What’s the CRISIS?? What does it mean to be a “Model Minority”? For Asians…Stereotypically..are the smart? nerdy? angry? exotic? predictable? ect…

On page 184, Lee talks about the “Asian American family increasingly has been upheld as a model not only to blacks and latinos, but to whites” as well. Already that crisis has been proven wrong; In the film The Slanted Screen, the film introduced actor Sessue Hayakawa as being the first male Japanese actor to have leading roles with leading ladies…ANND was also dubbed a sex symbol. He was making money for everyone and the ladies loved him. Another example is none other than Bruce Lee. He became a huge action star and role model for all Asian Americans. However, I do have to note that some people do consider Bruce Lee a stereotype now because of the stereotypical “kung fu asian character” that white society expects when they think of a stereotypical asian.

But..What’s the Crisis you ask? The crisis is these asian stereotypes in Hollywood [film] that traps asian males AND females into only specific roles. You have the action hero, nerd/silly, foreign exchange student, brainiac ect. Asian Males are given no love interests because that’s not what the white audience wants to see. Asian males are being desexualized . With the film Saving Face, the crisis that you never see is an unfamiliar sighting with Asian American females. They have leading roles and are lesbians…which is something you never see in film. With this film, you see Asian American women in a new light that other movies don’t show, which is refreshing. You never see a film where there is a gay or lesbian movie, where the main character is a female and she’s a doctor.

To recap, Asian Americans still deal with this crisis…but are definitely making strides to show other Asian Americans that it is possible to break out and not be stereotypical.

With Lee’s readings and watching the films The Joy Luck Club and Slaying The Dragon, I saw a lot of connections with self identity, self worth, and the correlation with beauty standards and assimilation.

On page 175, Lee talked about how all the female characters in Flower Drum Song, ”held the keys to successful ethnic assimilation”, while Nancy Kwan, just by her looks, already had assimilation in the bag…that was an illusion. The film Slaying The Dragon  connects with that because of the “Dragon Lady” stereotype. I do not agree with that at all, but  Nancy Kwans character was cast as manipulative, deceiving, and exotic asian female. Lee also talks about “defining whiteness”, and just like Ozawa, it didn’t matter “how assimilated” he was, he still could not become an American citizen because of his skin color and race. Joy Luck Club connects with this because all the daughters had obvious issues with self worth and identity, and overall, what that really meant for them. If you can compare Nancy Kwans character to the daughters of Joy Luck Club…you could see through what the real issue was. Which was either being too Asian or not enough and struggling with that identity and balance.. I ask myself, do you really need to choose?

Throughout the Lee readings I found that Chapter 3 stood out to me the most because it reminds me of my obsession and of Grand Torino.  Lee talks about what a women’s role is a what a men’s role is…I hate that comparison because really though..who says or who gets to say? I ask myself what makes up men’s work and what makes up women’s work? What’s masculine or feminine of the East and West? In chapter 3 under the section Displacing Women, Destabilizing Gender, Lee talks about how Chinese men servants did “women’s work” (104), and how it messed up the definition of what women’s work actually was.

I connect this with Gran Torino because there is also a lot of gender expectations when came to the Hmong culture in the Gran Torino film. Thao was made fun of because he didn’t act like “the man of the house”. His other family members would also make fun of the fact that Thao didn’t do manly activities like he was expected to. He liked to garden, which was considered to be a women’s job in the Hmong culture. On the topic of gender roles, Sue was a very strong female character. In the film, it was described that the women went to school and got an education while the men went to jail.

 After seeing The Debut I now understand why there was a circle of this generational resentment. Ben’s grandfather was hard on Ben’s father because he didn’t think his passion was suitable for a career. It’s the same thing with Ben and his dad. Ben has an extraordinary drawing talent and wants to make it on his own going to college for art, not going to college to become a doctor. Ben and his father constantly butt heads because of the fact of the matter is, is that Ben’s father only wants the best for him. However he comes across hard headed, stubborn, and ashamed. He always thinks that Ben is out gallivanting and up to no good, when in fact he is working really hard.  I understand this sense of urgency and doing everything possible to become successful. Like Ben, I am the first in my family to graduate high school and go to college. But it’s also another thing to do what you want and what your passion is, not the dreams of somebody else.

