asian americans in hollywood

Hello. Last night, I attended the 2008 Asian Excellence Awards. Afterparty went kind of late, so I'm feeling it a bit this morning. Overall, it was a pretty fun night. Some cool, inspiring moments, mixed in with a bunch of lame ones. Every year, there seem to be fewer lame ones, so I guess that's progress. Anyway, I'll write some more detailed observations on the show when I get the chance to collect my thoughts. In the meantime...

Speaking of Asian Americans in Hollywood, here are a couple of recent articles... This one's the usual examination of Asian Americans in Hollywood, with a focus on the practice of "whiteout" (haven't heard that term before, but it makes sense)—replacing roles originally intended for Asian actors with more "bankable" white actors, like in the recent movie 21: Goodbye yellowface, hello whiteout?

This article is a bit more optimistic, giving a general positive overview of the state of Asian Americans in front of the camera: A new wave of Asian Americans makes significant strides in film and television. Basically, the message is that things in Hollywood are getting better, which is true, but definitely not where they should be. I think we can all agree with that.

Of course, everybody's talking about Harold and Kumar. Here's yet another article on the movie and its multicultural message, slyly packaged in a stoner comedy: 'Harold and Kumar' push the limits of multiculturalism. I liked this quote from co-writer/director Hayden Schlossberg: "The theme in these movies is that Harold and Kumar are sort of beyond race... They don't really care that much about their own identities; it's the people around them that sort of haven't gotten it yet."

And here's an interview with actor John Cho, also known as Harold, the MILF guy, and now Sulu: John Cho rises to the top, with Harold's help. Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay opens in theaters tomorrow, April 25. Watch it, and you will see John Cho's ass.