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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e0tszep890

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Saw this on TikTok and I thought we could discuss it since we watched and discussed Fu Manchu's movies and character. - Emely

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Podcast on utility of term, “Asian American”

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Podcast on utility of term, “Asian American”

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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/17/opinion/the-argument-asian-american-identity.html

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Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial group in the United States, and understanding their representation in culture, politics and society is getting increasingly complex.

In the New York City mayoral election this month, the Republican candidate, Curtis Sliwa, won 44 percent of the vote in precincts where more than half of the residents are Asian, a rate higher than for any other racial group tracked. This came as a surprise, given the popular belief that Asian Americans, particularly the younger generation, are largely liberal.

One of our guests on this week's show argues that the conversation surrounding the Asian American identity is often limited to upwardly mobile immigrants with careers in highly skilled sectors like tech and medicine. But a term as vague as "Asian American" includes everyone from an Indian lawyer to a Hmong refugee, and with that comes the complication of identifying with a phrase that is meant to define such a wide range of experiences.

Jane Coaston speaks to two Asian Americans who look at the term in different ways: the writer Jay Caspian Kang, who thinks it ignores class differences and so is meaningless, and his podcast co-host E. Tammy Kim, who believes there's value in building political power by organizing around the identity and even across these class differences.
(A full transcript of the episode will be available midday on the Times website.)

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Credit... Photographs by Evan Groll and Sarah Shatz

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"The Argument" is produced by Phoebe Lett, Elisa Gutierrez and Vishakha Darbha and edited by Sarah Geis; fact-checking by Andrea López-Cruzado; music and sound design by Isaac Jones; additional engineering by Sonia Herrero; audience strategy by Shannon Busta. Special thanks to Kristin Lin and Matt Kwong.

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Opinion | Is It Time to Abandon the Idea of an 'Asian American' Identity?

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Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial group in the United States, and understanding their representation in culture, politics and society is getting increasingly complex. In the New York City mayoral election this month, the Republican candidate, Curtis Sliwa, won 44 percent of the vote in precincts where more than half of the residents are Asian, a rate higher than for any other racial group tracked.

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On Wes Anderson's film "Isle of Dogs" and modern orientalism

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On Wes Anderson's film "Isle of Dogs" and modern orientalism

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I enjoy Wes Anderson's work due to the cinematography. I also love Fantastic Mr. Fox, Anderson's first stop-motion animated film, so I was really excited to watch his next stop-motion film. Isle of Dogs is set in Japan, which I thought was an interesting choice given that Anderson is white (and is notorious for having a very white cast in all of his films). Most of the characters in the film are voiced by white actors, and when Japanese is spoken, subtitles are not provided, leaving the audience incapable of understanding and being able to empathize with the Japanese characters. Interestingly, the dogs speak English.
This video also covers another one of Anderson's movie, The Darjeeling Limited, which is set in India. I haven't watched this film, but according to this video essay, this film has the same issues as Isle of Dogs.

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Wes Anderson and the Follies of Modern Orientalism

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Lack of Asian representation in seemingly diverse media

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Lack of Asian representation in seemingly diverse media

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Emely - I have to be honest, this video mostly focuses on how the Netflix show Bridgerton represents black people, but there are some interesting points about representation of other minorities. I watched the first few episodes of Bridgerton when it came out because I was so excited to see a period drama featuring POC. I love period dramas (I'll watch anything Keira Knightley is in), but these period pieces tend to be very homogenous. If you see a person of color, they are usually in a position of servitude - they're not even allowed to be regular background characters. Period dramas tend to treat POC as something of the present; they didn't exist in the 18th century, or lived lives that do not deserve being showcased. Bridgerton was disappointing because it claimed to be such a progressive show, but I only remember seeing one East-Asian character and one Southeast Asian character on screen, and I don't even think they had a speaking role. I think a lot of productive conversations are taking place in the comment section of this video. Someone pointed out that since the show is set in England, the show writers could have done more to represent Indian people given England's history of colonization. The show also neglects to have any conversations about racism; it takes a very colorblind approach, and it just does not work.

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Race-baiting, queer-baiting, colorism, featurism, and performative diversity | Khadija Mbowe

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commendable but took long enough! as Cathy Park Hong writes, “we were always here” — not born from a moment of belated representation:
https://www.npr.org/2021/11/15/1055733980/sesame-street-makes-history-with-the-debut-of-its-first-asian-american-muppet

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What's in a name? Well, for Ji-Young, the newest muppet resident of "Sesame Street," her name is a sign she was meant to live there.

"So, in Korean traditionally the two syllables they each mean something different and Ji means, like, smart or wise. And Young means, like, brave or courageous and strong," Ji-Young explained during a recent interview. "But we were looking it up and guess what? Ji also means sesame."

