D*ng!: Dysfunctional Asian-American family, with Andrew Law as a gay brother. Gen Z humor, gross-out jokes, cute gay guys, and Brian Jordan Alvarez..

  

The ultra-Puritans put this behind a s*nsitive warning again. For the life of me, I could not figure out why, except that they disapprove of the title of the tv series, which is itself a euphemism for d*mn.  Surely they're not that picky?  Even when I was a kid, we could say d*ng.

Link to the not fully clothed photos

I've been looking forward to the animated D*ng!, about dysfunctional Asian-American siblings, wiith some trepidation.  In one of the scenes in the trailer, Andrew D*ng struggles to say something to a burly Hispanic dude in a bodega, knocks over a display, says "I love you!" and leaves in embarrassment.  Sounds like he's gay, but in another scene, he's knocking over furniture in enthusiastic kissing and hugging with a woman, so I'm not sure.  I've been fooled by queerbaiting trailers before.

But it stars Andrew Law, the showrunner of The Family Law, about a Chinese-Australian boy coming out, so we'll give it a try.

Scene 1: Boardroom at the XY Deadstock Company.  Andrew calls a meeting with his disengaged, phone-scrolling "gr*ndset alpha" employees.  His co-owner fires him because "every day you spend hours in the bathroom, eavesdropping on your own employees and tweeting their conversations."

"Can't fire me if you can't catch me!" He runs away in a panic, chased by security guards in a parody of those zany movie chases. One expects to hear "Yackety Sax" in the background.  He runs into Lucille,  Head of HR, who hands him the termination papers.

Scene 2: A purple-haired woman is livestreaming her (censored) videos, accumulating coins. If she gets enough, she promises marble rye. Andrew comes and gets yelled at for interrupting. She notes that she's only doing this until she lands the job at (censored), Kate Hudson's lip gloss newsletter. 

Andrew being fired will be a major inconvenience, since he pays for all her stuff. "Go back and fight for your job."

Scene 3: Andrew begs the Co-Owner to give him his job back.  "We're a world-changing company!" "We let teens resell their (censored) for $6,000.  And you don't do anything."  Who would spend that much on a used (censored)?  

"My lawyer and I will see you in court!"

"Isn't that just a guy you dated?"  

"We only dated once, and it was mostly (censored)."

Gay identity established at Minute 5.00, but what about the enthusiastic girl-kissing?  Maybe it's bi identity.

Scene 4: Lawyer tells Andrew that they have two options: Prove that the Bathroom Twitter account wasn't his.   "Nope, it was mine."  Ok, prove that he was wrongfully terminated.   His older sister Ruthie texts, so he runs away.

The IMDB and the closing credits don't reveal which actor plays which character, so all I know is that Brian Jordan Alvarez and Jared Goldstein (not fully clothed on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends) are in the cast Also Adam Palley (below).

Cut to (censored), where Purple-Haired Sister is waiting for her internship interview.  The receptionist offers several wacky perks, like a cranial massage, bone marrow broth, and a rude therapist: "A gay guy who agrees with everything you say, but goes too far."

She's interviewed by a young teen girl who puts rose quartz in her coffee.  They're ready to hire her, when Andrew appears, gesturing wildly.   "Our Sister Ruthie is in town, and she wants to...ugh...grab dinner!" 

"Don't panic.  We can avoid her until she leaves."

Scene 5: They run back to their apartment to grab some essentials and hide, but she's in the house!  She explains that she's moving to town for her very important, very successful job, so she'll be able to evaluate their tech business and muffin shop. 

The siblings don't have either of those careers!  "When Little Miss Perfect finds out, she'll be sooo annoying!"

Purple-Hair has another interview at (censored), so Andrew is in charge of entertaining their sister for the day. She interviews with Kate, who is trying "interminable fasting" and doesn't know what "Cornell" means.

More after the break

Scene 6: Sister wants to see Andrew's very important office, but he takes her to a coffee shop instead.  She yells at him for being a push-over. "Stand up for yourself! Stop apologizing for everything.  You apologized to your ex when he broke up with you!"

Next he starts doing something rude, and can't eat most foods.  Also, he did something rude in his pants recently.  She diagnoses him with IBS.  He doesn't want to talk about it.

He shows up at (Censored) while Purple-Hair is arrange her new desk (and stealing things). "I can't handle her for the whole day.  It's exhausting!"

Purple-Hair follows him, and their lack of career success comes out. "You two are hopeless!" she exclaims.   They yell "We can't be as perfect as you..."

Suddenly she starts sobbing.  "My life is over."  

Scene 7:  At a restaurant, Sister gives them the details. She cheated on her husband with her boss, and he caught them doing stuff!  He tried to make small talk and bring them towels, so of course she had to break up with him.  The boss dumped her. Now she's pregnant, and (censored reference), and she needs someone to leave her money to so it won't go to ...ugh...charity.

The flashback may contain the energetic kissing from the trailer.  The boss and Andrew are both young Asian men wearing blue shirts, and it's just a split second scene.  Why are they both wearing blue shirts?  Apparently to mislead the viewers into thinking that Andrew is straight.

The siblings are pleased.  This means that their sister is not perfect after all!  "You're one of us now, you stupid pregnant b*tch!"

Scene 8: Andrew thinks they should apologize for being too harsh on their sister.  They go to her hotel, but she checked out. She's on her way to the airport!  They track her down for a "Please stay!" moment. 

Cut to Sister at Andrew's old job.  She explains that he was in the bathroom a lot because he has IBS, a pre-existing medical condition.  She forces the boss to re-hire him to head the in-house apparel line: "Design has always been my passion.  Give me your wildest clothing designs, and we'll make them happen." 

A guy recommends shirt-pants, which was Andrew's idea.  "You're my new best friend," he exclaims.  The end. 

They turn out to be best friends later on.

Beefcake: Some shirtless muscle guys in future episodes.

Heterosexism: The Older Sister's husband re-appears.

Gay Characters: Andrew gets some plotlines.  He has a cre of three guys.

My Grade: I wasn't happy with the gross-out and Gen Z humor, which I barely understood, but then I'm not in the intended audience. In a later episode, Andrew runs into a friend from his evangelical days, and explains: "I'm not a Christian anymore, I'm gay."  This rubbed me the wrong way: "Christian" and "gay" are not mutually exclusive categories.  The guy just needed to find a gay-positive church. And Andrew is the quiet, scared gay guy that we see in animation a lot.  C+

Update: Andrew Law is not the creator of The Family Law.  That's Benjamin Law.  But at least he's gay in real life.

Left: Adam Palley

See also: "English Teacher" Episode 1.8: Birthday party at a (censored) bar, with Evan's work friends

"Pretty Dudes": Gay Asian erasure, Spiderman, a car hookup, and hamburger (censored). All in11 minutes. With some pretty dudes

Chicago Party Aunt, Episode 1.5: Free-spirit Diane tries to help her gay nephew get his first kiss. Will it be with his dentist?

"The Family Law": Chinese-Australian Boy Struggles to Come Out