Another hard topic in the film is Ben’s resentment towards his family and his cultural traditions. It’s sad to think that somebody would be so ashamed of that, however understandable because most people don’t get to have that experience of cultural traditions, and sometimes it may come across as judgmental when somebody doesn’t understand that.  Ben becomes so wrapped up in wanting to be white and tries to hide the fact that he is a person of color.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“How many rats can you get into one room?” That was the first thing that Walt ever said based on his first encounter with Thao and Sue’s family. Walt was an all American white male, who believed in American made anything and beer. He was a veteran that fought in the Korean war which made life for Walt hell. Walt was very, very racist and crude as well…In this film, you either love Walt or you hate him. Walt has been carrying around the burden of what he had to do while he as on Korea. He talks about he justifies his actions with “well that’s how we handled things in Korea.” Over the course of the film, Walt does start to warm up to Thao and Sue’s family, softening his thinking about all asians in general.

Of course from the obvious “white savior complex” the Walts character holds, there is also a lot of gender expectations when came to the Hmong culture. Thao was made fun of because he didn’t act like “the man of the house”. His other family members would also make fun of the fact that Thao didn’t do manly activities like he was expected to. He liked to garden, which was considered to be a women’s job in the Hmong culture. On the topic of gender roles, Sue was a very strong female character. In the film, it was described that the women went to school and got an education while the men went to jail.

Throughout the film, I could watch it again, however I could do without Walt’s constant racism. I fee like..Ok we get it!!!! Enough..I felt uncomfortable after a while watching it. Just when you thought Walt was finally comfortable with Sue and Thao’s family/culture, he would through in another racist remark. At the end of the film, I do not think that Walt giving Thao his Gran Torino justifies anything that he did during the film. The director just wanted things to end on a “lighter” note.

Here’s the trailer **      

Click here to view the embedded video.

Chapter 10: The Watershed of WWII

World War II: A very large turning point in the battle against racial exclusion.  In the short-term however, did one race lose while another gained?  Most certainly.  The Japanese lost while the Filipinos gained; interment camps vs. “brotherhood” forged in war.  Because of this, in the short-term, can the events of World War II really be considered an improvement?  Not really.
The fact that many Filipino soldiers were refused service while they were dressed in US Army uniform shows that many Americans did not feel near as much of an impact from the attack on Bataan, and thus could not have easily sympathized with the Filipino-American soldiers.  This is why they still faced discrimination even while in uniform.  I theorize that it is because there was little connection between White Americans and Filipino Americans that the age-old issue of racial rejection was still prevalent in the face of what the Filipino-American soldiers had done for the U.S.
Segregation in the types of service performed by Filipino soldiers. Takaki mentions how they “operated behind enemy lines, engaging in sabotage.”  Could this have been exploitation on the part of some officers of their eagerness and willingness to serve, getting them to do perhaps more dangerous work?  Did their facial similarity to the Japanese simply offer up certain advantages in performing covert operations?  Is there really any facial similarity?
Korean enthusiasm was of course bittersweet:  even with their newfound excitement at the U.S.’s declaration of war against Japan, there were still the instances where they would be confused as Japanese.  I can imagine that it probably made some of them very upset.  Especially after the 1940 Alien Registration Act.

Chapter 11: “Strangers” At The Gates Again

World War II resulted in more diversity in American society and a lessening in the attitude of white superiority. After the war, more Japanese registered to vote and they became the largest ethnic voting block in Hawaii. Workers gained the right to collective bargaining.On the mainland, discriminating laws were struck. In 1952, the McCarran-Watter Act was passed. This did away with the racial restrictions of the 1790 law and made the Japanese equal to all other immigrants.The Chinese communists took control of mainland China in 1949 and the Kuomintang of Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan. This caused a splintering of the Chinese in the Untied States. The Chinese Six Companies supported the Kuomintang. There were confrontations between the two groups. Thousands of Chinese were investigated for subversive activities.The 1948 Displaced Persons Act and the 1953 Refugee Relief Act allowed for greater immigration.

