These obsessions of mine, I have a lot, but can’t find out my thought. I have so many, I have so much, I better decide between this bunch. I would have to narrow it down to a couple, but hard to do, Someone help me, I don’t know what to do. Haha. Umm I’m gonna probably narrow my obsessions down to probably video games and dragon ball z. Its a combo, but I gotta do some research, but anyone have any comments or suggestions about an approach that I could possibly pursue? Thanks see y’all in class. Hope everyone had a great weekend.
Challenger explosion
Ellison Onizuka, one of the first Asian Americans to reach space and put his mark on history and just the knowledge well at least for me, I think is incredible. The challenger explosion that happened off the coast of Miami in the Atlantic, that broke apart in just 73 seconds of departure and that is astonishing yet tragic. I hate to hear that, but sometimes things happen in life, people can’t explain. I just want to know if it was an accident or did that explode on purpose because of the race on board the shuttle. These questions that come to my head when someone from a different race than Caucasian somehow someway dies when they become famous in history and making their race proud and on the map, and then poof their gone. What the hell is going on here? I say to this man, I applaud you and know that the Asian American community is forever proud of you as well and what you did even if it was for a brief few moments, but sometimes that’s all it takes.
WWII Straggler
Hiroo Onoda was a Japanese soldier who served during WWII. Emerging from a jungle in the Philippines in 1974, Hiroo was the last Japanese soldier to surrender and return home. He died at the age of 91 in a hospital in Tokyo this month. Onoda was still hiding out for 29 years after the war had ended. He would not officially surrender until the commander that gave him his orders flew to the Philippines and personally told him that his duty was fulfilled. Onoda was living proof of not only human persistence and survival, but of the loyalty that Imperial soldiers had during WWII.
Washington State Sen. Paull Shin Resigns
Paull Shin
Paull Shin was the first Korean American to be elected into the Washington State Legislature. He grew up as an orphan in Seoul during the Korean War. A military dentist adopted him and brought him to America in 1954. He went in search for education and wound up completing his GED and continuing on to earn a BA in political science, an MPIA, and an MA and PhD from the University of Washington. He was elected to the Washington State Senate in 1998. Early in January of this year, he resigned after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
How I Met Yo Mama
Click here to view the embedded video.
Comedian Dat Phan’s take on the episode. Just disregard some of the ignorant comments on youtube. Feel free to comment if you agree or disagree with this perspective and the idea that we are too sensitive. Being from Minnesota, I always thought that Marshall was pretty funny, even though the portrayal of Minnesotans is not that accurate. But, emphasis on the BUT, that is not the same thing as what went down in this episode. To me it, it looked like a modern twist on old blackface make up. Am I being too sensitive, I don’t know. When something is put into the realm of comedy, it can blur the line on what is acceptable and what is not. Things could change depending on the who is in the audience and who the comedian is.
Week 3, Sunday. First, last, and current obsession.
First.
Two news stories that have been circulating recently involve the first Asian American [Japanese] to reach space and the first Korean American elected to the Washington State Legislature. Ellison Onizuka was one of the seven crew members aboard the 1986 Challenger which has recently been revisited with the exposure of new pictures from the fateful explosion.
State Sen. Paull [sic] Shin announced at the beginning of January his resignation after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
For more information on Onizuka.
For more information on Shin.
Last.
The last WWII straggler (Japanese soldiers who refused the surrender and maintained their orders after the end of the war) Hiroo Onoda died this month at 91. He lived a jungle in the Philippines and remained there for 30 years until former commander, Major Yoshimi Taniguchi delivered Onoda a personal surrender in 1974.
For more information on Onoda.
Current.
Other trending news this last week was on use of racial stereotypes as a comedic punchline or addition to the punchline; CBS’ How I Met Your Mother aired an episode on January 13 which depicted the all-white main cast depicted in silk robes with speech affectations meant to be “accents” and even Fu Manchu mustache. This triggered any angry responses to the show, especially by one writer, activist and Asian American Suey Park. Park began the twitter hashtag #HowIMetYourRacism and her twitter media feed includes multiple stills from the show and points out the show’s use of yellowface.
