06.27.01
This fall on the WB, we've got Smallville -- a weird, interesting take on the Superman mythos. Basically, it's the adventures of Clark Kent as a teen, before he became Superman. Well, the pretty young lady of his affections, Lana Lang, is played by Asian Canadian actress Kristin Kreuk. Wow, they made Lana Lang half-Asian? That's so cool. The character has been around in the comics for a very long time, and it seems they've changed things up for a little diversity. NICE. I like that. And she's not too hard on the eyes either. I will definitely be keeping my eye on her.
06.27.01
So The Fast and the Furious has Asians in it. And you know what I think? Racist!.
06.25.01
Jet Li shows up on Tonight Show with Jay Leno tomorrow night, June 26. No doubt to promote his upcoming film, Kiss of the Dragon. I wonder if his English got any better..?
06.25.01
Did you see The Fast and the Furious this weekend? If you did, you helped it to gross $41.6 million, number one at the box office over crap like Dr. Doolittle 2. I write this here because The Fast and the Furious features none other than Asian American actor Rick Yune, aka Lisa Ling's boyfriend. Haven't seen the movie yet, but I'm expecting a lot of car chases and crap like that, with not much else to it. That's cool with me. As long as they don't kill off the Asian guy.
06.25.01
Eddie Shin plays a new guy on WB's Gilmore Girls. A possible love interest for Lane (Keiko Agena). That's cooool. It seems he plays the typical all-around star Korean dude, someone your momma would love.
06.25.01
Yo, I caught a little bit of The Weakest Link last night. One of the contestants was an Asian girl, I think her name was Brindisi or something. She was doing pretty well. Definitely NOT the Weakest Link. But then she had one bad round, and they booted her off! There were others who were statistically the Weakest Link. But nooooooooo. They booted off the one non-white in that whole bunch. That's racist!
06.18.01
Have you seen that Mountain Dew commercial with the Crouching Tiger wannabes? It's sort of cool... These two Zhang Ziyi look-alike ladies fight over a can of Mountain Dew in a courtyard. Suddenly, a Dark Cloud look-alike in the shadows throws a dart and makes two holes in the can. Mountain Dew squirts out of the holes, and the ladies enjoy it together. And then it says "Mountain Dew" in stereotypical "oriental" writing. Ah well, whatever. The commercial is obviously cashing in on the success of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Thankfully, I don't find it very insulting. I guess it's cool.
06.12.01
Okay, I know I said I'd stop talking about Voyager, but last night's rerun was one of my favorite episodes, "Blink of an Eye." Voyager encounters a planet that experiences time much faster than the rest of the universe. For each second elapsed on Voyager, the planet experiences an entire day. Due to the planet's funky gravity-something field, Voyager gets stuck in the planet's orbit, unable to break free. Down on the planet, since the beginning of civilazation, the people have looked up at the "skyship," and wondered what the heck it was. Voyager's presence in the sky urged and progressed everything from technology, arts and religion during the history of the planet's civilization. From above, in a matter of days, Voyager has been able to view centuries of history of the planet! Finally, the planet's people are able to develop space travel, and they send a two-man rocket ship to explore the "skyship." If you don't understand the episode synopsis I just gave you, read about it here. Now, what the crap does all of this have to with the angry media watch? One of the pilots sent to Voyager, Gotana-Retz, is played by Daniel Dae Kim -- and he ends up saving the day! The thing I liked most about his character is that he was just a plain dude. The character could have been played by anyone. But they gave it to an Asian guy, who does a pretty good job. Pretty cool.
06.07.01
Asian girl on the commercial for Nivea Sheer Spray. She looks very happy and joyous using the product. Well, hooray for her.
06.04.01
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon won Best Fight Scene at the MTV Movie Awards last night, for the sequence in the bar where Zhang Ziyi kicks everyone's ass.
06.04.01
Aaaargh! More freakin' racism! I can't believe this crap. But sadly, I can. Last Wednesday, guards stopped Oregon Congressman David Wu from entering the Department of Energy headquarters. He was asked two freakin' times if he were American. Wu and his aide, Ted Liu, showed the guards their congressional IDs, but the mofo guards refused to accept them. After about 15 minutes, the two requested to talk to a supervisor and a lieutenant was summoned. Only after that, Wu was allowed to enter. Ironically, Wu, the only Chinese American ever elected to the House, was there to deliver a speech in honor of the APA Heritage Month. What the hell?! That's racist!
06.04.01
Ichiro Suzuki of Seattle Mariners is the real deal --he might just have the chops to make a run for Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak. It could happen. Suzuki Will Chase Joltinà Joe Again
06.03.01
I have not yet seen Pearl Harbor. I feel like I should, since it has stirred up so much controversial talk in Asian American circles. Critics have pointed out the lack of Asian American characters in the movie, considering there was a huge local community of Asians in Hawaii at the time of the attack. I've also heard that the movie focuses heavily on the patriotism of the WHITE soldiers, and the Japanese military is characterized as a group of noble foreigners, who must attack the United States for survival. The scenes featuring the Japanese army are very stylized, with heavy Taiko drumming and the Japanese admiral speaking in poetically cliched subtitles. It just reinforces the continued alienation of Asian Americans in the United States. We're still viewed by many as foreigners. U.C. Berkeley ethnic studies professor Ronald Takaki writes, "The release of this movie on Memorial Day Weekend, a time of intense patriotism, will highlight the rising conflict between the United States and China. The subtext of Pearl Harbor is that the United States has to do all they can to avoid another surprise attack. Meanwhile, last week President Bush gave funding to the Missile Defense Shield. It is the same thing as Pearl Harbor, except this time with nuclear missiles, and the enemy this time is China, not Japan." That's racist!
06.03.01
Welcome to Chinese Camp, CA (population: 150). Just off of Highway 120, the little town is apparently a historical landmark where the Chinese used to live during the Gold Rush days. Interesting. Also, there's a stretch of Highway 99 near Modesto, CA, which has apparently been named "The 442nd Combat Regiment Memorial Highway." Cool. For those who don't know, the 442nd was a regiment of Japanese-American soldiers that fought for the United States during World War II. They were the most highly decorated combat regiment of their time. And now there's a stretch of highway dedicated to them. I saw all this on a road trip in one weekend. Wow.