how are they stacked against other races? And I think that the height does play a part cuz normally, you know, for Asians, we're a bit shorter on average than other races. So that plays a part. But I don't want it to come across as, Oh, that's the reason why you can't get a girl or this and that. Normally what this tells you is that the guys who are taller, they have more initial opportunity, meaning. In my eyes, women are gonna be more open to, oh, potentially because of his height, whatever it may be. And then normally for the shorter guys, women would just pass on. So you lose that pool of opportunity. So let's say the 2 guy or six foot guy gets a hundred, he starts off with a hundred initial possibilities.

Leo Chan: 12:01

Yeah. Oh, okay.

Mike Tran: 12:03

And then you think of a guy shorter, he's probably only gonna get 30 because women are naturally gonna think, Okay, that ideally that's what I want. So I'm open to that six foot guy. So now I'm a part of his pool. But the shorter guys are gonna get less of that pool. But ultimately you need to get the girls in that middle range where they learn about you, where the good positive traits come out. Right. It's like if you wanna have a good conversation, you have to get on the, you have to get that initial. To get that to that conversation. So that's the, Does that make sense? So it's not

Leo Chan: 12:34

I was thinking about it in the way of like, I guess, The initial impression is like, Oh, you're tall, so that's attractive. But then what else do they have to offer? So they might start off at at a hundred but then it's like, oh, what if they don't have any hobbies or interest or, you know, maybe they're just so used to being tall and that they don't have anything else to offer It's a shorter guy. Might start off, say, let's just say a number like, Then it's like, okay, you start at 50, but then you can add another 10 points, add another 10 points, add another 10 points, um, kind of like the other way around with that scale. I guess could see that. Yeah.

Mike Tran: 13:10

So, so that's really how it works cuz I mean, um, you hear it all the time. It's, it's not about your height, your looks. There's plenty of guys that you would think. There's no way they can get this girl or whatever. But it happens because that person has been able to get past the initial steps, and at the end of the day, you keep a girl because of who you are, like you as a person. But in order to get there, you have to deal with your initial pool of people. And sometimes you could be limited compared to that guy would sit, you know, get what I'm saying. That guy, the six foot guy, has more to work with. So he has a higher, it's because it's easier for him to close, meaning for him to get a new relationship because he has more to work with. Unfortunately, for the guys who are shorter or whatever, lack certain things, they get less of a pool. But you just gotta get enough in the middle process. This is what I believe. Cuz you know, uh, at the end of the day, it's your, it's your confidence. It's how you present your.

Leo Chan: 14:05

Yeah.

Mike Tran: 14:06

Yeah, there's plenty of guys out there that don't reach these certain things, uh, but get a, you know, like a, like a catch. So just trying to

Leo Chan: 14:15

K. 175 K is a lot. It's just like, that's, an insane number. I don't know where they got that number specifically, but

Mike Tran: 14:22

that's right. But that's a seventy five K more. So if a six foot guy is making a hundred k, that means that guy has to make almost $300,000 just to, even with.

Leo Chan: 14:32

like, that's, that's like a crazy number. Like why not just a hundred K? Like really 175? That could be, but maybe that is the average survey size kind of thing.

Mike Tran: 14:43

Yeah,

Leo Chan: 14:44

crazy.

Mike Tran: 14:46

I know. I mean, I always kind of thought about it in that way. It makes sense. You know, women are looking for like the ideal man, and even for like, for me, like I've never been considered a short guy, so, but I'm also not six feet tall, so I'm kind of like in that middle range, five, nine, you know, average. Um, So for, you know, someone who's five six or something that, you know, I'm not sure what that looks like, but I know for sure I hear these conversations all the time. And a lot of times you could be a little taller than a girl, like two, three inches, but to them they're like, we're the same height because they, they can't tell that, you know, like they have no way So even if you're like three, four inches taller, they're like, Wait, we're the same height, so you have to be extremely taller. It's like, um, uh, it's like that perception thing, right? It's. A five 11 guy to them is like five, eight, A six, five is like a six splitter. Um, like that's like the general

Leo Chan: 15:36

Or like

Mike Tran: 15:37

I guess.

