Glee fans, get ready for some more Asian faces to appear on your favorite TV show because TVLine is reporting that Tamlyn Tomita and Keong Sim have been cast as Mike Chang’s parents in the new season. Wait, who? “Sim most recently appeared on the big screen in M.Night Shyamalan‘s The Last Airbender, while Tomita — best known for the classic The Joy Luck Club — played a coroner on NBC’s short-lived Law & Order: LA. The pair is set to appear in the Oct. 4 episode.” Awww yeah. Tomita is the new Glee MILF. Amirite?
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On Tuesday, California State Senate voted 25 to 9 to ban the sale, trade and possession of shark fin and thus the sale of real shark fin soup (there’s always substitute shark fin…). California’s State Assembly had already passed the bill in May (65-8). All that is stopping this bill from becoming law is Governor Jerry Brown’s signature.
Of course, there are some, like State Senator Leland Yee who are opposed to the bill and the media has reported some dissatisfaction amongst the Chinese community:
Chinese American restaurateurs and traders have lobbied against the bill and are being backed by several Chinese American lawmakers. Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) has called it “an unfair attack on Asian culture and cuisine.” But other Chinese American legislators, chefs and celebrities, including basketball star Yao Ming, have backed conservationists.
I can understand how Chinese restaurants might be against the bill due to the financial repercussions. Personally, I find the claims on how this bill is an unfair attack on Asian culture and cuisine laughable. There are a lot of aspects in all cultures and cuisines that have been banned or no longer practiced. I know Assemblyman Paul Fong has given the example of binding a woman’s feet as one clear example that Chinese Americans are not asking to be practiced again.
Shopping With GASP!
Fox Sports thought this video of reporter Bob Oschack visiting the USC campus for man on the street interviews with Asian college students would be hilarious. The Internet thought otherwise and last Saturday, Fox Sports issued an apology to “the entire USC community” for airing the piece.
Comedian Joe Wong made his third appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. I’ve had the opportunity to meet and see Wong’s hilarious performance in San Francisco two years ago. Wong’s longest and most hilarious comedy set online was when he performed at the Annual Radio & TV Correspondents’ Dinner last year.
A new study from South Korea has revealed that the suicide rate has doubled over the past ten years: “The new figures show that in 2009 more than 40 people killed themselves each day in South Korea. This is more than twice the number who did so a decade earlier and five times as many as in 1989.” BBC News reports that the government has launched new initiatives to help prevent suicides but this is still a disturbing stat to read. If Asian American women have the highest rate of depression and suicide here, how much of this is a problem for youth in Asia?
Is it okay for a person who is non-Japanese American to write about the Japanese American (JA) experience? My immediate reaction is no. I’m sick of other people writing my history and stories. I’m sick of having my culture hijacked, even by those who have the best of intentions.
Can a person who is non-Japanese American capture what it is like to be Japanese American in a true and authentic way? My immediate reaction again is no. They can try to put themselves in my shoes but ultimately they could never fully know what it means to be JA.
So when I see films and books written by non-Japanese Americans about Japanese Americans a part of me always cringes and the story suddenly becomes inauthentic. Actually, it pisses me off. Someone else is trying to tell me my own story. And worse yet, they are trying to pimp it out to the rest of the world.
The Working APA Actor is a bi-monthly interview of Asian Pacific Islander American actors in the entertainment world, whether it be theater, film, television, the internet, or commercials. It is an inside look at these actors exploring their passion in their craft and how they balance their personal lives with their work. But more importantly, this column is dedicated to knowing these busy actors a little better as individuals.
It’s been quite some time since the last Working APA Actor interview but we’re off with a bang as we have a very special person here with us today. This fine gentleman is James Huang and for those of you into crime shows, you may have seen him guest starring in Rizzoli & Isles and Law & Order: LA this year. In addition, you may have also seen him in this hilarious short called REPRESENT, to which he wrote and starred in alongside Tim Chiou, Aaron Takahashi, James’ lovely wife Elizabeth Sandy, and Jerry Ying. You can check out James’ demo reel above.
From the Navy Times: “The United States has provided a small yet symbolic shipment of emergency relief items to flood-hit North Korea, in the latest sign of thawing ties between the wartime foes. Heavy rain and tropical storms have pounded North Korea in the past few months, leaving dozens of people dead or missing and displacing thousands of others. Washington has not responded with food aid, but pledged to provide emergency help for the flooding. A cargo plane loaded with $900,000 worth of food, medical aid, soap, blankets and cooking kits from the United States touched down at Pyongyang’s Sunan airport late Saturday, according to footage from the Associated Press Television News from the North Korean capital…” Although I echo the concerns of many others that “aid to the North is routinely diverted to its powerful military,” it seems like a positive gesture, and one that shows that the U.S. sees supporting the North Korean people as a priority especially in a time of need. Hopefully, it will go a long way.
Every summer, I coach volleyball at a sports clinic at my children’s school. Over the years, I noticed a Vietnamese boy in Number One Son’s class who would attend the sports clinic but never played on any of the school teams. In addition to being the smartest kid in his middle school class, he was a decent player who would have done well on the volleyball team. “His parents won’t let him play,” said Number One Son. This article from New America Media about immigrant parents and education says that my son’s classmate’s experience is fairly common among Vietnamese immigrant families. These parents strictly focus their children on academics but don’t realize that the narrowness actually reduces their children’s chances of getting into prestigious colleges.
From Deadline: “On the heels of Justin Lin signing a two-year production deal with Universal Pictures for his newly formed company Barnstorm Pictures, the Fast Five director has inked his first TV pact — a first-look deal with Sony Pictures TV. Under the agreement, Lin will develop series projects for the studio and will also direct a pilot this coming season subject to feature availability.” It is so awesome to see such a creative producer who is Asian American become almost ubiquitous in his work – mainstream and appealing to the larger population. It’ll be interesting to see how it transfers to the”small screen.
As a huge fan of Queen, I felt it was important to wish a happy birthday to one of the greatest rock stars and greatest voices of all time, Freddie Mercury.
But did you know his real name is Farrokh Bulsara? He was a Parsi born in Zanzibar and grew up there and in India until his mid-teens. He is considered to be Britain’s very first Asian mega rock star. In 2006, Time Asia named him as one of the most influential Asian heroes of the past 60 years.
Kai Ma, former KoreaAm editor-in-chief and now TIME blogger, may be busy exploring her new home in Hong Kong but before she left, she wrote and starred in Love Lost on the 405. The short film is directed by Maya Santos and follows a woman finding parallels between her unhappy relationship and the traffic on the 405 freeway in Los Angeles. Love Lost on the 405 premiered at the Architecture and Design Museum for Rethink/LA. As someone who avoids the 405 like the plague, I can see how the horrible bumper-to-bumper congestion can drive anyone insane. So sit back and enjoy this indie short from the comfort of your traffic-less seat.
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