Finally.

After seeing all the messed up shit, or all-the-stuff-that-you're-not-sure-if-its-fucked-up-but-probably-is-fucked-up shit, on T.V., movies, media, I finally decided that I need to make a blog that will address my views on the racist, sexist, homophobic shit that I see in the media. For me, we just don't talk about it enough. Furthermore, I don't want to turn this into a rant but a way to critically look at the way people of color have been portrayed in the media.

I guess I created this blog for a few reasons. When Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino" came out, I was excited to finally see a movie that was going to talk about Asian American gangs. After growing up in San Jose and having friends that had to deal with this type of shit, I thought "FINALLY, a film that addresses this". But no. I went to watch it with a friend at the drive in and as expected, my friend took Hmong people to mean Mongolians. Then he just laughed hysterically as Clint Eastwood pronounced Hmong as "Ha-mong". It makes me just want to shout at my friend "SOUTHEAST ASIANS EXIST! and we're not all Vietnamese!" (even though I am). In the end, "Gran Torino" became another "white man saving the poor colored folks" film that disappointingly, did NOT address the reason why some Hmong folks may join gangs. I do give it credit for making Hmong folks more visible in mainstream media, but I wonder why Hollywood has to take such small steps in contextualizing a history of gangs. It is a step up from movies such as Better Luck Tomorrow, but the lack of a historical background is still an issue. I mean, if we talk about how powerful media is, we can definitely say that we cannot fix the symptoms of inner city gangs if all we see are these decontextualized violent scenes. Moreover, this film perpetuated the stereotype that us Asian folks cannot "assimilate" and if we try to, we are either smart Asians nerds or Asian gangsters. Yay for binaries! Which one should I fall under? So many choices! And lastly, although Clint Eastwood's excessive use of racial slurs were meant to point out the racism in our society, the fact that my Vietnamese-American friend thought it was hilarious and that he would want to use them later was indicative of how those messages just don't translate to a general audience.

Secondly, Transformers 2? Please. Its a movie saying "I think its okay to make robots dumb, have gold teeth, and obviously "ghetto" accents because they are robots and no one will know its racist" film. Besides the numerous plot holes, this "action-packed" film made me groan for the way it used sex to sell. I mean, Transformers is already cool but now you gotta objectify women too? I mean, I didn't know only hot girls were accepted to college. And in Megan Fox's opening scene, can she REALLY only paint a motorcycle in that obviously look-at-my-booty pose? There's gotta be an easier way. And how does this translate to my own life? Well, I would like it if people would stop thinking its ok to stare at my body as if its on display. Just because you see it on films, doesn't mean you got permission to see it with me. I'm sorry, but there's way more to this body of curves. Conclusion: Stupid film.

Before, when I saw these things, I would just tell one of two friends. But after the recent release of the movie Avatar, based off of my favorite show in the world, I couldn't handle it anymore. I mean, honestly? You are gonna hire white actors to star in a movie that is obviously influenced by different Asian cultures? Can we say...appropriation? I'm sorry, but it is rare to see an Asian person playing a hillbilly white character but its definitely fine for whites to pretend that they can adapt to other people's lifestyles and communities. This statement is possibly problematic, and I probably need to put more thought into it, but I am honestly just tired of having APIA (Asian Pacific Islander American) actresses/actors getting pushed to the side because they are not appealing enough to the general audience. WE CAN ACT, PEOPLE. I've seen it in my classes, independent films, theatre groups, and various theatre companies in the East Bay. And I can see why I became one of two APIA folks in my theatre class. I mean, why should we want to pursue acting if we don't even see ourselves regularly on films to begin with? And would I really want to be cast as something like a kung-fu master, exotic mistress (ex. Rush Hour), or a scary corporate person competing with American weed (ex. Pineapple Express)? No thanks. Check out www.racebending.com - awesome critiques of Avatar.

So yes, this blog is for me to finally express my frustrations and to reach out to others that may feel the same. Furthermore, its here that I want us to start a dialogue. Lets agree to disagree, yeah? But you know, as many blogs are like, I might not even have followers. And that's fine too. At least here, I can finally get my thoughts out. So here it is, my first blog entry.

Why am I doing this? Cause we need to talk about this shit.