Leo Chan: 15:37

another visual I can imagine now is like if the girl is five five, but then where they wear heels, then they're like five, seven.

Mike Tran: 15:45

Done. You're eliminated. Exactly.

Leo Chan: 15:47

that's more the height in certain scenarios. If you're thinking about like going to the wedding, Right Like. Yeah. So I feel like girls can change the height technically, but guys, you know, can't change much. But hey, for the short guys out there, if you want some fashion tips, just go with the boots, man. Just rock your boots all the time. You, you get at least inch or two right there or something. Um, Yeah, But you gotta work with what you got, you know?

Mike Tran: 16:14

exactly. You gotta play the game. You can't hate, you can't hate to play. You gotta play the game cuz this is the game and there's no way to change it. Unfortunately, that's how it works and it's been working. It's been Like that

Leo Chan: 16:22

Like I feel like, yeah, It's not just America. I feel like it's the whole world really. Like any culture really. Um, unless you're in Asia, maybe they value, obviously Asia, they value a lot about money too, so that could even make a lot more sense. The 175 K

Mike Tran: 16:39

That's interesting. Yeah. Yeah, Yeah. I think if you, Yeah. I wonder if you applied it to Asia or a different country, how that, Is it pretty similar or, I don't know. I don't know. But yeah, something that was interesting, and I know a lot of guys listen to podcast, so just listening to that. But at the end of the day, it's your confidence. You might have a smaller pool, but if you can win on that second L layer, you're, you're fine. You know what I mean? Like, but at the end of the day, you gotta be someone interesting. You gotta be doing things, you know, You can't, you can't just blame the world. A I'm shorten, but then you also don't do anything then. Like you're double double whammy now. Now you're. Six, six foot guys could, could have nothing going for them, but luckily they got that right. So then what do you have? You gotta, you gotta make up. So,

Leo Chan: 17:23

That's true.

Mike Tran: 17:25

All right. So, uh, let's jump into the second one. All right. Topic here is AI technology. Now, I don't know if you, you've been familiar with this, Leo, I know you've been on social media, but have you heard about AI generated rappers, influencers, deep fakes, things like that? Have you, have you even looked into,

Leo Chan: 17:44

The rappers. I have not heard of the influencer. I have seen. Um, and then, what was the last one? The deep fake. Yeah. I have seen those cuz I've seen that on like TikTok and things like that.

Mike Tran: 17:55

Right.

Leo Chan: 17:56

It's getting crazy. It's getting

Mike Tran: 17:58

Oh yeah. And it's getting

Leo Chan: 17:59

really real

Mike Tran: 18:01

really good. I was on TikTok the other day and they have a, a Cano Reeves. Deep fake. And his body is very similar to , keanu's body. So when they put the face on, it looks just like him. He was like hair, arms that he would, would like, you would think about the same height and he's just like doing random. But anyway, like, but the point is, one of the, uh, the headlines that I caught my attention was an AI generated rapper named FN Mecca landed a deal with Capital Records becoming the first AI generated rapper to be signed. However, due to controversy over its stereotyping, black people, Capital One dropped the rapper. But the point is now we have AI generated rappers landing record deals that people are working so hard to do. Um, so, so just a little bit behind that, that rapper thing. The project had claimed that the music and lyrics, uh, were generated by an AI using thousands of data points compiled from video games and social media. Uh, later, this was called into question when Houston, Texas base rapper Kyle, the hooligan, claimed to be the anonymous human voice behind FM Mecca. So the idea is that this rapper is generated, the, the wrapping, the music's all generated by ai and, and it was created by a white guy in, in the wrapping, the rapper actually uses the N word, and this is the reason why he was dropped by capital. Records because it was like a white guy who created ai. Um, and you know,

Leo Chan: 19:33

himself was, Okay. I

Mike Tran: 19:35

black, It was black, but it's like, but then it's like you have all these humans trying to be rappers and they're trying to, and then this

Leo Chan: 19:43

Yeah.

