iamasiam

American Adobo. Which One?

“Really, that’s it”, Sam Sifton exclaims how simple it is to make chicken adobo.  One caveat:  it’s just one version of the national dish of the Philippines.  “This is adobo,” he writes, “Every man an island.” ^[1]

I myself have never tried the variation offered in Mr. Sifton’s article, which is courtesy of Purple Yam ^[2], so off to the kitchen I went to give it a shot.  At my first attempt, I wasn’t really sure that the ingredient measurements were correct.  Tasting the brew while it simmered, I thought it was too vinegary.  Still, I decided to stick strictly to the recipe, to such surprising results.  Ang sarap!

Every man an island?  True.  A friend’s mom added Chivas Regal—no other whisky brand will do.  I for one once served a version that called for shrimp fry, to the dismay of my non-Filipino guests at the table. “Aw, the poor little baby shrimps.”  When my mom cooked adobo, it seemed like she was winging it each time.  None of those cook book standard measurements, oh no!  Still, each dish came out of her kitchen as a precise success.

Now, why did this magazine article prompt me to watch a film entitled “American Adobo”? ^[3] The story was about five Filipino-American friends searching for new meaning in life.  Silly at times, the movie evoked unintended laugh-out-loud moments, especially courtesy of one overacting actor.  The intended adobo metaphor seemed lost to me at first.  In the end, I admit, the movie still resonated with me, the same way Mr. Sifton’s featured recipe resonated with my palate and stomach.  Ah, the meaning of life!

^[1] Sam Sifton, “The Cheat: The Adobo Experiment”, The New York Times, Jan. 5, 2011
^[2] Purple Yam
^[3] RottenTomatoes.com 

Arisen!

Enjoying a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon at a Pan-Asian Chelsea joint, I couldn’t help but notice a boisterous group enjoying their pre-dinner cocktails at a table nearby.  The 30-something male trio relishes their time together with jubilant chatter and unhinged laughter.  From their conversation, Gladys Kravitz could intermittently decipher a word or two in English.  For the most part they’re speaking Bahasa.  They’re Indonesian. They’re gay.  They’re out.  And they’re now emphatically (flamboyantly) having a “Sex in the City” moment, with ne’er a care in the world.

Now, I can’t help but recall this Indonesian flick I’ve seen recently, “Arisan”. ^[1] Its main character is also in his thirties, but he is a closeted gay man just in the process of being pried out of his comfortable but lonely closet.  Dorothy is not in Chelsea anymore.  While Jakarta happens to be the capital of the biggest Muslim country in the world, luckily you’re not in Uganda either. ^[2]  Still, Indonesia is enough of a setting to have your heels clicking 24/7 if you were the main character in this movie. 

“Arisan” is said to have broken barriers, the first Indonesian film to breach the taboo topic of homosexuality.  While touted as a “feel-good” movie, it still feels like it is decades old compared to my restaurant scene in Chelsea.  It’s heartbreaking to witness the portrayal of reality.  Personal struggles for social acceptance of one’s identity are still such a big deal on the other side of the world.  Nevertheless, it is comforting to know that the story is not one of tragedy, as would be the case if it were a film based on David Kato’s own struggles. ^[2]

^[1] The New York Times Movie Review, Feb. 8, 2011
^[2] Bishop Pierre Whalon, “Christian Morality and the Murder of David Kato”, The Huffington Post, Feb. 7, 2011

Asian American International Film Festival 2010

AAIFF'10 starts today with film exhibitions scheduled at various venues in NYC. Check out http://www.aaiff.org/2010 for tickets and more information.

The AAIFF's vision: More than an expression of collective identity, the festival is anchored by the distinct contributions of its members. It is a platform for filmmakers of all backgrounds to develop the constructs of Asian cinema and cultivate the next generation of talent.

Giant monsters! Pink film stars! Genital weaponry!

Let's go!

Hapa, Meet Korasian. Korasian, Hapa.

It is refreshing to know that Americans of mixed racial background are celebrating their identity more than ever before. ^[1] Still, one does not have to look too far back in time to see how ignorance and hate still fan stubborn resistance towards interracial relationships.

