If you’re like me, then you’re probably sitting at your desk at work, surrounded by fanatical coworkers discussing last night’s premiere of Lost. Yes, it’s the start of the final season and yes, more questions have been asked than answered in last night’s episode, but can we please talk about the most important thing revealed?
THERE’S A NEW ASIAN GUY! And he seems really important! One of the reasons why I enjoy this show (which I’ve only started watching very recently because for some reason, catching up on Real Housewives seemed more important in the past 6 years) is their storyline around Sun and Jin’s relationship–and the fact that they continue to tangle and unravel their personal history and marriage. And don’t forget about Ken Leung, who plays the smart-ass “I can hear dead people” Miles. Their Asian characters are portrayed as I want all Asian television characters to be done: well developed roles with a connection to their cultural background but without having their racial identity overshadow the plot, require some sort of cheesy kimono costume…or mean that they’re going to be killed off very soon.
Okay, so maybe Daniel Dae Kim’s Korean accent is sub-par but at least he’s involved with a fellow Korean actress and like…stuff. Whatever.
Let’s get back to Hiroyuki Sanada, who you may recognize from such movies like Sunshine or The Last Samurai. Last night’s premiere didn’t reveal too much about his role, except that he seems to be super important to the island, he’s bilingual, can grow facial hair and doesn’t like the way English sounds on his tongue. That’s fucking BAD-ASS. Maybe I should try that with my family. I don’t know how that will work.
And no, that’s not a spoiler if you haven’t seen the episode yet. I can’t wait to see where Sanada’s character goes next. Maybe the island turns out to be some sort of giant mecha robot from Japan?
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Back in October, I had blogged about an awesome Target ad. Well now, I recently saw a pretty awesome CVS ad, with a charismatic Asian American mom with her adorable sons. Maybe this ad is only running in California (I hope not), but it’s great to see more and more Asian Americans being portrayed as All-American! If you didn’t grow up in the Northeast, CVS is a chain of pharmacies that has now expanded out to the West Coast with the recent acquisition of Longs Drugs.
Shopping With GASP!
I’m not one to read or believe tabloids, but if this news is true, I’ll be thrilled. Radar reports that Jon & Kate Plus Eight “will officially end in mid to late November” because “sources outside the network [say] that there is just enough unused new footage to take them through about another month.” We already know that Jon is out of the picture, but since he is no longer giving TLC his permission to film the children, the proposed new show, Kate Plus 8 will not go forward, either. I suppose it doesn’t stop TLC from doing a show called just Kate No 8, but we all know that the 8 part-Asian kids were really what brought the viewers in. Nonetheless, I’m glad that it means that we can start to forget what “J&K+8″ stands for and look back on it as a footnote in reality TV history.
(h/t: Ernie)
Ming-Na rocks. Seriously. Rocks.
And I love her even though she’s seriously messing with my fall season TV mojo. The thing is, I’m really trying to limit the number of new shows I get into this season. Originally, I only had Glee and Three Rivers on my list, but now I have to add Stargate Universe (SGU), too.
SGU is a military science fiction television series– part of the Stargate franchise– which debuted last night on Syfy (let’s not talk about the stupid re-branding of this cable station… whatevs!). The show follows the adventures of a present-day, multinational exploration team on board the ancient spaceship Destiny that is stranded in a distant corner of the universe and unable to return to Earth. Ming-Na is part of the regular cast as Camille Wray — the first regular Asian-American lesbian character on a TV series.
According to Wikipedia:
[Camille's character] is an International Oversight Advisory (IOA) accountant who becomes the highest-ranking IOA member left stranded on the ship. She has “a false sense of importance and superiority to the other military and civilian population along with a stubborn way of asserting it”… She is the first openly gay character in the Stargate franchise. Her long-time partner back on Earth, Sharon, will first appear in “Life” in a possibly recurring role.
Incidentally, the role of Sharon is played by 24‘s Reiko Aylesworth, who is part-Asian (she’s of Dutch, Welsh, and Japanese ancestry). According to SheWired.com, fans of girl-girl action “can expect a fleshed-out relationship replete with some on-screen intimacy.” (If that doesn’t get people to watch this show, I’m really not sure what else would!)
This character is history-making, not only because of the character’s openness and ethnicity, but also because it comes at a time when there is a dearth of (regular) lesbian characters on television– the only other one is played by Jessica Capshaw on Grey’s Anatomy. Among the varied roles Ming-Na has played– animated heroine Mulan, a doctor on ER, and Chun-Li in Street Fighter to name a few– this is her first lesbian character, which also gave her the chance to do her first on-screen kiss with another female. (Yes, it has already been taped, says Ming-Na.)
