It’s well-made and deserving of praise,
especially for exploring areas of the Asian American experience that have not
been dramatized in highly-publicized mainstream works.
Personally, I’d be disappointed if the
controversy around David Choe brings it down.
Even if Choe was just joking in bad taste, he’s
an adult and should know better
Choe, Steven Yeun and Ali Wong are established
enough media figures in my opinion that they should have anticipated the
situation and possible public response.
Their reaction is clumsy and only amplifies the feeling
Choe is guilty of something, and frankly, they are going to reap what they sowed.
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
Today in Awesome Korean Mom Hilarity
(My mom is babysitting my son Jack, who is resisting her attempts to clean him up post-lunch)
Mom: What are you doing? You're dirty Chinese, dirty Chinese!
(I give my mom a strange look)
Mom: Oh, in Korea, we call anyone dirty "Chinese."
Me: That sounds racist.
Mom: Yes, we are racist.
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Welcome to Pleasure Town
Here's something new. A couple of months back, an acting colleague put me in touch with the makers of the audio drama podcast Pleasure Town. They were looking for an Asian American actor to play a Chinese character in an upcoming minisode. I wasn't familiar with their work before, but now discovering it, it's a neat little ongoing project.
As described on their website, "PleasureTown is a story-based podcast told in serial form that details the history of a little-known, failed Oklahoma utopian society. The town’s history is crowdsourced, piece by piece, by the producers, collaborators and audience members." The whole thing is part of the WBEZ Podcast Network, which is also the home of the acclaimed true-crime series Serial.
So, check it out if you're interested in a little trip back through time to the old frontier.
This also reminds me, I'm overdue on checking out my buddy Soren Fanning's Mischief and Mayhem podcast. If you're searching for some good, alternative political and historical discussion, considering making a visit.
Monday, February 1, 2016
WTF . . .
Odd WTF moment over the weekend that's been bugging me. Was down at Navy Pier and while in the stall at the public restroom, I overhear these two guys talking. One says, "Dude, Asians are always peeking over the urinal to take a look at how big I am. I've caught at least two of them doing it." I come out and there's these two young white guys standing by the sinks, who get real quiet as I come around the corner with a nasty look on my face. Is this really the sort of conversation that goes on when (it is thought) someone like me isn't in the room?
Friday, October 2, 2015
Hollywood movies set in or about Hawaii.
South Pacific (1958)
Starring Rossano Brazzi, Mitzi Gaynor, John Kerr
Blue Hawaii (1961)
Starring Elvis Presley, Joan Blackman, Angela Lansbury
Hawaii (1966)
Starring Julie Andrews, Max von Sydow, Richard Harris
The Hawaiians (1970)
Starring Charlton Heston, Tina Chen, Geraldine Chaplin
The Descendants (2011)
Starring George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller
Aloha (2015)
Starring Bradley Cooper, Rachel McAdams, Emma Stone
There's a pattern here. Assuming you can create patterns with an overwhelmingly monochromatic palette.
Recent photo of me with my wife, son and cousins from our recent visit to my father's hometown of Eleele on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. My family has been there for four generations. Altogether, we represent a combination of Japanese, Korean, Hawaiian, Filipino and European ancestry.
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
My Asian parent-style take on Kim Davis: See, many Americans celebrate a woman who doesn't do her job or follow the rules. That's why their children can't get into good colleges.
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Penuel: The Sammy Lee Story
Samuel "Sammy" Lee (born August 1, 1920). The first Asian American to win an Olympic gold medal for the United States and the first man to win back-to-back gold medals in Olympic platform diving.
As a (half) Korean American, I'm ashamed to admit that I never heard of Sammy Lee before. It wasn't until fellow Korean American actor David Rhee went off to New York last summer to take a playwriting course and told me he had an idea of a script about Lee that I knew who he was or what he had achieved.
In case you haven't either, the fruit's of David's labors will get a first-ever public viewing this coming weekend. Local Chicago theater company Silk Road Rising will be presenting two readings of his play, Penuel: The Sammy Lee Story, on Saturday, July 11 and Sunday, July 12, both at 4:00 pm. The readings will be held at Silk Road's space in The Historic Chicago Temple Building at 77 West Washington Street.