Just a month ago, a Louisiana justice of the peace has refused to officiate an interracial marriage.  The judge rejects that he is a racist and says he is merely concerned that the couple would produce a biracial offspring.  His belief is that their children would suffer by not being accepted by either side of the family. ^[2]

Regardless of the various pockets in today’s society that still believe it is unconscionable for races to mix, we have come a long way.  Think about the response you would have elicited last Thanksgiving if the dinner guest you may have brought home with you were of a different skin color.  Would it have carried the same punch as when Sidney Poitier walked in on that scene in “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner” half a century ago? ^[3] In contrast, broad ethnic violence continues to split countries and families around the world.

In these times of mounting deficits, it is good to know that the spirit of racial tolerance and appreciation can be a valuable American export.  Yet, we still have much to learn from other societies who are just now experiencing the growing pains of dealing with interracial relationships and the soul searching as a result of the new generation of Korasians.  For example, South Korea is currently experiencing a baby boom from mixed marriages. In the last three years, their government has opened 119 multicultural family support centers across the land to offer help in education and vocational training to address the stigma associated with it. ^[4] In the spirit of free trade, can we have one of those centers installed in Louisiana, please?

^[1] See related post, “Hapa”
^[2] Associated Press, “Interracial Couple Denied Marriage License By Louisiana Justice Of The Peace”, The Huffington Post, Oct. 15, 2009
^[3] http://www.imdb.com
^[4] Martin Fackler, “Baby Boom of Mixed Children Tests South Korea”, The New York Times, Nov. 28, 2009

JACL Meets with Paramount Chief

Following the public outcry against the negative Asian American stereotype portrayed in the movie “The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard”, Paramount Pictures President and CEO, Adam Goodman, met with key community leaders to discuss next steps.  Among those who attended the meeting were the following: ^[1]

• Floyd Mori, National Executive Director, The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL). 
• Craig Ishii, Regional Director of the Pacific Southwest District, The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL)
• Bill Imada, CEO of the IW Group (formerly Imada Wong Communications Group)
• Guy Aoki, co-founder of MAANA (Media Action Network for Asian Americans)

Kudos to JACL's leadership for its strong, decisive actions in pursuing this!  It was Mr. Mori who first reached out to Paramount via a formal letter of condemnation of the “The Goods”.  The letter precipitated Mr. Goodman’s eventual apology and his invitation for this meeting.  The outcome of the meeting was largely positive. Paramount Pictures:

• Acknowledged the concerns of the Asian American community regarding racially demeaning films like “The Goods”
• Expressed further cooperation and even pursuing becoming a model in portraying diversity
• Committed to continued dialogue via ongoing meetings with community leaders to monitor and evaluate Paramount's performance in such regards

With formalities aside, the next steps of monitoring and evaluating Paramount’s performance seem toughest to tread.  Open dialog never hurts.  Also, our community leaders can potentially charge their members to participate in an early warning or rating system of sorts for each film release that portrays Asian Americans.  However, the weight of the burden rests on Paramount Pictures and how sincere they are in those commitments they uttered.  The film company can start by aggressively educating its employees and partners on matters of diversity, and implanting within its ranks a sense of social responsibility that is sometimes put in the wayside by the lure of the quick buck.

^[1] jacl.org

"The Cove": In The Tokyo Film Festival?

The Tokyo Film Festival opened Saturday with ecology as its theme.¹ Kudos to the festival organizers for making one last minute addition to the films in their roster, even though international pressure precipitated such a move! “The Cove” exposes the gruesome slaughtering of some 2,000 dolphins each year in an annual hunt conducted in a seaside town in Japan. The documentary already won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Will it win in Tokyo? Regardless, hopefully, it raises global attention to the cruelty of the killings and the rapid depletion of our ocean’s resources.

Now, will we see another season of “Whale Wars”²?

¹The Associated Press, “Tokyo Film Festival Opens With 'Green' Carpet”, The New York Times, Oct. 17, 2009
²discovery.com

Asian American Art. Washington DC. This Weekend. Free.

