Author Archives: kmlynn

Kato Post

At home there is a lot of writing on walls and I was asociated with martial arts. Little did I know that they were forms of resistance. What I thought was very interesting was how tagging was a from of resistance and existence; I had always thought that tagging was only a form of territory and marking. I find it interesting how Kung Fu was also this asian quality that is seen as cool and fun to watch, when it is a form of self expression. Tagging and Kung Fu is a form of expression which I also see as a form of existence. After the repressed existence of Black and Asian cultures in movies and society, these attributes created by these two cultures have formed glorified images.

Who knew? That hip-hop was a way for Black culture to resist against the white supremecy is now one of the most popular music genre’s. Overall, I think it’s sort of ironic that these forms of resistance are now popular art forms in today’s society.

Ozeki post

In this post, I am going to write about life. Naoko obviously hates hers at this point: Kayla, her so called best friend, blocks her on chat message, she sees her father as a pathetic loser, her mom practically seems non-existent in her life, and she gets bullied at school. However, the one source of light in her life is Old Jiko. In all this chaos she seems to find peace with Old Jiko. Naoko’s life seems out of her control and she is non-chalant about it; however, she still keeps her life. In that way, I mean she talks about dying all the time, but she does not take any steps to doing it. She still has a sense of life other than Old Jiko, but what is it? If she hates her life so much and she plans to end it so soon, why not end it then and get it over with? My answer, is that she still has life in her that she is not ready to get rid of yet, but I have no idea what it is.

Ruth is a different kind of life. Ruth finds life in this journal of Nao. There is so much going on in this journal that Ruth finds life in it and gets consumed by all the words Naoko has written in it. She somehow merges her life to this life in the journal and things begin to happen. For instance, foreign birds make it to the island, the watch begins to start ticking again, and Ruth somehow finds the professor who holds the answers to her questions. Nao’s depressing life is somehow giving Ruth a little bit of life. Magic or coincidence?

 

The Hunger Games

For my final rock post, I would like to make a huge connection between the Tributes and Immigrants. So, as this quarter comes to a close, I have completely overlooked this concept. It may take a while for me to iron it out, but I think that this connection is worth the little bumps. I have realized (finally) that immigrants from Asia have come to America and had to create their own replica of a home, China Town (as we most know it in today’s society). China town usually consists of authentic Asian food, little shops with Asian trinkets or textiles, or even prostitutes, but overall China towns have some pretty neat things. Kung Fu is a really interesting Asian art to take up: it teaches self defense, confidence, and awareness. There are also animals that can represent the different types or styles of Kung Fu.

What I am trying to get at here is that all these things are now part of American pop culture. What was seen as a form of resistance, China town, wardrobe, and even fighting styles now have the spotlight. Traditional wardrobes are worn for music videos, China towns are the hide outs for gangsters in movies, and Kung Fu and animals are the ultimate pair for Kung Fu Panda.  This reminds me of the Hunger Games because people’s lives and ways are being used for entertainment. Tributes lives’ are being put on display for the Capitals entertainment. They fight out until the death, and everyone in the Capital sees it as a fun reality series.

A mockery is being made from the Tributes lives. I’m not saying that America has made a mockery of Asian history, though sometimes it can, overall, the US has turned these different aspect of Asian history and glorified them. Most of these things are just everyday Asian daily lives that were a form of resistance, but somehow made into iconic things. Katniss Everdeen defied the Capital and resisted in every way she possibly could and her symbol of the Mocking Jay has become iconic throughout all the districts.

I personally enjoy how Asian concepts are seen as really cool in the U.S. I just also find it funny how the history of it began. Everything started with resistance and now Asian culture is accepted more in the US than before. I know that this may seem a bit extreme and it’s quite a stretch, but it’s just a connection I found interesting.

Hunger Fu

After watching many films about Kung Fu and different fighting styles, it reminded me of the Hunger Games. There are all these different styles of battle in the movie. After the 24 tributes are reaped they are all put into a room to show the sponser their skills. For instance, Katniss has archery, Peeta is strong, morphlings are good at camoflauge, Finnick can swim/spear, etc. And Kung Fu, though they are all modes of battle, they are different.

