Importance of Karen Lee

    In Charles Yu's Interior Chinatown, the author has used the usage of written montages and his own movie scenes to describe who people area and to introduce more backstory to a character. He wrote a montage of Older Brother's rise and his story to Kung Fu Guy. The author also wrote a movie scene on the backstory of his parents falling in love and how his father became Sifu and Kung Fu Guy. Another montage he wrote about was his relationship with Karen Lee in the 45 days that he was dead. However, I found that the romantic montage Willis wrote about his relationship with Karen Lee was comparatively less about the other character and had more about himself.

    When Willis had his montage of Older Brother, in the writing one can see the awe and respect people had towards him. "Older Brother was the inverse. Not a legend but a myth" (Yu 24) Older Brother is being compared to Bruce Lee and even respected to an even higher level. If Older Brother had made it any bigger the people of the SRO would've worshipped him. Willis makes him out to be an all-around guy where "everyone admired his level of comfort, moving in and out of language and subculture..." (Yu 26). He even goes on to explain the influence he has everywhere with everyone. Willis is brimming with respect and admiration for Older Brother and has all these details of different situations of him. All of these stories are about the Older Brother and little about his personal experiences and how he changed.

    The montage differs with Karen Lee as it seems more informal and a recount of a real situation rather than speaking about an idol. At first he is struck with awe demonstrating his surprise and his admiration for her. For the first three pages it's just information about their first date when he learns about her background, her family, etc. (Yu 167-170). These details are things he all learned about her and demonstrates how he is beginning to learn more and admire more about Karen. Willis even writes his own thoughts about the moment of "you really noticed me? You want to ask her that but you don't." (Yu 169). For once Willis is experiencing getting noticed by someone else and noticing him while he wasn't Kung Fu Guy or Older Brother.

    I think the importance of Karen was that Willis was getting a glimpse of being seen for who he is and not just as Generic Asian Man or special guest. He is being noticed for his individuality and has someone who recognizes that he has problems too. For once Willis is not in the back anymore and is actually seen by someone else other than his family. He is almost living in a dream until he goes back to work and is no longer dead. Even though work and his fixation for the role of Kung Fu Guy made him take Karen for granted, for those 45 days, Karen showed Willis what it truly meant to be seen and to be loved in a way that was better than whatever Kung Fu Guy would have offered him.