Visit the Freer and Sackler Galleries at 1050 Independence Ave. SW. For more info, call (202) 633-1000 or go to http://www.asia.si.edu.  Two picks:

Moving Perspectives:  Shahzia Sikander / Sun Xun
Date:  July 18-November 8, 2009, 10 am to 5:30 pm
Categories:  Transforming paper and canvas to the video screen
Venue:  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Cost:  Free
Details: Trained in Pakistan and in the United States, Shahzia Sikander (b. 1969, Lahore, Pakistan) deftly reinterprets miniature painting by isolating and abstracting formal compositional elements often found in this densely layered and intricate art form. The dynamism of her paintings is set in motion in her video works, where the repetition of abstract forms becomes a buzzing hive, calligraphy whirls in and out of view, and imaginary curves morph into vivid landscapes. Similarly, Sun Xun (b. 1980, Fuxin, China) creates hundreds of paintings and drawings by using old newspapers or entire blank walls. Filming his hand-drawn images, he transforms clocks, magicians, words, and insects into animated symbols that flicker across the screen in dark allegories on the nature of historical consciousness and the passage of time.

You Don’t Know Jack: The Jack Soo Story (2009 DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival)
Date:  Saturday, October 10, 2009, 2 pm
Categories:  Films
Venue:  Freer Gallery
Event Location:  Meyer Auditorium
Cost:  Free; first come, first served
Details: Featuring rare footage and interviews with co-stars and friends, including actors George Takei, Nancy Kwan, and Max Gail, comedians Steve Landesberg and Gary Austin, and producer Hal Kanter, this film by Jeff Adachi traces Jack Soo’s early beginnings as a nightclub singer and comedian to his breakthrough role as Sammy Fong in Rogers and Hammerstein’s Broadway play and the film version of The Flower Drum Song. The film also explores why Soo, a former internee who was actually born Goro Suzuki, was forced to change his name in the post-WWII era in order to perform in clubs in the Midwest. Due to his experiences, Soo refused to play film and television roles that were demeaning to Asian Americans, and he often spoke out against negative ethnic portrayals. United States / 2009 / 60 min. / English / video

Three things I didn’t know about Jack, among others: one, first Asian to be cast as a regular in a TV series; two, first non-African American to be signed to Motown Records, and; three, first male artist to record "For Once in My Life".

Below is a video clip of filmmaker Jeff Adachi: 

A Bollywood Film with No Production Numbers?

Yes, says film critic Rachel Saltz of The New York Times.¹ Today, in her film review of “Wake Up Sid”, Miss Saltz is appreciative of the character portrayal (“credible”) and directorial style (“quiet) that she gleans from this romantic comedy.

Ms. Sharma has made a specialty of characters like Aisha: independent urban women, whose dreams involve careers as well as love. Her Aisha is a nuanced creation — ambitious, sympathetic, believable — and Mr. Mukerji, making his directing debut, is right to let her run away with the film. Mr. Kapoor, who in his short career has played variations on the cute cad, does well to keep up.

But, no productions numbers? Here’s a trailer for you to judge for yourself. It opened yesterday in theaters nationwide.

¹Rachel Saltz, ”Career Woman Helps a Man-Child Grow Up”, The New York Times, Oct. 3, 2009

'Two Stage Sisters': Xie Jin’s 1965 Drama in 2009 NYFF

The New York Film Festival¹ opened yesterday at the Lincoln Center offering a wide variety of films in exhibition including a handful from Asia:

Independencia
Raya Martin, 2009, Philippines/France/Germany/Netherlands, 77m
Sun. Oct. 4: 3PM

Mother
Bong Joon-Ho, 2009, South Korea, 129m
Fri. Oct. 9: 6 | Sat. Oct. 10: NOON

Kanikosen
Sabu, 2009, Japan, 109m
Sun. Sep. 27: 11:30AM | Mon. Sep. 28: 6PM

Ghost Town
Zhao Dayong, 2008, China, 169m
Sun. Sep. 27: 2:15PM

Crossroads of Youth
An Jong-hwa, 1934, Korea, 74m
Sat. Oct. 3: 11AM

In conjunction with the film festival is “Masterworks: (Re)Inventing China A New Cinema for a New Society, 1949-1966”, a series of 20 films from China released at the time between the Communist victory and the start of the Cultural Revolution.

In his column today in the New York Times, Mike Hale focuses on the main attraction of the series, Two Stage Sisters (Wutai Jiemei).²

Some of the films available for preview were as heavy-handed as you might expect of work made under rigid state control. But “Two Stage Sisters,” which is being shown on Saturday and on Oct. 6, is unexpectedly fluid and subtle, with emotions that ring true. It’s also a sweeping, ambitious narrative that moves from the provinces to the theater district of Shanghai and back again. Some cramped staging may reflect a lack of resources, but Mr. Xie’s technical assurance and the overall level of the acting are the equal of at least a modest Hollywood drama of the 1950s or ’60s.

