Lately, I'd have to say that nothing good happens after a certain hour...
Like this blog, for example...
Or this dolphin offering me "FREE BOUNCY RIDES" on the train.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Nat'l Cherry Blossom Road Trip
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Your heart moves so quickly and with such intensity.
You’re the bravest girl I’ve ever known.
And the best dream I’ll never have.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Goodnight Hollywood
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As I look through your things, I can't help but think of Hollywood industry kids circa the grunge years. Your Todd Oldham dresses...prized Helmut Lang...Paul Starr's number, along with a contact list of stylists, entertainment lawyers, bar staff and A&R cronies, with their corresponding networking roles...
I don't know how any sane person could find comfort in the life that you led, but you wanted it and you got it. In spades. Maybe you didn't reach the ultimate goal you set for yourself--you didn't seem to care. You constructed the life you always wanted to have and I won't judge you, now that you're gone. You lived your life like a character in a show that existed only in your mind. A world where you and your ilk were all starring players. And you'll never be cancelled.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Welcome To The Neurotic World Of Asian Americans In Film
This was from an article I wrote, published in UK's Squat Magazine 2007.
The editor asked me to write a "bitchy American film journalist piece".
The editor asked me to write a "bitchy American film journalist piece".
The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same
Lucy Liu, clad in dominatrix leather, admonishes a room full of engineers with a fetish whip in Drew Barrymore’s girl empowering "Charlie’s Angels"(2000).
Chinese are represented as snakeheads (slave traffickers), illegals crammed in a van, and bad drivers in the Oscar winning, race-healing film, "Crash"(2005).
Welcome to the neurotic world of Asian American images in film.
These restrictive representations not only apply in earthly settings, but persist in outer space as well.
Whether it’s the lack of Asians in the heavily Asia-influenced "Star Wars"(1977), save for the lone Asian rebel fighter-pilot who utters "there’s too many of them" right before he dies; or "Independence Day"(1996), where Americans of all races, with the exception of Asian Americans, unite to battle alien baddies for the survival of mankind. Well, I should mention, there was one Asian American fighter-pilot. He utters "there’s too many of them" right before he dies.
In the genre of comedy, just when you thought the days of Long Duck Dong were over, I give you Rob Schneider, who paid homage to his real-life Filipino mother in a scene in "Deuce Bigalow, Male Gigolo"(1999). While sharing a traditional dish of bibingka with his Caucasian dad, they lovingly reminisce of his (fictional) mother, a 'two dollar Filipino whore'.
This is a man who managed to trump Mickey Rooney’s iconic yellowface performance in "Breakfast At Tiffany’s"(1961) with his racist caricature in "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry"(2007).
In comparison, the Donger doesn’t seem so bad, hot stuff.
Who’s to blame? The easy way out would be to place all the blame on the myopic view of Hollywood studio executives. But what about apathetic Asian American actors and audiences? What about the Asian Americans who work behind the scenes– the casting directors, writers, etc? It’s a question many of us avoid.
Unfair or not, I view Lucy Liu as a barometer, of sorts, when it comes to Hollywood’s view of Asian Americans. Specifically, the image of Lucy Liu holding a fetish whip– it’s the perfect social indicator.
Let’s start with "Ally McBeal"(1997) and writer-producer David E. Kelley. Originally, Liu auditioned for the role of "Nelle", which eventually went to actress Portia de Rossi.
Liu-
"There were six women there including myself, and I was the only woman of color," "And I thought, this is a joke, there's just no possible way I'm going to get this role." http://www.post-gazette.com/magazine/19990206people8.asp
No, she didn’t get that role. But David E. Kelley saw something in Liu and created a character specifically for her. Enter Ling Woo, office Dragon Lady. This character would make Liu a household name.
To the best of my knowledge, Liu never actually held a whip as Ling Woo, but she might as well have. A whip would’ve been in keeping with the outrageousness of the stereotypical Ling Woo character. Perhaps it was David E. Kelley’s tasteful eye that concluded wielding a whip in the office would be too over-the-top.
Let’s refer to this as a ‘stealth whip’, then. Technically, there’s no whip. But we all know– there is a whip.
This leads us to Liu’s portrayal of a dominatrix in "Payback"(1999) with Mel Gibson. Here, Liu, whip in hand, unleashes the true Dragon Lady in all her glory. No more hiding in the smart business attire of Ling Woo; clad in leather bra, whip in hand, the truth is revealed. Liu and her whip are accepted in mainstream film.
