Ozeki Environment

For this post I chose environment.

During this time, Nao is staying with Jiko. She is in a mountainous landscape, living inside a temple.There was all kinds of bugs and clean air…even though it was cloudy. Because of the environment and the bugs, she became immune to the mosquitoes around her. Nao also talked about the weather changing when it was summer time in the mountains. She claimed that the temperature was very hot, and that she could zone out by the pond and not think about anything [at least for the time being].

As for Ruth, I chose the Place/Environment when she was in Wisconsin staying in a farmhouse. It was peaceful, not busy, and the environment around them [Oliver as well] was easy going. But of course all of that was thrown out when Ruth got word of the twin towers were taken down by the airplanes. I can almost imagine how everything was peaceful one second and  next you know you can almost hear sirens, screams, and you can feel your brain being bogged down by all of that stress and losing that zen you had 2 seconds ago. All that happiness is immediately gone.

It seems like Nao and Ruth’s lives had swapped because in the beginning, Nao’s life, even though to her it was boring, it was still chaotic and sad, and now it’s calmed down a little bit ever since she’s been staying with her grandma in the temple; In comparison with Ruth, it’s visa versa. Her life started out peaceful and now it’s gotten very hectic and scary because of all the unknowns [at the time of 9/11]

 

Minorities in Mississippi Masala

I felt like Denzel Washington played “too perfect” of a character. He had a job, was respectful, did everything right by the book, etc. Though I feel like this was done purposefully to go beyond stereotypes which I found effective at least. It did provoke a lot of thoughts involving banding together to fight the white man when in reality racism runs deeper than slavery in America. I really enjoyed watching a film from a completely new perspective that didn’t show the typical white vs minority racism, though that still did exist in the film the focal point was the interaction between two different minority groups.

It was interesting to see how accepting one family was of an opposing ethnic group. DW’s new girl was accepted wholeheartedly by his family yet wasn’t shown anything but scorn and disrespect by the girl’s family. The nice guy act of sticking together by the Indian in the motel really showed it was all an act and how deep racism lies in the roots of cultural upbringing.

Outside of the racism in America between the Indians towards the Blacks, there was the reverse happening in Uganda where the Indians were forced and and treated like aliens that didn’t belong irregardless of whether they were born there or not. I compared it to the similar treatment of the Japanese Americans during WWII where groups of privilege strongly stated that they “Go back to their own country.” disregarding the fact that they were born and raised in America.

This movie played on the trope of minority sexuality however, DW was superior to the Indian guy at club and ended up taking the girl right under his nose, in addition it showed the ineffectiveness of passion/love between the arranged marriage abiding by the Indian traditional customs.

How are Video Games Asian American Culture?

Asian Americans hold a strong spot in influencing the online video game industry, both in game design and community involvement. Popular online games are  full of references to Asian trivia and culture. A few big-time examples being World of Warcraft and League of Legends. WoW had an entire expansion of the game dedicated to a traditional Chinese/Japanese style aesthetic from the building design to the outfits, and of course they had to add pandas.

Beyond simple references to certain cultures there are several key founding members of the League of Legends pro-scene that were pivotal to the growth of the online community. One such example being the brothers Andy and Dan Dinh, who of Vietnamese-American origins launched one of the first community based websites dedicated to learning and teaching League of Legends. The website called solomid.net is not only a gathering hub for any individual able to make their mark via posting guides and forum involvement but also stands as a representation of the pro-team Team Solo Mid who is one of the most successful professional organizations in the United States.

On the inside design of the game,  League of Legends from the beginning had prevalent influences from Asian American sources and even more clearly with the hiring of the designer Kuo-Yen “Xypherous” Lo. He became a common favorite for the forum community to praise for making extremely fun to play champions in the game. In addition he is known for communicating directly with the community and lets them know of his thoughts, actions and wants from the game. The biggest of these interactions being with the design of the champion “Riven” which he hyped up by mentioning references from several anime and Street Fighter influences. This in turn caused a huge surge of popularity for people choosing to play the champion and warranted a community involved project of designing purely optional aesthetic “skins” to change her appearance in game.  Her most recent “skin” is called Dragon Blade Riven and was made in celebration of the Chinese New Year.

 

Super Magic Diary Adventure

Let’s establish an understood environment and premise for a novel about real events and potentially real problems and then just throw it all away in the end with invisible writing magic. I think Ruth waking up and realizing the whole thing was a dream would of been a better ending. The theme for the end section of the book seemed to emphasize “loss”.

Now that that’s out of the way I can get into the nitty-gritty details. I really enjoyed all the sections involving Haruki #1, the power of the letters is truly astonishing and I’m looking into reading some real letters from WWII. In the end I expected some actual connection between Ruth and Nao but it never happened. Sure we learn about the process of Ruth translating the letters and diary but I found that extremely unnecessary in terms of effectiveness of storytelling for Nao. Of course it was heartwarming to see that Nao and her father are finally getting better and after dealing with the loss of Juko they can work together and go on living life helping each other through struggles. My like for Oliver was diminished greatly towards the end of the book as he transitioned from a typical smart guy to a cold-hearted jerk.

Beyond the character interactions I really didn’t enjoy the magic dreams and super power diaries that somehow correlates  its readability directly into Ruth’s sanity. Maybe I’m not thinking hard enough about the symbolism with the crow and fading pages but they seemed extremely out of place. I could understand such things like Nao’s ghostly uncle as he never gave her any information she wouldn’t already know. There is no suspension of disbelief needed as that kind of thing can be explained by coincidence or a lucid/vivid dream. However when it came to time traveling letters and the like it was just completely unbelievable given the nature of the book up until that point. It just made the whole book a joke for me and I very much wanted everyone to turn into witches, goblins and dragons with a time-mage sand-man hero to tie it all together. Again I’m being too critical but it is simply my initial thoughts from the book and I’m sure if I locked myself in a cage for two weeks rereading the book over and over I’d somehow come out and find value and meaning with all the magic.

