Author Archives: Terri

Ozeki

I think that communication is one of the key themes so far. Communicative styles like letter writing and storytelling are the major methods utilized.

I enjoyed the one-sided communication through Nao’s diary. She is writing to an unknown individual, and the individual, Ruth, has no way to reply. I think that the one-sidedness makes it more like storytelling or a letter that Ruth can’t reply to. Ruth, as a writer, is in a similar position. She writes to an unknown, and tells them a story, the reader can’t reply.

The use of text messages, email, and phone calls are the shown forms of modern communication. The letters from the pilot is a more traditional communication style. The verbal and nonverbal communication between the human characters and the animals is also prominent.

Enter The Dragon

“According to the kung fu film semiotics the karate/judo gi is reserved to signify the Japanese, hence, foreign power/imperialism.” page 152

I really enjoyed the visual aspect of this part. Seeing the entire courtyard of students in white gis and the competitors in yellow, but Lee is in his Chinese costume. I think that his refusal to wear the uniform that all the other fighters wear is a major point where everyone takes notice of him.   Also at the ending, when all of the prisoners were released, they were wearing the Chinese garb in black. It created a clear visual opposition of the”good guys” and the “villains”.

As Kato goes on to say that by using the gis the crew was trying to “embody the multinational ‘Orientalist’ aesthetic” and Lee’s refusal to participate in that aspect of the film was really great to show how individual cultures should be recognized as different.

My Name is Khan

My Name is Khan is such a beautifully powerful film. Khan loves his family so fully and purely that he goes on an epic quest to fulfill his loves wishes. As he goes about his journey he is detained by the TSA, arrested by the FBI, and stabbed while rebuilding a hurricane torn small town.

Khan faces various struggles through race, religion, and disability. Multiple times in the film, his Aspergers is mistaken as unsavory behavior, leading to many of the issues he faces in the film. Paired with his religion and the color of his skin, he is under suspicion by those in authority positions.

Khan and his brother had a tense relationship since the start of the film. Even after their mother passed away and he was diagnosed, their relationship was additionally fractured by Khan’s decision to marry a Hindu woman. The most important lesson Khan ever learned from his mother is back-dropped by the Muslim-Hindu Riots.

Good people who do good deeds. And bad people who do bad. That’s the only difference in human beings. There’s no other difference.

It’s this lesson that Khan spreads through America on his journey to tell the President that he is not a terrorist. Khan’s mission was completed through love. Mandira fought for justice, she was fueled by anger.

Kung Fu Animal Styles

Since I wasn’t present to watch the documentaries on Thursday, I’ve done a bit of research into the various animals. Tiger, Leopard, Crane, Snake, and Dragon. I don’t know what style I could fit, but I would be interested to find out.

Mutiny in the Global Village

I had a very difficult time with the Friday reading. To me it seemed a bit too everywhere, and didn’t come to a solid point or conclusion. I thought it was cool to have a chapter with a major Seattle connection. Linking Chief Seattle’s speech and the WTO protests weren’t ever something I’ve heard of before. I thought that was interesting. Reading about the impact of various Seattle-ites on pop culture had been fun.

POPositions!

Hollywood has a desire for the kine-aesthetic and performative narrative in the forms of Samurai and Kung Fu films, which is the art born of reclamation of culture from post-colonialism.- POPosition, Kato, Group 5.

I think that Hollywood’s crave for these arts is comparable to wanting another child’s toy. There are these epic fight films that Japan and China had that showed battle and extreme physicality and the early Hollywood didn’t have that. These films could be foreign enough to entice viewers, but not enough to turn them away.

Yet, when viewed with the Western lens, there is a slight discrepancy between the stories being seen. With the Western gaze, you see something like the equivalent of a cowboy movie. However, in the originality, the story may play out much deeper with such deep rooted cultural meanings and history that may otherwise go over the knowledge of someone outside.

As an art of politics and liberation, the kinetic arts like kung fu are often disregarded. People often just take it at face value instead, enjoying it for the kicking and action. Therefore the political messages through kung fu are often lost.

“How I Learned to Feel Undesirable” – Noah Cho

“I look mostly Asian, and like so many other heterosexual Asian males before me, I have internalized a lifetime of believing that my features … make me unattractive and undesirable.” – Noah Cho

This week I read this article on NPR about a Korean American man, Noah Cho, who finds himself undesirable due to his mixed heritage. The article, written by Cho, is about how he feels that his appearance, as a mixture of his Korean father’s and American mother’s, isn’t appealing to any prospective partners. He voices his confusion over how White women could find Asian men attractive. He recalls how when he was younger he tried to alter and hide his Asian side by dying his hair and wearing green contacts.

He admits that he can’t believe whenever his partner, a Japanese Chinese American woman, tells him he is attractive. He just can’t see himself in that way.

He ends the article by saying that he eagerly awaits the day that he can look himself in the mirror and not be disappointed by the face looking back at him.

As a teenager, I completely felt like he did. Looking too white to be Asian, and too Asian to be white. Can’t look like one or the other, so how are you supposed to appeal to someone? It’s frustrating, but since there is so little to do about it, all you can really do is accept it and learn how to best accentuate the features you like best.