With the reward of mainstream acceptance comes the desire to play ‘normal’ characters. Pro-feminist action romp "Charlie’s Angels" (2000) provided Liu with that opportunity . Side-by-side with Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz, Liu is part of a trio of ‘normal’, red-blooded, American heroines. ‘Normalcy’, however, is short-lived when Liu’s character "Alex" is assigned to distract a lecture hall full of computer programers by donning a leather outfit and, you guessed it, a whip. The message this sends: you can be one of us, but don’t forget to pack your whip.
Currently, Liu is working on pre-production for "Charlie Chan"(2009), based on real-life Asian American police hero Chong Apana who incidentally carried a bullwhip, instead of a gun.
Liu–
"I don't know what's going to happen with the whip,"
"Believe me, I'm pushing it, but I don't know if they (the studio) think it's a good idea... "
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=13758
Lucy Liu, clad in dominatrix leather, admonishes a room full of engineers with a fetish whip in Drew Barrymore’s girl empowering "Charlie’s Angels"(2000).
Chinese are represented as snakeheads (slave traffickers), illegals crammed in a van, and bad drivers in the Oscar winning, race-healing film, "Crash"(2005).
Welcome to the neurotic world of Asian American images in film.
These restrictive representations not only apply in earthly settings, but persist in outer space as well.
Whether it’s the lack of Asians in the heavily Asia-influenced "Star Wars"(1977), save for the lone Asian rebel fighter-pilot who utters "there’s too many of them" right before he dies; or "Independence Day"(1996), where Americans of all races, with the exception of Asian Americans, unite to battle alien baddies for the survival of mankind. Well, I should mention, there was one Asian American fighter-pilot. He utters "there’s too many of them" right before he dies.
In the genre of comedy, just when you thought the days of Long Duck Dong were over, I give you Rob Schneider, who paid homage to his real-life Filipino mother in a scene in "Deuce Bigalow, Male Gigolo"(1999). While sharing a traditional dish of bibingka with his Caucasian dad, they lovingly reminisce of his (fictional) mother, a 'two dollar Filipino whore'.
This is a man who managed to trump Mickey Rooney’s iconic yellowface performance in "Breakfast At Tiffany’s"(1961) with his racist caricature in "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry"(2007).
In comparison, the Donger doesn’t seem so bad, hot stuff.
Who’s to blame? The easy way out would be to place all the blame on the myopic view of Hollywood studio executives. But what about apathetic Asian American actors and audiences? What about the Asian Americans who work behind the scenes– the casting directors, writers, etc? It’s a question many of us avoid.
Unfair or not, I view Lucy Liu as a barometer, of sorts, when it comes to Hollywood’s view of Asian Americans. Specifically, the image of Lucy Liu holding a fetish whip– it’s the perfect social indicator.
Let’s start with "Ally McBeal"(1997) and writer-producer David E. Kelley. Originally, Liu auditioned for the role of "Nelle", which eventually went to actress Portia de Rossi.
Liu-
"There were six women there including myself, and I was the only woman of color," "And I thought, this is a joke, there's just no possible way I'm going to get this role." http://www.post-gazette.com/magazine/19990206people8.asp
No, she didn’t get that role. But David E. Kelley saw something in Liu and created a character specifically for her. Enter Ling Woo, office Dragon Lady. This character would make Liu a household name.
To the best of my knowledge, Liu never actually held a whip as Ling Woo, but she might as well have. A whip would’ve been in keeping with the outrageousness of the stereotypical Ling Woo character. Perhaps it was David E. Kelley’s tasteful eye that concluded wielding a whip in the office would be too over-the-top.
Let’s refer to this as a ‘stealth whip’, then. Technically, there’s no whip. But we all know– there is a whip.
This leads us to Liu’s portrayal of a dominatrix in "Payback"(1999) with Mel Gibson. Here, Liu, whip in hand, unleashes the true Dragon Lady in all her glory. No more hiding in the smart business attire of Ling Woo; clad in leather bra, whip in hand, the truth is revealed. Liu and her whip are accepted in mainstream film.
With the reward of mainstream acceptance comes the desire to play ‘normal’ characters. Pro-feminist action romp "Charlie’s Angels" (2000) provided Liu with that opportunity . Side-by-side with Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz, Liu is part of a trio of ‘normal’, red-blooded, American heroines. ‘Normalcy’, however, is short-lived when Liu’s character "Alex" is assigned to distract a lecture hall full of computer programers by donning a leather outfit and, you guessed it, a whip. The message this sends: you can be one of us, but don’t forget to pack your whip.
Currently, Liu is working on pre-production for "Charlie Chan"(2009), based on real-life Asian American police hero Chong Apana who incidentally carried a bullwhip, instead of a gun.
Liu–
"I don't know what's going to happen with the whip,"
"Believe me, I'm pushing it, but I don't know if they (the studio) think it's a good idea... "
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=13758
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