First off the article I am posting about is referring to a television series called Nikita. I got a summary off of wiki for reference of those who don’t know what the show is or haven’t heard of it. “Nikita is an American television series that aired on from September 9, 2010 to December 27, 2013 in the United States. The series focuses on Nikita (maggie Q), a woman who escaped from a secret government-funded organization known as Division and, after a three-year hiding period, is back to bring down the organization.” Actress Lucy Liu is where the basis of this post begins.

Heres the article for the link (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/22/arts/television/maggie-q-and-lucy-liu-asian-americans-as-leading-ladies.html?_r=0 ) Otherwise the rest of the post will be summarizing the article as well as my thoughts.

Even Maggie Q and Ms. Liu haven’t completely escaped those archetypes. Both are playing the latest iterations of durable characters traditionally inhabited by white performers, so it would seem that race shouldn’t have any particular bearing. But the truth is that they resonate with two of the most common sets of images — or clichés — about Asian women: the high-achieving, socially awkward Dr. Joan Watson is a refined example of the sexy nerd, and the lethal, sometimes icy Nikita, able to dispense violence while wearing tight, microscopic outfits, evokes a long line of dragon ladies and ninja killers.

In both cases, though, the actresses and their writers have avoided or transcended easy stereotypes. A lot of effort has gone into humanizing Nikita,

That’s the fate of some other Asian-American actresses in roles that play more obviously to geekiness or braininess, and are visually coded for easy comprehension. Liza Lapira wears fright clothes and dowdy haircuts as the sidekick Helen-Alice on “Super Fun Night” (ABC), something she already endured as the eccentric neighbor on “Don’t Trust the B — — in Apt. 23” last season. On “Awkward” (MTV), Jessica Lu, as the rebellious daughter of strict Chinese parents, sports a hat with ears while Jessika Van, as her Asian rival, is dressed in starched outfits that make her look like an Amish schoolteacher. Both Ms. Lapira and Ms. Lu are accessorized with glasses — big black ones — something neither appears to wear in real life. Also occasionally donning glasses is Brenda Song as a video-game company executive in “Dads,” on Fox, though her most distinctive costume remains the sailor-girl outfit she wore in the pilot, part of an extended joke about the sexualization of Asian women that didn’t accomplish much besides sexualizing an Asian woman.

Still writing

Sochi Olympics, of course! There are more than I was aware of, and I think it’s really interesting. I knew about J.R. Celski since he’s from Washington, but there are others that definitely deserve mention!

Julie Chu – Women’s ice hockey

Madison Chock – Ice skating

Maia and Alex Shibutani – Ice skating

Felicia Zhang – Ice Skating

Jen Yung Lee – Sled Hockey (Paralympics)

Here’s an article that talks about each of them. I think it’s interesting how many figure skaters there are, though I don’t remember seeing if it mentioned why there were so many, if there’s even a reason.

http://www.asianfortunenews.com/2014/02/asian-american-athletes-at-winter-olympics-2014-in-sochi/

Gongfu emerged from colonized China as an art of reclamation, an art used to preserve their culture in the face of an invading culture. The art was used in order to keep their culture thriving even as an outside force tied to pry it away from the people. “…it was consistent with Japan’s national policy of De-Asianization and Europeanization.”

The book brings into account the fact that Bruce Lee refused to play Asian stereotypes in movies, even if it restricted his Hollywood career. By refusing to de-Asianize and Europeanize himself, he became a star back in China, where his movies upheld the culture that he wanted to represent.

I think this also leads into The Motel, a movie with Asian characters that doesn’t necessarily focus on their ‘Asian-ness.” While it is known that they are Asian, and they even talk about their specific heritage, there isn’t as much of a focus on it as their is in movies that focus on stereotypes. While being Asian is part of the story, the story more focuses on the a boy whose life is built on ‘acceptances.’ He accepts that the girl he likes may not like him back, he accepts that all the tenants of his family’s motel are temporary, and he accepts that his family may not understand his writing. The movie pays more attention to him tearing down this barrier of acceptances, even if it doesn’t necessarily mean a happy ending.

The racism against China in Bioshock Infinite is more subtle than that against other racial minority groups, but even within the first 20 minutes it shows up in what is called a kinetiscope. Kinetiscopes are short slides that are used to immerse the player into the world of Columbia through small historical tidbits and product commercials.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The three relevant kinetiscopes that I’ve run into so far start at 1:28 and end at 2:25, the three referring to the history of their succession from the Union.

