Author Archives: Jessica I.

Mississippi Masala

Multiracial and cultural relationships are definitely embedded in the themes of this movie. The duality between being African-American and never having been to Africa and then being Indian descent but identify with being African was interesting to see the duality between them. The racist aspect was also something that I wasn’t expecting. There was a strange tension between the female character’s father and Denzel Washington’s character as well, though I don’t think it was from racism, but the feeling of betrayal from his best friend from Africa.

This was also the first time that I had heard about Indians being in Africa, and what they went through. Though it doesn’t really specify much about the history. Though it gave enough details to know what had happened in Uganda. While there was some general information, it would have been nice to know more about what happened in detail, but I guess that’s up to me to research.

http://img2-3.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/060428/152155__masala_l.jpg

The End.

What I wanted to do while looking at video games, particularly Bioshock Infinite, was to show the connection to our own world and reality. While most games represent the extreme, I think it can be important to read into some of these games as a commentary on our society. While some may see them as useless, I do think that the lessons presented in these games can be taken and used if the player – or reader of the text – is willing to look past just the entertainment and look into the details.

If we let them I think that there are some games that really do have something to say. They both have the power to entertain and teach, as long as the player can read between the lines.

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a3/Official_cover_art_for_Bioshock_Infinite.jpg

Connection

“By changing our history and our memory, they try to erase all our shame.”

-The email from the professor to Ruth about Haruki. Before this class I was in a human rights class, and one of the things that we talked about was the Japanese invasion in China, but particularly the denial of these massacres. There was even a government official who attempted to claim that the Chinese death count was too high by multiple thousands, that it hadn’t been ‘that bad.’

There was also mention of a group of Japanese men who had been taken prisoner in China who then attempted to remind the country of what had happened using the philosophy that if they continued to deny what they had done then it was only a matter of time that it would be repeated. They wanted to bring attention to these matters in order to keep the truth from dying.

I think that Ruth has an amazing way of bringing in issues that had happened in the past to color her characters of the past, present and future.

AAFF

http://seattleaaff.org/2014/

 

Asian American Film Festival! It’s something that I never even knew existed until it was brought up in class. It’s really need to become more aware of events that are happening in a city nearby that I had never realized had been an option. It’s something that I would really enjoy attending some day, hopefully even next year.

APIs in the news

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2013/oct/19/asian-american-pacific-islander-groups-share/#axzz2vLgwGZXA

 

American Asian Pacific Islanders having a discussion about the community (health care, education, etc.) in Bremerton, Washington. This article was written in October.

Part 3 Ozeki

Tweaking the theme of identity, this story had a lot to do with the bending of reality. The moment with Haruki’s ghost is the first time that the book changes from being part of our reality and turning into something that twists the idea of what reality was presented as in this story.

The relationship between Nao and Haruki shown at the temple is an interesting one; a relationship between the living and the dead. Haruki gives her hints towards different things that happened to him during the war, while starting an attachment that Nao feels towards him that continues to strengthen when she reads his letters.

Identity also begins to shift for Nao during her time at the temple as she searches for her ‘Supapowa!’, gaining strength and insight, even if she doesn’t always use it in the most productive way.

Better Luck Tomorrow

Ridiculous [ri-dik-yuh-luhs]  adjective

1.

causing or worthy of ridicule or derision; absurd; preposterous; laughable: a ridiculous plan
Better Luck Tomorrow starts out innocently enough, disguised as a regular high school teen comedy around the cliche plot of “the unpopular guy who likes the pretty girl who is dating the dude who is richer/sporty-er/better looking.” The innocence of this movie quickly is shaken off as the main character, Ben, comes into a business of scams, thievery, and drug dealing.
The business is made up of a group of four boys from the same high school, Ben, Virgil, Han and Daric. School rumors have branded them as The Chinese Mafia. You never really know their exact national heritage, though, which gives a glimpse into what American teens really know about Asian races. They never dispute it, separating even the viewers from those who are watching it expecting a teen comedy and those who are watching it for the Asian-American racial aspect of the overall movie. All of the characters identify as Asian, but never any specific country. China is the only country that is heard referenced, and it’s never referenced by any of the Asiatic characters, aside from one point in the movie when Ben is participating in the basketball team and Derek pins him as the ‘token Asian’ on the team.
I think the fact that this movie doesn’t focus on the ‘Asian’ aspect of Asian Americans is really interesting. So many movies are focused exactly on that that seeing one that is just about their lives without much discussion about race is fascinating.

