Hey its been awhile since I've written anything, but I've been busy recently traveling and getting ready for school. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you a little story from a recent trip to Brazil. I was in Pantanau and we stayed at this lodge. We shared a tour guide with this Danish family (mom and two sons). The oldest son was 16 and apparently they watch a lot of American movies over in Denmark. He claimed that the budget for films in Denmark are not very high, and that most movies he watches are Hollywood films. He asked us some questions about the US which were kinda funny but also displayed how Hollywood can influence perceptions not only in America but also in other countries around the world. For example, he had recently watched "American Pie: Beta House", and told us that he and his friends all want to go to college in American colleges now. because they thought that is how American colleges really are. He also asked if in the US boys all have multiple girlfriends and if its all one big orgy fest (not in those words but the same point), because in Denmark they only have one boyfriend/girlfriend at a time.
People sometimes try to downplay the significance of media portrayals, and may think that people who care about that stuff (like me) should just relax. But its little stories like these that remind me of how powerful the media and entertainment can be in shaping the perceptions of people around the world.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Sunday, June 8, 2008
High School Graduation
So I went to one of my siblings' high school graduation today. Thank goodness this is my last one. Everytime I go to one of these I am overcome with weird emotion. First, it reminds me of the sick social experiment known as high school. All the ill will I had toward my experience here cones back. I look at the kids walking by and you see that nothing's changed except the faces. You see the hot popular girls, the popular jocks, the nerds, the artsy types, etc. I suddenly have these traumatic memories of walking down these halls, watching the lives proceed of those I envied. I was never really an outcast, but I was by no means in the in crowd. I just was kind there, taking up space. There are many days when I wish I had a time machine and try to go back and conquer high school. Like hitting the reset button, I would keep starting over until I became a cool kid, spliced that the old me would envy.
Another thing is that this stuff makes me feel ancient. You see all these kids finishing high school and I've been removed 7 years. I feel like these kids have an eternity to go before they reach thus point in my life.
These kids are so young and naive, especially those without much older siblings. The speeches invariably all talk about the great accomplishment of graduating high school and the extraordinary things that lie ahead. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. First, graduating high school is NOT a big accomplishment at all. You have to get at the very least one four year degree to go before getting a respectable job, and most people have to get numerous degrees. Secondly, the whole idea of everyone doing something great is laughable. Most if not all are going to eventually be thrust into the rat race in 5 years, stuck in an office cube and living a very ordinary life. But its not that big of a deal, these kids will learn soon enough.
One last thing. Looking at some of the people who graduated my year (thank you facebook), I find no direct correlation between status in high school and status as a young adult. I was always told that the cool popular kids end up working for the nerdy ones. This has turned out to be true in some cases, but definitely does not work as a theory. Some popular kids become hot shots on wall street, others become security guards at my school. Btw the person I am referring to is working at the graduation today, man it must be super weird for him, especially today. As for the nerds, some become less socially awkward, and combine their newfound social skill and brains to get kick ass jobs and maybe some leadership positions in otherwise nerdy industries like computer science. Others remain nerds and will go on to do something nerdy and marry an ugly girl. Some hot girls will become not so attractive later on, while others continue to be the girl you drool over at a bar.
Another thing is that this stuff makes me feel ancient. You see all these kids finishing high school and I've been removed 7 years. I feel like these kids have an eternity to go before they reach thus point in my life.
These kids are so young and naive, especially those without much older siblings. The speeches invariably all talk about the great accomplishment of graduating high school and the extraordinary things that lie ahead. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. First, graduating high school is NOT a big accomplishment at all. You have to get at the very least one four year degree to go before getting a respectable job, and most people have to get numerous degrees. Secondly, the whole idea of everyone doing something great is laughable. Most if not all are going to eventually be thrust into the rat race in 5 years, stuck in an office cube and living a very ordinary life. But its not that big of a deal, these kids will learn soon enough.
One last thing. Looking at some of the people who graduated my year (thank you facebook), I find no direct correlation between status in high school and status as a young adult. I was always told that the cool popular kids end up working for the nerdy ones. This has turned out to be true in some cases, but definitely does not work as a theory. Some popular kids become hot shots on wall street, others become security guards at my school. Btw the person I am referring to is working at the graduation today, man it must be super weird for him, especially today. As for the nerds, some become less socially awkward, and combine their newfound social skill and brains to get kick ass jobs and maybe some leadership positions in otherwise nerdy industries like computer science. Others remain nerds and will go on to do something nerdy and marry an ugly girl. Some hot girls will become not so attractive later on, while others continue to be the girl you drool over at a bar.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
The Asian (Lack of) Excellence Awards
So one of the things I'm really into is Asian-Americans in media and entertainment. I could go all day long about the injustices Asian males face in the American entertainment world but for now I just want to address the Asian Excellence Awards 2008 which occurred in late April, was shown on E! in May and is now available On Demand for the remainder of the month. Anyway, I decided to watch this show On Demand, and I was excited. Last years show was decent, and was hoping to see an even better show this time around. Well let me say I was WAY DISAPPOINTED. I know a lot of Asians who agree with me as well.
First of all, the show was missing some of the most respected Asian actors/filmmakers among Asian-Americans. Where was John Cho, Kal Penn, Justin Lin, Michael Kang, Parry Shen, Ken Leung, Aaron Yoo, Leonardo Nam, Sung Kang, Dustin Nguyen, and others that I can't think of right now? The only people that made appearances that I was excited about seeing was Will Yun Lee and Roger Fan.