There will be some great local Chicago actors making David's words come to life, under the direction of Goodman/Silk Road veteran Steve Scott. I'm involved in the modest capacity of reading stage directions, and being there to support the venture.
Sunday, June 28, 2015
"I get knocked down, but I get up again . . . "
Celebrating my 42nd by getting down (and up and down, and then down again) during a momentous week for the U.S.A.
After an incredible week of events that saw the upholding of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the legalization of same-sex marriage and reflection on the notorious legacy of the Confederate flag, I thought I'd kick off my 42nd celebrations early (actual date: June 30) with a round of birthday breakfalls at the end of class with the Chicago Aikido Club on Friday the 26th.
My fellow aikidoka in attendance that night (Marlon Fadragas, Cyril Oseledets, Joe Takehara, Hai Tran, Nguyen Tran and Andrew Vitale) kindly obliged to toss me about the mat.
Interestingly, if you check out Big Trouble's IMDB trivia page, you'll find out that the film was originally conceived as a Western, which was eventually deemed too difficult, so the setting was updated to the present day.
The show is coming at an interesting time for me. On one hand, it's perfect for this still periodically sleep-deprived dad: it's short, incredibly silly, entirely inconsequential and aiming for nothing but good-natured laughs from the audience and knowing appreciation from fans of the original film.
On the other hand, it's also a self-indulgent thrill ride for me, even if on a modest itinerant Chicago theater scale. I'm getting to play Wang, the character played onscreen by Dennis Dun. One of the notable things about Big Trouble in Little China is that even though the white guy (Kurt Russel) is ostensibly the lead, he is portrayed largely as a fool and buffoon. Wang is presumably the obligatory sidekick when the story begins, but as things unfold, it is clear that he is the more knowing of the two characters, and certainly the more competent hand-to-hand fighter when the kung-fu breaks out.
Dennis Dun as Wang
According to the IMDB trivia page, Carpenter originally wanted Jackie Chan to play Wang, based on his then-recent Hong Kong work (including the classic Police Story). However, this was still a decade before Chan would break into the Hollywood box office, so the studio was unsure of his casting, and Chan himself apparently wasn't interested.
Personally, I'm glad Chan didn't get the part. He's one of my all-time favorite action stars, but I think his naturally exuberant clowning would not have fit the character. One of the fun things about watching Dennis Dun in the role is he's so unassuming; he makes for a great martial arts everyman that the audience can root for. Also unusual for an American martial arts film is that no attempt is ever made to offer an explanation for Wang's martial arts prowess. Usually there is a need to include a bulky explanation or backstory for why someone fights the way they do (especially in 80s Hollywood films), whether they are ex-military or grew up next to an old master. When the fisticuffs begin, Dun just launches into action, and not even Kurt Russel's character bothers to question it (which is funny since up to that point, Dun is presumably just the proprietor of a Chinese restaurant).
Dun is probably one of the reasons that Big Trouble has a lot of fans among Asian Americans. At the time it came out, there was even less representation of Asian and Pacific Islanders onscreen than today. So it was really thrilling to see a film with so many Asian faces about, both the good guys and bad guys, even if Kurt Russel and a pre-Sex and the CityKim Cattrall were supposed to be the leading guy and gal.
Going back to The Big, The Trouble and the Little China, it's also going to be the first time I have really had a chance to extensively fight as a martial artist onstage. Although I had fun as one of Lifeline Theatre's Three Musketeers and as an onstage combatant in Roméo et Juliette at the Lyric Opera, this time I get to draw upon my background in aikido and live out my personal Jackie Chan and Jet Li fantasies. I am actually quite grateful to our fight choreographer for allowing me to insert some dancelike Asian stylings into the action.
On a final note, I recommend that any fan of Big Trouble in Little China should also check out Zu - Warriors from the Magic Mountain. This absolutely insane Hong Kong kung-fu fantasy sword and sorcery film directed by Tsui Hark was supposedly one of John Carpenter's inspirations for Big Trouble and shouldn't be missed.