Mike Tran: 19:44

lands this record deal. Not only that, but then you move it into AI influencers. Now the one that's most known of, the one I've seen, um, her name was, uh, What is it? Mackel. Yeah. She has 3 million subscribers. She's like this 22 year old or 18 year old,

Leo Chan: 20:01

what's the, uh, what's the Instagram?

Mike Tran: 20:04

M I Q U E L A. Gosh, I'm gonna look at it right now, but it's like crazy. And she's getting, she's getting, you know, brand partnerships. I mean, she like, she has a whole

Leo Chan: 20:18

mean,

Mike Tran: 20:18

behind her. She's 3

Leo Chan: 20:21

like it's just, I feel like it's just, um, it's almost just like a market research thing. Like I don't, like, there's not 10 and hundreds and thousands of them. I think it's more like they would do it just to do it. Like even for brands that do partnerships, it's like, why not? Why not give it a try? It's a one off. Yeah, they have 3 million and if there's good engagement, why not Leslie? Like if it actually.. Um, and I feel like a lot of people could just follow it just to see where this journey goes.

Mike Tran: 20:55

That's my thing. Right? What happens if it doesn't become a one off? Well, how does it start creating these other characters with different storylines? And if they're getting the engagement and the attention, then that's good for brands and then they take over, You know, like we're thinking ahead, like, how much better could the AI become and then like, what happens then? That's, that's my thing because, if you look at the photos, I mean, you can kind of tell right away, but the fact that they're creating this personality of like, you can kind of get an idea of what this person is like. And I don't know, man. It's bizarre

Leo Chan: 21:26

I, think at the end of the day, to me, this kind of stuff is like, if there's an audience for it, it is what it is, you know? And. It's up to you, to decide if you're gonna, if you're into this kind of stuff. If you're not, then you're not gonna follow an AI influencer. Like, to me, I look at this as like, I mean, I'm good Like I don't, I'm I'm okay. And like, I mean, if they want to create other personas and people are into it, if it serves a certain audience, I guess it makes sense. But I feel like it's the same thing as like, You know, you have people that play video games, you have people who watch movies. You have people who listens to podcasts only, and it's like, it's just a different medium and different form of something for different audience. So

Mike Tran: 22:15

Entertainment.

Leo Chan: 22:16

it's different. I mean, I, I could see how people, some people like it just to be like like every time they look at the poll, they probably like, Wow, this looks so real. Or, Oh, this looks so fake. I don't know. Other than that,

Mike Tran: 22:31

So

Leo Chan: 22:31

it's a good project.

Mike Tran: 22:33

just like a temporary fad.

Leo Chan: 22:37

To me, it's just like, if you look at all of YouTube and look at all the influencers and TikTok and all that, like this is kind of the one off, right? This is a very, very one off that like, you know, I don't know, it's just, to me, it's so fake that I personally wouldn't wanna follow this, or I might follow it just for fun, like, I don't know.

Mike Tran: 22:59

Yeah. My thing is obviously I wouldn't follow it either. I just feel like there are people that would follow it and like follow it as if it's an actual person. And that just makes me think of like the future thinking couple years from when the AI becomes even easier for people to generate like. I don't know. And then

Leo Chan: 23:17

Oh, then, Then we don't need actors

Mike Tran: 23:20

that's what I'm saying, like, but you, but then that leads me to like the deep a, like the Elon Musk, the Chinese Elon Musk, Right? Like,

Leo Chan: 23:27

Yeah. Oh, there's a Tom Cruise one too. Yeah.

Mike Tran: 23:30

Oh my God. That one was like bizarre. Like I really, initially I thought it was, was him and I was just like,

Leo Chan: 23:37

Yeah, it's pretty impressive, that's for sure.

