Author Archives: Sunset

two quarters and a heart down

Slaying The Dragon,
& The Joy Luck Club 

Slaying the Dragon took a good look at the trials of Asian American women in media and, as the class might indicate, popular culture. It wasn’t quite as female centered as the film we watched later, The Slanted Screen, but I did feel that it was somewhat female centric, or at least had a good focus on the women’s roles in movies over the years.  Because of the two films being shown very close together, we were given an excellent view into the two parallel but different worlds of Asian American men and women in media.  The most jarring thing about Slaying the Dragon was probably how truly fetishized movies have made Asian women. They either seduce or are made into objects to lust after, and they rarely get to break out of this stereotype unless it’s to be a stereotypical doting housewife-like figure. Not only is this lack of change unfortunate, it’s actually depressing.

The same can be seen in the lives of the women of The Joy Luck Club. Being about a large group of women, it shows the lives and hardships of some of the older women. How one was literally sold at a young age to be married at fifteen, and the emotional abuse she suffered later in life at the hands of her husband. The scars from this lingered with her for years, and I can’t help but feel that was happened to her wasn’t a great deal different from what media does to women as well.

As an aside, I accidentally did the wrong reading, and my comments on the reading that should have been here can actually be found over in this post.

the woman from Italy, oh end of all things

Saving Face,
Orientals 180 – 231,
& The Slanted Screen

The theme I found most common in the reading and films was the matter of identity, and the crisis dealt with while trying to realize ones own identity. Numerous times during The Slanted Screen, the actors talk about how lack of representation made them feel alienated. Even after they began to get a bit more representation in popular culture, their views of themselves and what was expected of them. I recall one man reminiscing on his memories of Bruce Lee, and how he wondered how he was supposed to fit this image into himself, because he really didn’t look  that way, and was this expected of him too? I was also surprised to find that Bruce Lee was the start of the martial arts stereotype. It’s always a little surreal when you find the origin of a stereotype that you’ve known about for years.

Likewise, the crisis of identity was a very common theme in Saving Face. Wil found it near impossible at first to reconcile with her sexuality, and though she was aware of it, she never went out of her way to try to find someone to date or care about, instead letting herself fall into her work. It isn’t until later and she’s approached by Vivian that she really starts to blossom and accept who she is and the people she cares about. Likewise, her mother has a similar crisis, too afraid of the social repercussions to admit to caring about a younger man, let alone to carrying his child.

In Orientals, we see the same issue with many Asian American youths. Lacking in positive role models in fiction, they get categorized into stereotypes and half-hearted associations, such as the model minority, while media portrays them more as the unfortunate terms gooks.

someone fetch a stretcher for the disco damaged kid

Orientals: Asian Americans in Popular Culture, pg 106 – 179

The Nuclear Family as Civil Defense (pg. 160)

It was interesting to read about some of the roots of homophobia in this country. How the desire to continue America in the aftermath of a nuclear war caused the the persecution of not only homosexuals but of non reproductive sexuality. The nuclear family became of the utmost importance and not conforming to this idea was a “perversion of the natural biological order” and a threat to national security (161). To think that some of laws set down by during the terror of the Cold War have impacted people for so long. It is amazing to see how stubborn and terrified people can be of change to the point that they will castrate their own sexuality. There was an immense amount of change after the Cold War and the discovery that humans were capable of making weapons of mass destruction beyond our previous comprehension. I guess in order to cope with the fear that followed this realization, and the realization that we were not safe from our own creation, Americans tried to control their home lives. They tried to find some way in which to crawl into their own homes of security and normality in hopes that they could be safe from anything. Including nuclear threat. However, the more they tried to control and restrict themselves and others, the more they found they could not. People have natural urges and desires, and they had no more control over their own lives than they did over communism and stopping a nuclear war. Thus, the idea that we could defend ourselves by only following the “natural biological order” was nothing more than a red herring (161).

don’t wanna know

Obsessions

michiko&hatchin

I was thinking about obsessions that might be fitting for this class, and after looking through a list of anime series that I had been meaning to watch, I decided to try and get through a series called Michiko & Hatchin. I managed to find an English dub as opposed to sub, and though while not nearly as good, it saved me a bit of time since I didn’t find myself needing to watch subtitles for the 22 episodes that the series runs.

Michiko & Hatchin is about a woman named Machiko who starts off the series on the hunt for her mixed-race daughter, Hana. Hana quickly decides that she hates her actual name, and instead decides to go by Hatchin instead. Hence, the name of the show. The series largely revolves around Michiko and Hatchin, on the run from the law for numerous different offenses, while simultaneously on the hunt for Hatchin’s father, who disappeared years prior to the start of the series. Along the way the two learn how to actually love each other as mother and daughter, while avoiding the law and various gangs at every turn. The set up of the series doesn’t leave much room for the antagonists, but the main one for at least the first half of the series is a black woman with very amazing hair, by the name of Atsuko, and she spends the majority of the series trying to arrest Michiko.