In the first section of the game there are also hints towards an Underground Railroad sort of operation for the African American ‘workers’ who were forcibly taken to Columbia in order to work as janitors and other lowly labor jobs. While there aren’t any Asian Americans who are seen in these roles, this is one of the reasons that the rebel group Vox Populi exists in the game. Vox Populi is, again, a rebellion group of minorities, both race (those referred to are: Native Americans and those of Asian and Asian descent and the Irish) and class. But at this point in the game the Vox Populi are only rumored to exist, and their presence isn’t apparent until later.

What really got me about the first 30-60 minutes was the statue outside the Fraternal Order of the Raven, a John Wilkes Booth worshiping cult. The only words that adorn the plaque beneath the statue is “Comstock Fights The Serpent of Nations.” The statue depicts Comstock fighting a three headed monster, one of the heads depicting a stereotypical Chinese caricature.

The statue reminds me of the propaganda mentioned in Orientals against Chinese in California and beyond. This statue is a representation of the idea that it’s alright to discriminate against Chinese, as the great ‘Profit’ slays the ‘beast’ that is the Chinese and other races. This demonization of China continues later in the game.

Alex and Maia Shibutani are Japanese-American Ice-dancers who competed in the 2014 Sochi Olympics.  They are brother and sister and this was their first time competing in the Olympics.  They placed ninth because during their performance there was a wardrobe malfunction and they got stuck together during one of their lifts.  However, even though they didn’t win.  They still represented America beautifully.  What I love about the Olympics is that it is a huge platform for all people of all races and backgrounds to come together and compete for their country.  So, an athlete isn’t just known for their race or country of origin, but by their talent.  In Alex and Maia’s case, they aren’t being talked about because they are Japanese-American, they are being talked about because they worked hard and represented America.

This is an article that talked about their performance in the 2014 Olympic Ice-dance competition:

http://www.freep.com/article/20140217/SPORTS17//alex-maia-shibutani-sochi-olympics

Readings from East Main Street, From Kung Fu to Hip Hop and the last kung fu movie we watched on Thursday have been drilling the same thought into our heads. Black people loved kung fu. The thing is, I was aware of how cool the fighting style was among my community, on some level at least. The images of afro haired black men doing Bruce Lee moves was nothing new to me. My dad listens to music from that era all day everyday and Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting was one of my favorite songs as a child. I knew it was a part of my culture, I guess I just never knew why.

These readings and movies made it clear though. Minorities relate to minorities. When Bruce Lee came out on the big screen as THE GOOD GUY, the guy that was kicking ass and taking names he wasn’t just an icon for the Asian community. He was a symbol for everyone who was different, everyone who didn’t look like the typical blonde haired, blue eyed, white male who swooped in and saved the day. I mean sure, he wasn’t a black man but he wasn’t white and that was the important part. During The Civil Rights Movement, kung fu gave the black community another voice, an added voice.

In recent years though, we’ve seen a lot of Asian influence in the hip hop community. You could argue that it started with Cibo Matto in the 90′s but regardless we have several Asian Americans in the Hip hop scene today. Blue Scholars, Dumbfounded, Far East Movement, Jin, Apl of the Black Eyed Peas and my most recent find, Awkwafina. It isn’t just the music scene though. I mentioned it briefly in another post but they are also huge in the hip hop dance community too. In the first movie about Kung Fu that we watched, some of them could do a back flip onto their head as part of their training! Where else have you seen this? Break dancing, B-boy style! Jabawakeez, Poreotics and Quest Crew, three winners and three of my favorite crews on America’s Best Dance Crew. While Jabawakeez was mostly Asian American, Quest Crew and Poreotics were all Asian American and they were excellent. So is Hip Hop the new Kung Fu? Is hip hop giving the Asian/American community a new voice the same way Kung Fu did for my community 40 years before?

But on the real, you should probably watch all these videos.

Quest Crew

Jabawakeez

Poreotics

And also Kaba Modern who didn’t win but was all Asian/American and had three female crew members

So can we start out with the fact that everyone in the movies we watched looked like, ridiculously good for their age? Like the guy who moved to St. Thomas and said he stopped competing at 60!!!! Like seriously? I know they say black don’t crack but they all took it to a whole new level.

Something that I found interesting and funny was when they were talking about the shackle hands technique. He said it originated in America, with the slaves. He said that it was as American as apple pie. He smirked and laughed a little bit and I found myself smirking too. No one else in the class seemed to find it funny but I guess I found it funny…maybe funny isn’t the right word. Clever. I found it clever that they took something like slavery, something that bounds you and is supposed to hinder you and they turned it into a fighting form? I don’t know, I guess I’m constantly amazing by the way minorities turn negatives into positives and make it work. Also the fact that slavery is as American as apple pie is funny in the darkest way possible and maybe I’m a horrible person for finding it humorous.

