Being Asian American is hard, but can you imagine how much more complicated it is to be an Asian American BLOGGER? And life only gets harder each moment with the sheer amount of Asian American news that you have to read, digest and write about. Asian Americans in the health care crisis! Another politician running for mayor! Hollywood portrays Asian Americans in a negative way yet again! *Cue world’s tiniest violin*
So at times, we get confused. It’s understandable. We here at 8Asians naturally view everything Asian-related with a serious and critical outlook, even when it’s not really meant to be. Joz’s 6′4″ cousin is signed to Ford Models: what does this say about the cultural stereotype of emasculated Asian American males in US pop culture? Wait, he’s just a hot guy? No, there has to be more meaning behind this!
This train of thought can lead to fun times on our internal email list, especially when Ernie suggested that someone covers the “Lord, It’s The Samurai” exhibit — which includes a section on Samurai man/boy love — at the “Asians Art Museum.” To which, this exchange occurs:
Efren: Honestly, isn’t this a parody/response from the real Asian Art Museum exhibit about the Samurai? I don’t think this is from the museum.
Ernie: From what I can gather, it doesn’t look to be a parody.
Efren: Actually it is. This is the real page Asian Art Museum’s samurai website: http://www.asianart.org/Samurai.htm The parody is asiansart.org, not asianart.org.
Ernie: Damn. To quote Moye, “samurai pnwed.”
Oh snap! I’ve seen people get tricked by sneaky ninjas, but samurais bring this to a whole new level.
On a more serious note, the Asians Art Museum (where “Asian still means Oriental”) showcases a creative method of protest against what many assume to be a well intentioned exhibit, The Lords of the Samurai, at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. Who knew that the history of samurais could evoke the disdain of today’s critics? We all may not find the parody site to be humorous, but it’s refreshing to see a unique approach to how our community can objectify our own culture for the public.
With that said, I’m off to iron my Gothic Lolita outfit.
[EDITORS NOTE: A follow-up interview has been posted here.]
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9 Comments to ““Asians Arts Museum” Parodies SF Asian Arts Museum Samurai Exhibit”
atlasien wrote:
I'm Japanese-American and I think the parody site makes some pretty good points. Samurai are romantic but morally indefensible. They were basically just a bunch of violent social parasites with bad haircuts.
Why not have an exhibit called “Way of the Rice Peasant?” It's not as romantic. But realistically speaking, the vast majority of my ancestors in Japan were probably rice peasants (who got kicked around by samurai).
Posted on 27-Aug-09 at 7:03 am | Permalink
moye wrote:
I feel the same way, except I think my ancestors were all fishermen.
Posted on 27-Aug-09 at 9:16 am | Permalink
janie1181 wrote:
I thought the parody site was hilarious and scary at the same time. I came yesterday for their matcha event. I got a flyer and checked out the website. I thought it was a hilarious and clever way to make us think more deeply about the history that the museum just kinda glossed over.
Posted on 28-Aug-09 at 1:30 pm | Permalink
That’s Not My Name: Lord, It’s The Samurai! intervention « beyondasiaphilia wrote:
[...] 8asians post (wherein the bloggers confess to being pwned by the faux-site) Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Higher Ground: twitter, youtube, and the Iranian electionWRUP: Delay until Q1 2010 editionMarketWatch.com Story [...]
Posted on 28-Aug-09 at 2:34 pm | Permalink
Samurai pwned! « asians art museum's samurai blog wrote:
[...] Hilarious blogpost by Moye at 8asians.com [...]
Posted on 28-Aug-09 at 2:56 pm | Permalink
8Asians.com » 8 Questions for Asians Arts Museum wrote:
[...] previously blogged by Moye, the Asians Arts Museum — note the plural, it’s what threw me off — is a pretty [...]
Posted on 28-Aug-09 at 3:43 pm | Permalink
bakabushi wrote:
Historians have begun to weigh in on it, so far very approvingly:
http://www.froginawell.net/japan/2009/08/samura...
Moye should receive royalties for the title!
Posted on 30-Aug-09 at 7:02 pm | Permalink
8Asians.com » John Hopkins Student Kills Intruder with a Samurai Sword wrote:
[...] And sometimes, the blog entries write themselves. 20-year old John Hopkins student John Pontolillo took a 3-5 foot long samurai sword that he had in his room when a burglar came into the house and pretty much Kill Bill’ed the intruder, nearly severing his left hand and giving him a “spear laceration.” (Meaning, he skewered the fucker.) It’s up to the state’s attorney’s office to determine whether he will be charged in the incident; no evidence thus far if he was inspired by the Asians Arts Museum. [...]
Posted on 17-Sep-09 at 12:35 pm | Permalink
facebook-735311848 wrote:
who r the “Asian Arts Museum”
Posted on 19-Sep-09 at 2:53 pm | Permalink
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