Even though the show is brand new, leaks about the storyline have already hit the Internet. A few months ago, it was reported that Camille’s character is ostensibly depicted having sex with a man, causing an uproar in the LGBT community. When SheWired asked, “Why do you think people responded so vigorously to that plot point in which outwardly, it seemed as though the writers copped out on the whole lesbian aspect of you character?”
Ming-Na responded:
There was a lot of misunderstanding, because when you get a breakdown, it’s never what the end product is—at all. It was an eye opener because I did see the passion from the lesbian community.
I wish my own community, the Asian-American community, would be as passionate about stuff. I really respect that. I think the producers were definitely aware of it and then they tried to correct some of the wrong impression that was made based on the breakdown. And to me, it was just truly an incredible episode. I’m kind of nervous about just watching the outcome –not what the reaction is – because I think once you watch it you’ll realize that it’s about what we take for granted and if that is stripped away from us, how do people deal with what they’ve lost?
And that’s sort of the crux of our show. All these people stranded on Destiny have lost everything except the shirt on their back and all they’re left with is really facing themselves. There are a lot of great morality plays to be dealt with. It’s about life. It’s about all of us. We’re so distracted by the computer, by Twitter…by television, shopping, and all this bombardment of commercialism, but if you take it all away? Who are you really? [full story]
So who is Ming-Na really? Well, according to her Twitter profile (@MsMingNa), she (briefly) describes herself as an “Actress, Geek, Cook, Knitter, Gardener, Decorator and now twitterholic.”
I’d add “role model” and “kickass rockstar” to that list. Hooray to Ming-Na for depicting an Asian-American lesbian character– giving visibility to an often invisible community (she didn’t find out the character was lesbian until after she was already cast). I’m looking forward to watching her character develop on SGU.
If you missed the premiere episode, catch it for free on iTunes or at SyFy Rewind.
Because I love geeks and because I love geek humor even more, one of my favorite TV shows is The Big Bang Theory on CBS. Last night, Season 3 started with our scientist heroes (Sheldon, Leonard, Wolowitz, and Koothrappali) returning from a research expedition to the North Pole.
I’m really not writing about the storyline so much as I am about a specific line that was uttered by the character of Sheldon’s mother, played by funny lady Laurie Metcalf. I would have shared a link to the clip except CBS doesn’t put full episodes online and the scene isn’t one of the featured clips. At the risk of ruining the line for people who haven’t seen the episode, the episode progresses so that Sheldon and his mom are at the dinner table and Sheldon thanks his mom for carving a smiley face into his grilled cheese sandwich. Sheldon’s mom replies, “His eyes came out a little thin, but you can just pretend he’s Chinese.” The line, delivered perfectly by Laurie Metcalf, made me LOL and pause the TiVo so I could stop laughing before moving on. Seeing as the show is produced by Chuck Lorre & gang, I know that the humor is written specifically to push the envelope as far as possible. (Lorre’s vanity cards routinely refers to things which the CBS censors made them change or take out.)
Did you see the episode and catch this line? What did you think?
(Note: The video above is from an old episode from where Sheldon is learning Mandarin. Especially hilarious if you understand Mandarin, I think! Special props for the final scene where Sheldon uses his mangled Chinese on the guy in the Chinese restaurant, played by veteran actor James Hong, who I met last week! Mr. Hong told me he’s been working on “Kung Fu Panda (2): The Kaboom of Doom!“)
Yes, you read that correctly. Back in 2004, a whale exploded in the city streets of Tainan, Taiwan.
Before you assume that Taiwanese geniuses have developed some sort of biological weapon of mass destruction, you should know that this accident happened while some marine scientists were trying to move a 56-foot, 6-ton sperm whale from the ocean (where it had died) to a research facility to perform a necropsy on it. Unfortunately, while the whale was being transported through a busy city street, the whale literally burst open due to the gasses from decomposition building up in his* abdomen. It splattered whale blood, blubber and entrails over surrounding cars, bystanders, and storefronts. Bits of bloody whale bits were found blocks away.
I know this because Yoshi & I watched a fascinating British documentary entitled “The Whale that Exploded” on the National Geographic Channel and although I was totally grossed out by some of the footage from the scene, I couldn’t help but to keep watching. This documentary actually came out about a year ago and it explored the various contributing factors as to why this happened, along with eyewitness reports and photos of the bloody mess.
I’ve been trying to convince Yoshi to join me on a trip to Taiwan later this year, but this program did not help my cause. As a horrified Yoshi watched images of bloody whale intestines laying next to a moped, I heard the words, “I am not going to a place where whales explode in the streets!” being uttered over and over.
