Alex and Maia Shibutani

Alex and Maia Shibutani are Japanese-American Ice-dancers who competed in the 2014 Sochi Olympics.  They are brother and sister and this was their first time competing in the Olympics.  They placed ninth because during their performance there was a wardrobe malfunction and they got stuck together during one of their lifts.  However, even though they didn’t win.  They still represented America beautifully.  What I love about the Olympics is that it is a huge platform for all people of all races and backgrounds to come together and compete for their country.  So, an athlete isn’t just known for their race or country of origin, but by their talent.  In Alex and Maia’s case, they aren’t being talked about because they are Japanese-American, they are being talked about because they worked hard and represented America.

This is an article that talked about their performance in the 2014 Olympic Ice-dance competition:

http://www.freep.com/article/20140217/SPORTS17//alex-maia-shibutani-sochi-olympics

 

Connecting Kato

Going off of our last seminar on Friday I have attempted to make connections from the assigned reading in Kato. What I noticed was that when you look at the chapter a few key names constantly pop out from the reading and follow a vital theme within the chapter.

First off you must look at the time period. The 1960′s and 70′s was a point in time where we see a rise of counter culture, both in the form of the Hippie and psychadelics, and from the rise and populartity of Kung Fu films. What we see from this is Hollywood’s attempt to market of the popularity of counterculture, but at the same time to contain it. Warner Brothers can be seen as the biggest player in Hollywood for their strategy of taking the popularity of both the Hippie and psychedelic scene, and the Kung Fu phenomenom and trying to capitalize of its success but at the same time trap it and mold it into what they want it to be. We see this first through the great musician Jimi Hendrix and his performance at Woodstock with his band “Gypsy Suns and Rainbows”. Hendrix’s band as Kato describes, “attempts to forge a link between the counterculture, and the social context. And it also asserts not only continuation, but evolution the counterculture beyond the confinement of the 1960′s…(85)” Kato also describes the band on page 84 as ” a statement transcending the corporate-manufactured image epitomized by the image package of the ‘Jimi Hendrix Experience’” The band “Gypsy Suns and Rainbows” therefore represents the change and evolution of the counterculture and goes against the marketable image of the counterculture being sold by Warner Bros through their record label. We see how they contained this idea to preserve the marketable image of the counterculture and attempt to forever plant the Hippie and psychedelic culture in the 60′s through their film Woodstock. In the film they show Hendrix in one dimension while he plays the “Star Spangled Banner” and the band is seemingly unrepresented in the performance. They also do not show how the crowd embraced the band and the music being played. Furthermore when the song Purple Haze is played the image of the Hendrix and the bands performance disappears and is replaced by that of clean-up crews, representing the end of the concert and of the counterculture. Containment is the main theme that I have noticed from Hollywood and more specifically Warner Brothers throughout the assigned reading for Kato.

We see it also in the rise of popularity in the Kung Fu motion picture. As Kato writes on page 95, ” In Kung Fu, one could see the strategy of containment similar the one deployed in Woodstock.” This is reference to the 1970′s t.v. show Kung Fu starring David Carradine (a white man) playing the role of a blind Chinese monk. Though the show did consult highly prolific Asian figures in the Kung Fu genre such as Bruce Lee and David Chow it took what was offered by those who truly had knowledge of Kung Fu and the martial arts and Hollywoodized it, processed it, so that it became unrecognizable in the show therefore allowing, ” the hegemonic power of Hollywood,” to be retained.(95)”

From this I see how much power the media and those who control the media have, and how it can impact society. Also due to the reading I feel I myself will strive to delve deeper into the messages and symbolism that movies depict and perhaps will become more enlightened on the issues going on behind the veil projected by Hollywood.

Containment

con·tain·ment
 noun \kən-ˈtān-mənt\

:  the policy, process, or result of preventing the expansion of a hostile power or ideology

Jimi Hendrix and Bruce Lee experienced the corporate mediation of their image. Kung Fu films and Hendrix’s music have revolutionary potential that was “contained” by Hollywood’s repackaging and production. The rebelliousness inherent to youth culture was endorsed only on a symbolic level within a contained framework.  Similarly, the idealogical threat of Third World resistance present in Kung Fu films was contained by processing the films with Hollywood Orientalism, essentially producing a simulacrum of actual liberatory media.

