The real life (https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jan/23/eddie-huang-tv-fresh-off-the-boat) Eddie Huang (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Huang)'s parents were physically, emotionally, and mentally abusive and his father was a violent former gang member (https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/24/fashion/eddie-huang-defies-description.html) who used whips to beat the stuffing out of his kids. The whole book (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresh_Off_the_Boat:_A_Memoir) is based around how he turned to drugs, petty crime, and underground culture as a way to cope with feeling like he wasn't heard by either his parents or American society.