This 2005 drama was good. This is a more interesting film that we’ve seen this quarter. I had no idea about these stereotypes of Filipino that get compared to Chinese where the main character got called a chink meaning Chinese and he’s not even of the race. I hate when people just judge off appearance and not ask like a adult would do, but they make it a joking question game. Just insulting and even though this was just a movie, I know people out there that act just like that. Its a shame of how many don’t know how these phrases have a effect. Words are life and words have a strong message in what context their used in. Where Ruben got called a coconut by Augusto and I’m just like so just because you want something better for your life that makes you a sellout. I can speak where Ruben is coming from in this movie. I’m African American and Native American,  but just because I didn’t want to start my career at a casino or work for my Tribal Administration that makes me a sellout, so many people during high school told me you have a for sure ride because you can get a job and be set for life. Everyone said your mom is big in your tribes casino and you should allow in her footsteps to make her and the tribe proud. No sir.  My parents told me to be whatever you want to be no matter what anyone says. I may be first generation to go college, but I wanted to go to do what I want to do. That scene where Ruben confessed to his father that he got accepted into a school for something he loves to do. That’s the attitude I have here. I also like the family traditions that we upheld from their culture even from moving over from Philippines holding onto that culture. The coming of age factor party even with cultural aspects and I love that they kept that traditions in there. I also love that one of the characters mentioned the Filipino war and how we fought by their side against a higher anarchy. THANKS for addressing that. I wish I would have watched this movie earlier in my life so I would know more about other people cultures history and not just my own.

The white guys in this film had a few cringe moments but one of Ben’s cousins with the long car speech gave a feeling of “Really…?” Beyond that it was evident that racial pride was a powerful emotion for the minority groups depicted. There was somehow a problem with Ben not hanging around any other brown skinned friends but instead white friends.

This movie gave a similar vibe to Gran Torino in the sense of a “good family” vs “bad family” category. Yet in this sense the good side had extremely high hopes for Ben to be a doctor vs Gran Torino which his family just wanted Touh to be content. Both bad sides of the family related to guns, violence and gang activity. In the end though the entirety of both families in each movie seemed to show a deep care for their family’s well being (disregarding the rape and house shootout in Gran Torino). To expand Ben’s cousins still had a priority in the cultural dance and supporting Rose’s birthday. While in Gran Torino Touh was getting picked on by the Mexican thugs and had his cousins come rescue him.

There was a lot of lines throughout the movie the reminded me of the nonchalant racism that occurs when any ethnic group has some communication. From the long car speech to the “nigga” that gave Gusto the handgun but there were no blacks depicted in the film the derogatory word usage throughout the film was there. Though it seemed every group had some stereotype on the other groups, the worst being the dumb drunk girl at the party calling Ben a “chink” when he is Filipino and accusing him of eating dogs and cats.

Food really stuck out to me in this film, as well as a recurring iconic cultural representation of the minority groups in America. In Gran Torino the Hmung gave Walt an abundance of delicious distinctive food as a thank you gift for protecting them. Then in The Debut there was a excessive amount of food, with eating being a common “go-to” such as when the grandpa pointing out that Ben’s father gained weight or his mother insisting that Ben’s friends need to eat more since they’re so skinny.

There was an appreciation of the Filipino traditional culture but of course as second generation Americans they are quick to adopt new culture such as basketball, car culture and the clothing. The grandpa seemed very traditional and cared deeply for his family’s pride and legacy though he was understanding when Ben didn’t participate with the small prayer on the grandpa’s arrival.

Throughout multiple minority groups it always seems the core foundation of cultural identity that retains in the food, celebrations and family values. Other things such as transportation, everyday clothing or hobbies are molded into each generation that is relevant only in that time. Not so much as fad but a less permanent popular culture.

I enjoyed the film and had a slight relation to Ben and his “hobby” with my own dedications when I was in high school. Though I have never dealt with any of the cultural minority pressures that were put on Ben to be a doctor. The model minority identity felt very real in this film as it has in other films such as Better Luck Tomorrow.

In the film, Ben is isolated from his Filipino American family.  His elder relatives want to keep their own culture. On the other hand, Ben cannot speak the Tagalog language and do Filipino dance. Generation gap that is the difference in the attitude, priorities, and views among generations exists there. Because Ben is getting along with White friends, Augusto calls Ben “White man” or something ironically.

I was surprised when  Rose says to Ben “Hiroshima. I’m bomb” during playing basketball….

Ben’s family really respect toward Ben’s grandfather. As Ben’s father is mean to Ben until the end of this film, Ben’s grandfather is strict to Ben’s father too. It shows that  Filipino strongly respect for elders. I guess because Ben’s grandfather was especially working so hard to settle down to the US as Asian American, Ben’s family and relatives respect him so much.

“Wake up little brother, cuz you know you’re just as brown as the rest of us.”

I think this was the theme to the whole movie. In the beginning, Ben seemed embarrassed to be Filipino. He didn’t want his friends to go inside of his house, and see all of his Filipino decorated rooms, and his Filipino family. His mom was very welcoming the whole time and always wanted to feed his friends. He also didn’t seem like he knew many Filipino traditions, like the rest of his family did. At the party, he didn’t know he was supposed to bless his grandpa when he walked in. He also looked very surprised when he saw his sister’s dance, like he has never seen a dance like that before, and he didn’t know how to speak Tagalog like many of them did.