A Few Fusion Designs

I’ve been working on a few fusion dress designs. I’ll post the others after I post some other national costumes. In looking at what are dubbed “Fusion Hanboks” the designs often look completely Western. Though the dress skirt isn’t actually closed, but rather a wrap around, the only other main difference is the top line. The most common modifications to a hanbok are a shortening of the hemline and alteration or removal of the jacket piece.

To some traditionalists, the East-West fusion wear is interpreted as a modernizing (because in much of Asia “Westernizing” and “modernizing” are synonymous) therefore resulting in a loss of culture. For some designers, using a hanbok form is a way to reconcile the modern fashion styles with tradition, thereby returning to roots.

Sandra Oh modeled a fusion hanbok on the red carpet once. The piece left off the jacket and the traditional style tie became nearly comically oversized. Her outfit also utilized colors not common in traditional wear, which is another common element of fusion wear. The dress did retain it’s length and fullness.

The photos of Kpop group T-ara show a variety of styles among fusion/modern wear. Their outfits add flairs such as ruffles and layering, a bow rather than the tie, moving the line from the bust to the waist, and fur trims on short sleeves or bolero tops.

Better Luck Tomorrow

Feb. 4- I’ve had this post in my drafts for a while now because I really don’t like how I’ve written it. However in the spirit of re-analyzing and reviewing, here is what I have to add.

Love triangle? Stupid. Better luck tomorrow? For who? No one, they’ve potentially ruined their lives. Since the film plays off of stereotypes, rather than a specific race, the characters are presented as a “default” pan-Asian. Possibly one of the best things is checking out the IMBD page for this film and seeing everybody theorize that this Han is the same Han (both actor and character) from the Fast and the Furious and trying to place this film within the chronology.

Understandably, as a film about breaking stereotypes the characters would be played in extremes. But why did they go this far? Why did they turn to drugs, violence, and partying? Scamming is one thing, but prostitutes and cocaine is a totally different one. The film is loosely based off of the Stuart Tay murder.

Jan. 16- I thought the film was very strange and disturbing. I never imagined that the dead body from the beginning to be the victim of the main group. I liked the use of text on the screen paired with the situation of the character of Ben.

Ben is portrayed as fairly plain. He doesn’t have the same sort of presence the other characters do.  He seemed to have the strongest morals of the group, but he is the one that beat Steve to death. He eliminated his opposition in the love triangle.

The character of Virgil was too wild. He seemed too highly excitable and easily angered. His behavior seemed unintelligent, but he is portrayed as a highly intelligent individual. From the start of the film he didn’t seem too bad, a bit of a pervert, but nothing particularly harmful to society. By the time that the group started gaining notoriety, you could see him becoming too drawn into the greed and power. The scene where the group had beaten up the jock at the party and were driving away, Virgil showed such a big change. Going from pumped and excited to scared and crying.

Han doesn’t reveal much of himself in the film. Mainly he is a bit violent towards his cousin Virgil, but he didn’t join in the beating of the jock at the party. In fact, he is the one that pulls Virgil away from the violence.

Deric is originally shown to be the model student, president of every club and the boy who can do no wrong. So when he is the one to bull Ben into the cheat sheet scam, Ben is really surprised. He is initially the most willing to set aside the illegal activities when Ben decided he has had enough. He is also the one who takes charge and ends Steve’s life after he’s been beaten. After this event, he becomes the loose cannon of the group, wanting to tie up all the loose ends in order to protect his future.

Gran Torino

Gran Torino was titled after the car which plays a surprisingly small, but integral role.

Before I watched the film, all I had really known about it was that there was a grumpy old man who sat on his porch and threatened some people with a gun. Watching the film, I realized it was exactly that and more. It’s really about a man who finds a family to belong to and making amends to the wrongs that he felt he committed in the war.

Walt Kowalski, a retired and recently widowed veteran of the Korean war, has a horrible family. One of his sons, and his family, tried to send Walt to a retirement home so that they could have his home and possessions. His granddaughter (after having been very inappropriately dressed for her grandmother’s funeral), rather bluntly, asked for his Gran Torino when he dies. They despise talking to him, whether in person or on the phone. The only time Walt is seen to really try and connect with his son is after his hospital appointment, and his son brushes him off.

He forms an odd friendship with Sue after saving Thao from being taken by Spider. She brings him into their home and introduces him to the Hmong culture. While at first, when Walt wants nothing to do with them, the offerings left on his porch are bothersome and inconvenient. He quickly becomes drawn to Hmong cuisine when she lures him in with the promise of food and beer. After-which the doorstep offerings were quick to enter the house. I think Walt’s and Sue’s bond is the best thing about the movie. He is really heartbroken that so much has happened to her.

Walt’s time with Thao is spent in a mentorship type of role. He gets him into doing construction around the neighborhood and eventually get him a job. He gives Thao advice on how to be a man, and deals out dating advice so that “Toad” and “Yum Yum” can start dating. He really takes care of Thao and his family, as well as he can, as the initially reluctant hero of Hmong community.

I am really glad that Mr Kowalski give the Gran Torino to Thao. I thought it was sweet. He gave it to someone who would really take care of the car, and isn’t a total shark like his granddaughter.

I also thought it was a bit cute that Clint Eastwood got his sons involved in the film. One of his younger sons played Sue’s date when she was being manhandled before being rescued by Walt. His oldest son did the musical score for the film.