The “containment” model that Kato references is not limited to the sphere of Hollywood.  ”Containment” is also the term used to describe the strategic foreign policy the United States adopted during the 1950s-60s to stop the perceived spread of communism. The communist threat of USSR was to be contained and isolated, lest it spread to neighboring nations. The containment policy eventually lead to the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The foreign policy version of containment sounds eerily similar to Kato’s model presented in From Kung Fu To Hip Hop.

Murder Most Foul-The Asian American Pop Culture Disconnect

Charles Ng,Born in Hong Kong December 24th,1960 to wealthy family,obtained a student visa to attend a California university in 1980 and would leave after only a semester. He would later join the US Army after some very creative lying in order to get in. Convicted of weapons charges after stealing assault rifles while still in the Army,he would later meet Leonard Lake who become his literal partner in crime. Between the years of 1983-1985 along with Lake he committed between 11-25 murders in this two year span,however,the actual number of victims is unknown.  Convicted, he currently on Death Row in San Quentin Prison. His partner,Leonard Lake, committed suicide at the time of arrest.

Andrew P. Cunanan born August 31st,1969 in a working class neighbourhood of US Naval families stationed in and around the San Diego area,he was the youngest of 4 children in the family. He was of Filipino/Italian background and his father would later abandon the family to avoid arrest related to embezzlement. Andrew was just 19 at the time. Later in the same year, he came out to his mother which resulted in a violent argument which cause him to drift until his death. He would later settle in the Casto area of San Francisco and turn tricks in high-end bars to wealthy patrons as a means to support himself. Between April 25,1997-July 24th,1997 he would go on a killing spree that resulted in the deaths of 5 people including the fashion designer,Gianni Versace,in his Miami home. Cunanan would later die of a self-inflicted gunshot on July 24th,1997. His motives for this spree are unknown.

Seung-Hui Cho born on Jan. 18th,1984 in South Korea,he would later emigrate to the US along with his family at the age of 8. While never naturalized as a US citizen he and his family received residency status while he was still a child and for all intents his was considered the average American teenager. He was diagnosed while still in middle school with what is known as selective mutism. While this claim is dubious it persists to this day if it is a valid claim due the fact that his mental health records are sealed. According to his parents this diagnoses was not correct and there is no known autism however it is interesting to note that he did in fact receive therapy for several years before entering college. After graduating high school he was admitted to Virginia Tech and according to those that knew him things were fine for awhile until writings began to surface detailing a deeply disturbed mind. The contents of these writings have never been released. On April 16th,2007  at approx 7.15 am until 9.51 am local time Cho opened fire on the Virginia Tech campus killing 32 and injured another 17 before he later took his own life.  His family was horrified. However, the warning signs were there and the family wondered how he was able to obtain weapons despite his mental health. This remains one of the single worse school shootings ever recorded in the United States. He was 23.

These three are the only known Asian American serial killers in the history of the United States at the time of this writing. Because of this a film maker decided to shoot a film in relation to the rare killer in the US that is of Asian descent. Named Chink,it is not a documentary about the above mentioned freaks of the week,but, a horror/slasher film that has been making waves since it was released. Its director,Stanley Yung, decided that he was rather tired of the usual fare of Asian/Asian-American movies that feature the classic coming-of-age fare,martial arts,Gozilla etal instead he went for the first known film about an fictional Asian-American serial killer.

The plot is pretty simple and in fact it is disappointing simple with the usual racial hatred of self in the fact that he is of Asian descent along with the stereotypes that go along with it. Where the title comes from is that fact of our main lead being called said name throughout his life and with it the hate of self. He has a self-loathing of anything related to his racial identity until the day he meets the new girl in the office who happens to be from Hong Kong. Problem is he has already offed the office receptionist and the parents he hates ala his favourite serial killer who is surprisingly Ted Bundy instead of the three mentioned above. The movie is short and sweet clocking in barely at 85 minutes. It has ,also,been compared to Better Luck Tomorrow as the adult view of what could have happened to the leads in that movie if allowed to conclude the path that they were on.

The resulting film,like the freaks of the week, becomes the ultimate form of a cautionary tale of what self-loathing of identity,racial bias and trying to escape from anything and everything can result in. Despite the fact that it is a fictional tale the overtones of the actual,living,breathing and now deceased serial killers is there. The reason? Stanley Yung,director, self-admits his long standing fascination of serial killers himself and more to the point that even Asian-Americans can be serials. While it is extremely controversial film it does not seek to glamorize or even excuse the man that hates himself so much that he must kill to rid himself of his racial identity. Or rid of himself of the last of his humanity which is the point the Yung was hoping to convey. Even the title of the movie is a reference to the racial slurs our character heard growing up. It is no accident then that Yung named the movie as such.