Mike Tran: 23:40

It's a little scary to be honest. And then it also puts it in people's minds of like, things that aren't realistic for us, for, uh, actual people. And then people start to kind of get lost in that sauce and like, Oh, but this person does this. And I don't know, I don't, I'm just thinking of like the repercussions of, of this type of. It's like we already have like Photoshop, but we're talking about like someone that can create anything. They want to be perfect.

Leo Chan: 24:03

Right. Yeah. She, she's not gonna have pimples

Mike Tran: 24:06

ever. Yeah, she doesn't

Leo Chan: 24:07

sh she won't get, she won't get sunburn.. Yeah. She'll have perfect lighting every time.

Mike Tran: 24:13

Exactly.

Leo Chan: 24:14

Yeah, it's, um, but I think that's why this is like, to me it's more like a social experiment, right. Like, you kind of figure out how many people would like this, how many people would not like this? And like, like where, Yeah, where does it start? Where does it end? Um, yeah.

Mike Tran: 24:31

It's crazy. I don't know. It's, it is just a topic. I'm sure like you guys listening, definitely go check out the account. You know, let us know, you know, what you think of it. But the handle is the. L i l M I Q U E L A. Check it out. Let us know what you think. But yeah, that was the topic, but it sounds like what you think It's just like a, like a one off thing, a temporary moment where people are just kind of checking out like, Oh, a dfa, Or not dfa, but AI generated, uh, influencer or avatar. See how that does?

Leo Chan: 25:03

Yeah. that's a good topic. I don't feel like, I feel like I've only seen it, but I've never like talked to someone about it, just cuz I dunno, I just kind of brush it off and think, ah,. But maybe you'll be more Um, I don't know. It's just like, But I think back, like all, all this kind of new technology, I think back to how internet was like 20 years ago, right? The dialup aol and how obviously that's involved into all of this. Like obviously like we growing up didn't have internet on our cell phones, but the new generation they're all used to it, but for us it's like I didn't have several phones with anything, let alone wifi and let alone, you know, iPod. And then now there's, is. It's already such a huge step, so it's kind of crazy to imagine what it's anything is gonna look like in 10, 20, 30 years.

Mike Tran: 25:56

Five. Yeah, that's, I mean, it's scary. That's what I'm saying. I mean, a part of me is that I'm excited because of all the great things that could come out of it, but there's also always that, that side where it's negative consequences. Right. It's bad. It's, it's kind of scary. Cuz I can already think of deep a Cause I think I, I mentioned this in the previous podcast. When you start to send like fake news with these deep bakes, you're not gonna know who's saying what. And a lot of people who's not savvy enough to understand. They're gonna think maybe the president said this, and then they're gonna go with it. And then before someone can even debunk that, it's too late, they already, I saw what's his name say this,

Leo Chan: 26:34

Yeah.

Mike Tran: 26:35

you know, that's scary. and then they start believing it.

Leo Chan: 26:37

I could imagine, like, if my mom, who's not tech savvy, she's not really on social media, like she's watching my story. She's like, Whoa, why do your photo disappear? You know, like she doesn't understand social media like that. So for her, if she saw video, like the deep fake, it looks so real. Or like her eyes are not trained to see Little, little glitch.

Mike Tran: 26:58

exactly

Leo Chan: 26:59

to be like, Oh no, that's fake. Like, she might just think it's real. Even our generation, we look at that and we're like, Wait a minute, Like half of us probably get faked by it. Like, I don't know. It's, um, I just like these things is like, I hope we just use it for good use, um, and not for bad intent and all that