Another one of the guys in the black kungfu movie was talking about how African warriors would play music while they fought and how dance moves came from fighting styles. I can see that, they’re both art forms and I feel like when they’re done properly, there is a sense of fluidity. I started thinking about hip hop dancing, break dancing and the B boys and how they can flip on top their heads just like the kungfu masters can. Interesting, no? How closely they correlate. How you can almost vividly trace the origins of a dance move to its fighting ancestors.

And then thinking about hip hop and dancing made me think of ABDC which I was obsessed with until the last season because it got stupid. But ABDC stands for America’s Best Dance Crew and two of the best crews to ever step foot on that stage were primarily Asian/American. Jabawakeez and Quest Crew ( the winners of season 1 and season 3).

Through the preservation of Shaolin Martial Arts, people across the globe have been able to witness this traditional Chinese martial art and way of life. It has made an especially large impact on America and it’s people. From popular movies and fantasy to training and living as a martial artist or monk, Gung Fu has played a large role in the lives of Americans since the first exposure to Kung Fu films.

Post in progress

Kung Fu has always been something i’ve seen in movies, traveling in china, on television etc. but never something I looked at in the aspect of it helping individuals in the long run, not to say I rolled out that option. I’ve had personal connections in a distant form that allowed me to be somewhat open to the effects it has had on individuals and the strengths it allows people to bring out in themselves.

First off my brothers (10 & 9) are currently in martial arts, i’m not sure if its Kung Fu, but I believe it is. From a different stand point now I can see that it has helped them become more patient, focused, relaxed and well mannered (well as much as a young boy could be lol), but overall I can see that it allows them to take out their boyish energies away from the house so we don’t have to deal with it along with teaching them self defense, again patience, and obedience. Secondly, my significant other went through a rough time in his life as a younger kid at the beginning of high school, he was constantly bullied, experienced suicidal thoughts, felt distant from his family..sort of like an outcast as the quiet one and began getting into trouble along with other things (not so good of course). After finding martial arts it allowed him a place of safety, focus on something other than the negative thoughts, obedience, manners and a push within school to get back on track and graduate. His grandmaster whom he looks up to in so many different ways make an great impact on his life, as well as saving him from himself and that really allows me to see the great outcomes you can take away from this form of art.

In the movie all the young men and woman you see seem so happy, content and hard working within this hobby and it has allowed each other them to sort of overcome something within their lives weather it be good or bad. It allows an adult figure in peoples lives that isn’t a parent or family member that is letting them see things from a different view than just a mother constantly ranting off whats right and wrong etc.

I personally have so much respect for the length each of the main role individuals from the films are going to try and bring kung fu to the US and make it a well known practice to allow individuals these key elements into their lives, almost eliminating a lot of the bad things and being able to move forward with positive thoughts and a hobby to focus on when the going gets bad.

Also, not only does it allow a form of mental stability but if you look at the individuals taking part their all so fit, healthy and quite good looking for some of the older people partaking. And, well, considering the way America is going with health wise and the rates of obesity occurring it would allow so many people to succeed and grow and live happy lives, if thats something they are interested in. I personally am a golfer and can relate this go Kung Fu as I know what its like to find a hobby thats such an ease for the mind, something that tests you within all different abilities and has allowed so much focus as well as meditation in my life.

I hope to see Kung Fu slowly grow in the states, the awareness of the art and sport and what it can do for all different individuals weather they be trouble, or just looking for a hobby in their spare time. I have so much respect for all the individuals that allow this to take up hours and hours of their days and making it the main push of their lives.

The Slanted Screen talked about Asian American actors, and how they are portrayed. The main ones that were talked about were Sessue Hayakawa, Bruce Lee, James Shigeta,

I thought it was interesting that we got to hear about Sessue Hayakawa, mainly because we learned about him last quarter so he was one of the few faces I recognized.

It was a good turning point when Bruce Lee films started coming out so that there was finally an Asian American role model on the big screen for kids to look up to.  It was also positive because it gave Asian American men more pride, because they look like such bad-asses in the films!

Another interesting point that was brought up in the movie was that in many Asian American roles, they are the villain, but often they would take this role even if it portrays them in a bad light because this role in a film is better then no role at all.