Obsession.
In TIME Ideas‘ article writer Kai Ma points out why shows like How I Met Your Mother are so problematic in their racial misrepresentation which is in connection to the misrepresentation of Sen. Shin, Onizuka, and the WWII stragglers. The newly released Challenger photos aid in the anonymity of the crew that who lost their lives and instead focus on the shock content these pictures still hold. Likewise, searching Onizuka’s name reveals his major affiliation with the Challenger while focusing on the explosion but it seems harder to find his affiliation as the first Asian American in space. (It seems even harder at that to find that he is Japanese American from Hawai’i, as many sources I found only state that he is from Hawai’i.) The misrepresentation of Asian Americans comes not only through media sources such as hit television shows or Katy Perry’s geisha performance but it slips in by feeding the viewers ignorance; big access without full access.
Ellison Shoji Onizuka
The first Asian American to reach space. He met his death when the space shuttle Challenger fell apart and killed the entire crew.
“I’ll be looking at Halley’s Comet… one of the best views around.” – Ellison Shoji Onizuka
Challenger Explosion
Ellison Onizuka
Seven crew members killed after the space shuttle, Challenger, broke apart 73 seconds after being launched on it’s tenth mossion on January 28, 1986. The seven crew members were Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, and Judish Resnik.
* Ellison Onizuka was an astronaut from Kealakekua, Kona, HI. He was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, presented the Air Force Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and many more.He later became Colonel Onizuka, a mission specialist.
What is JDM?
What is a label? JDM stands for Japanese Domestic Market literally, but could it mean something else? Could it be something negative? Ricer? Noob? Could it be something positive? A hobby? A lifestyle? Maybe…… maybe I need to back up. What is a car? What is a car to you? Could it be something useful? Transportation? Could it be something complex? A relationship? A lot of nuts and bolts; funnels and tunnels; pistons and valves; explosions and heavy metal? Is a car a living, breathing being or just a scientific feat that could be mistaken for magic if you showed it to somebody 500 years ago?
I will be honest with you, the questions are endless. This rock category will hopefully be able to answer questions and raise some too. I will be exploring, as much as I can anyways, the world of Japanese cars and the life of those who are interested in them. Along the way, I will be searching for how this popular culture has influenced people in America. For some it comes from a movie screen or a video game, for others it may come from a tie to Japan. One of my best friends is a mixed race Nisei and his trips to Japan, as well as his interest and knowledge of the place where part of his family comes from, eventually lead to him falling in love with Japanese car culture at a young age. There are many levels of involvement, from slight interest in cars to devotion, and many different outlets, from the streets to the tracks. The one thing holding all this in common is the car and the driver. And with that in mind, here is a preview of what is to come.
How I Met Your Mother Kung Fu Disaster
The popular CBS sitcom “How I Met Your Mother” is in its ninth and final season, which as of late is not going as successfully as the producers would have liked. During Mondays episode the cast is doing an ill received parody of Kung Fu movies, which resulted in backlash by many in the Asian American community. In the episode one of the character played by Actor Jason Segal is attempting to learn Kung Fu, and is being taught by his fellow white cast members, who are all sporting stereotypical Asian costumes. One character is even sporting a Fu Manchu. Many viewers saw this as a form of “Yellowface” which has been seen many times in Hollywood History where white actors are donned in Asian attire and utilize makeup to give the character and Asian appearance. It is without question that the show took their Kung Fu parody a little far. Some of the twitter responses to the episode were as follows…
- ”Yellowface? Orientalism? Fu Manchu? What?”
- “@CBS #Yellowface doesn’t get you better ratings, it just makes people want to boycott your network,”
- “people are already claiming asian americans are overreacting. demanding to be treated w/ decency is never overreacting,”
This backlash had the producers scrambling to apologize to the viewers they had offended. Through tweets “Carter Bays tweeted that the episode aimed to be a “silly and unabashedly immature homage to Kung Fu movies.” But Bays added that some didn’t see it as funny at all, and for that, “We’re deeply sorry.” http://http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/15/showbiz/how-i-met-your-mother-controversy/
