"Angry Little Asian Girl"

Mother

Kim

The "Angry Little Asian Girl" cartoonist is Lela Lee. Lela was born in Los Angeles in 1974. She spent much of her early childhood in Korea with her grandparents. Lela later moved back to Van Nuys to join the rest of her family. Her cartoon days began when she was attending Berkley in her sophomore year. While attending Spike and Mike's Twisted Festival of Animation, she became very disturbed with the animations. She believed the animations were "sexist and racist." After the show she was challenged by a friend to create her own cartoon. Thus, the Angry Little Asian Girl cartoon was created. Her first cartoon was of a character named Kim who was the actual Angry Little Asian Girl (ALAG). This cartoon was created with crayola markers and typing papers. As she got more popular, she began creating new characters. She taught herself how to draw cartoons with books she got at the library. These cartoons are nothing spectacular. It probably only takes Lela a few hours to make these comics, yet they are so popular! 
Perhaps the reason why these characters became so popular is because of how so many people can relate with the feelings that they are projecting. It's as if Lela is drawing characters that are saying exactly what everyone is feeling but is too afraid to say out loud. It is very possible that these are characters that are from or were from Lela's life. Take for instance Mother Lee. That could very well have been how Lela's mother treated her! 
The other characters are so relatable because it seems like everyone has those types of friends. Xyla is the pessimistic "Eeyore" who is always looking at the glass as half empty. Wanda is the positive, energetic friend who we all love having around us. Deborah is the rich, beautiful, popular friend who has it all. The friend whom we envy. Pat is the gay friend who wishes he was a girl. And then there is Bruce, or the "bad boyfriend" He is sort of the wimpy, unconfident boyfriend who is always scared he will offend Kim. Every single one of her characters shows something different. I believe that these are not just characters from Lela's life, but from all of our lives. We can all relate with Lela's characters. It might not even be other friends like that in her life. It could very well be that Lela is drawing characters all from her own personality. Perhaps even from all of our personalities. The beauty of it is that no matter who is looking at the cartoons, they can relate with at least one of them. We may laugh at the comics but deep down we know they are saying what we are thinking!
One of Lela's most famous quotes is, "Angry Little Asian Girl is my inner hero. She says all the things I wish I could say." Lela is referring specifically to Kim. Kim constantly has moments where she explodes and says exactly what she is feeling. When people watch the videos of the Angry Little Asian Girl, they often laugh at the outrageous things Kim says. Are they really that outrageous? I think the reason why we don't just brush off these videos is because the things Kim says are exactly what we all want to say but are too ashamed to say it. The characters are so real! We are all thinking it, and they are all saying it. Instead of putting on a face like we all do in society, Kim is showing her unfiltered side. It's her true identity. These characters are by not masterpieces because they are beautifully drawn, but rather because of the messages that they portray. They are 100% identity.
On the angry little girls website, there are tons of things you can buy. She has shirts, videos, and e-cards. Another funny thing I found was that there is a game you can play on the website. It's called the "beat up your bad boyfriend" game. You can actually upload a picture of your boyfriend and then play this little boxing game to beat him up! I wonder if Lela ever had a bad boyfriend? Hmm...
Lela also has a blog that she writes on. She also recently came out with "Fairy Tales for Angry Little Girls." One of the lines in the book is "Because no one lives happily ever after." Sad... But basically true! Once again, Lela has written something that explains how real life actually is.

Lela Lee

Here is a link to the website. It has all the comics, characters, and products from the "Angry Little Asian Girl" series.
http://www.angrylittlegirls.com/