While the 1965 film is laced with latent Communist propaganda, the Cultural Revolution landed filmmaker Xie Jin in jail and his film was banned for its "bourgeois" content.  That by itself makes it worth seeing, and how artistic expression has survived the political turmoil and pressures of that time.

¹The Film Society of Lincoln Center
²Mike Hale, “Two ‘Sisters’ From Time of Mao Star Again”, The New York Times, Sept. 26, 2009

Korean Adoptee: “Like my family, I saw myself as white.”

The non-profit organization, Families with Children from China¹, aims to connect, sustain and celebrate families with children adopted from China. Their New York chapter² is hosting the screening of the movie "Adopted, the Movie" by first-time director Barb Lee, which tells the moving story of two families adopting their child from overseas.³

We've seen them in grocery stores, playgrounds and at our children's schools - little Asian girls with their loving white parents. Of the 1.5 million adopted children in the United States, international adoptees are the fastest growing segment, of which most are Asian girls. While many of their stories are heartwarming and reflect our image of American compassion and generosity, the realities are much more complex. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, adoptees have significantly more behavioral problems than non-adopted children.

Adopted reveals the grit rather than the glamor of transracial adoption. First-time director Barb Lee goes deep into the intimate lives of two well-meaning families and shows us the subtle challenges they face. One family is just beginning the process of adopting a baby from China and is filled with hope and possibility. The other family's adopted Korean daughter is now 32 years old. Prompted by her adoptive mother's terminal illness, she tries to create the bond they never had. The results are riveting, unpredictable and telling. While the two families are at opposite ends of the journey, their stories converge to show us that love isn't always enough.

The event will be held on Saturday, October 24, 2009, at the Theater in the Ossining Public Library⁴ (53 Croton Avenue, Ossining, New York, 10562). Registration opens at 1:15 pm; the film starts promptly at 1:30PM. The fee is $10 per ticket. For more information, go to www.fccny.org. Here’s the movie trailer:

¹www.fwcc.org
²www.fccny.org
³www.adoptedthemovie.com
⁴www.ossininglibrary.org

The Real Gun-Slinging Death Squads: “Engkwentro”

The Filipino film “Engkwentro” (Clash) which portrays the life within a real-life vigilante group supposedly backed by a politically powerful figure is named as Best Debut Film in the Orizzonti competition of the 66th Venice Film Festival that has just ended.¹ The film by 22-year director Pepe Diokno has also won the Luigi de Laurentiis Award for a debut film. Here’s a video clip from the producer’s website.²

This year’s Venice Film Festival is dominated by political themes, according to Reuters, reporting also today that video artist Shirin Neshat from Iran is best director Silver Lion for "Women Without Men". The film is about the experience of four women in Iran's 1953 coup, which draws clear parallels to recent protests that have caught the headlines.³

¹Ricky Lo, “RP film wins in Venice”, The Philippine Star
²EngkwentroMovieMultiply.com
³Mike Collett-White and Silvia Aloisi, “Political passions run high at Venice film festival”, Reuters India

Let Blind Pigs Fly

“Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly” opens today at MOMA’s Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters in New York City as part of their ongoing film exhibition, “Contemporasian”.¹ The movie, written and directed by a one-named Indonesian filmmaker, Edwin, portrays the lives of several loosely related characters in a series of vignettes. The backdrop is last year in Jakarta when it was commemorating the 10th anniversary of the ethnic violence that rocked the city in 1998. According to film critic Mike Hale in his New York Times column today:²

American audiences may find “Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly,” the debut feature of the one-named Indonesian director Edwin, a bit slow and cryptic for a dark comedy about feeling out of place in one’s own country. But given censorship — relaxed since the 1990s, but still there — and a national reluctance to confront the ethnic scapegoating that occasionally results in the murders of large numbers of Indonesian Chinese, it’s a sign of changing times that the film could be made at all.

Consider the setting and how these characters seek to be someone or somewhere else: a young ethnic Chinese woman who has started calling his grandpa by a Dutch word instead of Indonesian; a friend who wishes he were Japanese instead, having been beaten up as child for being a “Chinese brat”; and, an affluent gay Indonesian who wants to engage in a particular sex act with his apprehensive lover. The theme of the film should resonate as strongly here as in Jakarta, even if the ethnic and cultural background of the characters may be altogether different.