Towards the end of the movie, Ben finally starts to accept his culture. He realized that all of the things his family was doing were cool. He looked very proud of his sister when she did her performance, and he was amazed at his fathers performance. I think that he saw a side of his father that he never knew about before. When he heard his family talking about how his father gave up his band when his kids were born and moved them to America, I think he realized that his dad did everything he could to give them a good life! I think it also really showed how he was accepting of his family when he decided to show his dad his art portfolio, and tell him that he decided not to go to UCLA.

GRAN TORINO

Okay, I know I keep saying I love all the movies when watching, but I truly love the films we have been watching and i’m really able to relate to them on a personal level more and more. In Gran Torino actor and director takes on the roll, story and part in the movie that really test the barriers of racism, parts and even the harsh roll he takes on with a charachter that is so stoic, harsh, to the point but a caring a good man who truly just wants peace for those around him. In a lot of parts of the movie the scenes get so intense and when Thao is walking alone I truly felt the moment of feeling unsecured, scared, worried and just wanting to get home and as soon as the car with the gangsters started coming back my heart sank, I almost felt as if I was there. Along with the harsh racist comments, treatment of people that absolutely shocked me no matter how many different scenarios i’ve seen and just the disrespect for people really makes you think about things that you say, the way you treat others and really how for some people our world hasn’t changed. Even the interactions Walt has with the barber made me feel a little uneasy, but thats coming from an outsider who hasn’t been as surrounded by situations like these. (still planning on adding more)

Click here to view the embedded video.

In March of 1997, yes 1997! President William Jefferson Clinton, first lady Hilary Rodham Clinton, and Vice President Al Gore, were all presented on the cover of National Review in yellow face. The three were also dressed in stereotypical Asian clothing, and drawn with caricatured features such as buck teeth and slanted eyes. I know that I’ve said this in a past blog, but I feel it is appropriate to say again; What does this say about our society? “What does yellow face signify? Race is a mode of placing cultural meaning on the body. Yellow face marks the oriental as alien” (Lee, p. 2). This cover was only from 17 years ago. I guess this proves just how far America has come into putting a stop against Anti-Asian actions and beliefs; not very far.

Another thing I’d like to mention is, racism towards Chinese Americans and capitalism seems to be connected. “Chinese immigration became a metonym for the collapse of time and space produced by a transition to industrial capitalism, a collapse that constituted a boundary crisis within the symbolic or ideological structure of American society. This boundary crisis demanded the transformation of Chinese cultural difference from exotic to pollutant” (Lee, p. 32).  Since the mid-nineteenth century Asian Americans have been seen as a pollutant. This is because the white settlers (mainly in California) felt threatened by the Chinese Americans success and numbers. So in an attempt to lower the Chinese Americans status and quality of life, the white settlers spread lies and racism through song-writing. For example, the song “California As It Was And Is,” blames the Chinese Americans for economic decline and social disorder. The connection between capitalism and racism goes even deeper when one examines the entertainment/music world of the  mid- late 19th century America. During this time period songs were not meant to be just listened to; they were intended to be sung in large groups where the song would then be passed onto a new audience.  This is important to note because not only is this a tactic to spread racism orally around the United States, but also songwriting was a huge profit for it’s white writers. Hence, my connection between racism and capitalism.

(Image found from: http://yellow-face.com/yellowface-politics.htm)

Stereotypes stereotypes stereotypes.

The characters were dull, and one dimensional except Walt who was closer to 1.5 dimensional. One thing that was hard to comprehend was that the “bad cousins” were originally looking out for their family Touh, there was a legitimate care for his outcome and Touh did not thank them or do anything. It seemed that Touh brought on his own misery. Though there was no background established with the Hmung family so I can’t make an accurate judgement.

However later on when the cousins have a bad meet up with Walt they go and shoot up their relatives home, potentially killing them and then raping/beating up Sue. That made no sense to me especially when the Hmung put a big emphasis on family importance. Rather than deal with Walt they just hurt their own blood. This could just be “typical bad guys” just not caring about traditions but that didn’t seem the cases with the beginning of the movie with helping bail out Touh.

Walt had a bad experience with war and worked at an American car company and had a disdain for anyone that wasn’t white. Though he was mostly just a rude dude to everyone. Beyond Walt having a generic racist old person vibe, and the generic outwardly cousins into gang activity trying to coax a sheltered boy into wrongdoings, from the generic “ultimate sacrifice” by Walt in the end made for a very predictable movie but I was still entertained the whole time surprisingly.

He goes into confession and confesses his 3 sins, yet in his mind his views on all kinds of minority groups is completely justified and free of sin. Which seems to me that racism was just forged into Walt’s identity. He gives away his Gran Torino to Touh but his views of all the minorities never really changed, he was the same character throughout the movie without any growth. He makes a new friend and that’s it, he’s still a racist grumpy old man.

As a whole I enjoyed the film. I haven’t seen anything like this before which made it a unique experience, disregarding shoddy character development. I have the privilege of not dealing with any of the problems shown in the movie so I can own watch from an outside lens. Hearing all the racist comments didn’t phase me personally but it was pretty excessive and in poor taste but that was probably the directors goal since people like Walt really do exist (minus the super bad ass racist super hero Jesus martyr qualities).