Like Ng,Curnana and Cho that racial disconnect is apparent in the film as it is the real world. Ng could not overcome nor hope to achieve what society plus family wanted from him and as result met the one person that would send him into hell. Curnana struggled with the double of identity issues of not only being gay,but, Filipino as well with a tragic outcome. Cho devolved rapidly into madness while at university and there were signs that could have stopped it before more than 30 people would lose their lives. This is the ultimate point of the Asian pop-culture disconnect that is found in the freaks of the week as well as the movie,Chink, in that racial identity whether we want it or not plays a bigger role than first thought.

In the light of day we look at Hello Kitty,Sailor Moon,Godzilla,Japanese Lolita’s,manga and whole plenthora of other Asian related materials that we eat up in droves,however, what about those that would kill just to escape all that? What about those who hate anything and everything to do with their Asian culture that they must erase it?

The train wreck then rambles on to the next station. It rambles on past the dark movie theater playing Chink on a Friday night to scare the masses just once more. It rambles on past the freaks of the week. It has disconnected. 

But. We still must stare.

Til next time..

Further readings:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Ng

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Cunanan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seung-Hui_Cho

Chink further readings:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2346170/

http://www.examiner.com/article/chink-explores-the-mind-of-an-asian-american-serial-killer

http://laapff.festpro.com/films/detail/chink_2013

http://asianfilmfestla.org/2013/stanley-yung-director-chink/

 

 

Pop-osition

BRUCE LEE REPRESENTED A CHARACTER AGAINST IMPERIALISM AND REPRESENTING CHINESE CITIZENS, INCITING OTHERS TO TAKE ACTION

We can see from the reading of Kato how Bruce Lee embodied and represented through his film roles a character who opposed imperialism and provided a symbol for others who were being oppressed to rise up and take action against their oppressors. In Lee’s case it was a fight against Japanese Imperialism which as a child he subjected to Japanese military occupation of Hong Kong.

In the film “Fist of Fury” starring Lee as Chen Zhen we see a single figure rise up against the powers oppressing him and taking a stand. The film links both the fantasy world of film as well as the actual history of Japanese imperialism and the atrocities that took place during this time in China. Lee’s use of expression in the film which strongly conveys national pride and sentiment, can be seen as symbol of rising against colonization.  We also see in Lee’s film “The Way of the Dragon” Lee playing a role where he is fighting a much greater and more powerful opponent. Lee’s character Tang Lung is able to overcome his opponent by being fluid and not trying to meet power with power and therefore “leaving the strategic plain intact” By using ones strength and turning it into his weekness Lee’s character is able to defeat his advosary.

From these films we see how Lee’s characters and expression give hope and pride to those who are being controlled and oppressed by greater forces. Also we see how trying to meet power with power, or hate with hate, is not the solution. However what I see as the most significant aspect of Lee’s characters are the symbolism exuded by these characters and the films overall. We see how the films correlate with actual history, and the films characters can be the representation of the state in which oppressed cultures and societies are subjected too due to colonization and imperialism. Characters such as Chen Zhen show to the world the importance of  taking pride in who you are and where you come from. Also from Lee’s character Tang Lung in “The Way of the Dragon” we see how those oppressed can overcome the power of colonization and bring down the system. Overall Lee’s films and the Kung Fu film movement symbolize revolution and the opposition of colonization.

Furthermore I noticed the effect of Lee’s films even more after watching the film entitled “The Black Kung Fu Experience” where it was discussed how the African American Kung Fu practitioners highlighted in the documentary saw Bruce Lee’s films as a symbol to have pride in their own African American culture and showing them that they can overcome the powers oppressing them due to segregation and racism taking place in the United States at the time.

Sochi Asian Americans!

I found a great article that highlights some of the Asian American athletes who are participating in the Sochi Winter Olympics.

I am particularly really excited for Julie Chu in the Ice Hockey category. The reason being that not only is she the first Asian American Woman to be playing on the U.S. Hockey team but also that she’s a lady! I hear so much about the masculinity of hockey and all of my super manly friends are all about the hockey fights and I just love that there’s a team of women who can bring there game on!