Here is the trailer of the movie when it was first released by Filmmuseum Distribution last July:

¹Museum of Modern Art, New York City
²Mike Hale, “Feeling Like Aliens in Their Own Land”, The New York Times

Any other potential Asian American leading men out there?

It might take more than another 'Harold and Kumar' to bring Kal Penn back to the screen, writes Paige Wiser.  Chicago Sun-Time's entertainment columnist lists Kal Penn as one of several Asian American actors she deems worthy to be a television leading man.  Kal Penn has left "House" to serve as associate director of the White House Office of Public Liaison.¹

The other contenders are:
- John Cho ("Star Trek", "Flash Forward")
- Masi Oka ("Austin Powers in Goldmember," "Heroes")
- B.D. Wong ("The Karate Kid, Part II", "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit")
- Ken Leung ("Lost," "Sopranos")
- Daniel Dae Kim ("Lost")
- Tim Kang ("The Mentalist")
- Ken Jeong ("The Hangover," "The Goods", "All About Steve")

Wait a minute.  Didn't Ken Jeong play a role being beaten up by a group of angry co-workers after the lead character incites violence via a pep talk to his sales team?

I hope there are others then.  In fact, in another Paige Wiser column today, she writes about an Asian American actor who is getting a lot of air time and following on the hit HBO series, "Entourage".  Rex Lee plays Lloyd, the gay Asian assistant who is the object of "extremely creative slurs" from his boss Ari.²

Lee gives Lloyd an unsinkable ambition that will pay off during the next four episodes. Lloyd may be disrespected, but he never loses his dignity--or his impeccable argyle style.

We're yet to see what Lloyd's final pay off will be.³  Selecting positive roles makes better leading man qualifications to me.  Coincidentally, Jeremy Piven also plays the verbally abusive boss of Llyod in "Entourage."

¹Paige Wiser, "TVland of opportunity", Chicago Sun-Times
²Paige Wiser, "Gay, Asian ... and cool", Chicago Sun-Times
³Rex Lee, "Lloyd's Diary", HBO.com

SAT Scores Dip: Except For Asian Americans

In his NY Daily News op-column today, Stanley Crouch offers suggestions on how to reverse the continued decline of SAT test results in the past five years.  He takes mass media to task in portraying the attractiveness of intellectual capacity among our youth.¹

Important shifts in our culture are given national recognition through our electronic mass media. Let's begin to see intelligent young people, or those who study and work hard at doing well in school, depicted as more than merely nerds.

From the silly comedies of Jack Black to the hip-hop imbecilities of Lil Wayne, little room in our culture has been made for protagonists with brains. Now is the time when we need to see them out here.

Mr. Crouch points to a historical precedent in similar efforts, J. Edgar Hoover calling upon Hollywood to reverse the trend of glamorizing crime in the 30’s.  The author confirms that the call was heeded, leading at least to an expanded characterization in gangster movies with name stars also getting positive roles of defending society against criminal types.

The op-ed columnist suggests that media should also communicate the importance of study and high-quality performance, given that “Americans allow TV to become the favored baby-sitter and one of the biggest family influences on the children of the house.”   Mr. Crouch believes that is why the SAT performance of Asian American students does not follow the overall trend of decline.

The performance of Asian American students in the SAT tests in fact runs in contrast with other minority groups.  Says one AP article published in the New York Times, “Whatever Asian-Americans are doing, educators want to bottle it.”  The article expounds on the performance of Asian American students in the SAT tests and how taking prep subjects may be one of key factors that result in such a notable feat.²

The exception is Asian-Americans, whose average combined score surged 13 points to a combined 1623, while scores for whites fell 2 points to 1581. For black students, average scores dropped 4 points to 1276. Average scores for two of the three categories the College Board uses for identifying Hispanics also declined, and overall ranged from 1345 to 1364.

White kids are more likely to have access to advanced college-prep subjects than blacks and Hispanics, and the success of Asian-Americans on the SAT is also probably due in part to their push to enroll in such courses.

Such a push towards prep subject enrollments may not be where all the answers lie, nor can mass media be pushed into that redefinition of appealing character portrayal that Mr. Crouch idealizes.  For one thing, a push is a push; forced implementation or coercion is never appealing.  Yet, many Asian American students today experience such pressure to conform to traditional value that their families continue to weigh down on them.