At only 7 years old, Ji-Young is making history as the first Asian American muppet in the "Sesame Street" canon. She is Korean American and has two passions: rocking out on her electric guitar and skateboarding. The children's TV program, which first aired 52 years ago this month, gave The Associated Press a first look at its adorable new occupant.

Ji-Young will formally be introduced in "See Us Coming Together: A Sesame Street Special." Simu Liu, Padma Lakshmi and Naomi Osaka are among the celebrities appearing in the special, which will drop Thanksgiving Day on HBO Max, "Sesame Street" social media platforms and on local PBS stations.

Some of Ji-Young's personality comes from her puppeteer. Kathleen Kim, 41 and Korean American, got into puppetry in her 30s. In 2014, she was accepted into a "Sesame Street" workshop. That evolved into a mentorship and becoming part of the team the following year. Being a puppeteer on a show Kim watched growing up was a dream come true. But helping shape an original muppet is a whole other feat.

"I feel like I have a lot of weight that maybe I'm putting on myself to teach these lessons and to be this representative that I did not have as a kid," Kim said. But fellow puppeteer Leslie Carrara-Rudolph - who performs Abby Cadabby - reminded her, "It's not about us ... It's about this message."

Ji-Young's existence is the culmination of a lot of discussions after the events of 2020 - George Floyd's death and anti-Asian hate incidents. Like a lot of companies, "Sesame Street" reflected on how it could "meet the moment," said Kay Wilson Stallings, executive vice-president of Creative and Production for Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind "Sesame Street."

Sesame Workshop established two task forces - one to look at its content and another to look at its own diversity. What developed was Coming Together, a multi-year initiative addressing how to talk to children about race, ethnicity and culture.

One result was 8-year-old Tamir. While not the show's first Black muppet, he was one of the first used to talk about subjects like racism.

"When we knew we were going to be doing this work that was going to focus on the Asian and Pacific Islanders experience, we of course knew we needed to create an Asian muppet as well," Stallings said.

These newer muppets - their personalities and their looks - were remarkably constructed in a matter of a months. The process normally takes at least a couple of years. There are outside experts and a cross-section of employees known as the "culture trust" who weigh in on every aspect of a new muppet, Stallings said.

For Kim, it was crucial that Ji-Young not be "generically pan-Asian."

"Because that's something that all Asian Americans have experienced. They kind of want to lump us into this monolithic 'Asian,'" Kim said. "So it was very important that she was specifically Korean American, not just like, generically Korean, but she was born here."

One thing Ji-Young will help teach children is how to be a good "upstander." "Sesame Street" first used the term on its "The Power of We" TV special last year, which featured Tamir.

"Being an upstander means you point out things that are wrong or something that someone does or says that is based on their negative attitude towards the person because of the color of their skin or the language they speak or where they're from," Stallings said. "We want our audience to understand they can be upstanders."

In "See Us Coming Together," Sesame Street is preparing for Neighbor Day where everyone shares food, music or dance from their culture. Ji-Young becomes upset after a kid, off screen, tells her "to go back home," an insult commonly flung at Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. But she feels empowered after Sesame Street's other Asian American residents, guest stars and friends like Elmo assure her that she belongs as much as anyone else.

The fact that Ji-Young was created to counter anti-Asian sentiment makes her more special to Kim in some ways.

"I remember like the Atlanta shootings and how terrifying that was for me," Kim said. "My one hope, obviously, is to actually help teach what racism is, help teach kids to be able to recognize it and then speak out against it. But then my other hope for Ji-Young is that she just normalizes seeing different kinds of looking kids on TV."

Vanessa Leung, co-executive director of Coalition for Asian American Children and Families, is excited about Ji-Young. The organization was not involved in Ji-Young's creation but previously consulted on anti-racism content for Sesame Workshop. It matters when Asian American families, especially with many of them being immigrant families, can see themselves reflected in an institution like "Sesame Street," Leung said.

"It sparks curiosity and early understanding of the diversity of our community, the beauty in the diversity of our community," Leung said.

Ji-Young will be heavily present throughout the new season, Stallings reassured. She also won't just be utilized for content related to racial justice. She will pop up in various digital programs, live-action and animated.

As the new kid on the street, Ji-Young is looking forward to showing her friends and neighbors aspects of Korean culture such as the food. She loves cooking dishes like tteokbokki (chewy rice cakes) with her halmoni (grandmother). And she already has one "Sesame Street" friend who wants a sample.

"I would love to try it," said Ernie, who joined Ji-Young's interview. "You know, I've tried bulgogi. I really like bulgogi. I'm gonna guess that maybe old buddy Bert has not tried Korean food."

Having already made several famous friends on "Sesame Street," is there anyone Ji-Young still really wants to meet?