UPDATE
Probably a good idea if I actually include the information on the show, right?
New Millennium Theatre Company Presents
The Big, The Trouble, And the Little China
Adapted and Directed by Meagan Piccochi
Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8pm
May 1st - May 23rd
Sunday May 3rd at 3pm
At the Royal George Theatre
1641 N. Halsted
I utterly adored The Shadow Hero written by Gene Luen Yang and illustrated by Sonny Liew. Whoever thought that a single work could encapsulate my love of Golden Age superhero comics, Chinese martial arts lore and the Asian American immigrant experience? I can't wait to read the follow-ups to the debut volume.
Completely by chance, I dressed my son Jack in a onesie today that appeared to be the exact shade of green worn by the Green Turtle, the long-forgotten Chinese-American superhero revived in The Shadow Hero. Feeling inspired, I placed him on a green beach blanket I found (an acceptable shade), and taking a green bandanna sitting in my bureau (not really the right shade or pattern, but it worked), I dressed him up to serve as an appropriate tribute to the Green Turtle. Even better, without any coaching or prompting, baby Jack brought his hands together in a rough approximation of the kung-fu hand salute.
One of the memories this image stirred up was the fact that when I was five, my mother indulged my Superman fixation and sewed a little cape for me to wear saying "Super Dwight." But funny enough, that cape wasn't done up in the Man of Steel's trademark red, white and blue.
It was green.
Coincidence?
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Martial Arts for the Month of November
If you're in the Chicago area and looking to try something new, I'll be leading a four-session intro to aikido class at Chicago Aikido Club (CAC) this November. This is a pilot program for a new class concept we're trying out. Things are going to be very stripped-down and simplified for raw newcomers; we're even eschewing tradition and not requiring anyone to wear a white gi (that's a karate or judo uniform for the uninitiated). Detailed information below:
(Apologies to all readers. The following post is neither as well-written or coherent as I would have liked. I'm still adjusting to life with my newborn son, so sorry if my thoughts seem to tangent or get a bit ranty.)
Yellowfacing The Mikado
The issue of Asian representation in arts and entertainment has flared up once again thanks to a recent production of Gilbert & Sullivan's classic but inherently problematic operetta The Mikado. For those concerned, the Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society's mounting commits multiple sins: reviving the piece itself (a musical romp set in a made-up and highly inaccurate depiction of feudal Japan), presenting the piece as it was originally conceived in the late 19th century (with exaggerated faux-Japanese hair, make-up and dress), and perhaps most damningly, casting only white actors. The Asian American community has been pretty swift in its condemnation. The critical response has included comments by writer Jeff Yang on CNN, a satirical take by the folks at YouOffendMeYouOffendMyFamily, and an embarrassing radio conversation between a cast member of the show and an Asian American journalist who penned a pointed editorial. The situation is also a very tiresome retread for those in the Asian American community who dealt with the 2012 "Yellowface" casting controversy during the staging of The Nightingale at La Jolla Playhouse and the frustrations of their UK counterparts during the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of The Orphan of Zhao. Heck, we might as well go all the way back to the Ms. Saigon casting controversy in 1990.
It's at times like this I really wish there was some way for Asian American writers, directors and producers to seize control of all the existing Western-created representations of Asians (and Asian Americans) on stage and screen. That, in addition to creating new and original works genuinely illustrative of themselves, their families and their communities, they could get a shot at reworking some of those outmoded (and offensive) characters and stories with an added layer of cultural authenticity born of their own life experience (Not to mention providing racially appropriate casting). Not just hoary theatrical works like The Mikado. Maybe a new TV series or movie reimagining Chinese detective Charlie Chan, created by white author Earl Derr Biggers in 1919 and popularized in a series of 1930s/40s films played by white actors Warner Oland, Sidney Toler and Roland Winters.
Charlie Chan, as portrayed by by Warner Oland, Sidney Toler and Roland Winters
What if a prestigious Asian American director like Ang Lee or Cary Fukunaga crafted a respectable, well-written noir mystery thriller take on the character, or at least what if Justin Lin was allowed to deliver a solid action-adventure version? (BTW, in my head a kick-ass version of the portly Chan is portrayed by plus-sized Hong Kong action star Sammo Hung.)