Apart from study and hard work, there are other factors that matter and contribute to one’s personal growth and development.  Perhaps, mass media can be talked into promoting the notion that a good life-study balance is sexy as well.

1Stanley Crouch, “Until smart equals sexy, U.S. kids will lag on SAT scores”, The Daily News
2The Associated Press, “SAT Scores Dip for High School Class of 2009”, New York Times

Karyn Kusama and Hollywood’s White Boys Club

White males continue to dominate Hollywood’s power structure. In his NYT article today, Michael Cieply confirms the trend with his tally of 2009 live action movies produced by the big six.

“What the count shows is that Hollywood directors are pretty much what they have always been: a small brotherhood of highly skilled craftsmen — more than 90 percent this year are men — who could hit or miss with any given film, but who tend to have solid experience. This year’s directors appear to have made 6.1 movies, on average — and probably have more in common with one another than with the increasingly diverse population around them.”

Mr. Cieply weighs in the plus and minus of this homogeneous character of Hollywood film directors. On one hand, it helps studio films continue to pull in crowds worldwide because “they look, sound and feel like what has gone before.” On the other, it limits the opportunity “to tap all of the cinematic potential in a rich and roiling humanity.”

Of the minority in the club is Japanese American Karyn Kusama. Her recent work is the sexy comic chiller “Jennifer’s Body”, following previous independent films like “The L Word”, “Æon Flux”, and “Girflight” which have earned her a reputation. Miss Kusama acknowledges that while the face of the industry may be changing, there may be something to gain from a singular of vision. She asks, “What do we stand to lose by accepting that homogeneity of vision?”

Karyn Kusama talks about “Jennifer’s Body” in this IGN interview taken from the SDCC event last month.

Jennifer's Body at IGN.com

Of Racist Scene in “The Goods”, Paramount Says, “Our Bad”

The protest against the racist scene in the move “The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard” drew a positive outcome with Paramount Studios apologizing. According to protest organizer, Guy Aoki, at least 43 people showed up in support of this outcry. A few hours before the protest, the president of Paramount sent the apology via email to the president of the JACL, and offered to meet with him and with representatives of other API groups also denouncing the scene. Paramount also said they will pull the trailers from movie theatres—but not from the movie itself, which is already showing.

With this, Mr. Aoki questions the significance of the gesture. “That didn't make sense,” he says, “the movie's already out so why would you show its trailers in a theatre?” What Paramount can do if they are seriously contrite is remove the scene altogether in the movie. But, Leanne Suter of KABC reports that it may be the funniest scene in the movie, in which case it’s a red flag to all that the film won’t be delivering the goods. You’ll probably get a better laugh elsewhere!

See related post, “The Bad: Live Free, Sell Hard”

Protest Mounts Against “The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard”

The Examiner reports several media advocacy groups will take action today Friday, August 21st, to protest the racist scene in the Paramount Pictures movie “The Goods:  Live Hard, Sell Hard” on Friday, August 21st.

Let your voice be heard!

Paramount Pictures, 5555 Melrose Avenue, LA, CA 90038

4:30 PM

For details, contact The Japanese American Citizens League, Imada Wong Communications Group, or Media Action Network for Asian Americans.

See related post, “The Bad: Live Hard, Sell Hard”

The Bad: Live Hard, Sell Hard

In their press release yesterday, the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) has officially expressed their outrage over a scene in the movie “The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard” where the main character (Jeremy Piven) uses a racial slur that precipitates a hate crime directed at an Asian character.

'The scene in question shows the Piven character giving a pep talk to his sales team.  The members of the sales team include an Asian American and a man who views the Asian character skeptically.  The Piven character says, "Don't get me started on Pearl Harbor -- the Japs flying in low and fast.  We are Americans and they are the enemy!  Never again!"  A man looks at the discomfited Asian and says, "Let's get him!" which results in the beating of the Asian.  The Piven character then says, "Alright, stop!  We have all just participated in a hate crime.  Let's get our stories straight.  Dang came at us with a samurai sword, fire extinguisher and Chinese throwing stars."'

The producers, Paramount Vantage, call the film a satirical comedy and see nothing wrong with the scene described above.  However, JACL sees nothing funny in it and cautions us to what viewers may take away from this, including disseminating that the use of racial slur is acceptable.  JACL calls for an apology from the producers because “they crossed a line in thinking they could use a racial slur simply for the sake of a laugh”.

