It’s pretty difficult to believe if you’re an Internet junkie veteran like I am, but fourteen years ago my friend Dino Ignatio created a little website called Bert is Evil. While the original website has long been taken down, internet mirrors exist all over the world of circumstantial (and Photoshopped) proof that Bert of Sesame Street is the devil’s spawn — it was one of the first Internet meme’s before an age of YouTube or Twitter or Facebook, and became infamous when an image of Bert with then unknown-in-1998 Osama bin Laden was seen in a 2001 pro-Osama bin Laden protest rally in Bangladesh.
And what has Dino been up to in the past fourteen years, you ask? You might have seen his work in the flash animation Maritess vs. the Super Friends, or as a director on the video Embarcadero Blues by Goh Nakamura, one of the first Asian American indie artists to have a million views on YouTube. From the looks of it, I’d say that Dino is doing pretty damn well.
(Hat tip: Rickey)
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March 20 * 11-5 PM * Admission is Pay-What-You-Can
Help us celebrate the opening of our new exhibition Mixed: Portraits of Multiracial Kids by Kip Fulbeck show!
In a follow-up to the kip fulbeck: part asian, 100% hapa 2006 exhibition, artist and author Kip Fulbeck returns with his newest collection of works based on his new book Mixed: Portraits of Multiracial Kids.
This family-friendly exhibition for the young and the young at heart offers a playful yet powerful perspective on the complex nature of contemporary American identity, and, more importantly, is an opportunity to celebrate just being yourself.
Here is a schedule of events for the opening celebration:
ALL DAY ACTIVITIES:
Weingart Gallery Foyer: Exhibition activities
Nerio Education Center: Video recording of families and kids
Central Hall Crafts: Make a pennant flag and a self-portrait kokeshi doll
Refreshments: Dainty Cakes (free cupcakes to kids), Mochi Ice Cream by Mikawaya, and Honest Tea
SCHEDULE:
11 AM – Doors open
1 PM – We Tell Stories performs “Proud to Be Me” (reinforcing self-esteem through multicultural stories)
2 PM – Presentation and book signing with Kip Fulbeck
3 PM – Special Performance
4 PM – Central Hall activities end
5 PM – Doors close
For more information about the exhibition or the Japanese American National Museum, go to: www.janm.org
Shopping With GASP!
A study by Stanford University shows that in vitro fertilization are less successful for Asian American women than white women; while Asian-American women responded to medications used to stimulate the ovaries to produce eggs at the same rates as their white counterparts, only 31 percent gave birth, compared with 48 percent of white women.
A couple of years ago, I was introduced to Band of Brothers, the hugely successful HBO miniseries about the 101st Airborne and their accomplishments in the European theater in World War II, and was instantly hooked. The miniseries focused more on individual American soldiers and their subsequent achievements and flaws and kept, save for a few instances, the Nazi’s in a faceless shroud. It was effective one-sided, dehumanization that made you cheer for the soldiers of Easy Company even more.
Yet very rarely did you ever consider the Nazi’s to be “evil”. In one episode, the viewer discovers that an American had answered the call to return to the Fatherland, and that one Easy Company trooper lived just miles away from his Nazi enemy. The exception does come from the episode highlighting the Holocaust, but the drama focused primarily on the characters; mostly because most Americans live and feed off the stories from the European Theater — we see them so often that we do not even need to hear them anymore — and we know that the Nazis were, as an organization, evil (and that’s why Inglorious Basterds doesn’t need a narrative preface).
The spiritual successor of Band of Brothers, The Pacific, which aired its first episode this past Sunday, is different. Besides Pearl Harbor, the nuclear bombings, and maybe the Battle of Midway; the stories of the Pacific Theater need to be introduced through a historical lens and can not lend itself on characters alone (which is why we hear the series producer Tom Hanks in the beginning of the episode introducing Guadalcanal). Understudied history SHOULD quickly become gray history, in which there should be no black and white of good and evil. But it doesn’t. Because we are Americans, and we won. Unlike the war in Europe, good and evil carries implications of racial politics and that’s where America finds itself at a crossroad.
The argument suddenly boils down between racial lines. Tom Hanks caught himself in controversy with a cover story in Time Magazine, and attracted mindless dribble (mostly conservatives bashing Hollywood for being unpatriotic), but I link to a more elegant response by Victor Davis Hanson, that states that combat was motivated and fought on racial tensions, but only as a result of war. More simply put, it was what was accepted at the time, and appears to justify “racism”. His points address his thesis well; war was fought and atrocities were committed on both sides, “racial animosity” was not one-sided; that I accept, but the argument blatantly disregards Japanese American Internment, which I consider racist. I also have a problem with him justifying such atrocities as a result of war and justifying the use of the Atomic Bomb as a “last resort”. That, in my eyes, is unacceptable, but I’m probably just as “uneducated” as Tom Hanks… I digress.