Sammo Hung on the CBS series "Martial Law" (1998)
It should also be noted that Charlie Chan was inspired by two real-life Chinese detectives on the Honolulu police force: Chang Apana (鄭阿平) and Lee Fook. If a new Charlie Chan film went back to the source, seems to me that pre-WWII Hawaii with its stew of ethnicities, international trade and colonial politics would make a great setting for mystery and adventure.
I also wouldn't mind a redo of fictional Japanese secret agent Mr. Moto. Like Charlie Chan, Moto's creator was not Asian (John Phillips Marquand), but surprisingly he was a hero and a positive character running counter to much of the Yellow Peril stereotypes of the period in which he was created (the 1930s). Urbane, well-educated and equally well-dressed, Moto is a multi-talented gentlemen whose polite appearance disguises a capacity for ruthlessness and violent action (Sound at all similar to a certain British secret agent?). Despite being a pulp hero largely forgotten by modern audiences, the character had a prolific run in six novels, an eight movie series (1937-39), a radio series and a standalone 1965 film. However, like Charlie Chan, Moto was always portrayed by non-Asians: James Monks on the radio, German expat actor Peter Lorre in the 30s film series, and by Henry Silva in the 1965 film.
Peter Lorre (left) and Henry Silva (right) as Mr. Moto
What I find really fascinating about Mr. Moto (besides the terrible accents employed by the actors who played him), is that his character was written as an agent of the Japanese Empire, which was already at odds with the U.S. at the time. However, despite his official status, Moto personally disagrees with the expansionist aims of his country. Thus, it really wouldn't take much story-wise to revive the character for modern film audiences (and not offend the all-important Chinese and Korean markets to boot). I actually think that in addition to actually casting an Asian in the role (preferably of Japanese descent), maintaining the original 30s setting would be a plus. You could get all the period intrigue and romance of an Indiana Jones movie, with the added dramatic urgency of dealing with the racial prejudices of the time. Who knows, maybe even the internment could figure into the script?
For your consideration, should a Mr. Moto remake ever be made.
It's unlikely anything like the above would happen, given all the issues of rights, ownership and authorship that would be involved, plus the whole problem of Asian American-led projects getting funded in Hollywood's risk-averse atmosphere. But wouldn't it be something? Maybe even an Asian American-helmed reboot of The Last Airbender, properly cast and given back its full original title of Avatar: The Last Airbender (confusion with James Cameron be damned). Or something to replace that awful Seth Rogen version of The Green Hornet. For me, where that film figures in this discussion is that, in addition to its overall mediocrity, despite the fact they did cast an Asian to play Kato (Taiwanese actor Jay Chou), it felt like the filmmakers were unaware that the Green Hornet's lasting place in pop culture is entirely attributable to Bruce Lee's portrayal of Kato in the old 60s series version. In fact, in Hong Kong, the show was retitled The Kato Show, and Lee's portrayal has been so influential Chinese kung-fu stars Jet Li and Donnie Yen both borrowed the image of Kato for their films Black Mask and Fist of Legend: The Return of Chen Zhen respectively. I wasn't expecting the new film to feature a Kato that exactly recreated Bruce Lee. That would have been unreasonable. But it seems like the producers and director thought all Kato needed to be was Chinese and do kung-fu, without realizing they were dealing with an icon. A very specific Chinese icon requiring a certain energy and characterization that were completely absent in their version.
Clockwise from top left: Bruce Lee as Kato (1966-67), Jet Li as Black Mask (1996)
and Donnie Yen as Chen Zhen (2010).
While we're at it, I'd even love it if an Asian American director took on remaking Breakfast at Tiffany's just to supplant Mickey Rooney's Godawful portrayal of Mr. Yunioshi. Besides the fact, I'm actually quite fond of the novel, to which Blake Edward's movie is not very faithful anyway. There's no reason there couldn't be a Japanese photographer living next to Holly Golightly who isn't a mind-bogglingly hideous buck-toothed stereotyped. Maybe someone based on real-life photographer Toyo Miyatake.
