Personally, I really enjoyed watching Saving Face. The content in this film was refreshing to see, since typically in America we don’t ever see a ROM-COM that has to do with two Asian American women, who are lesbian, who are dealing with traditional values, they are both main characters, and the mother is pregnant without a husband. It sounds like a great soup with everything in it but the kitchen sink, done in a very tasteful way!

During this week [week 4], we have been discussing movies that avoid the queer element of relationships with an emphasis of Asian Americans specifically [duh Amy]. Saving Face used the Slanted Screen approach to address these issues of Asian American queer relationships. Just like Emily Dickinson’s poem “Tell it Slant” she says, “Tell the truth, but tell it slant, success in circuit lies”. Essentially it’s not being satisfied with somebody else’s view [white people], they do it themselves in their own way.

While reading all the Nao diary entries, I was seeing the progression and transformation of Nao’s writing. To me I noticed the before and after…Before when she went to visit Jiko, it was still “ok I’m writing this and Like…Like…” I would categorize it as rambling like a teenager would. However, during and after her visit with Jiko, he writing was more fluent, thoughtful, and more descriptive.

During this time, Nao is staying with Jiko. She is in a mountainous landscape, living inside a temple.There was all kinds of bugs and clean air…even though it was cloudy. Because of the environment and the bugs, she became immune to the mosquitoes around her. Nao also talked about the weather changing when it was summer time in the mountains. She claimed that the temperature was very hot, and that she could zone out by the pond and not think about anything [at least for the time being].

As for Ruth, I chose the Place/Environment when she was in Wisconsin staying in a farmhouse. It was peaceful, not busy, and the environment around them [Oliver as well] was easy going. But of course all of that was thrown out when Ruth got word of the twin towers were taken down by the airplanes. I can almost imagine how everything was peaceful one second and  next you know you can almost hear sirens, screams, and you can feel your brain being bogged down by all of that stress and losing that zen you had 2 seconds ago. All that happiness is immediately gone.

It seems like Nao and Ruth’s lives had swapped because in the beginning, Nao’s life, even though to her it was boring, it was still chaotic and sad, and now it’s calmed down a little bit ever since she’s been staying with her grandma in the temple; In comparison with Ruth, it’s visa versa. Her life started out peaceful and now it’s gotten very hectic and scary because of all the unknowns [at the time of 9/11]

There are many forms of communication throughout the book.

-When the Tsunami happened in Japan, Ruth was using her computer searching all over the internet about what’s going on Japan.

-She was also watching the television, specifically the news to get updates and to see actual video of the destruction.

-She also used her cell phone to get in touch with other family members over in Japan to make sure that they are safe. On the topic of cell phones as communication, people in Japan used their cellular devices to record video, to take pictures, and the obvious to make phone calls.

-Nao had a blog [with that..a computer] to observe and record her time in Japan and to communicate that with herself and the world. However she soon realized that the blog would be a waste of time due to her living circumstances.

-Nao also used email as a form of communication. Nao and her online friend Kayla correspond back and forth… and as Nao would put it..”stupid school girl things”.

-Nao obviously uses communication through her diary, to eventually communicate with Ruth, who finds her diary.

Drag Queen

The etymology of the term “drag queen” is disputed. The term drag queen occurred in Polari, a subset of English slang that was popular in some gay communities in the early part of the 20th century. Its first recorded use to refer to actors dressed in women’s clothing is from 1870.

A folk etymology, whose acronym  basis reveals the late 20th-century bias, would make “drag” an abbreviation of “Dressed as A Girl” in description of male theatrical cross-dressing. However, there is no trace of this supposed stage direction in Dessen and Thomson’s Dictionary of Stage Directions in English Drama, 1580-1642.

Queen may refer to the trait of affected royalty found in many drag characters. It is also related to the Old English word “quean” or cwene, which originally simply meant “woman”, then was later used as a label both for promiscuous women and gay men (see Oxford English Dictionary definition number 3 for “queen”).

Terminology

Drag as a term referring to women’s clothing worn by men has less clear origins. According to one theory, it was used in reference to transvestites at least as early as the 18th century, owing to the tendency of their skirts to drag on the ground. Another possibility is that it derives from non-English languages. Bardah was a Persian word meaning “slave”, which developed into the Spanish term bardaje referring to a catamite. This was borrowed into French as bardache. The French word was then used in America in the American-English form berdache, and was used in referring to indigenous men who assumed the role of homemaker and dressed as a woman, while the wife left the home to assume warrior duties.

Female Impersonator

Another term for a drag queen, female impersonator, is still used— though it is sometimes regarded as inaccurate, because not all contemporary drag performers are attempting to pass as women. Female impersonation, has been and continues to be illegal in some places, which inspired the drag queen Jose Sarria to hand out labels to his friends reading, “I am a boy,” so he could not be accused of female impersonation. American drag queen RuPaul once said, “I do not impersonate females! How many women do you know who wear seven-inch heels, four-foot wigs, and skintight dresses?” He also said, “I don’t dress like a woman; I dress like a drag queen!”.