There are many ways to teach the different styles of Kung Fu. In Shaolin Ulysses, many Asians have little temples, or studios where they can teach martial arts. Many people join in to have a sense of self-defense or stay in shape, or for the simple love of the art. In Black Kung Fu Experience many of speakers had lived in harsh times where Kung Fu had been their option for protection. Some also used it for art and expression. In the Hunger Games it is very similar to Black Kung Fu Experience, where survival is the drive for learning. Some tributes who get reaped may not have much of a special skill for survival; Rue, was good at climbing, running, and hiding, basics.

 

Ozeki Reading Question

8. Death is a prominent theme in the book. The classmates bullying Nao stage her mock funeral; Haruki #1 writes of his decision to be a pilot as a means of choosing his method of dying; Nao’s father attempts suicide; Jiko dies of old age. Since death is inevitable, what do you think Ozeki is saying about life by creating unique situations about death? 

For my final Ozeki post, I have decided to use this question since it works with my plan to choose death as my final theme of the book. It is very clear that death is inevitable in both the book and in real life. How the book translates how it takes us, I think that Ozeki is trying to tell us that there are many ways to “die.” We all know that. But what I am taking away from this is the fact that someone can still be alive.

First, I would like to start off with Old Jiko. She is 104 years old and she lives in a temple. She does not do fun and outgoing things like a typical person would do. She stays in a temple, prays a lot, does not travel regularly, and she can hardly see. Some people can say that Jiko’s life is not very lively. Some can say that that is not life at all; however, Jiko is content, Nao loves her and everything that Jiko does is enough for herself. I’m sure some people can say that Jiko had “died” the moment she decided to be a monk. Or, in Nao’s case, someone can say that she died just on old age. The point is, death or something that is dead, does not mean it is not alive.

On a more clear note, we can look at Nao’s father and her great-uncle, Haruki #1. Haruki #1′s diary reads that he is obviously unhappy with his decision to join in the war. His letter reads him off as already being dead. He is still alive and breathing (at the time of the note) but cannot feel anything other than depression; thus, his decision to end his life the way he chose was born. Nao’s father was practically the same way. He created a program that ended up being used for war. This upset him and made him feel completely awful. It affected him so much that he was practically dead inside and tried to end his life multiple times.

Lastly, I think Nao’s the allegory for most humans. Nao is on the brink of debating whether or not she is alive or dead. Nao has been bullied, she had a mock funeral, she almost got raped, and her father is “pathetic.” Jiko was the only thing that Nao had that she had felt happy about. Back to my point about this fine line of life and death and Nao, she had already explained in her diary that she practically was dead. She was dead to her classmates and her teacher; but when she saw that the video had all these hits she felt proud. She excited that all these people are seeing HER die. But, she died, so what did it matter to her? She ends up doing this prostitution act and feels non chalant about it, even after the bathroom rape scene. Overall, I think Nao bounces back between feeling alive and feeling dead inside, just like anybody in the real world.

Tale for the Time Being II

Reading further into the book I can see how communication plays a major theme. I think communcation is shown obviously in the book and in a hidden, magical sort of way. I think it plays an obvious part when Oliver and Ruth talk, when Ruth reads Nao’s diary, when Nao talks to her father, and so on. So in the book, Nao talks about how she taught Jiko how to text so she can talk to her whenever she need/wants to. I found that as an obvious means of communication, also communication through technology. Ruth also encounters technological communication with an email she sends out about Harry.

There is also Nao’s diary, another kind of communation. I think it had both a physical sort of communication as well as the magical sort. As Ruth reads on with Nao’s diary, things in her real time, or world starts happening. These crows begin to show up, Ruth cannot find anything about Nao, and Ruth somehow gets emotionally invested with Nao’s life. There is this magic joy and pain in reading Nao’s diary,which I think is pretty magical that a few words can enchant someone.

Another thing I find a strong source of communication is dreams. Dreams in the book sort of represent this communication between both Nao and Ruth’s worlds. Ruth has these dreams with Jiko in them and Nao has this dream with Reiko. First, Nao has this dream with Reiko and stabbing her in the eye, Reiko the next day shows up with an eye patch on. Coincidence? I think that it might not be since there was no real explanation about it and what are the odds? Also, when Ruth has dreams about Old Jiko, strange things then began to take place later in the book.