Left: Mickey Rooney as photographer Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
Right: Real-life Japanese American photographer Toyo Miyatake
I genuinely believe that undertakings like those imagined above would be good ideas in and of themselves, not just indulgent experiments in a kind of Asian American revisionism. Incorporating cultural authenticity and details to performed works, even those of the most popular and perhaps maligned nature, opens up all sorts of possibilities for new and deeper storytelling. Plus audiences get a chance to be introduced to new cultures, attitudes and perspectives. Back in the 70s, director Francis Ford Coppola fought with Paramount Pictures to make their mafia epic The Godfather just as much a story of the Italian American immigrant experience as a violent crime blockbuster, bringing in details about traditional family relationships, food, music and customs. Though the film has its critics among Italian Americans for perpetuating a stereotypical mobster image, it also has its fans for presenting rich and complex characters informed by their specific history and culture. It could have been a lurid big-budget exploitation film like many earlier gangster films. Instead, it ended up being a critically acclaimed and award-winning cinema classic; a winner with audiences and the launchpad for Al Pacino's career (It should be noted that the studio didn't want the authentically Italian-American Pacino to play the role that brought him recognition. If Coppola hadn't stood up to the brass, WASPS Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, Robert Redford or Ryan O'Neal would have gotten the part.).
Think I'll sign off now and take in the blockbuster movie in my mind. In this movie, during the 1930s the U.S. government recruits a super squad of Asian operatives made up of Kato, Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto to combat alleged mad scientist Dr. Fu Manchu. However, it turns out that Fu Manchu is actually a Chinese patriot who is being framed by Western interests attempting to maintain their spheres of influence in Asia. The truth of the situation is revealed to them by 100-year-old ex-Shaolin monk Kwai Chang Caine . . .
Bradley BakerI notice major characteristics of people, but I can't pinpoint their ancestral origin nor would I try. Where was she going with the questioning? 'Traditional' has become subjective, and her area covering the diet is too large, what is a 'traditional Asian diet'? She failed.
Dwight Egan SoraWell, after my early morning Zen meditation, I like to work up an appetite by practicing 100 sword cuts while my wife does Tai Chi. It is when she is preparing the tea that I enter into the woods to slay a wild boar with my bow and arrow, and the local peasants bring in rice from the fields . . .
Alice SingletonI remember when we began Marissa on solids, and I would feed her Satay & peanut sauce, which she loved. On one pediatrician visit, when I gave the nurse and overview of her diet, she exclaimed her alarm, "why on earth are you feeding her (that)? Whoeve...See More
Sean Sinitski"I wonder what constitutes a "traditional Asian diet"? Could there be a more vague phrase, food-wise?" - I think, and I've seen it mentioned by dieticians the main part of the diet centers on rice, fresh vegetables, and fish. Which is a diet high in fiber and good shit.
Bradley BakerBut Asia is huge with large portions of the continent not near fish, or even an environment conducive for growing rice...though now that you say that I had a chiropractor who suggested a similar diet, but he just said a diet rich in fish (low in mercury) and vegetables and if I needed grains, whole grains, brown rice was suggested.
Arvin A. JalandoonThat is wonderful. When I was born they asked my mom if our staple was banana leaves and do " we use utensils, ... like forks and spoons instead of our hands in Manila ... "
Debbi Brown von NidaI was once asked if my feet were small, because in China feet are bound. No feet are small, because I'm short. Shortly after I was told how bad my country was for drowning baby girls. I replied the U.S.A. has not sanctioned the drowning of any children. My country prefers to keep them ill educated and ignorant of other cultures.
Carol Ruth KimmelThere are nurses from Korea and other countries at the St Joseph neo-natal intensive care unit--how odd that the person you spoke to made such a mistake.
David ChackI cut off part of my finger while doing housework and rushed to the emergency room. The person at the admittance desk saw my Jewish star around my neck and after hearing that part of my finger was cut off she said, "Yes. You people do that while slicing bagels."
