Both instances bring about the opposite effect of Han Christian Andersen's warning in The Emperor's New Clothes – for here, it's not so much that a child might be able to shatter the illusion and thus had to be told to shut up, but a much worse situation: the illusion itself has already been shattered and it is the rest of us who are holding it together.
It's about being able to shatter the myths of those who would peddle a world view clearly at odds with the reality of what many Asians experience.
She made reference to a speech made by Hillary Clinton when she conceded defeat to Barack Obama in 2008, saying: "We weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time" after a bruising primary campaign.
While stillness and silent transmission of thought are the most important parts of small-screen acting, a performer also needs to be able to shatter the mask for startling contrast.
"Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time," she told a crowd in Washington, "thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it, and the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time".
"[W]e weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time," she said in her concession speech.
In words that might yet find an echo in 2016, she said: "Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18m cracks in it.
In her concession, Hillary's message soared: "Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about eighteen million cracks in it.
In her concession speech, on 7 June in Washington, she told her disappointed supporters: "Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you it's got about 18 million cracks in it".
"Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it," she said at the time.
