Even Stonewall Democrats find her a bit too controversial: Margaret Cho

Comedian Margaret Cho doesn’t shy away from controversy. To the contrary, she courts it.

Recently, she called Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin the worst thing to happen to America since 9/11. She also peppers her stand-up routines with raunchy language and observations.

A Korean-American, Cho broke ground in 1994 when she became the first Asian woman to star in her own TV show, All American Girl. However, the honor didn’t come cheap. Criticized by network executives for her non-svelte figure, she went on a starvation diet and ended up suffering kidney failure. During the show’s short run, she also was criticized for being both too Asian and not Asian enough.

Such a program would fare better today, Cho said, citing her own VH1 sitcom, The Cho Show, as evidence.

Cho talked about all this and more during a recent phone interview she granted to publicize “Beautiful,” the comedy show she’s bringing to Columbus this weekend. In fact, about the only thing she seemed uneager to talk about was her parents, including her father, who writes about Korean humor.

“I don’t know anything about that stuff,” Cho said.

Your actual given name is Moran, which inspired other kids to call you “moron” when you were a child. Was that the worst problem you had growing up?

I don’t think so. I think I had quite a lot of other problems. I was a very shy kid and didn’t really know what to do or what to say or how to be. I was also a pretty overweight kid—really fat. And if you’re a fat kid, people just don’t look at you, like you’re invisible—which is so weird ’cause, like, there’s so much of you to see and nobody’s looking.

What kind of problems did you get into as a child?

Well, I didn’t finish high school. I was very angry at my parents. I think I just wanted to rebel against them, and the only way I knew how was to not do well in school because they valued education so much.

Why did you want to rebel against your parents?

Kids do.

You were raised in a racially mixed neighborhood in San Francisco. Did that protect you from the effects of racism, at least?

Yeah, I think so. I didn’t end up feeling it until I became a comedian, when I was traveling all over and going to places where there weren’t any Asians, and I was very uncomfortable. Weird, very weird. But I think that when I really started to encounter racism wasn’t really so much until I actually came to Los Angeles and became an actor and tried to make it into Hollywood. Very difficult.

On the recent Emmy broadcast, Sandra Oh said she liked watching M*A*S*H when she was growing up because it included people who looked like her. Did you ever feel the same way about the show?

Yes, I thought M*A*S*H was exciting because there was Asian people on it.

But weren’t they just peripheral characters?

Right, well that’s all you have, though. I mean that was all that we had.

When you did your own show, All American Girl, did you spend much time thinking about the fact that it was the first show to have a female Asian star?

It was a huge, big deal because it was the first show that featured an Asian-American family. I mean, it was a very groundbreaking show.

But you ended up suffering kidney failure after trying to starve yourself to fit a certain body image. Was the show just a completely painful experience for you?

No, I think it was positive in some ways. I mean, it helped me learn about, you know, show business, and it helped me learn how cutthroat it is and how difficult it is.

Moving to politics, I understand you’ve gotten in trouble for your criticism of President Bush. Has the backlash reached Dixie Chicks kind of proportions?

No, not to that extent because I have a different fan base than the Dixie Chicks. So people who are our fans would agree with any criticism that I would have about anybody. I mean, they kind of get it.

You also said Sarah Palin’s vice-presidential nomination was the worst thing to happen to America since 9/11. Do you want to explain what you meant?

Well, it’s bad in a lot of ways. It’s bad for women—it’s bad for the (fallacy) that she’s a feminist. She’s not a feminist. Saying that she’s a feminist is like saying that an evangelical is a Christian. They are not the same thing. And this idea that we’re putting somebody in the White House, or that we could put somebody in the White House, who uses words like “holy war”—that’s very troubling for me. That’s just like an Islamic fundamentalist would speak. You know, I don’t think she is good for the country.

I understand that during the 2004 Democratic National Convention you were uninvited to speak at a Human Rights Campaign and National Stonewall Democrats fundraiser because you were considered too controversial.

Yeah, that happens to me all the time. So it’s fine. It’s because I don’t censor myself, which is why people should come and see me.

So when people come to your show in Columbus, what should they expect?

They should brace themselves. It’s very political, it’s very raunchy. It’s very fun.