8Asians.com | Archive | December, 2009

Is “Ninja Assassin” an Example of a Post-Ethnic Asian Film?

By Koji Steven | Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Over the weekend, I saw Ninja Assassin, the new movie starring the Korean pop star Rain. It was what you imagine it to be. Pretty cool action scenes surrounded by a bad story and horrendous acting. (Surprisingly, Rain’s acting wasn’t that bad. Maybe one of the better performances of the film.)

None of this is why I am writing about Ninja Assassin today. What interested me most is whether this is an example of a post-ethnic Asian film. Let me explain what I mean. The opening scene takes place in a Yakuza (Japanese Mafia) bar with Japanese writing all over the place. The head of the Yakuza is a Korean American actor, Sung Kang. Ninjas are Japanese. But the ninja training school is somewhere in the mountains of China. And of course, the star ninja (Rain) is Korean.

Some would argue that this is just another example of Hollywood confusing and combining all Asian groups together. Japanese. Chinese. Korean. There is no difference. They are all the same. And maybe that’s exactly what they did. But I’m hoping that this is a sign of things to come. A time when Asians (and Asian Americans) can stop defining themselves by their country of origin but by the bigger and broader term, Asian. I’m probably giving too much credit to the makers of Ninja Assassin. But I believe that only by coming together can Asian (and Asian Americans) truly be a cultural and intellectual force on the world stage.

| Posted in (featured), Entertainment, Movies | 20 Comments

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The Tiger Woods Scandal (According to Taiwan)

By Moye | Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Oh, Tiger Woods. You have everything in the world, including a hot model wife and a pair of multi-racial children (who I like to believe symbolize world peace and racial unity or whatever), but you just had to go mess your (allegedly) perfect life up with an affair (supposedly). But what can we learn from this latest scandal?

Here’s my lesson: when all else fails, turn to China Taiwan for some pretty awesome reenactments. I have no idea what they’re saying but this is what I gathered. Tiger Woods looks like Gary Coleman, rich people still drive minivans and life is always more fun when it looks like a bad video game.