Asian Majority

Yes, they are back! Leading Asian men in a funny movie breaking stereotypes. This is the third installment of the franchise, and hopefully we will have a strong showing here.

The first one was definitely the most funny and unexpected whereas the second one just wasn’t as strong. The positive outcome of all this though is that we are breaking down barriers again in Hollywood. The screen writers were actually Jewish and not Asians, but much respect for them in casting the way they did.

Kal Penn and John Cho take the lead once again with Neal Patrick Harris returning. Now why this movie is in 3D is purely for money making purposes I’m sure, but hasn’t that been the case with way too many movies recently? People just know how to take something amazing (Avatar 3-D scenes) and just try to milk it!

Still, I’m excited for the movie and for the starring Asian men breaking the stereotypes.

Original article in Washington Post: Article.

So, I blogged earlier about Miley Cyrus and the photo taken of her and her friends making slanty eyes which is mocking to Asians. After quite the weak “apology”, she finally came out and provided a more sincere one after pressure continued to mount. The backlash continues with a lawsuit being filed against her by lawyer Lucie J. Kim, and even Margaret Cho getting in on the act and calling Miley a “disgrace” (on a tangential note, great job Lucie! Smart way to show we won’t stand down and to bring some nice publicity to yourself.

I have to say that I am proud of the Asian Community finally standing up and making noise. We will no longer be silent!

Still though, I want to put some context around everything. I have looked through many news sites, blogs, etc. and viewed various comments and would like to provide a viewpoint on some of the most popular ones.

1) “She’s just a young teenager!”
But she’s not. She’s a celebrity and as such, you unfortunately don’t get the same rights and privileges as other people. Celebrities are not the same as you and me. Also, if she did something insulting to say African Americans or Jewish people, would they say the same line that she’s just a teen?

2) “I’m Asian, and I’m not insulted.”
This one just makes me sad, and yet we are often the product of our society. Up until now, the mass society said it’s ok to make fun of Asians, but I hope the tide is changing even more now. Anyhow, hopefully these people become independent thinkers and not brain-washed anymore.

3) “This picture is taken out of context.”
I have to agree that there may be a lot of validity in this one. I’m not saying that it excuses the initial unapologetic behavior, but if I were to make a bet on whether or not she really is a racist, my guess is likely not. Was she just having fun with friends? Possibly. Probably. And yet, as I mentioned before, you need to respond appropriately and apologize anyhow because as a celebrity, your actions impact others. You just don’t have the same rights.

4) “There’s an Asian guy in the picture!” or “The Asian guy is making round eyed face making fun of Caucasians.”
It’s a bit related to comment #3. And also though, it may be related to #2. I don’t know what that Asian person is thinking. Maybe they’re all close friends having fun and being goofy. Maybe he’s brainwashed and hates being Asian. I don’ t know. It’s a tangential point though. Interesting thought though. I wonder what the impact would be if say say John Cho and a bunch of Asian people pushed in their faces to make “Caucasian” eyes would be. Likely the public sentiment would be to throw a bunch of racial slurs at them. Sad…there isn’t even a really young teenage Asian person I can think of as a celebrity of the same fame.

5) “This lawsuit is ridiculous!”
Yes. Agreed. The thing you need to remember though is that this isn’t really about money. It’s about making a statement and saying that it’s not ok to make fun of Asians. Do they really think they’re going to win money in such a suit? No, I don’t think so, but in America, this is one way to make a statement. Is it the most effective way? It definitely does have an effect. More powerful may be economic protest in no longer purchasing or endorsing her shows, products, etc.

I think this covers the big ones. Feel free to comment or ask for an opinion on your own thoughts or others you have seen out there.

One of many articles: http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/02/12/2009-02-12_comedian_margaret_cho_calls_miley_cyrus_.html

I was watching Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist and was quite excited to see Asian cast member Aaron Yoo who has popped up in other films such as 21 and recently Friday the 13th. Disappointingly though, he was cast as someone gay which seems to be a popular role for Asians. Hollywood likes to have less masculine Asian males for some reason (e.g., Entourage). They weren’t very flagrant about it though, and the other two gay band members were Caucasian males too. I don’t see it as super-offensive at least and having exposure is a start.

In more positive news, GI Joe will have an Asian! Sure, it’s a role for an Asian character who knows kung fu and such, but again, it’s exposure and chances to start opening opportunities. This time it’s actually Korean actor Lee Byung Hun for the role of Storm Shadow. Besides, in 21, the main character and others who were Asian were cast with someone who wasn’t Asian! And that’s based on a true story (see http://www.asianmajority.com/the-movie-21hollywood-strikes-again/)!

For a brief blurb and other recent Asians in Hollywood, see here: http://www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/090206/article.asp?parentID=104273

Miley Cyrus has been photographed while making “slant-eyes” which is an obvious affront to all Asian Americans. There have been cries for apologies which are yet to come. She apologized in the past for posing in a magazine with little but a satin bedsheet, so if there is no apology here, that is unacceptable. I hope we hear about one soon.

Yet again, Asians are targets whereas other races such as African Americans would not have been mocked. You think Miley would show up in pics wearing “blackface”?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_cyrus;_ylt=AmkpXGafdoFRjQ1NqoGh5Q4DW7oF

You would think that people would learn lessons from others. Hollywood in the past wouldn’t hire African American actors but are now making a fortune off of many of them. So…don’t exclude other races, especially when some roles are actually meant for them such as Asian Americans!

So the latest blunder has to do with the animated cartoon “Avatar: the last airbender” which aired on Nickelodean. This hit show in itself did actually provide a platform for Asians to see an Asian-inspired show with Asian-inspired themes and characters. The success inspired a live-action movie.