The Debut

What I appreciate the most about The Debut was that it was a story about Filipino families. It seems like there aren’t enough stories out there about this particular culture. There seems to be more movies based around Japanese and Chinese culture, but not many when it comes to some of the other Asian and Asian American cultures.

Something else about this movie that was interesting was the idea wish that the main character’s father had for him to succeed. He had had an option to ‘follow his dreams,’ but he had sacrificed it all for his family. All he wanted was for his son to succeed and not have to go through the hardships he had gone through when he hadn’t been able to make his dream a reality, even if it meant sacrificing immediate happiness.

The portrayal of the reluctance to accept their parents’ culture was another interesting point. It was neat to see how the character struggled with integrating the Filipino culture into general American teen culture, and the battle that he faced in order to learn to accept the different aspects of his life, as well as respect the mindsets of both.

Hall of Heroes

“Twas yellow skin and slanted eyes

That did betray us with their lies.

Until they crossed the righteous path

Of our Prophet’s holy wrath.”

 

http://media.washtimes.com/media/image/2013/04/01/bioshock-hall-heroes-640_r640x400.jpg?5f283927f7404204a81e453b153d50eb7d86d89b

A motorized Patriot stands at the door and recites these words. The building is a museum that glorifies both battles of The Boxer Rebellion and Broken Knee. In the Boxer Rebellion half of the museum the cardboard cutouts representing the Chinese pop up from behind stones, represented as hunch-backed demons with talons, fanged teeth and pointed ears. Over the loudspeaker a man boasts how he “Put the city to the torch” in Peking, angered that the prophet Comstock took credit instead.

The Boxer Rebellion is portrayed as something that was necessary, as well as a fight for glory. The Chinese are portrayed as monsters, who were mercilessly slaying white people – even portrayed a devilish monsters. Nowhere in the game is this seen as a negative event. It’s only seen as a savior saving his people from monsters. The men who participated are seen as heroes, even if the experience leaves them broken.

I think that the game shows an interesting pairing, using a character who sees the battles depicted in this museum as a fight of glory. He even demands a soldiers death towards the end of this section of the game. On the other side there’s the character who is ashamed of the part he took in these battles against people he came to realize didn’t deserve what happened to them. Despite this pair of opposite characters, it’s interesting to see the two different mindsets in an overly racist atmosphere provided by the museum.

But I don’t think these two characters should overshadow the fact that this museum shows the acceptance of racism towards people of different nationalities within this city.

Environment

Invasive species are a major threat to our environment because they (1) can change habitats and alter ecosystem function and ecosystem services, (2) crowd out or replace native species, and (3) damage human activities, costing the economy millions of dollars.

 

The above definition could be molded and changed to fit a Tale for the Time Being as a being that causes a disruption in their environment and the people/humans around them. The Japanese jungle crow possibly came over on some drift. In its first appearance it’s a disruptive force, and continues to make its presence known in the second part of the story. Like Nao it is displaced, causes a disruption within the local community, and yet it’s there.

Another invasive species in the story are the trees that Oliver attempts to plant. It’s against the clause that he agreed with not allowing invasive species, and yet it’s a species that can trace its ancestry back to that island. What does it mean to be an invasive species when it lived there hundreds of years ago? It may have been displaced over the years, but is there really a cut off in ancestry when a person, animal, plant or object goes from being a native to being invasive?