“Actually,” I stated matter-of-factly, “Only ONE whale ever exploded in the streets of Taiwan. And it’s probably not going to happen again since they’ve already learned the lesson the hard way.” Let’s not let one teeny tiny whale explosion totally ruin the Taiwanese tourism industry, shall we?
You can catch this program as an episode of NatGeo’s “Wild” series and get all the gory details about the whale explosion — if you dare.
*Did you notice I said “his?” How do we know that the sperm whale was a male? Photos of a 5 foot long schlong protruding from the whale carcass was pretty good evidence!
KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) has been promoting their new offering, Kentucky Grilled Chicken, with the tagline, UNTHINK what you thought about KFC – Taste the unfried side of KFC.
Joz and I both noticed that KFC is running a new, “multicultural” KGC commercial which features white, African American and Asian American actors. I had been channel surfing and upon catching the tail end of this commercial, I immediately re-wound the DVR just to make sure what I saw was what I saw. My initial reaction was “WTF.” Why are the Asian American actors wearing kamikaze headbands with what looks to me to be Japanese martial arts-type wardrobe, and speaking with foreign-sounding accents — while all the other actors and actresses came across as average Americans? What the hell is KFC trying to convey with those two Asian Americans? It’s stupid commercials like this that reinforce the idea that Asian Americans know martial arts (more than once as a kid I recall being asked if I knew karate, etc…) or that Asian Americans are “foreigners” (I’ve also been told that my English is excellent – which it should be since I was born-and-raised in the United States). Does reinforcing some Asian stereotype have anything to do in promoting fried chicken versus grilled chicken?
The Asian characters in the commercial haven’t been in other previous KFC commercials, so there is no rational context as to why these Asian Americans are dressed the way they are. In the context of this commercial, how would African Americans feel if there was a gang banger or basketball player representing them (or even more ridiculous, traditional African wardrobe?). The only white stereotype I see possibly is the two “preppy” twenty-or-thirty-something guys wearing sports jackets … and I think I’m stretching when I say that. BTW – Almost everyone in this commercial, as well as other KFC commercials, are dancing ridiculously to the tune of the commercials’ theme music, to convey the excitement to KFC now offering grilled chicken.
Joz’s commentary:
Wow, first the Oprah/Kentucky Grilled Chicken coupon fiasco, and now this! KFC is screwing up royally with their promotions for KGC. Regarding the KGC commercial with the two Asian guys dressed with kamikaze* headbands… Everyone else in the commercial is dressed all normally, but why are the Asian guys the only ones dressed all stupid and fighting about chicken while speaking in dumb accents?
John, thanks for uploading the video… If people start saying “What’s wrong with this?! Asians DO sometimes wear Kamikaze headbands and argue about chicken,” I will punch them in the neck.
Maybe these guys are actually fighting about KFG?!
* Ok, I know they are not really kamikaze headbands and I definitely know they are not in martial arts clothes. I can tell they are supposed to be Japanese cooks. But these guys make no sense and are totally out of context. (Moye says the headband is called “hachimaki.” I still say that most Americans know those things as the headbands worn by kamikaze pilots. Or by Daniel-san in Karate Kid.)
The Japanese have some of the craziest shows ever. Distributed by Monster9 whom eventually did Viking: The Ultimate Obstacle Course. And you know it’s definitely a big deal if ESPN picked up US distribution rights for Viking. G4 picked up distribution on Sasuke but gave it the American title Ninja Warrior.
On the twentieth competition which will air here in the States on May 18th, it consists of one hundred competitors that try to battle it out against a four stage obstacle course which consistently gets more difficult at each stage. The course requires an enormous amount of stamina and arm strength along with agility being that there are many things that require balance and I personally couldn’t imagine ever completing.
I will say that there’s definitely a perfect body type and size for this competition. In past competitions, there’s been some Europeans and even a couple Marines that tried their luck at it. But while they conquered the first stage easily, eventually their size actually became a detriment since their arm muscles would have to carry a lot more body mass over the stamina and endurance stages.
A competition of this sort would do very well in the US in my opinion, depending on if someone could get around the liability issue since Sasuke is done with no equipment at all pretty much. Creation of such a course here would definitely bring many to compete along with a huge viewer base for telecast. Think about it, if this was produced in the United States, this challenge in my opinion is actually way more interesting than something like American Gladiators. It also would not be the first time a Japanese show has been redone in the US. Kitchen Arena, anyone? Oh yes. I speak of Iron Chef.
Photo Credit: (ninjapoodles)
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