I agree.  It’s despicable regardless of motive.  I hope the apology comes more quickly than the box office returns the producers expect from their deliberate irresponsibility.

Yasukuni and Shanghai

Two films, one released last year and another still set for showing, not only raise controversy but also open old wounds.
 
One is “Yasukuni” which opened yesterday at the Film Forum in New York City.  It is a documentary which seeks to “address a passionately contested snarl of issues with a calm, nuanced ethical curiosity” and where both “the defenders of Japanese imperial glory and the victims of Japanese expansionist barbarism are heard”, according to A.O. Scott of The New York Times.

"Already controversial in Japan, the film explores that country’s legacy of militaristic nationalism, illuminating both the noble customs and the brutality entwined at its heart. “Yasukuni” refers to a Tokyo shrine, built in 1869 and consecrated to the memory of soldiers who have died in Japan’s wars. Their souls are said to reside within the gates of this Shinto shrine. Its name means peaceful country, though its place in Japanese consciousness suggests the opposite."

The other is the Weinstein brothers’ “Shanghai” due for its Asian debut this fall.  Set in the city that bears the film’s title, it is a star-studded thriller (John Cusack, Chow Yun-fat, Gong Li and Ken Watanabe) that follows the trail of an American intelligence official who investigates the death of his friend just months before the Pearl Harbor attack.  Min Lee writes today for the Boston Globe:

"The officials didn't spell out their reasons, but they were likely worried about the historical backdrop of Japanese-occupied Shanghai. Many Chinese are still upset about the Japanese military's mass killings during that period."

These two films reach back into the dark days of our history.  They will certainly stir gruesome memories, especially for the generation who still survive its wounds.  Hopefully, it will also challenge us with the urgency of dealing with the conflicts that still pervade our times.

"Yasukuni"

Here's a film clip of "Yasukuni" (with English subtitles) from Japan-based Chinese director Li Ying.

Universal Peace

The week-long commemoration of Universal Peace Day ends today in New York City with a tree-planting ceremony at the Church of St. Paul & St. Andrew Courtyard and the final showing of the documentary “Gate/Atomic Flame” at the New York Buddhist Church.  The Universal Peace Day marks its 25th year anniversary in remembrance of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.  The commemoration seeks to transform our remembrance of horror into a re-dedication to life.

Fly Away: Towards dreams left behind

This year’s Asian American International Film Festival in New York closes this Sunday with H. P. Mendoza’s award-winning “Fruit Fly”. Bethesda (played by L.A. Renigen) is in search of her biological parents. From the same people who brought us “Colma: the Musical”, it promises to be fun entertainment. And, yes, will Bethesda realize the fruits of her pursuit?

Where The Soul Resides

Whether one elects to self transform towards full “Americanization” or to step out of the shadow of that dark cloud of traditional upbringing and familial imposition, it could be a long and weary struggle.  Never mind your bone structure, Western education and accelerated social immersion (real or second life).  There will always be that part of you that sticks out—good or bad, depending on how you play it.

To those just “off the boat”, this challenge is more clear-cut. To next generation Asian Americans, it could be more ambiguous.  Such is the dilemma faced by the character of Thao in Clint Eastwood’s progressive movie, “Gran Torino”. Of course, it helps that Thao comes from a more obscure cultural background with more recent U.S. rooting and thus with fewer template paths and role models to go by growing up in a Detroit neighborhood.

At best, Thao bides time by swinging with the belying forces that conjure his day-to-day existence.  One day, he unwittingly participates in a local gang initiation, an aborted crime.  The next, he half-heartedly subjects himself to traditional family impositions, including indentured servitude.  Otherwise, he prefers to keep to himself, far removed and detached as he could possibly be from these forces, and unfortunately, from the rest of the world.  In his first coming out, it is, darkly, to seek revenge.  As the main character Walt Kowalski (Client Eastwood) surmises, Thao will never find peace in this world if those forces subsist.

Ultimately Walt offers a sublime example that would significantly transform Thao.  Interestingly, it comes from left field—that is, from neither of the two conflicting forces.  Walt’s bold action emanates from confronting the serious conflicts that also haunted him in life.  That perspective offers universal ground that transcends ethno-cultural differences.