Here is the article:

http://www.asianfortunenews.com/2014/02/asian-american-athletes-at-winter-olympics-2014-in-sochi/

Unfortunately, there is not a large representation of Asian Americans in the Olympics but at least it’s a start…

The Descendants

 

descendant

My best friend while attending Western Oregon University was born and raised on the Hawiian island of Kuai. We met while both of us were on the Universities baseball team. It was easy to build a comradery with a person who you spent so much time with at practices, and soon I had latched on to his group of friends who also were from the islands and attended the University. We came to realize that our cultures were not so different. Me as a kid who grew up in a rural setting always enjoyed the outdoors, and was taught to respect others as well as the land you lived on. These ideas also held true for my friends from the islands, as well as the connection of us all growing up in a rural setting. As they would say, “We country cuz, we no like city.” I was thinking about my buddy Travis the other day, or Bruddah Trav as we call him, and about his mentioning his ancestry on his mothers side being descendants from Hawaiian royalty on the island of Kauai.

Connecting this to popular culture it made me think of a film I saw awhile back called “The Descendants” starring George Clooney who plays a descendant of a rich haole banker and a Hawaiian Princess. Clooney’s character is named Matt King and along with the rest of the King family they own a large chunk of land on Kauai. From this I wondered what the films reception was on the islands and its impact. I found out from one source that the film was well received due to it actually being filmed on Kauai, and it having done a splendid job of ”acknowledging” and displaying local culture. Also the film was praised for utilizing an all Hawaiian soundtrack which the article states as being, “the first mainstream American film featuring all Hawaiian music.”

I think its great that through the use of media in the form of this film a little piece of Hawaiian culture is being displayed to the masses.

Here is a link to the article.

http://thegardenisland.com/news/local/the-descendants-globes-win-expected-to-boost-tourism/article_cc52efea-40dd-11e1-a7b1-001871e3ce6c.html

From Kung Fu to Hip Hop Reading Ch. 3

On Friday the class created a “master list” of terms regarding to who, what, where, and when for the Kato reading. Instead of summarizing the chapter, I’ll just talk about a few things that I remember the most from the reading that we put on the list.

First off, what the force was THX 3800? Did the author actually mean THX 1138 instead? That’s kind of strange they let that error pass onto print. I had to double check just to make sure, and I knew it sounded fishy when I read over that. It could possibly just be my book. 1138 is one of the numbers George Lucas likes to use in his media works. Anyways, the chapter mentions that,

“the appeal of the image of virtual power apparatus does not rest on its futuristic promises. Rather, it is the representation of the inevitability of technological development and its implicit autonomy from the sweat, blood, and tears of living labor that gives the image of the power apparatus’s strong sense of stability and permanence…the image of a technologically saturated power apparatus concurs with the ideological effect that mystifies the fact that the creation of values takes place in multitudinous sites of indentured servitude.” (Kato 79)

So how is the movie THX 1138 related to those statements. Well, the movie takes place in a distant future where everyone dresses the same and takes drugs to “improve” their performance at their jobs, but also acts as a inhibitor for emotions. The city is overseen by a artificial “deity” called OMM and androids created by the denizens function as the society’s police force. The “indentured servitude” can be seen in all the people living in this dystopia, who work long hours to support the city and engage in activities that will make them “perfectly happy”. They have all the services they could want, but one thing cannot exist in this city: love. The “autonomy” here is the machines that run this society and see fit to put human workers in dangerous conditions, while all the “sweat, blood, and tears” are prevented through drugs to increase production. This relates to the other science fiction films Blade Runner and the Matrix by having the machines either being a threat or using humanity as a means to further production.

Second is Hong Kong, probably one of the memorable places in China. Here the company Golden Harvest did some shoots for the movie Enter the Dragon starring Bruce Lee. What’s interesting here is Hollywood’s presence causes some tension between the American set workers and the “natives”, especially the “fantasy factory” workers. Lee and fellow workers and stuntmen worked under directors the movie did not adhere too much to stereotypes generated by American media. Unfortunately, some of the workers, like director Lo Wei, did not take the shoots seriously enough and led to conflicts between Lee and the higher ups. Another questionable move was the inclusion of real prostitutes in the movie. Golden Harvest couldn’t use actors for those roles and had to use real ones because in Hong Kong it’d be considered “disgraceful” and the inclusion of prostitutes in a movie “had to cast a prostitute for the part,” (Kato 105). I’m not sure if that’s a good move, but on the reverse side they had to respect the culture and setting they were in.

