Look at all this bullshit Asians put up with this year...

...conveniently summed up in this mannequin challenge video.



It's been a hell of a year with a lot of frustrating and heartbreaking moments. This clever Asian American take on the Mannequin Challenge, entitled "A-Woke," attempts to sum it up with some perspective. Produced by Michael Tow and Teja Arboleda, it plays kind of like a "greatest hits" of some of the high profile issues and pop culture flare-ups that have recently gripped the Asian American community.

It's by no means comprehensive -- it's almost entirely East Asian-focused -- but it manages to jam in references to the Academy Awards, Doctor Strange, "Watters World," Ghost in the Shell and more in less than a minute and a half. It's like a weird wax museum of some of your favorite racist bullshit from 2016.

Check it out:

Reviewing the Reviews of Marvel’s Doctor Strange

By Shaun Lau. Cross-Posted from The Nerds of Color



Six months and change after the release of its first trailer -- and therefore about the same amount of time since co-writer C. Robert Cargill's infamous "[t]he social justice warriors were going to get mad at us for something this week" rebuttal to Asian American critics of the film's whitewashing -- the initial reviews are in for Doctor Strange, and they're not encouraging.

Oh, the movie? Actually, the critics seem to like it just fine. Being The Nerds of Color, however, we’re interested in looking at a different metric. Doctor Strange's whitewashing of primary character The Ancient One was, after all, one of the driving forces behind the hashtag and rallying cry #whitewashedOUT in May.

So no, this isn’t a review of Doctor Strange the film, but a review of the reviews of the film, using a simple standard: how accurately and humanely did each review portray Asian American dissent over the whitewashing of The Ancient One?

Scarlett Johansson Presents: Opening Night of Doctor Strange (With a Brief Lesson in Chinese History by Matt Damon)

(Scarlett Johansson will not be at this show.)



Following up the uproarious standing-room-only success of "Scarlett Johansson Presents: AAPI Heritage Month," you are invited to Scarlett Johansson Presents: Opening Night of Doctor Strange! (With a Brief Lesson in Chinese History by Matt Damon) -- another fine evening of comedy and trolling.

No, Ms. Johansson will not be appearance (nor will Mr. Damon), but this comedy show -- not coincidentally timed with the release of Marvel's Doctor Strange -- will actually feature some funny, kickass Asian Americans, including Sheng Wang, Jiavani Linayao, Stir Friday Night and Voltron: The UCB Superteam.

It's happening Friday, November 4 at UCB Sunset's Inner Sanctum Cafe. Here are more details:

More Bald Tilda (and Wong!) in the new 'Dr. Strange' trailer

Director Scott Derrickson says he feels "tremendous empathy" for Asian American audiences.



Over the weekend, as part of its barrage of content reveals at San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel dropped the second trailer for Doctor Strange. Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Dr. Stephen Strange, who journeys to Mystical Asia to learn Mystical Asian Stuff, and eventually fights evil with Mystical Asian Stuff.

The first teaser trailer gave us a glimpse of Tilda Swinton in all her baldness as the Sorcerer Supreme's mentor, The Ancient One, who has been traditionally depicted in the comic books as an old-ass mystical Asian man. Whatever you want to call it -- whitewashing, racebending, yellowface -- that shit looks pretty wack.

Well, there's more bald wackness where that came from in the latest trailer:

Tilda Swinton teaches Dr. Strange the Mystical Asian Stuff

The Ancient One is a bald British lady.



Marvel just dropped the first teaser trailer for Doctor Strange, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Stephen Strange, who journeys to mystical Asia to learn Mystical Asian Stuff. The trailer also gives us our first glimpse of Tilda Swinton as the Sorcerer Supreme's mystical mentor, The Ancient One.

Racebent! In typical Hollywood fashion. Many of us were wondering how the movie would handle whitest actress Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One, who has been traditionally depicted in the comic books as an old-ass mystical Asian man. Now we have our answer: she is bald.

Benedict Wong cast as Wong in Marvel's 'Dr. Strange'

British actor will play the Sorcerer Supreme's trusted manservant.



British actor Benedict Wong will appear alongside Benedict Cumberbatch in Marvel's Doctor Strange as Wong, the Sorcerer Supreme's faithful and trusty sidekick. Because every good superhero needs a manservant.

'The Martian' Actor Nabs Key 'Doctor Strange' Role (Exclusive)

First introduced in 1963's Strange Tales #110, Wong is Stephen Strange's right-hand man, serving as housekeeper, chef, medic, personal assistant and confidant in matters of the mystic. Among his functions is to look after Strange's body when the hero is astral projecting himself into other dimensional planes. While he doesn't possess any magical or superhuman powers, he is a master martial artist (of course).

So yeah, an Asian sidekick to the white hero. (Sigh.)

Nice try, Marvel. 'Dr. Strange' casting is still whitewashing.

Because when you think "really old mystical Asian man," you think... Tilda Swinton?



Marvel has been hard at work expanding its cinematic universe, with plans for a Doctor Strange to hit theaters later this year. Fans were pretty stoked when the first official images emerged of star Benedict Cumberbatch as the Sorcerer Supreme. But we're still scratching our heads over the casting of Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One. Because when you think of a really old mystical Asian man, you think Tilda Swinton.

We haven't seen any character images, so I can't quite call it yellowface. But more likely there's some serious racebending going on here. And as usual, in painfully typical Hollywood fashion, it's an Asian performer who gets racebent off the screen. The Ancient One, traditionally depicted as an Asian man, is now a British woman.