Then, Haruki #1′s letter that magically shows up in the box. Some weird communication between magic and real life ends up bringing Haruki #1′s own hand written letter about the war. The magic that happens between these modes of communication brings Ruth to different assumptions of Nao’s diary and family history. Haruki #1′s note clarified many things for Ruth and eventually, Nao’s family. Ruth has a dream with Nao’s father, in which she talks to him about his suicide and his daughter. How strange to have a dream about someone you never met. It is said that you can see some random stranger and they can end up in your dream, but how strange that she new that this random stranger in her dream would represent Nao’s father. Lastly, as both the diary and magic have their ways of communicating with Ruth, somehow, the diary pages that were once written in have somehow gone blank for a night then somehow end up having been written in again. How? When? and Why? I guess that part had been up to the reader.

Mississippi Masala

According to Dictionary.com “masala” means a mixture of spices. Mina is Indian who lives mostly by American culture since she spent most of her time in America. Jay, her father, is Indian as well, but identifies himself as Ugandan; and lastly, Demetrius, her lover, is a Black man who has obviously adopted the American culture. So here are these 3 people intertwined with each others identities creating the title Mississippi Masala.

Other than the title, I realized that the movie had also portrayed a different kind of racism. There was a scene where Jammubhai tells Demetrius, “If you are not white, then you are colored.” This quote, I think, makes their relationship somewhat stronger in a way that they are both minorities. They both understand the struggles of being colored, or not white. However, though Jammubhai comforts Demetrius with that line Jay, Mina’s father, cannot stand Demetrius with his daughter. After Jay and Demetrius’s little altercation, Demetrius tells Jay something along the lines of his [Jay] skin only being a few shades away from Demetrius [point at his face].

Sadly, before this scene Jay sort of turns his back on Black people because of Okelu telling him that he had to leave Uganda. So I can understand why Jay had this bitter feeling towards Demetrius. Anyways, after this scene where Demetrius points out their skin color, it showed the audience that racism can still be present without a white person. There is still this heirarchy of races and who has the more “whiteness.” I thought that that scene was very important.

Another thing I thought was important for this movie was to move on. Throughout the movie there are scenes beween Jay and Okelu and when Jay had to leave. Okelu was in tears as well as Mina and this obviously bothered Mina because she was too young to understand why Jay and Okelu had never talked again. I understand that they still had their Indian traditions because that will hardly ever change; however, Jay cannot seem to let go of Uganda and the way he remembers it. For years, he had wrote letters for his property in Uganda. He eventually gets to go back to Uganda and it looks like nothing he remembered. He also learns to forgive Okelu, but finds out that he is dead and has been. Overall, Jay’s visit back to Uganda was nothing as he expected it: things changed, it did not feel like home for him, and his best friend had passed away with Jay’s grudge against him. I think that letting things go, or moving on plays a very important theme in this movie.

It relates to A Tale For the Time Being. Time has kept moving and it has been lost. While Jay was in America, I do not think that he understood that even though Amin is not the ruler, does not mean that things have gone back to the way it was. Also, Jay never really got to say good-bye to Okelu or leave on a good vibe. After that, time was lost in-between Okelu and Jay that Jay was completely unaware that Okelu had passed away. Time was also lost between Jay’s constant mind battle between saying his home was in Uganda, rather than spending every moment with his wife, Kinnu, where as he said, “home is where the heart is and my heart is with you.” At least now, Jay can spend his time not worrying about Uganda, but with the time he has in that current moment.

Tale for the Time Being

In class we went over a few themes of place, time, death, environment, and communication. I think loss is a theme that has definitely kept my attention. There are many instances in the book where I feel Nao and Ruth both somehow get these feelings of loss or being lost themselves.

First, let’s start with Naoko. I feel like Nao has lost her sense of reality around her. I say this because most of what Nao writes has some kind of imagination implanted into it or illusion she’s come up with. For instance, her first incident was when she talked about the otaku salesman staring at her in the cafe and she comes up with this perfectly schemed rape plan. I feel like was very detailed as if she knew what tortue like that would feel like for the first few pages of her diary. Another example would be her loss of self in a very symbolic way. Another example would be when she gets Daisuke to give her the card that’s been going around school. Throughout the book Nao seems to be willing to take whatever bullying comes her way and does not stand up for herself; however, at this point she takes matters into her own hands and almost kills Daisuke. “I took the knife and pressed the blade against his throat…Time slowed down, and each moment unfolded into a future filled with infinite possibilities. It would be so easy. Slice the artery and watch the red blood spurt and stain the ground…My fist, gripping the knife, looked like it meant business, and my artm felt strong and powerful, too. I liked that” (120).  Here, we have the first sense of Nao ever feeling strong on her own and she somewhat is standing up for herself. What I am not sure about is if this is Naoko’s loss of self of who she  was before this incident or if the whole time we were reading that was her loss of self.