Dig in a little deeper and that’s where it starts to go bad. The cartoon itself was created by two Caucasians which is ok, but I wonder if two Asian Americans pitched the same idea that it would have launched. Maybe that’s too much speculation, but the outrage is that the new cast of unknowns are all Caucasians too! This is ridiculous given the themes and content of the cartoon.

We’re making some inroads, but obviously not quick enough.

Story here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2009/01/28/apop012809.DTL

In order to spread some Asian American Awareness, here is an announcement for a film festival. Submit your film and be heard. Read on (and find out what the acronyms all stand for):

Last Call for Submissions for the 9th Annual DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival

DC APA Film is now accepting submissions for its 9th annual film festival this fall. We will fairly consider all submissions that are directed by, written by, produced by, starring or about Asian Pacific Americans (APAs) and Asian Diaspora populations. The mission of DC APA Film is to bring attention to the creative output from APA communities and encourage the artistic development of film by and about APA communities in the greater Washington, DC region and beyond. Short and feature length films of all categories are shown at notable venues around the Washington, DC metropolitan area such as the Smithsonian Institution and National Museum of Women in the Arts. See www.apafilm.org for more information about our organization and previous
festivals.

Submission fee discounts available for films postmarked before the early deadline and for films submitted electronically through our withoutabox
site at http://www.withoutabox.com/login/5151. Deadlines: May 2, 2008 (Early) / May 31, 2008 (Late)

Submit your film at: http://www.withoutabox.com/login/5151 or contact
Wyman Lee at wyman@apafilm.org for a paper submission form.

So right after a positive posting about Hollywood changing, here’s one to show you not much has changed. The movie ’21′ is based on the book “Bringing Down the House” about a few MIT students that were very effective at card counting to take millions from casinos. So, why is it so insulting?

ALL, not some, but ALL the main characters in real life were Asian American. Hmm…let’s take Coach Carter and cast him as a white person. How does Hollywood get away with it for Asians?!?!? As Asians, we need to take a stand here. There is a lot more Asian talent in Hollywood so give us the opportunities. And when we get slapped in the face like that, we need to fight back.

Yet sadly, even the real life character, Jeff Ma, does not appear to have an issue. In fact he said he’d be more insulted if the character were cast with a Japanese or Korean actor?!?! Come on, at least you are in the same ballpark and getting some Asian American exposure. That’s the sad part of this all. At least there appear to be one or two Asian characters even if the roles are smaller.

The media really does brainwash kids, and without any positive role models and pride, we will not gain ground for our image. At least they didn’t cast a male lead with an Asian female love interest (like a recent VW commercial…at least in that one, the African American holds the keys). So until that point, most Asians will buy into the hype and not have enough independent thinking to have pride in themselves and stand up for themselves. Instead, we will continue to look down at ourselves, shun members of our own race, and never grow.

Young minds, make the change now and be the generation that can affect the change! Be proud of who you are. African Americans used to suffer from lack of pride and see how far they have come. Let’s make progress.

Two articles:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2008-03-25-jeff-ma-21_N.htm

http://www.gambling911.com/Movie-21-Jeff-Ma-032708.html


Movie trailer:

Shall we protest and boycott the movie?

Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle is one of the recent bigger hits starring Asian Americans Kal Penn and John Cho. This movie is actually quite entertaining and although it does show some stereotypes, it also dispels others. And, well, it’s a funny movie which I highly recommend if you haven’t seen it.

The sequel named Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay is coming out on April 25th. Recently, John Cho sat down for an interview during the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. There were a few good insights on his views.

For one, he does believe Asians are getting much more exposure than before, but we still have a long way to go. He also talks about his upcoming role as Sulu and the fact that he’s a Korean American portraying a Japanese character and why he is comfortable with that. Most interesting is that his comment that it seems that as Asian Americans, we are being portrayed more and also being represented to and sold to in commercials. And the comment is that if they are selling to us, they smell money and that’s a good thing. Ahh, Hollywood. Economics drives everything, huh?

Here is the interview: http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=946b59c59a69db749cb781e0d6a6f9b6

Here is the trailer for the upcoming movie:

A yellowface performance is a term analogous to the blackface performances in the past where whites would paint their faces black to portray a person of African descent. Yellowface refers to non-Asians cast and playing Asian characters often with the same mockery that African-American had to endure. Are we making any progress here?

AsianWeek has posted an article with the 25 Most Infamous Yellowface Performances which include such famous mockeries as Breakfast at Tiffanys. These injustices are infuriating. A lot of these films are very old, but some are recent. Would anyone dare pull blackface now? More fighting for our rights is necessary.

Here’s the article: Article

From the time I was growing up, most of the Asian males I saw in the movies or Hollywood were Kung Fu masters (remember Kung Fu theater?) or nerds with accents. The kung fu masters I didn’t mind too much especially since the Kung Fu theater movies were actually typically Hong Kong flicks. Although the fact they had broken English accents was kind of bad, but they translated just about as much Cantonese I understood…

Portrayal of being smart doesn’t bother me too much either but always geeky? Come on. So, as a young and impressionable kid, it’s quite easy to not have Asian American heroes. I cringe to think of how many youths became ashamed of their heritage or how many kids have a skewed view of Asians.

These days, there seems to be a turning tide. Let’s hope this lasts!

No more from me as a good article in AsianWeek was written by Philip W. Chung. Check it out here: http://www.asianweek.com/2007/10/22/is-hollywood-giving-asian-men-more-love/