Author Archives: kmlynn

Enter the Dragon/Games/Royale

On another note, I found it interesting to watch one of the characters ask Lee “What style?” and Lee refuses to show him. That reminded me of Black Kung Fu Experience. Williams, the only black character in the movie reminded me of the Black Kung Fu Experience because, not just because of his skin color, but also because it was the opposite of what all the characters in Black Kung Fu Experience said. Most of them did it for the art of it, where as Williams had claimed he’s in it for the win. I thought that was interesting to put that specific answer in the movie.

Also, I noticed that the island, or castle, was like an arena. It sort of reminded me of the Hunger Games in a way that they were all brought there to fight. It also reminded me of Battle Royale because of how they were all “students” still learning the way. Though they were not all there to fight each other one on one, they were there under an experiment to see if any of them would join Han.

Enter the Dragon, Power, and Subversion

In this chapter, I found how ironic it is for Hollywood wanting to portray this Asian vibe, but strip away a lot of meaning behind certain Asian traditions or ways. On page 119, “Lee attempted to work with him on revisions to bring a more realistic portrayal of the character of Chinese and kung fu philosophy to the script.” Lee tries to push for truth about kung fu and the Chinese way and purpose of things; unfortunately, he had no luck, “The American producers, however, maintained a double face: they consented to Lee’s demand, but secretly arranged a new accommodation for the scriptwriter for a designated period of vacation behind Lee’s back (119).” Overall, Lee was deceived and lied to.

This reminded me of Takaki’s Strangers From a Different Shore and how many Asian immigrants were tricked or fooled into thinking that they would have a great life in the U.S. I see a similarity to this happening to Lee and how many Asians feel for the deceit of America. Also, further into the reading,

After watching Enter the Dragon, the book begins to make more sense about its allegories. The book goes on to explain about the scene and Oharra on page 132, “”‘Lee’s’ face beams forth ever-changing impressions from the wrath of righteous deity, to the indignation of a woman, to the ululation of a child victimized by war.” I take this as a way of empires/countries/colonies suffering the consequences of “war for peace.” It’s ironic. Many expansions are due to this greed of power, or the true belief that one’s ruling is the best way, but the first thing that most people see is war or violence being portrayed.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie because there was a lot of action, but I also see how it fits in perfectly with the allegories presented. As for my comparison to Takaki, I think that Lee coming up and beating Han would be the rising of the Asian cultures against invaders. Han was Asian himself and the book talks about how many Asian countries had to suffer the consequences of violence and war against other Asian invaders, so I believe that was a good representation of the protagonist and antagonist roles cast in the movie.

From Kung Fu to Hip Hop

Of course I am not surprised that the government or media does not expose the real history of things, at least not when I was younger. I find it very interesting that Jimi Hendrix is native. When I went to school in California, our history teacher allowed us to take a trip to Alcatraz on Thanksgiving morning so we could learn more about the native history. I will say that it was one of the most eerie things I’ve done. I arrived on the island at 6:30am so it was still black outside. Eventually, we got to one of the “cliffs” of the prison and there was a ceremony taking place right at sunrise to honor all the natives who were forced onto the island and imprisoned.

Anyways, back to the reading, I am not surprised that I learned more disturbing things about American history that I did not know about before. When I went to Alcatraz, I wondered how long American school systems will keep up this act of “Thanksgiving” and how the Indians/Natives and pilgrims got along and had a wonderful feast together. I enjoy this book in a way that it is challenging the American tradition of covering up the dark things of American history.

Reading the oppression that goes on reminds me of Wedding Banquet and East Main Street “Apu’s voice.” The power of deceit. When we are children we are fed this idea of harmony and peace among each race and we are blinded by it that school systems sweep true history under the rug; at least, up until high school we learn that history was never really taught until that moment. In Wedding Banquet Wei Tung feeds his parents this absolute fake identity of a straight, successful, soon-to-be married man. While his parents just accept it because it’s what they want to hear and they never knew about him (at least his father did at some point). The makers of Simpson’s know that the voice of Apu is nowhere to being Indian, but still sells it to the audience, knowing it is not a true Indian.