Finally there’s Hollywood, the organization that is head of most of the film media. It’s because of them that stereotypes for Asians were developed and commonly showed to the public. Hollywood and its branches, according to this chapter, had a hand in developing the films Bruce Lee starred in, such as Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon. Hollywood relied on labor in other areas to work on sets as either set staff, extras, and stuntmen. Unfortunately these other labor sources were not treated fairly, which Lee took as offense. For example, some of the American set workers believed the Chinese set workers knew little to no English and used this to insult the Chinese; however, unbeknownst to the American staff, the Chinese understood them well enough that eventually they started rebelling and fighting back.

The New Kung Fu

Readings from East Main Street, From Kung Fu to Hip Hop and the last kung fu movie we watched on Thursday have been drilling the same thought into our heads. Black people loved kung fu. The thing is, I was aware of how cool the fighting style was among my community, on some level at least. The images of afro haired black men doing Bruce Lee moves was nothing new to me. My dad listens to music from that era all day everyday and Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting was one of my favorite songs as a child. I knew it was a part of my culture, I guess I just never knew why.

These readings and movies made it clear though. Minorities relate to minorities. When Bruce Lee came out on the big screen as THE GOOD GUY, the guy that was kicking ass and taking names he wasn’t just an icon for the Asian community. He was a symbol for everyone who was different, everyone who didn’t look like the typical blonde haired, blue eyed, white male who swooped in and saved the day. I mean sure, he wasn’t a black man but he wasn’t white and that was the important part. During The Civil Rights Movement, kung fu gave the black community another voice, an added voice.

In recent years though, we’ve seen a lot of Asian influence in the hip hop community. You could argue that it started with Cibo Matto in the 90′s but regardless we have several Asian Americans in the Hip hop scene today. Blue Scholars, Dumbfounded, Far East Movement, Jin, Apl of the Black Eyed Peas and my most recent find, Awkwafina. It isn’t just the music scene though. I mentioned it briefly in another post but they are also huge in the hip hop dance community too. In the first movie about Kung Fu that we watched, some of them could do a back flip onto their head as part of their training! Where else have you seen this? Break dancing, B-boy style! Jabawakeez, Poreotics and Quest Crew, three winners and three of my favorite crews on America’s Best Dance Crew. While Jabawakeez was mostly Asian American, Quest Crew and Poreotics were all Asian American and they were excellent. So is Hip Hop the new Kung Fu? Is hip hop giving the Asian/American community a new voice the same way Kung Fu did for my community 40 years before?

But on the real, you should probably watch all these videos.

Quest Crew

 

Jabawakeez

 

Poreotics

 

And also Kaba Modern who didn’t win but was all Asian/American and had three female crew members

KungFu Movies first thoughts

So can we start out with the fact that everyone in the movies we watched looked like, ridiculously good for their age? Like the guy who moved to St. Thomas and said he stopped competing at 60!!!! Like seriously? I know they say black don’t crack but they all took it to a whole new level.

Something that I found interesting and funny was when they were talking about the shackle hands technique. He said it originated in America, with the slaves. He said that it was as American as apple pie. He smirked and laughed a little bit and I found myself smirking too. No one else in the class seemed to find it funny but I guess I found it funny…maybe funny isn’t the right word. Clever. I found it clever that they took something like slavery, something that bounds you and is supposed to hinder you and they turned it into a fighting form? I don’t know, I guess I’m constantly amazing by the way minorities turn negatives into positives and make it work. Also the fact that slavery is as American as apple pie is funny in the darkest way possible and maybe I’m a horrible person for finding it humorous.

Another one of the guys in the black kungfu movie was talking about how African warriors would play music while they fought and how dance moves came from fighting styles. I can see that, they’re both art forms and I feel like when they’re done properly, there is a sense of fluidity. I started thinking about hip hop dancing, break dancing and the B boys and how they can flip on top their heads just like the kungfu masters can. Interesting, no? How closely they correlate. How you can almost vividly trace the origins of a dance move to its fighting ancestors.

And then thinking about hip hop and dancing made me think of ABDC which I was obsessed with until the last season because it got stupid. But ABDC stands for America’s Best Dance Crew and two of the best crews to ever step foot on that stage were primarily Asian/American. Jabawakeez and Quest Crew ( the winners of season 1 and season 3).