My point is this, the first episode of the The Pacific was historically accurate in its usage of derogatory terms (IE. Japs, yellow bastards… so on). It ended by juxtaposing a Japanese atrocity with an American one, enlisting faceless soldiers to do wicked things until one of the show’s stars put an end to it, an overly blatant attempt to be political correct. Now, I’m to assume that the process of dehumanization affected everyone except for our heroic protagonists; it tried so hard to be not politically correct that I almost found it offensive (racist is too strong of a term). The authors of the memoirs the miniseries was based upon mostly likely weren’t racist, but that’s probably because they wrote their memoirs after they regained their humanity, after the war was over. I’m sure even the most honorable crossed acceptable racial lines (and moral lines), even with the standards of the 40′s, but at what point do we allow modern views of political correctness alter the realism of popular media based on history (say Mad Men and its misogyny) and at what point does it become offensive? Is it wrong to accept different standards because the times were different?
IMDB lists a Frank Lee to portray Chuck “Cho” Yang on the castlist, I assume that’s when the series will seriously delve into issues of Asian American racial politics, but if you gave me a realistic, albeit offensive portrayal of the War fought in the Pacific Theater, I’d accept it more than the facade of political correctness given to me by this episode. Nonetheless, the show has been just as thrilling and enjoyable as its spiritual predecessor; and I look forward to more episodes.
This past weekend, I had the chance to watch the world premiere of this incredibly touching, often heart wrenching yet also funny documentary, Wo Ai Ni [I love you] Mommy, about the journey of an 8-year-old Chinese girl orphan Fang Sui Yong (Faith) through her adoption by a Jewish American family. Filmmaker Stephanie Wang-Breal followed Donna Sadowsky, a mother of two boys and another Chinese girl (adopted when the girl was 14 months old) as she travels to China and returns with Faith to New York. The family decided to bring Faith into the family after Donna felt a need for another daughter and for her youngest child to have an older sister.
The documentary covers the trials and tribulations of Fang Sui Yong’s transformation into Faith Sadowsky over the course of 18 months. One comes to empathize greatly how stressful, scary, and lonely it was for Sui Yong to leave her foster family, acclimate to a strange family with new parents and siblings, all while learning English. I wondered how Sui Yong survived psychologically for so long without anyone around her to speak Mandarin or Cantonese. This wasn’t a picnic for Donna and her family either. Despite their struggles, the documentary featured parts of their lives that were very warm, touching and very funny!
What is amazing is how quickly Faith becomes fluent in English and embraces her adoptive family while also sadly losing her ability to speak Mandarin and Cantonese, so much that the filmmaker’s Cantonese speaking friend is brought over during a visit when Faith speaks to her foster family in China via Skype. We discover that Faith has little opportunity to speak her native language, except for the weekends where she studies at a Chinese language school. This reminded me of my own youth, when I first spoke Mandarin as a baby and little kid, but quickly forgot the language when I entered elementary school (and attended Chinese school on the weekends until high school).
The film reveals a part of Faith who is sad to lose her Mandarin and Cantonese fluency as she becomes more fluent in English, because it makes her feel less “Chinese.” She also has a hard time understanding why a white American family would want to adopt a Chinese girl, subconsciously tackling the issues about race and identity as a Chinese American. I think many of Faith’s struggles are some of the same issues that all Asian Americans growing up in the U.S. have come had to understand in varying degrees. I personally was surprised to find how much I could relate to Faith’s dilemmas brought up in this film even though I was not adopted.
The Q&A session with Stephanie Wang-Breal and Donna Sadowsky after the screening was incredibly interesting, and reminded me why I always enjoy going to film festivals: the chance to listen, learn and ask questions to the filmmakers and cast members. I learned that Stephanie literally interviewed hundreds of families in person or over the phone, but became interested in Donna and her family after learning about their previous adoption of a Chinese girl and their interest in taking in an older girl. Donna’s motivation to be the subject of the documentary was to encourage the adoption of older children who need parents as much as infants. The love that Donna expresses for her daughter, in the film and in person, is quite palpable and easily transcends race, language and culture.