Mike Tran: 27:20

Yeah. But yeah. I think we'll stop on that topic, but definitely a crazy down a rabbit hole if you really think about all the, the different ways it could be used. But that's where we're headed. But hopefully we have good people in place to make sure that we're doing the right things. Yeah. So last topic is, Asian born Chinese trailer dropped. So it was more like a first look. It was like a, kind of like a trailer, but also behind scenes of them talking about the, the show, uh, for those who know Asian Born Chinese is an upcoming action comedy television series based on the graphic novel. The same name by Jean. Sorry, I'm never great with names. Filming had begun in Los Angeles by February, 2022. The series is set to Premier, Premier on Disney plus the premise of the show is g Wang struggling with his school life and home life meets the new foreign exchange student at his school leading him to become involved in a battle between God's and Chinese mythology. The cast includes, uh, Michelle, Yo. Daniel Wu Freddie Wong, he's from, uh, Everything all at once and, then Stephanie Sue. So I think this is something cool to talk about because I mean, growing up, like, I don't remember. Obviously anyone that looked like me in a show that was like geared towards children in a situation where the kid is born in America and it also shows him going through, I think it's, I don't know if it's middle school or high school, but like it's going through school basically. And I think it's

Leo Chan: 28:51

like he's in middle school. Yeah.

Mike Tran: 28:52

right? Cause the cartoons I used to watch was like, Hey Arnold, um, Hey Arnold. Uh, what was that? What was that recess one? Um, you know, a couple other things. Um, and There weren't any Asian, you know, members in those shows except for, for, hey Arnold. There was the Vietnamese man, but he had a heavy accent. He was always in his room. He was kind of like, you know, He was actually not bad. He was actually a decent character. But if I'm a kid, I can't, I don't resonate well with that. Cause it's like older man. He's years 40, 50 years old, you know? So to be able to see that for kids now, I mean, that's pretty cool. I mean, what are thoughts on that? Did you, the,

Leo Chan: 29:33

I'm actually, I'm actually just watching right now and like I had no idea. There's like essentially sci-fi like elements to it. That's really cool. I thought it would just kind of be like, Fresh off the, boat, which is fob, and then I thought this would be like the opposite of a fob. So American born Chinese. But uh, I'm watching like some of the scenes That's really cool. They're kind of talking about, the journey to the west story with the

Mike Tran: 30:03

Monkey King,

Leo Chan: 30:04

which like I grew with, that too, so it's like that's really cool that they kind of bringing that element in, And making it like a more American version of. That's really cool. I. had no idea that's where they were going with this at all. Um, That's dope. I think like that's a cool way to like teach that kind of story to the ABCs here that didn't grow up with the shows we grew up with. Um, I mean, anytime you see such a big Asian cast, I think that's dope. And also for a show like this with so much action, that's impressive. It's a really good cast too.

Mike Tran: 30:41

Yeah. I wish I was, uh, like, like a teenager when the show came out. Yeah. Like, you know, like, That's so dope. And again, I think it's a cool way to introduce like the journey to the west, like to the, to the,

Leo Chan: 30:53

I'm getting goosebumps, bro.

Mike Tran: 30:55

like that. Isn't that crazy? Like, now we're introducing the monkey king, the way that we kind of mean, I mean, this is a sidetrack, but, uh, uh, I don't, Cause you know, they made so many different journeys to the West shows, but the one that I, I am like attached to the one that I think is the one, um, which one is it? God, lemme check. I I gotta bring it back cuz it used to be Vietnamese subs. So I, I

Leo Chan: 31:20

Oh, wow. That was one that like, I remember watching as a kid back in Hong Kong, like, it was, like probably in the nineties, like 1997, around that time in, in the, in that nineties.

Mike Tran: 31:34

was, there was just one that they casted so well, in my opinion, those people really look like the, Oh, here it is. Um,

Leo Chan: 31:41

Is it, the original?

Mike Tran: 31:44

journey to the West 1996 TV series. So maybe

Leo Chan: 31:47

that is it. I'm sure. I'm sure it is. Yeah. Um,

Mike Tran: 31:52

There are some pretty big names too. Um, I think they're pretty famous. Uh, let me just bring up a charact. I mean,

Leo Chan: 31:58

no, that's it. That's the famous one That's the one that really like, Yeah.

Mike Tran: 32:03

Chung. Dicky Chung. Um, yeah, that was the one, and every time I saw something else I was like, This is whack.

Leo Chan: 32:10

Yeah. This one.