Winter Olympics 2014 API

Yuzuru Hanyu, Winter Olympics 2014

The first gold medal ever won by Japan was won by 19 year old, Yuzuru Hanyu in men’s figure skating. It has been 8 years since Japan has gotten gold in the Winter Olympics. Hanyu had to beat out Patrick Chan of Canada, who is of Chinese decent, to get the gold. Of course, this was a big deal for Japan, since it beat out it’s neighbor rival of China, though Chan is from Canada. China has also won 2 gold medals in speed-skating and short track speed skating.

Patrick Chan, Winter Olympics 2014

Mao Asada, Winter Olympics 2014

Furthermore into the Winter Olympics of 2014 Japan so far has 1 gold, 2 silver, and one bronze medal. China has 2 golds and 2 silvers, whilc South Korea has 1 gold and 1 bronze.Japan is also hoping for another gold in women’s figure skating with silver medalist Mao Asado going against fellow South Korean rival Yuna Kim, defending Olympic Champion.(source)

Yuna Kim, WInter Olympics 2014

MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN YOUR BLOG 2014-02-15 20:25:42

In class we had a short snippet of “Kawaii” and what it portrayed in a fashion sense.

ka·waii

kəˈwī/

adjective
(in the context of Japanese popular culture) cute. ”she paints elephants that are extremely kawaii” noun. the quality of being cute, or items that are cute.

Here are some examples of the popular culture term of “kawaii.” Though some of these seem extreme, it is the popular culture. I noticed that some of the styles seem very doll-like with big doe eyes, rosy cheeks, and big frou-frou fluffs. Also, I noticed colors, most of them are pastel or light colors.

After we went over a few slides of kawaii style, I was immediately reminded of the Capitol style of Hunger Games. The style in the Capitol, though is the norm, is very eye catching. It reminded me of the kawaii style because of how bold and how much it stands out. I know the kawaii style is not bold in any way, but it definitely catches the attention and goes against the norm of society, which I think makes it bold in its own sense. Anyway, here are some examples of the fashion in the Capitol.

So, in the Capitol as well as the kawaii style, mostly women take part in this. Most men wear suits, but still wear eye-liner with bold colors or have odd hair styles.

Overall, I think that the styles are similar in a way that they demand attention and are what’s “in” at the moment.

Shaolin Ulysses & The Black Kung Fu Experience

Click here to view the embedded video.

When I was watching Shaolin Ulysses, I found that the movie was more motivating in a journey sense. What I mean by that, is that it was more than describing how the martial arts changed their lives, but how to keep the art alive so it can continue to do so. Many more Shaolin Temples are being opened around America to keep the art alive and it has been a growing art form.

As for the Black Kung Fu Experience, I found myself more interested in this documentary. I the one thing that got me interested in it more was the different styles of martial arts being talked about. I did martial arts for 10 years, specifically Tae Kwon Do and I did jiu-jitsu for 2 years. So I very interested to see each persons individual view of their martial arts experience. One story stood out to me the most, and it was Ron Van Cliefs. He talked, in specific detail, about how he was attacked by white people. I know that the other instructors lived around the same time period and had experienced racism itself, but his stuck out to me the most. I felt like I could relate to it. I grew up in a very violent town where self defense is a very important skill to have. Now that I am older, things are still the same and I still find myself very cautious when walking around.

Also, I enjoyed how each instructor would go to the roots of their Kung Fu studies and pay respect to those who would specialize or have taught it for many years. Donald Hamby went to Hong Kong to visit the writer of the book he was trying to translate’s studio. I guess I also enjoyed the second movie more too because of how it made them famous, but to them, it was not what they wanted. They were all still so humble and it was nice to see and it reminded me of my old instructor and the days when I would train.

I feel like both movies presented these ideals of preservation. Dennis Brown had introduced himself to this “U.S. Capitol Classics” where martial artists would compete. Some may believe that people do it for the fame, or for the glory, but in retrospect, the art is being preserved and passed on. Shaolin Monks, though are in different areas do their best to set up Shaolin temples to preserve the monk Kung Fu fighting styles. In addition to preservation, I believe both films portrayed the idea that martial arts is not just for self-defense, but to be the ultimate self. In all martial arts styles, there is control and strength. Discipline is taught, along with focus and serenity. There are 5 power animals that can relate to martial arts and all animals represent these different techniques of self control and awareness. With all the skills learned in martial arts, a sense of knowing one’s self and surroundings is eventually learned. Overall, I enjoyed these films and the ideas that they portrayed as far as martial arts coming to America.