Stephanie spoke about how she didn’t have any problems filming in China since she was a one person crew, but she did think there would have been issues if she brought along an entire production team. Being fluent in Mandarin, Stephanie acted as a translator between Donna and Sui Yong at times in China and back in the US, which only reinforced the linguistic and cultural barriers both had to overcome. Like many Asian Americans growing up outside of the West Coast, Stephanie spoke about her own experience being one of the few Asian kids in her Ohio town and how it allowed her to relate closely to Faith’s adjustment in her new family.
As I had exited the theater, I heard another movie watcher, who also adopted a Chinese girl, talk about how much he loved and could relate to the film. I’ve always had an interest in the topic of Chinese adoption in America, and I was partly motivated to see the documentary to learn more about the experiences of one of the 70,000 Chinese adoptees’ brought to the United States. But Wo Ai Ni [I love you] Mommy is more than a film about adoption; it is also an amazing story of love and family from both Faith and Donna’s point of view.
If you’re unable to catch the film at other screenings throughout the country, you can catch it on PBS this Fall, as the documentary has been picked up by POV: Documentaries with a point of view. Like others, I highly recommend this film and have become a fan on Facebook! Go see the film! This also inspired me to think again about my interest in documentaries and try making one of my own. Maybe one of these days…
On Sunday, March 21, tens of thousands will march on the nation’s capital to demand that President Obama and Congress keep their promise to enact comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) in 2010. We need CIR for new American families and an economy that works for all American families. We cannot wait any longer for immigration reform, so we must mobilize to put the pressure on our elected leaders. Our work is paying off – last week, several grassroots and immigrant rights leaders met with President Obama to establish concrete steps to move CIR forward, and recent media coverage speaks of the building energy for CIR We need your support to increase the pressure and send a strong message to President Obama and Congress that change takes courage and the time for change is now.
Join NAKASEC for the March for America in D.C. on March 21!
* 12:00 PM: AAPI Pre-rally at Franklin Park (near the McPherson Square Metro)
* 12:30 PM: Begin walk to Lafayette Park, joining tens of thousands of other supporters
* 2:00 PM: Arrive at the National Mall. Following the program, we march past Congress while the House is in session.
* 5:00 PM: March on to RFK Center To get involved, contact [email protected]
We just can’t take our eyes off this hot mess of whatever you would call Tila Tequila. Reality show star? Yes. Playboy model? Sure. Myspace celebrity? Who’s on that social network anymore? Internet trainwreck who needs to step away from the computer? Most definitely. The LA Times covered Tila Tequila since the death of her heiress fiancee, Casey Johnson and basically found nothing new.
“…I talked to my therapist about that. She said sometimes when you feel like the world is too much, you go to the Internet, you have a meltdown, you go online and you talk and you feel like you’re entertaining everyone and you get a temporary high, right? Like a drug. And she said when I’m done, the high comes down and I get this huge backlash from the media — like, ‘Oh, my God, what are you doing?’”
Oh, Tila. What are you doing? Maybe that’s a question that can never be answered. Isn’t there some Internet addiction rehab camp she can go to? Until then, we’ll keep enjoying those Twitter outbursts. Hopefully she’ll find help soon.
Are Asian-American kids the most fit in California? They are if you exclude Filipinos and Pacific Islanders. According to Kidsdata.org, the percentage of Asian-American 7th and 9th graders in 2008 who meet all fitness standards is greater than any other California ethnic group including whites. Physical fitness is measured through the California Physical Fitness Test, which looks for passing a minimum in the areas of upper body strength, flexibility, aerobic capacity, body composition, abdominal strength, and trunk strength. Asian-American 5th graders slightly trail white 5th graders, but as you can see, this advantage is later lost by 7th grade. Filipino-American kids are less fit than whites, and less than 30% of Pacific Islander 9th graders are considered overall fit. Healthy weight data shows similar patterns.
Ignoring the debate whether Filipinos are Asians, it doesn’t seem surprising that Filipino-American kids are less fit. Filipino food, while delicious (I’m biased of course) is not exactly the healthiest, and Filipinos are said to be the most sedentary of Asian-Americans. I am not really sure what is happening with Pacific islanders. I suspect that a partial cause of these health statistics is a correlation between income levels and health, but Filipinos again complicate this by having a high household income, mainly because there are often more wage earners in a Filipino household (three in my household as an example).
