The movie, Sixteen Candles, was released to the American public on May 4, 1984. The film was directed by John Hughes and boasted a starlit cast which included Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, and John Cusack. The movie was a huge success during the 80's and was a pop culture reference known by most teenagers of the era.

Sixteen Candles revolved around Ringwald's character, Samantha Baker, and her dramatic high school life around the time of her 16th birthday. Throw in some goofy characters here and there and you have the gist of the movie. Surprisingly, Ringwald's character and performance was eclipsed by that of Gedde Watanabe. "Gedde who?" you ask? Perhaps it would be better to refer to him as Long Duk Dong, the foreign exchange student who lived in Baker's house. This character and the success of the movie caused waves of disgust from the Asian American community.

Long Duk Dong's lines were few, but they were remembered by all who saw the movie. Echoes of "What's happenin', hot stuff?", "Oh, sexy girlfriend!" and "No more yanky my wanky" can still be heard today...trust me. Dong's limited appearance and role made a huge impact on American culture in which Asian Americans, unfortunately, got the short end of the stick. Long Duk Dong created a less than desirable stereotype for Asian Americans of the time in which all Asians were seen as FOBs (fresh of the boat) who spoke with thick accents and were all around socially awkward. There was actually few positive attributes to Watanabe's character to note, if any. Given the fact that Asian Americans didn't have a strong presence at the time, Dong gave all Asian Americans a significant social handicap. Before the time of Sixteen Candles, it was said most Asian kids in America were called or related to "Bruce Lee" which is in no way a bad correlation. The move from being called "Bruce Lee" to "Donger" resulted in all Asian American males crying for vengeance against Watanabe.

The effect that Long Duk Dong had on Asians in film is arguable. Prior to his role, Asians were seen more prominently in films such as Enter the Dragon and Drunken Master. Take notice that both of these films take place on foreign soil which maintains to a degree the foreignness of Asians while adding a bit of danger to their reputation. The fact that Sixteen Candles takes place in America where it is clear to see how an "Asian" would act in high school culture overrides the previously mentioned stereotypes. Since then, it has been an uphill battle for Asian American actors who have trouble finding normal American roles in commercials, TV and film. The Asian American community still awaits a strong Asian American presence in film who can spin them in a better light. But until that actor comes, we are all still victims to the name "Donger".