Celebrity drag couple “The Darling Bears” go so far as to sport full beards for their performances, which could also be referred to as genderfuck. Going in drag while retaining clearly masculine features is referred to as skag drag.

Some performers draw the distinction that a female impersonator seeks to emulate a specific female star or celebrity, while a drag queen only seeks to create a distinctive feminine persona of his or her own.

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19920214/REVIEWS/202140303/1023

Roger Ebert, although he generally did like the film, thought that there were too many story lines: the romance, the background in Uganda, and the daily lives of Indians in the South. He felt that the other plots relegated the love story to the foreground, and that the scenes in Uganda weren’t all that necessary to relay the major themes.

http://movieline.standard8media.com/reviews/mississippimasala.shtml

Agreeing with the opinion of too many plots, Stephen Farber of Movieline Magazine believed that the character of Mina’s father overshadowed the couple’s story and ended up stealing the show.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700001204/Mississippi-Masala.html

Chris Hicks from the Deseret News in Salt Lake City also agreed that the beginning scenes in Uganda could have been cut out, and thought that the plot hit some snags after the lovers are discovered and the entire community boycotts Demetrius’ business. He called the plot devices “silly contrivances.” Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly‘s movie critic, agrees with Hick’s opinion about the plot, calling it “hokey and melodramatic.”

After reading these reviews and re-examining my own opinion, I struggle with whether or not some of the scenes in Uganda should have been cut out. I guess I reluctantly agree that they do shift the focus quite a bit, but they are so gorgeous and really do help explain the motivations of Mina’s father. However, in the grand scheme of things I guess some of them could have been done away with. I also agree that the plot of the separated couple and the subsequent boycotting of Demetrius after being found out seemed a little extreme and quick, and yes, a little melodramatic and unoriginal.

Something I did find interesting though, was that none of these major movie critics mentioned the problem of South Asian male emasculation that Profosser Jani said was such a criticism of the movie. I wonder if this has something to do with the fact that most of the movie critics are non-Asian and as such either that stereotype is accepted by them, or if it is really just because it isn’t that apparent of a theme. I confess, I didn’t notice it. But it is something to think about.

Nao feels an abandonment, she feels like running away. She has a loss of self, a loss of a home and identity (feeling American). She goes through loss of losing a war (Kamikaze pilot), she has a loss of purpose (Nao feels like her life is a waste of time) like a wreckage on the beach, a loss of reality. She journals as a way to lose herself in the moment. Nao feels like she lost her father because he isn’t stable anymore.

In the very beginning of Enter the Dragon, Bruce was teaching an aspired Kung Fu artist about emotion and emoting what you feel. “Kick me. … What was that? An exhibition? We need emotional content. Try again. … I said emotional content. NOT ANGER. Now try again. With meaning. … That’s it. How did it feel to you? … Don’t think, feeeeeeel. It is like a finger pointing away to the moon. Don’t concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that Heavenly glory. Do you understand? … Never take your eyes off your opponent, even when you bow. … That’s it.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

]]> http://blogs.evergreen.edu/leopardzepplin/kato-171-207-connections/feed/ 0 http://blogs.evergreen.edu/leopardzepplin/my-name-is-khan/ http://blogs.evergreen.edu/leopardzepplin/my-name-is-khan/#comments Tue, 25 Feb 2014 01:07:23 +0000 http://blogs.evergreen.edu/leopardzepplin/?p=162 Continue reading →]]>   “An ordinary man, An extraordinary journey … FOR LOVE.”

  Rizvan Khan is a simple man with a complicated life. He is Muslim and suffers from Aspergers Syndrome. With that, he is not understood because of the way he acts, moves, and talks.

One of the theme’s that really caught my attention was the discussion we had in class about race and disability. Which, this film screams..to me, very clearly. When Rizvan was a child, that’s when he found out he had Aspergers Syndrome, and then understood why he didn’t have relationships with other people because of his disability. However, just because he has a disability, it does not mean that he is mentally handicap in any way, he is very intelligent. Rizvan came from India was he got to America before 9/11. So up until 9/11 there was no animosity. Rizvan and his wife and her son, led a very happy life and adjusted well to Rizvan’s disability.

However, when 9/11 happened…That’s when racism exploded against their ethic community. To make a long story short, the racism was so bad that Sam, (their son) was killed due to a racial attack. Rizvan’s wife freaked out on Rizvan, and pretty much told him to meet the president and say…”My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist”. It’s a disabled man’s fight against the disability that exists in the world—terrorism, hatred, fighting … My Name is Khan is also about Islam and the way the world looks at Islam but we are not taking any sides. We are only trying to say that there are only good people and bad people. There are no good Hindus, bad Hindus, good Christians, bad Christians. Either you are a good person or a bad person. Religion is not the criterion, humanity is.