Now Ruth (hah, get it?), I feel like Ruth has lost herself into Nao’s life. She finds herself overly involved in this girl’s life that she constantly thinks about it, until she’ll finish it. “She rubbed her hands up and down across her face, kneading her temples and pressing her fingers into her eye sockets. Why did it matter so much? But it did. She needed to know if Nao was dead or alive. She was searching for a body” (131). Ruth has been consumed by Nao’s feelings in a book. Also, I feel as if Ruth has been feeling like she’s at a loss with place. She takes the barnacles that were on the package to get them looked at and has this on going encounter with crows, both of which were not noticed or seen before.

My Name Is Kahn

There were many things that I found interesting in this movie. I found the song “We Shall Overcome” something to go into, or his fetish with rocks and the possible meaning behind them; however, the more I thought about what I wanted to write about, the less I felt inspired. You would think that a college student, a senior, would have a relatively easy time figuring out what to write about with a simple movie. Sadly, that is not the case. We all have expectations of people, even those we don’t even know.

In My Name Is Khan, Rizvan is a Muslim man with aspurgers who is held up to many expectations. His mother expected him to thrive with his education, his brother expected Rizvan to listen to him, and Mandira didn’t expect him to go on this real journey to tell the President. In reality, we all bear heavy burdens of expectations, but how heavy is the burden of the U.S. country constantly targetting you for something you did not do? Rizvan struggles through the whole movie to please his wife Mandira and her demand for him to tell the President he is not a terrorist.

Along his journey he comes across these people who have this expectation that he is either or a terrorist, or he is just a normal guy. Every white person in the movie assumes he is a terrorist, while people who are not White accept him for him. Rizvan, exceeds his mothers expectation and does excel with his education, which comes in handy throughout the movie. He tries to get on a plane, but of course after 911 security locked down and they searched nearly everything they could. One of the security guards mocked his journey to visit the President and gives him something to say to the President once Rizvan meets him and rest assured, Rizvan delivered that message. Rizvan was threatened by his brother that he (Rizvan) will not mary Mandira because she’s Hindu; yet, Rizvan broke that expectation and married her. His wife Mandira, tells him to tell the President, “My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist” just to get rid of him; however, she ends up missing him and he ends up breaking her expectations of never doing it and he finally gets to tell the President that exact line. Lastly, though most of the U.S. see him as a terrorist, Rizvan proves himself more than a Muslim, terrorist, or any other labels that can go with him. Rizvan proves himself to be a human being with a heart.

He believes his mother’s words, “There are only two kinds of people in this world. Good people who do good deeds. And bad people who do bad. That’s the only difference in human beings. There’s no other difference.”  He sticks with that saying and lives by it. On his journey, he sees a fundraiser for children in Africa and a chance to meet the President. Sadly, the woman who is giving tickets for this event, turns him away.

Rizvan Khan: That’s… that’s $500
Fund Raiser Receptionist: What church are you from?
Rizvan Khan: Church? Church?
Fund Raiser Receptionist: This is a Christian’s only event.
Rizvan Khan: But… but it says it’s a fund raiser for the draught in Africa.
Fund Raiser Receptionist: For Christian’s honey.
[Giving the money back]
Rizvan Khan: Honey, honey keep it. For those who are not Christian in Africa.

This scene is ironic on so many levels. Rizvan breaks the expectation of a Muslim not having a heart and a “terrorist” but still donates his money to this fund, walking away empty handed. It’s also ironic because I do not think turning people away because they are not “Christian” is not a very Christian thing to do, nor is turning away money from someone who is not Christian giving their money to charity or good cause. Also, Rizvan goes back to Wilhemina, GA to help out Mama Jenny and Crazy Hair Joel and all those affected by the Hurricane. For someone who is a terrorist, helping a broken, battered community just doesn’t seem right.

I chose not to use the word stereotype because I believe that the movie goes on beyond Asian traditions, but expectations of a person. Rizvan has aspergers and I’m sure many people who knew that would not expect him to do all the amazing things he did in the movie. It’s more than a stereotype that a person is forced to live with, but expectations of them as a person as well.