Poposition 4

I was not there on Tuesday to talk about these pop-ositions, but I can agree and support the popositions that group 4 has presented.

API news

In Apl’s song “The Apl Song” there was an old man in a nursing home and he was very reminicent of the past and lonely. In Asian culture to be put in a nursing home is a negative thing. It leads elders to feel like their children do not love them enough to take care of them or there is something wrong in the head. It’s a crash of cross cultures between having children in the western culture and living the western ways and putting their parents in nursing homes and elders who expect their children to live their Asian culture and take care of their elders themselves. However, more asians are being put into nursing homes because of this western way of life. “According to the Administration on Aging, an agency of the Health and Human Services Department, the number of Asian, Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders over age 65 is expected to grow to 2.5 million by 2020 and 7.6 million by 2050, from fewer than one million in 2000.” (vega)

There was also conflict of having Asians put in nursing homes, but they won’t have the familiarity of home or home cooked meals. “The need for services that would let Asian-Americans keep their loved ones at home, where they can speak their own language and eat familiar foods, has influenced Ms. Choi’s organization. It is expanding to a new two-building, 29,300-square-foot facility in Philadelphia, where it will provide ethnic meals, a community center, counseling, caregiver training and other activities for clients of a variety of Asian nationalities. Ms. Choi said the center would also serve non-Asian clients.” (vega)

So as the time goes by, an more Asians are entering nursing homes, nursing homes are returning the favor as to adjust their food choices to help the elderly feel more at home and thought of.

To read the whole article click here

Music Video’s and Readings

Watching music videos and connecting it to the “Cibo Matto” chapter made me think about a lot of music artists. The Black Eyed Peas represent the “power 4″ of races with Asian, Mexican, African, and European. Relating it back to the chapter, Cibo Matto was seen as “kawaii” or “cute” when in reality, that is not what they wanted. So yes, their first album was about food mostly because their english was limited; however, their songs evolved into more meaningful things about government and their social standing. Other music artists like Black Eyed Peas, Blue Scholars, and Kanye West are seen as like “pop” or catchy artists, but their songs hold a lot of hidden struggles. For instance, Black Eyed Peas “Where is the love?” or Kanye West’s “New Slaves” songs represent the struggles of living in todays society. Overall, the chapters we talked about on Thursday covered the idea of what society from these artists compared to how these artists want society to see them.

Catching Crisis

Catching Fire is the second movie of the Hunger Games trilogy. In this second movie, Katniss is reaped once more for the 75th Quarter Quell. While this is going on, she is stuck in a love triangle between Gale and Peeta, thus a crisis of the heart. The second she finds out she will be reaped again, she is in an immediate crisis of wanting to runaway to save herself and her family, yet abandoning her entire district who look up and depend on her. As the Quarter Quell begins she gets stuck in another crisis of trying to keep Peeta alive, yet what she does not know is that most of the tributes are working to keep her alive and everything she does somehow counteracts what she intended it to. Peeta ends up getting captured by the capital and she gets out of the arena safely and is told that she is the Mocking Jay- identity crisis.

In Slanted Screen and Slaying the Dragon the documentaries on Asian women and men in the film industry go through a crisis of portraying a “real” image of Asian cultures. So there is a bit of an identity crisis for both men and women in the tone of sexuality and of what Asians look and live like. Also, in Saving Face Wil has an identity of who she is, she is biologically Asian, but culturally she is not accepted. Katniss is not accepted in the Capital at all because of her rebellious meaning, yet she does not fit in with district 12 anymore. She tries to do her best to just leave this rebellion behind, yet most people around her are controlling the things around her and she has no idea. She sees herself as just an ordinary girl trying to escape, but then she has to use this image of the Mocking Jay for the rebellion. Katniss is confused about what is going on around her and what she feels inside. She is caught between what she is told is right and what she feels is right.

A-POP, Don't Stop

Winter 2014