I find it highly ironic that given stereotypes of Asian-American kids not being athletic, they are the fittest, and African-Americans, stereotyped to be athletes, are among the least fit. These stats are also damning with regards to physical education and youth sports. I’m not saying that there are no benefits from youth sports (I’ve coached for a number of years). But given that fact only 35.6% of all California 9th graders can pass the fitness minimums, the large amounts of money spent on youth sports facilities, and how few actually make it to elite levels, there needs to be a better return on fitness for all children.
h/t to The Wife who found these stats in the Mercury News.
While watching The Amazing Race on my DVR, I had to quickly rewind to see what I thought I had seen. Target has done it again, this time with a new television commercial featuring an all Asian American cast featuring an over-protective mom named Wendy as she keeps an eye on her teenage daughter and her new boyfriend. I really hope this ad is airing in other markets besides the Bay Area and California, as I find them so refreshing, especially after those recent commercials from MetroPCS and Radio Shack.
Here’s a interview we did at channelAPA.com with Racebending.com, a site advocating equal opportunity in the media. 8Asians is no stranger to this discussion, as you can see from this post about The Last Airbender, the live action feature based on the popular animated series. How long will it take Hollywood to stop with this practice of whitewashing? When will things change?
Come and Join Kearny Street Workshop as we present Love AAJ Kal on Sunday March, 14th @ 9:00pm at the Castro Theater!
Get your tickets at:
http://filmguide.festival.asianamericanmedia.org/tixSYS/2010/xslguide/eventnote.php?EventNumber=1055
Love Aaj Kal
International Showcase
(India, 2009, 130 mins, 35mm)
In Hindi & English w/E.S. with English subtitles
Directed By: Imtiaz Ali
Producer: Saif Ali Khan, Dinesh Vijan
Writer: Ali
Cinematographer: Natarajan Subramaniam
Editor: Aarti Bajaj
Music: Pritam
Cast: Khan, Deepika Padukone, Rishi Kapoor, Rahul Khanna
Bollywood at the Castro returns with one of India’s biggest hits of the past year! Based loosely on Hou Hsiao-hsien’s THREE TIMES (!), LOVE AAJ KAL stars the hunky Saif Ali Khan and the sultry Deepika Padukone as two different couples in in two different times, leading parallel lives of courtship and love lost and found. London, 2009: Jai and Meera are a fun-loving, free-spirited couple. They don’t believe in “commitments” or tying one another down, so when careers beckon them to Delhi and San Francisco, they decide to amicably split ways.
As time passes, however, memories and feelings remain. Have they really moved on‾ Delhi, 1965: Veer Singh is a man in love. Smitten after catching one glimpse of the beautiful Harleen, he vows to marry her, but when she soon moves to far-away Calcutta and is becomes engaged, more than distance separates them. A romantic at heart, he follows her, fueled by dreams of true love and destiny. Is his secret, almost impossible passion enough to bring them together‾ Delightfully weaving together these two eras and stories, LOVE AAJ KAL charts a fantastic journey through the confusion, folly and joy of falling in love, and shows how the miles between lovers might just make the heart grow fonder.
Khan, whose modern, hip performances in KAL HO NAA HO (2003) and HUM TUM (2004) made him one of India’s top romantic leads, is a delight to watch as both the brash Jai and the soulful Veer Singh, while Padukone is a true revelation as she transforms herself from street-wise London beauty to demure country girl. What’s truly unforgettable, however, is the exuberant chemistry between these two stars, and the fabulous song and dance sequences that bring them together.
See you there!
This amazing story about a British boy named Billy living in a mining town while seeking his passion for ballet has, in movie form and musical form, charmed audiences all over the world. The Broadway musical has opened in London, U.S., Australia and guess who’s next? South Korea.
Broadway musicals have always done very well in South Korea, where I’ve enjoyed watching Cats in English, a Korean version of Rent (which was really fun and very interesting in Korean), and Mamma Mia in Korean (super fun!). I’ve heard that tickets for Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera were sky-high and impossible to get in the country. With the popularity of these shows, I hope the ballet musical Billy Elliot takes the country by storm.
Korean ballet dancers, as well as those from all Asian countries, are slowing growing in international recognition by consistently winning awards at international ballet competitions and gaining acclaim as professional dancers. Sadly, most of the acknowledgment has been skewed towards the female dancers, like Sue-Jin Kang and Yuan Yuan Tan. Check out this YouTube video from the Bolshoi Academy, showing young ballet students in partnering class and see how many Asian dancers you can count.
I hope Billy Elliot in South Korea can be another example of how theater can help change the perception that sometimes, you just gotta dance, even if you’re an Asian boy.
(Photo Credit: New York Times)
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