Mike Tran: 32:11

that's,

Leo Chan: 32:13

The classic,

Mike Tran: 32:14

that was the one I've been try, honestly, I've been trying to rewatch it just because it brought so many memories. That showed the, how long it went in the storylines. I was like, Oh my God, this is

Leo Chan: 32:23

he was so good. Like the whole cast was so Good. And then since then they couldn't really get that same vibe. Um, cuz this one just hit it out of the park.

Mike Tran: 32:35

Mm-hmm.. Leo Chan: But like I, our connection,

Leo Chan: 32:39

That's crazy, right? Like I watched it in Hong Kong, but you watched it with Vietnamese

Mike Tran: 32:43

I I watch it in, Yeah. In Texas.

Leo Chan: 32:46

Texas. Um, but the crazy thing about this is like, I think I rewatched it one time, like 10 years ago just to like, when I was like, Telling people about my childhood memory and I think rewatched it maybe on YouTube when I found like a DVD or something. The graphics. The graphics are hard to swallow. The acting. Yeah. But the graphics back then, listen, there's also Hong Kong, Right, Like the graphics in Hong Kong, that's not marvel of a movie. Like those graphics with the fake clouds. It's hard to stomach now, but At least the acting in the vibe of it is fun at the time You're like,

Mike Tran: 33:22

of it. You know, This is awesome. This is cool. Now kids are like, they don't get the, uh, the journey to the West, but they get Asian born Chinese

Leo Chan: 33:30

Wait, so what's the story behind it? Why are they even showing Yeah. Asian born Chinese. Why, why are they showing all those clips? Is he like imagining things?

Mike Tran: 33:42

Yeah, I'm not sure. I don't, Yeah, that wasn't the official trailer. Trailer, It was just like a

Leo Chan: 33:47

Oh, future red.

Mike Tran: 33:49

Yes feature. Right. Um, and I'm not sure when they're actually gonna release it. Lemme check

Leo Chan: 33:53

I mean, it looks dope. Like what a good, strong cast to have. Michelle. Yo, I think what Daniel woos in it too.

Mike Tran: 34:00

Yeah, Daniel was the monkey king, which I think it's okay. I can kind of seem like that.

Leo Chan: 34:05

I mean, that's cool. I mean, it's what a Disney show. It's like I could see him doing that.

Mike Tran: 34:12

I know. I think it's awesome. I mean, like, again, it's bizarre that we're starting to see so much of this representation. It's happening like every other month we're hearing new things. Um,

Leo Chan: 34:22

could, I could totally see like HBO doing a proper adult version of that show. You know, you, you, like, you, you imagine hbo, you imagine like Game of Thrones. You imagine like what the new Lord the Ring Show You Imagine Westworld, all these sci-fi shows like. That could be a five year thing where not only are they doing warrior shows, but they're like, Let's go deep into Asian history and tell those stories in a sci-fi like big scale way. Like imagine mon imagine journey to the West Money. Yeah. Mon Monkey came, but like. HBO budget, Game of Throne style. We need, we need something like that. That would be

Mike Tran: 35:09

Yeah, that's actually a really good, I just finished, I just watched an episode yesterday of, uh, House of Dragons.

Leo Chan: 35:15

Oh, I,

Mike Tran: 35:15

are you a big, um,

Leo Chan: 35:16

I am, but I have not touched House of Dragons yet. I think I'm only gonna binge it the whole season. I don't wanna do week by

Mike Tran: 35:22

Oh, when it's done?

Leo Chan: 35:23

I've been hurt. It's fine. I just wanna watch the whole season at a time. um, but it's funny cuz like I, I follow so many. Film accounts. I watch a lot of film, YouTube channels and of course every week when a new episode comes out, they're like week five Easter, you know, episode five, Easter egg. So like I see from little things there and there that like they aged or whatever. Anyway, that's all I know.

Mike Tran: 35:46

yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This episode, Yeah, they did do that. So it's actually, it gets a little, it gets a little crazier, so don't wanna spoil anything,

Leo Chan: 35:54

Yeah, keep it at

Mike Tran: 35:55

but yeah. Um, any last thoughts on Asian born Chinese?