Filipinos are the largest group of Asian immigrants. They did not concentrate in any one area. Most of the second wave came from urban areas and many were women and professional or technical workers. Many immigrated because of the corruption and repression of the Marcos regime. In spite of their professional status or education, they worked for low wages. Many did not practice their professions because of licensing requirements. There was a great deal of underemployment, and many became self-employed because of this and discrimination.Many Koreans immigrated to the United States after 1965. Most settled in big cities and established Koreatown and many operated their own small business. Approximately seventy percent have college degrees when they immigrate and they bring their families with them.Even though Korea had experienced rapid industrialization, many people immigrated for better job opportunities.

Chapter 12: Breaking Silences

Interethnic cooperation was spurred by the realization of similarity of the circumstances, pidgin english, and an eventual common interest in increased wages.
Comparing the incomes of ethnic groups demands the consideration of many factors, including what the statistic actually indicates, geographical distribution, and other inconsistencies across the two groups that would impact the statistic.
Takaki seems to contradict himself, stating that many Asian-Americans are concentrated in areas which have higher wages, and then goes on to say that they tend to be located in the “secondary sector.”
I wish Takaki provided more context with a lot of this information.  While very interesting, it’s hard to realize it without knowing whether or not mentioned issue is a very current problem or a not so current problem.
Takaki doesn’t appear to take a specific side in the “over-representation of Asian Americans in schools” debate, preferring to simply highlight the issue.
All ethnic representations problems ultimately boil down to how cultural groups should be organized in the global society.  Conflicting ideas on what “America” SHOULD be result in questions regarding the place of different ethnicities, such as Asian-American immigrants.  Ultimately, one party will have to assimilate, but which party should that be?  The nation, or the immigrant?  If both should, to what extent should each?  It is the attempt to find the proper “balance” of assimilation from little more than subjective guidelines that stands as a critical issue with managing immigration.

Chapter 13: One-Tenth Of The Nation

The 1990s demonstrates what I’ve pointed out in earlier journals that the root source of racial discrimination has not actually been addressed.  It is especially prevalent when people join together under a common issue, such as the Rodney King incident.
“‘This riot happened because of the gap between rich and poor.’”  The U.S. is currently experiencing a similar situation, in which middle to lower class citizens have been participating in the “Occupy” protests, focusing specifically on the gap between the rich and the poor.  Could it be a hotbed for racial tension?  As the issue of “jobs” continues to be on the minds of many, what some would call “racial tensions” have elevated against “undocumented immigrants,” of which a majority are Mexican.  Could we see a repeat of the racial tension experienced between White and Asian Americans in the early to mid 1900s in the 21st century, only between predominately White Americans and Mexican / Latin American immigrants?
Affirmative Action:  empirically, it contributes to attaining the goal of diverse community involvement.  However, it does raise some ethical questions, such as denying candidates admission to a university on the account of “overrepresentation.”  A prominent question: should representation in universities and colleges of ethnic groups mirror that in the community?  This is often cited as the justification for affirmative action, as seen at UC Berkley in the 1990s.
It seems that in the rush and panic to find the “silver bullet” to the issue of race and racial representation, the end result of “boxing in” certain ethnicities to a set of standards hastily deemed appropriate has its own serious consequence:  the “ceiling” and the “floor” of the box are based on generalizations and do not accommodate the needs and desires of many members of said racial group.

“Ain’t no party like a wild cat party, cuz a wild cat party don’t stop”-Wild Cat Cheerleaders

Ben, Virgil, Han, & Daric bit off more than they can chew living a double life in suburbia. With that opening quote in mind, their “extra-curricular activities” was one for the college books.To get into the theme of Asian/American pop culture, I felt that the film gave a very different perspective on the “typical stereotypes” of Asian Americans. The foundation of this film is, “Never underestimate an overachiever”.

Click here to view the embedded video.