Sound and Fury Podcast Episode 23: Justin Chon

Writer, Director and Star of 'Gook'



Aaaaand we're back. Sorry, it's been a minute. After a lengthy hiatus, my original interview podcast Sound and Fury is back! Hopefully, we'll get back on track, keep things regular and stick around for a while.

In Episode 23, I talk to actor and filmmaker Justin Chon about his award-winning indie film Gook. He explains why he wanted to make a movie set during the 1992 Los Angeles riots, his Korean American family's personal connection to the conflict, and his reasoning behind the film's controversial title.

Check it out:

Watch an exclusive clip from Justin Chon's 'Gook'

Award-winning indie drama opens in theaters August 18.



Heads up. Writer/director Justin Chon's acclaimed indie drama Gook opens in theaters on August 18.

Set against the backdrop of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, the film follows two Korean American brothers, Eli and Daniel, who run their late father's shoe store in a predominantly Black community. The pair strikes up a unique and unlikely friendship with a streetwise 11-year-old girl, Kamila. While Daniel has dreams of his own, Eli struggles to keep the family business afloat. But racial tensions in the neighborhood build to a breaking point, erupting into conflict that threatens their livelihood and tests the meaning of family.

Gook is a stunning, gut-punch of film, full of humor, heart and low-budget scrappiness. It also announces the arrival of one hell of a voice and vision -- didn't I see Justin Chin butt naked in 21 & Over? -- and revelatory performances from its supporting cast, including comedian David So as Daniel, newcomer Simone Baker as Kamila, and even a dramatic turn from Chon's own father.

In this exclusive clip from Gook, Eli and Kamila share a personal moment while the city burns in the distance:

They Call Us Bruce - Episode 7: They Call Us Justin Chon and Grace lee

Jeff Yang and Phil Yu present an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America.



What's up, podcast listeners? We've got another episode of our podcast They Call Us Bruce. Each week, my good friend, writer/columnist Jeff Yang and I host an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America, with a strong focus on media, entertainment and popular culture.

This week, "live" from the 33rd Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, we commemorated the 25th anniversary of the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, with guests Justin Chon, star/writer/director of Gook, and Grace Lee, director of the interactive documentary K-TOWN'92.

Vandalized garage transformed into community chalkboard

After Justin Kan's garage door got tagged with racist graffiti, he painted it over with chalkboard paint.



Remember that asshole vandal who wrote "FUCK YOU GOOK" on tech entrepreneur Justin Kan's garage door in San Francisco? Here's some nice follow-up to the story. Not only did police catch the guy who did it, Justin has turned his garage door into a community chalkboard of sorts.

Vandalized Duboce Triangle Garage Door Repainted As Community Chalkboard

Kan recently repainted the garage door with chalkboard paint and supplied some colored chalk so the folks in Duboce Triangle could express themselves in more "positive" (and less permanent) ways. He shared his neighbors' public chalk art a few weeks ago on Twitter:

Man arrested for hate graffiti targeting tech entrepreneur

46-year-old Billy Samuels was caught on camera writing "FUCK YOU GOOK" on Justin Kan's garage.



Almost missed this bit of news... In San Francisco, the suspect who was caught on video tagging tech entrepreneur Justin Kan's garage with racist graffiti was arrested late last month. Gotcha, sucka.

SFPD Makes Arrest In Duboce Triangle Racist Vandalism Incident

46-year-old Billy Samuels was caught on a surveillance camera writing "FUCK YOU GOOK" with a black marker on Kan's garage in Duboce Park on August 15. According to police, Samuels was arrested after officers recognized him from a crime bulletin with still photos taken from the video.

Tech entrepreneur's home targeted with racist slur

Vandal caught on camera scrawling "FUCK YOU GOOK" on Justin Kan's garage door.



Justin Kan woke up Saturday morning to discover that he was the victim of a hate crime.

The San Francisco tech entrepreneur, who is Chinese American, came outside to find that a someone had scrawled "FUCK YOU GOOK!" in black ink on his garage door in the Duboce Triangle neighborhood.

Security camera footage shows a white, bearded man with a baseball cap and gray hoodie walking up to Kan's home at 3:38 am Saturday morning, pulling a marker out of his backpack, and writing his "greeting" on the garage door. Kan is apparently one of the few Asian Americans who live on the street.

Kan, a partner at the startup seed-funding group Y Combinator, shared the vandal's "masterpiece" on Twitter:

The Most Racist Reason to Send Back a Letter

Return to Sender: "WE DON'T SPEAK GOOK"



Whaaaaaaaaaat. Got this passed along to me, and dammit, what the hell is wrong with people? This is a letter, sent by an insurance company in Southern California, that was refused and sent back -- return to sender. Why? A handwritten note on the envelope explains: "WE DON'T SPEAK GOOK." Oh, hell no.

Australian woman's racist train rant caught on video

"What's wrong with Hong Kong? Why did you come to this country? This is our country."



This one comes to us from Australia... Tell us how you really feel, lady. In Sydney, a woman on a train was caught on camera unleashing a tirade of slurs and racist abuse at an Asian passenger and her children.

Woman launches racist tirade on packed train

55-year-old Sue Wilkins was caught on cell phone camera video calling an Asian woman a "gook," mocking her accent, pulling her eyes back -- the international symbol for "chink"! -- and questioning why the woman came to "our country." The incident was apparently set off when Wilkins couldn't find a seat on the train, and she insisted a group of children give up their seats for her.

Things got real racist, real fast when a man started filming Wilkins as she phoned police to complain about the children not offering her their seats. As you can see in the video, she goes off:

A Very Special Men's Bathroom

Unfortunate naming convention creates inadvertent racial slur at Bingamton University



This is almost unbelievable. DQ informs me of an odd situation at Binghamton University involving, of all things, a bathroom sign. The men's bathroom in a particular building, to be precise. It's all due to the unfortunate numbering convention used to make the sign:

Rolling Stone cartoon gook-ifies McCain's opponents

Cartoon goes there with some totally unnecessary racial caricatures.


Saw this on the AAA-Fund Blog... Check it out this ridiculously racist political cartoon from Rolling Stone. Offensive on so many levels. As much as I dislike John McCain, I don't think it's cool to make fun of his P.O.W. experience in Vietnam—that's despite his professed hatred for "the gooks."

But the cartoon goes even further to gook-ify the Obama, Bush and Clinton caricatures. I know it's trying to comment on the vilification of McCain's opponents, but was that really necessary? Thank you, Victor Juhasz.

That's racist! You can send your comments to Rolling Stone at letters@rollingstone.com or (212) 484-1616.