Second of all, and this is one that really irks some people, a special achievement award went to Rob Schneider. Really? Is that the best we could do? Rob Schneider who played a demeaning Asian caricature in I Now Pronounce you Chuck and Larry and had Asian stereotypes perpetuated in European Gigolo ? We are really giving and achievement award to someone who has hurt Asians more than he has helped them? He did start out by apologizing for a couple roles he did in the past, which is respectable. But he said it so fast that it is difficult to gauge his sincerity, and then he goes on to make some demeaning remarks about Filipinos (of which he is half). In addition, Rex Lee also won an award for his role on Entourage, which is another role that has created a stir within the Asian-American community. Lee also acknowledged this in his acceptance speech but basically used his victory as an 'see i told you everything i am doing is fine' outlet.
Another thing I have a problem with is awarding Sharon Leal best actress in film. Okay, my take on this one might be slightly more controversial, but it's how I feel and this is my blog so here it is. Sharon Leal is half Filipino, half African-American. You can sort of see some Asian in her if you look hard, but really it's not very discernible. Its definitely something you would be more likely to notice after someone told you. While I admit that the lack of her looking Asian does bother me somewhat, the real problem lies with the role she played. Her award was for her role in This Christmas, a movie where she plays a 100% African-American character. Now, I'm sure she did a fine job in the movie, but for the Asian Excellence Awards, there had to be much, much better options.
I am mostly disappointed that this was a missed opportunity to showcase some of the best Asian film in the past year. I wanted the show to spotlight movies such as Undoing, Finishing the Game, Shanghai Kiss, and Harold and Kumar. This could raise awareness among viewers about these movies, hopefully at least inspiring a few more DVD rentals. Instead we are giving This Christmas and Rob Schneider the spotlight. All this makes me wonder if there was some kind of boycott to the show, and that's why there was no Justin Lin, David Ren, Parry Shen, etc. I don't know if there was one or not, but I do know that if I was an celebrity, I would seriously consider not showing up for the awards show had I known how it would go down.
First of all, the show was missing some of the most respected Asian actors/filmmakers among Asian-Americans. Where was John Cho, Kal Penn, Justin Lin, Michael Kang, Parry Shen, Ken Leung, Aaron Yoo, Leonardo Nam, Sung Kang, Dustin Nguyen, and others that I can't think of right now? The only people that made appearances that I was excited about seeing was Will Yun Lee and Roger Fan.
Second of all, and this is one that really irks some people, a special achievement award went to Rob Schneider. Really? Is that the best we could do? Rob Schneider who played a demeaning Asian caricature in I Now Pronounce you Chuck and Larry and had Asian stereotypes perpetuated in European Gigolo ? We are really giving and achievement award to someone who has hurt Asians more than he has helped them? He did start out by apologizing for a couple roles he did in the past, which is respectable. But he said it so fast that it is difficult to gauge his sincerity, and then he goes on to make some demeaning remarks about Filipinos (of which he is half). In addition, Rex Lee also won an award for his role on Entourage, which is another role that has created a stir within the Asian-American community. Lee also acknowledged this in his acceptance speech but basically used his victory as an 'see i told you everything i am doing is fine' outlet.
Another thing I have a problem with is awarding Sharon Leal best actress in film. Okay, my take on this one might be slightly more controversial, but it's how I feel and this is my blog so here it is. Sharon Leal is half Filipino, half African-American. You can sort of see some Asian in her if you look hard, but really it's not very discernible. Its definitely something you would be more likely to notice after someone told you. While I admit that the lack of her looking Asian does bother me somewhat, the real problem lies with the role she played. Her award was for her role in This Christmas, a movie where she plays a 100% African-American character. Now, I'm sure she did a fine job in the movie, but for the Asian Excellence Awards, there had to be much, much better options.
I am mostly disappointed that this was a missed opportunity to showcase some of the best Asian film in the past year. I wanted the show to spotlight movies such as Undoing, Finishing the Game, Shanghai Kiss, and Harold and Kumar. This could raise awareness among viewers about these movies, hopefully at least inspiring a few more DVD rentals. Instead we are giving This Christmas and Rob Schneider the spotlight. All this makes me wonder if there was some kind of boycott to the show, and that's why there was no Justin Lin, David Ren, Parry Shen, etc. I don't know if there was one or not, but I do know that if I was an celebrity, I would seriously consider not showing up for the awards show had I known how it would go down.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
First Post
Hello world. Welcome to my blog. I don't really have a theme for my blog, which could end up being it's downfall, but right now I'm just gonna post whatever I want. Maybe I will eventually have some spinoff blogs that actually deal with a single subject matter, but for now I'm gonna keep it random. It's a little weird writing this because I know that no one is reading this, and no one knows about this blog. Well, hopefully that changes. But we shall see.
Anyway, some info about me that may or may not be relevant. I am male, 24, Chinese-American, currently living at my parents home in the Chicago area (that will change in the fall when I go to business school), currently working for a REIT in the city (that will change by the end of June). Anyway, I guess thats all for now.
Anyway, some info about me that may or may not be relevant. I am male, 24, Chinese-American, currently living at my parents home in the Chicago area (that will change in the fall when I go to business school), currently working for a REIT in the city (that will change by the end of June). Anyway, I guess thats all for now.
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