Letter to Mom

Attempting to write in the perspective of a kamikaze pilot sending a letter to his family.

Hey Mom,

I’m a month away from the mission that should assist greatly in the outcome of the war. I want you to know that I have grown much since last I saw you and hope you aren’t too worried about me. I’m proud to be a kamikaze pilot and I have lived a full and meaningful life from beginning to end, and there isn’t much more to ask than that.

The military has forced me into becoming a greater person, all of my poor habits of my teenage years have vanished and have been replaced with productivity. I know you might think I’ve become a  different person but I’m still me just a little different. I hope you aren’t mad at the government or military. Please understand that sacrifices must be made for the safety of all of our proud homeland and my job has a sacrifice but with an indescribable joy, the safety of my family.

Anyways, I hope the rest of the family is doing well and keep pushing M and B to do well in school and study hard! B probably won’t understand what my outcome until she is much older I pray that she won’t be too shaken. M will probably hide his feelings like usual but make sure he is healthy and isn’t impacted too hard. We’ve both been prepared for my final moments so I know you can be strong for me and for the family. This will be my last official letter to you so I will keep things short and sweet and let you know that I have been blessed to have you as a mother with such a kind and loving heart.

Sincerely,

A

PS: The books you had me read helps me cure my state of boredom. They’re so interesting!

Pathetic.

Nao uses the word pathetic more times than I can count through the whole reading. She uses it to describe herself, the other awkward kids in school that she loathes and of course her father whom she feels the most strongly when calling him truly pathetic. Of course she loves her dad and wants to see him be healthy however it doesn’t take away any of the animosity Nao has for the sad state she and her father are in. I suppose the theme would be Identity.

Nao identifies herself in this low viewpoint, in addition to all the other losers in her life. She relates to them on that level of lowness but with that connection comes a hatred that reminds herself of what she is, at least in her mind.

Overall the reading sort of warmed up to me in terms of enjoyment and interest. I still feel like Ruth’s sections are extremely bland and don’t connect anything at all. Maybe a few random references but I honestly felt like I gained nothing of value from those sections and can avoid all the material and understand the beginning, middle and end of the story without hundreds of pages of filler. I’m probably being too critical here but it’s only my skewed opinion, I’m not going to relate to Nao, nor can I relate to Ruth. The only characters I have some interest in is Juko and Oliver but even still they don’t give more than a few “smart guy” moments.

Yellow Apparel: When the Coolie Becomes Cool

Click here to view the embedded video.

In my first year at Evergreen, when I was frequently involved in the Asian Pacific Islander Coalition’s student group activities, one of the documentaries we viewed was Yellow Apparel: When the Coolie Becomes Cool.

It’s been a favorite view of mine for a while. I think that it’s just a great documentary. It was produced in 2000, so it covers the major commodification of Asian styles/items/symbols in American fashion that was highly present in the 90′s. It deals with the question, is it appropriation? The documentary shows multiple perspectives of the issues at hand, and rather than resolving the issue, the film mainly highlights the situation.

Unlike my previous posts have been, this documentary takes a look at Eastern fashions utilized in the West, as opposed to Eastern fashions being Westernized.

I think that everyone in the Asian field of cultural studies should view this film at least once.

The First, but not the Last…

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Wataru Misaka is a Japanese American retired basketball player who was the first player of Asian descent to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA) beginning his career in 1947. During his college career he played for the University of Utah and led his school to the 1944 NCAA and 1947 NIT championships. Interestingly, he took two years off between the two championships to serve in the United States Army in the American occupation of Japan and during 1947-1948 Misaka played three games for the New York Knicks. One of his admirable accomplishments was that he was inducted into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame in 1999. A year later, he was featured in an exhibit at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, titled More Than a Game: Sport in the Japanese American Community. In addition, in 2008, there was a documentary film released that was titled, Transcending: The Wat Misaka Story portraying his playing career and accomplishment with being America’s first non white player in the NBA.

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After noting that the first non white player in the NBA was an Asian male was striking because now, the sport of basketball is mostly dominated by blacks. This was a huge accomplishment and I think illustrates how America has changed over time, considering now, there are few Asian American males in the NBA and more blacks in the league. In addition, with Misaka being the first Asian and non white person in the league was pivotal because I feel that he gave Asians hope towards a new and positive future. Moreover, this happened soon after the devastation of WWII and the alienation of Japanese ancestry being sent to internment camps.

 

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.”

 

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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.

Ozeki – Environment

Environment was such a major part of the novel. Ruth and Oliver were staying on a island, and they were surrounded by the ocean. The Pacific ocean plays such a huge role. The tsunami and flooding that occurs in Japan is the vessel that brings the lunchbox to the beach where Ruth and Oliver find it. The ocean also brings with it the storms that knocks out Ruth’s power, keeping her from her search for the truth. Nao spends time in the Japanese countryside with Jiko, where she is told to fight the waves.

The novel also touches on the real life events of the nuclear radiation, and global warming.

The animals present in the novel are the cat, the crow, whales, and barnacles, bugs are also mentioned. Pesto is the family cat. The crow is a native Japanese species that follows the current and debris across the ocean. The whales are mentioned to have been killed for their blubber, and also bombed. The barnacles clung to the plastic bag the Hello Kitty lunchbox was in, they died. Bugs were a hobby of Nao’s father.