The series takes place in Brazil, and is honestly a pretty fantastic watch. It has it’s flaws of course, but I enjoyed every minute of it, and if nothing else it was pretty refreshing compared to some other stereotypes that you might see in series like this.

send you my love on a wire

The Debut

Is it considered cultural erasure if a child can’t speak a language that his parents speak fluently? This is something that I’ve wondered for a long time. In an attempt to “Americanize” my mother, my grandparents  refused to teach her German. Later in life they would often have full conversations in German with my mother in the room, whenever they were discussing something they didn’t want her to know about. As a child she only knew what she referred to as “mom phrases”, things like “sit still”, “behave”, “don’t be naughty/bad”, and, a more random one, “washrag”. Watching this movie reminded me a great deal of that. Later in life, my mother was unable to recognize the pride people felt for their heritage, because she was always taught to be ashamed of her own. I felt like the situation was somewhat similar for Ben, even if his apparent shame at his heritage was something he was taught culturally as opposed to from his family.

There was a pretty interesting  example of racism in the film between Filipino and Japanese people. They were discussing cars, and one of the characters questioned why they were bothering to buy parts from Japanese car makers, when the Japanese had killed so many Filipino during WWII.

One of the reasons liked this movie is because of the general length of time to it. A lot of movies that we’ve seen as a class so far have been about this slow coming to terms with who you are and what you feel. This is realistic in a sense, but I enjoyed that the movie also explored different aspects of this. Though rare, occasionally people have days where the pieces fall into place, and though it’s not immediate, they gain a better understanding of just who they are and how the world connects to them. I loved that Ben put this new-found understanding into his art and used it as a way to make his father better realize the things he wanted in life.

As an aside, I was looking at Dante Basco’s wikipedia page to see if he had been in another movie I’d seen not long ago, But I’m a Cheerleader, and it said that in The Debut he played alongside his three brothers, as well as his sister. I’ve never been very good at paying attention to credits after films, but I thought that was pretty cool.

a thousand silhouettes dancing on my chest

Gran Torino

For the duration of the film, I had this overwhelming sense that the dog, Daisy, would die at some point. I felt that this would be the key redemption point for the main character, and it would teach him to appreciate people regardless of their race.

I was extremely wrong about it. Walt still had a redemption of sorts, but Daisy was fine, driving off into the metaphorical sunset with Thao. I spent the duration of the film feeling very little empathy for Walt, and rightly so, given his unpleasant demeanor and attitude.

Walt didn’t become less racist as he became close with Thao’s family. He was still mean and unpleasant, but I do believe he became a little more human in his interactions with them. And of course, we have Daisy, one of his main humanizing factors. Daisy is with him at all times, Walt sees her judging him for smoking in the bathroom, and before Walt leaves, he makes sure that she’s in a safe place, much to her discontent. Daisy represented the missing influence that his wife may have had in his life.

At the end of the movie, however, I was genuinely surprised by Walt’s choices. He did the best thing he could have done, which was make sure that Thao didn’t get involved in his suicide mission, thereby saving his life. In this he also made sure that Thao didn’t see him being gunned down. Not only that, but he made sure Thao’s cousins went to jail, and that they would (hopefully never) hurt someone again.

This film was a lot different than what I was originally expecting. I’m still getting used to the idea of the “white savior complex” in films, as it was something that was only introduced to me a year or two ago, and I’m on the fence about whether or not this film falls under that classification. What do you all think?

you got a hole in your head

Strangers From a Different Shore: 10 – 13

“Most second-wave Asian Indians have found economic opportunities here to be much greater than in their home country.” (pg. 446)

In reading this quote, I had to go back and double check when this book was originally written. 1989, if I read the dates correctly, with updates and revisions in the version released in 1998, which I can only assume is the copy that I have.

I may be interpreting this incorrectly, but as I was reading, it seemed like the book was glorifying the “opportunities” that Asian Indians, which included “travel agency work, sari shops, and luncheonettes”. It goes on to say that you don’t really need capital to start off that way, but before that’s state it also says that many of them are college trained and educated. It seems rather hypocritical, doesn’t it? What is the point of being college educated if you can’t make use of your degree, and all the training you’ve been through? Why should they be expected to work jobs with awful hours, with very little gratitude ever given to them? The book is excellent, but I found myself a little disappointed in this aspect of it.  The most desirable thing that’s mentioned is that Asian Indians have quite the influence in the hotel/motel business, which could be quite lucrative if you were a stock holder or an owner.

feeling super, super, super!

How I Met Your Mother,
the 1986 Challenger explosion,
& WWII Stragglers.

HIMYM

I was genuinely surprised while watching this episode of How I Met Your Mother, a television series that my little sister is quite fond of watching. I’ve only seen a few episodes prior to this, mostly while also on my laptop, but it seemed an appealing enough show from what I could tell. Jokes were rarely done in poor taste, and if they were characters would occasionally say that it was inappropriate, and the characters were rather realistic. That’s part of why it was so bizarre when I watched the episode and saw just how poorly handled it all was.