"The Linda Lindas because they're so cool," Ji-Young said, referring to the teenage punk rock band. "And they rock out and they're cool girls and most of them are Asian. They're my heroes. If we can get the Linda Lindas on 'Sesame Street,' I would show them around."

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Sesame Street makes history with the debut of its first Asian American muppet

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What's in a name? Well, for Ji-Young, the newest muppet resident of "Sesame Street," her name is a sign she was meant to live there. "So, in Korean traditionally the two syllables they each mean something different and Ji means, like, smart or wise.

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Emely

CONTENT WARNING: child abuse

I really like this video on the film "Silenced" (the director of this film, Hwang Dong-hyuk, also directed Squid Game). It's about an art teacher who goes to a school for children with disabilities, and discovers the abuse and neglect the children are subjected to by the school staff. It's based on a real story. It's another film that points out some of the issues occurring in South Korea (issues that Koreaboos seem to ignore).

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The Film That Changed South Korea | Video Essay

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Video on the sexualization of Japanese school girls in media

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Video on the sexualization of Japanese school girls in media

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Emely - I really enjoy Mina Le's content! Really recommend her channel

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let’s talk about the Japanese Schoolgirl

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https://www.asianstudies.org/wp-content/uploads/from-hello-kitty-to-cod-roe-kewpie-a-postwar-cultural-history-of-cuteness-in-japanA.pdf

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In class today, someone asked a question on the lines of "why isn't Chinese culture/media fetishized in the same way as Korean and Japanese culture/media?" Thinking back to Jack London's "The Unparalleled Invasion," London comments on the lack of "intimacy" between the West and China. I think this lack of "intimacy" is best seen in language. Yuri mentioned how the Korean language adopts a lot of English words. Though we didn't speak about the Japanese language, it also adopts a lot of English words-- all relative, of course, to the Chinese language. In a sense, Western thought/words have a harder time "assimilating" into the Chinese language. English words that otherwise would have sounded similar in Korean and Japanese (i.e., you probably would be able to guess the word) can sound quite different in Chinese. I think this fun Youtube video (part of a series on the channel) featuring pronunciation differences in English, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese best exemplify the language gap. Perhaps, though, as Professor Cho mentioned, it is the military presence of the US in bases in Japan and Korean that breaks down not only physical barriers but also language barriers.

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데이브[영어/한국/일본/중국 발음 차이 2탄 with 에리나 브아이] English/Korean/Japanese/Chinese Pronunciation Difference 2

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Amy posed a confounding question today about why it seems that Japanese (anime) and Korean subcultures (k-pop) attain more mainstream appeal and visibility than others-- it's certainly not because there's a dearth of cultural richness and originality from other places (for ex., I'm thinking of the beautiful films of Wong Kar-Wai- one of my favorite filmmakers). I'm not sure what scholarly literature exists around this topic, but I thought about how 20th-c. histories of American occupations in both Korea and Japan (& US participation in the postwar rehabilitation of both nations) might have something to do with it...could these global capitalist stories speak to the successes of American intervention and rebuilding perhaps? Or, as Cathy Park Hong suggests, is "capitalism...retribution for racism"? I wonder if/how we can read into the presentation of anime characters and k-pop performers as seemingly suspended in an eternal childhood/adolescence... do they fall under the care of the paternalistic Occidental/Western caretaker? (a role that Doc Hata plays so well despite his claimed "Japanese" identity)

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Vincent Chin's hate-motivated murder in 1982 stemmed from a case of "mistaken" identity -- his attackers thought he was Japanese and thus associated him with the declining success of the American auto industry. This deeply entrenched fear of economic competition marked even the first arrivals of Asian immigrants who somehow threatened to deplete the "native" labor force -- they were stealing jobs/labor (as Bret Harte, in "The Heathen Chinee," also went on to warn).

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Vincent Chin TV Series In The Works With The Cooperation Of His Estate

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Chin’s murder in 1982 galvanized a nationwide movement of Asian American activism that remains relevant today and continues to grow.

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even gold doesn't make one immune to racism

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even gold doesn't make one immune to racism

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Gymnast Lee says she was target of racist attack

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Suni Lee said she was pepper-sprayed in a racist attack last month while out with a group of friends in Los Angeles.

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...but, as the story goes, he lures his potential love interest by impersonating as his more attractive (mixed race) friend.

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BOOGIE - Official Trailer - In Theaters March 5

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Rachel Dolezal, Hector Carillo, Jessica Krug --just some other notable figures who have claimed / refused Black identity to further their own careers and increase their social cache --like Oli London, race/ethnicity is something one can wear, fabricated to the point where the histories of hurt associated with racial difference are wiped out, forgotten...

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A celebrated writer and professor, he challenged his students to take hold of their own narrative. But the truth came out — his life story, like his works, was a work of fiction