Leo Chan: 35:59

Um, that was my first, first look at the feature red and it looks really dope. Uh, I'm really, really excited for it. And I think Disney Plus needs more shows like that other than their Marvel stuff. Cause the Marvel stuff has gone down a lot in quality. So this will be very exciting to watch

Mike Tran: 36:16

Yeah. That's another, uh, topic to discuss because I is like, like long term. Is that even a, like a good thing that they're like kind of splitting out? You know, subpar, like, I think it hurts the brand a little bit, in my opinion.

Leo Chan: 36:28

it is dropped off a lot since, since Sean Chi and Spiderman. No way home. Everything else is just kinda subpar quality and it's gone. It's basically gone to quantity over quality now. Um, Yeah.

Mike Tran: 36:43

Trying to feed the, uh, the plot, the, the streaming monster,

Leo Chan: 36:46

we can go deeper into that. But basically another, another thing that was, uh, a simple line. Someone said, I, I read a comment. They were like, you know, it's bad when you're more looking forward to the DC Comics movie than Marvel at this moment. And I'm like, You're right. Cuz I am looking forward to Black Adam with the Rock. I'm looking forward to Joker two. I'm looking forward to what they do with the Batman. It's like, yeah, I'm excited to see what they're doing with that. Cause now it's kinda like the. It's kind of like what Marvel used to do, just one movie at a time, stand alone and built it

Mike Tran: 37:18

Yeah. And yeah, build up that anticipation. But now it's like we're getting it so often it's like it's not as special anymore and the quality is not great. So it's like what,

Leo Chan: 37:27

Yeah.. Yeah. We can go a whole other topic with that. Uh, another time,

Mike Tran: 37:34

Yeah. Um, but yeah. There you have guys, our barbershop talk. Three topics of just random things that come into our minds. Um, you know, hopefully makes you, you know, think a little bit, like, for instance, the ai, like what's it gonna happen in the future? Uh, what Asian born Chinese means for the next generation, or. Do you really need to make over 200,000 to just be, you know, if you're five foot, like, do you have to make a million dollars? Like what happens in, But anyway, those are the things we talk about. I feel like we talk about at a barbershop.

Leo Chan: 38:02

or, Or if you need to move all the way from New York City to LA and buy a house, you know,

Mike Tran: 38:11

like that's crazy. And yeah, the, the update too. Congrats again. And hopefully, you know, Because I mean, we're gonna be so much closer now, so it's like we'll be able to see each other more often and I think that's pretty cool. So, So selfishly I'm like, lock in that house.

Leo Chan: 38:26

All my friends are like All my friends want me in California. And I'm like, I hope you're ready near your hustle in California. It might be a different energy, but it's good. I'm excited. I'm excited. So hopefully everything goes smoothly. Everything goes through.

Mike Tran: 38:41

Cool. Um, alright guys. Nice speaking with you, Leo. I appreciate the, Um, but yeah, other than that, guys, hope you guys enjoyed today's episode. Make sure to subscribe. Please, uh, turn on the notification so that you'll know when a new episode drops. We are back, We are gonna be dropping every Wednesday around

11: 38:59

00 Pacific Standard time. So be sure and also if you guys enjoy the episode, know you guys do I see the stats, Leave a review, help us out, drop a review. For some odd reason, I don't know, when we search Asian American podcast, we don't show. So I don't know why that is, and we've been around for a while now. Uh, it might be keywords or maybe the title of the, the podcast, but I think we deserve be on that list and we need your help to help us by lever reviews, let people know. Um, and also, I guess I can talk about the next one, but big changes for Asian men's wear, which as you guys may or may not notice, I've, uh, transitioned it over to am. I'll talk about that maybe the next episode. But really excited about it. Very happy about where it's going. Just for me. Um, but I think you guys will be happy about it as well. So maybe I'll discuss on the next episode. Other than that, guys, enjoy your day. We'll talk to you guys for the next one. All right, guys. Peace.

Leo Chan: 39:51

Pace.