The episode starts to get bad after just three minutes. When Marshall is denied teaching but a teacher, a young boy some out and offers him information on how to find a master to teach him the slap of a thousand suns, and he offers “much gold” in return. This could be overlooked if they hadn’t kept up the charade for the rest of the episode. The “much gold” issue continues to pop up over the course of the episode, and not only did they have several of the main characters dress up in yellow face, but they did poor accent imitations. It also perpetuated the stereotype of Asian women looking young.

The only real upside to the episode was Barney Stinson’s complete and utter disbelief of the whole thing.

The Challenger

In 1986, the space shuttle Challenger launched. It remained in the air for about 73 seconds before a huge fireball erupted in the sky. Every member of the crew died. The entire thing was tragic, but perhaps one of the most tragic aspects was the loss of Ellison Onizuka. At the age of 39 when the Challenger took off, Ellison became the first Asian American to enter space. Instantly he became a role model for all Asian Americans, and anyone else, really. People might be bigoted and cruel, but it doesn’t mean you are any less capable for being who you are. Unfortunately, the very same mission also ended up taking his life.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I took the liberty of locating a video of the Challenger’s launch. It’s not terribly graphic, but I wouldn’t recommend watching it if you have issues with explosions.

WWII Stragglers

During class last quarter, I recall a story of a mother who was in denial about WWII being over. She insisted for years to come that the war had not ended yet, and she still resented the people who were responsible for the concentration camps. I do not feel that a reaction such as that was unwarranted, especially in light of the travesties that were committed against Asian Americans at the time. It seems to me that the Stragglers had a very similar issue. Despite the war having ended in 1945, some soldiers continued to fight into the 70s.

in the rubble are all the things you’ve been dreaming of

The meaning of obsession.

For the majority of my life, I was never passionate about any one thing. I was never obsessed, nor did I feel there was anything in particular that I should carer about more than any one other thing. Even now, I couldn’t tell you with certainty that there’s anything I feel very strongly about. I very rarely find myself bored, because I always make sure there are plenty of things for me to do. I find this comes in especially handy if I go back to Pennsylvania during a break to see my family. The first thing I go to is my laptop. Laptop dies? Move onto a book. Eyes get too strained? Play a handheld video game, usually an RPG. Much like I never found myself bored for long, I also never had any dreams.

NillHowever, when I returned to my family’s home for winter break this year, I found myself without a computer for the majority of the nearly three-week-long break, and that’s when I really began to get into reading again for my own personal enjoyment. It’s when I started the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan, and I sped through the first five books, and onto the sixth, the beginning of the sequel, Heroes of Olympus. Likewise, it’s when I realized how much I missed having photoshop. My skills only extend to coloring within the lines, but being able to do so is quite cathartic, especially when you factor in the Undo button, which allows you to try again without making a mistake the second time.

I suppose, given my enjoyment of cartoons and anime, scifi and horror, rpgs and manga, you could say that my obsession is fiction.

edit: Yikes, I didn’t realize how badly the site would pixelate that image. Next time I’ll upload with a url.

the end is where we start from

Better Luck Tomorrow

“You happy?”
“I don’t know.”
“Fuck, man. That’s the most truthful thing I’ve ever heard.”

I knew from the start that this movie was going to be a little different, but I didn’t realize quite how drastically until Steve and Ben actually started to become friends. After they talked at the baseball range, I felt there was an odd, genuine sort of bond between them. The kind of bond that you form when you don’t particularly like someone, one way or the other, but you are more or less capable of understanding them regardless of that fact. Even now, given the ending, I’m not certain that initial judgment was necessarily wrong.

My attention to detail isn’t very good at times. I spent the better part of the movie idly wondering, “why are they so desperate to find a pager?” and then, without ever actually turning away from that train of thought, “which of these characters is going to die?” I went over scenes in my head as they flashed across the screen, picking out which characters had a white shirt on, which ones seemed to be in the most danger. I remained under the mistaken assumption that when someone did die it was either going to be Virgil, or it would be Virgil’s fault, somehow. Lacking somewhat in the common sense department, I expected his mistakes to be the worst. In many ways, they were. He tossed guns around, he pulled one on a young woman, and in the end,  I’m fairly certain the gun that fell to the ground was his own. He became so obsessed with his escapism that it inevitably caused his downfall, even if it wasn’t because of a conscious decision on his part. We see him spend the majority of the movie trying to be anyone but himself. He beats the hell out of a boy because he can, and later laughs and weeps, as if he can’t decide why he did it. His cousin is abusive, and takes every opportunity to beat him whenever he can. After they think it’s done, after the body is buried and he and Ben are lying in the son, he says he can’t wait to get away, get out of the hellhole he’s in. And then as the movie begins to draw to a close, when he can no longer escape, he decides to do what many people choose in the end, with that very same gun.

Largely the movie felt to me that it was about people trying to escape from what they were in, and in some cases, from themselves. When Steve actually voiced these concerns (in his own, perhaps misguided way), the people around him lashed out at it because it was to some extent a reflection of themselves.