My Creative Final Project

Final Project

Final Video

 

New Hulk Comic Features Korean American

 

Marvel Comics recently released their newest rendition of the Hulk comic books, this time titled “Totally Awesome Hulk”.

More importantly, the new comic features a Korean American main character known as Amadeus Cho. Cho plays the Hulk himself, and has the ability to turn into the famous green monster we all know. The story follows the young Asian American character as he navigates through life, learning lessons, and finding his true identity as a super hero.

The two authors of the series, Greg Pak and Frank Cho, decided to include a Korean American main character, because of the lack of Asian American representation in comic books. Pak and Cho both explained how “[Asian Americans] don’t complain or stand out or rock the boat. It really is long overdue to have important Asian characters in big books”.

The goal is to inspire Asian Americans in the community, as there has long been a lack of representation in all forms of media.

The Project I almost did, and why I didn’t

Dear Blerg,

So after submitting and receiving feedback on my final project proposal, I’ve decided that I will not pursue the idea as my final project.  Initially, I wanted to make a buzzfeed or Vsauce stye/inspired video showing the oppression against Asian Americans in the current and historical American media. Initially, this seemed to be a good idea as, after taking this Asian American Studies class, I am well aware of the problem present and have many great examples in mind, but this does not mean that it is the best project choice for me.  Completing the project as I initially intended would not be a subversive way to change the culture and status of Asian Americans in the media or even entertaining.

Now that I’ve decided not to complete the project as I initially intended, I’m now left with a bunch of great video clips that I would still love to share with the world!  The first video clip is a 1971 “the lost” interview with Bruce Lee.  It includes some amazing quotes including:

Interviewer: Are you going to be able to live in both worlds?  Are you going to be a super star here [Hong Kong] or one in the States or both?
Lee: I am going to do both, because you see, I have already made up my mind that in United States I think something about the oriental, I mean, the true oriental should be shown
Interviewer: Hollywood sure hasn’t

Interviewer: Let me ask you about the problems that you face as a Chinese hero in an American series; have people come up in the industry and said ‘well we don’t know how the audience will take a non-American.’
Lee: Such questions have been raised and in fact that is being discussed in fact that’s why The Warrior will probably not be on.  You see because unfortunately, such thing does exist in this world… They think that business wise it’s a risk… but if you honestly express yourself it doesn’t matter.

The next video clip that I planned on including in my initial project was this example of a hyper-sexualized Bruce Lee from a Hong Kong production of The Big Boss which I intended to juxtapose to an American representation of Asian sexuality.

So I guess in the end I just wanted to share my feelings on why I decided to change the topic of my final, but I still wanted to share these links with you all!

The Fung Brothers

The Fung brothers are an Asian-American duos, specifically of Chinese descent, composed of rappers and comedians, Andrew Fung and David Fung. They are located in Alhambra, California but originate from Seattle, Washington. They are extremely popular on Youtube for their comedic and entertaining videos regarding Asian-American subjects. What I found most compelling about their work is the amount of collaborating they do with other Asian-American individuals. It adds this greater level of exposure and diversity in their videos. It also rapidly expands their audience base. They have done some notable collaborations with people such as professional Asian-American basketball player, Jeremy Lin. They are also in a rap group titled “Model Minority,” with Jason Chu, which has even been reviewed in a positive light by the Los Angeles Time. Therefore, they do great work at addressing and deconstructing the issues that the Asian-American population has to deal with in a really fun, engaging, and clearly successful manner.

While they have an extensive amount of youtube videos addressing a variety of issues, some of my favorite ones are “18 types of asian girls” and “east coast asian vs. west coast asian.” I find these videos most exciting because, not only did they incorporate the collaboration aspect with some other fantastic asian-american individuals, but they also highlighted this idea of diversity among a population of people that is so very often grouped as one.

We see that in the 18 types of asian girls, there are so many types that the fung bros describe, along with their subgroups. What’s notable is that even though all these are described, they bring about the main idea that there are so many different presented types that you cannot just pigeonhole a race or ethnicity into one way of being. The East Coast vs. West Coast Asian does that as well, with both genders. I also really appreciate that they will touch upon little historical backgrounds or fun educational facts.

While not entirely unrecognized, the Fung Bros definitely deserves acknowledgment, as well as further recognition and publicity. Keep up the good work!

Below are the links to the discussed videos:

 

Master of None: Brown Faced

 

Reversed racism, recently I saw this standup comedy show of reversed racism and it changed my entire perspective of revered racism. I always thought there was a possibility of reversed racism but I recently realized that you cannot create systematic racism of white people. There may be some racial commentary, but you can’t have racism towards them, there isn’t systemic system that enables them in anyway. I feel bad for the new generation of white people, but I don’t know. What do you think?

In this episode of Master of None, it was about brown faced acting roles. Similar to Asians or all the minorities, there are acting roles that exaggerates the culture of the race and I find it very offensive. In Master of None, it was awesome how he brought this brown faced issue up. It’s these type of shows that creates the right representation of racial groups. I enjoyed this show very much because it deals with current issues that this society does not like to face. And this on of the many episode that deals for social issues.

Week 8

After talking about being a white ally and reverse racism in class it really got me thinking. For me I grew up in Los Angeles at a school where white people were not the majority. In this way I felt that there was some legitimate racism against whites or reverse racism. The ways that the place I grew up in and the kids I was around systematically did not like white kids felt more like a system of oppression for my existence as a middle schooler. Maybe this is simple racial tension but for me this felt like an institutional overwhelming force that made me shameful of being half white around all my Asian, Latino, and black friends. It seemed that if one’s perspective is shaped in this way I feel like racism against whites by minorities is possible and something to be aware of. In my experience I find that a younger generation of white people born in a multiracial state like California do not necessarily hold the same level of prejudices as people before. In turn I feel that limiting white people from the conversation about uplifting all races does not help minorities in that they further distance the white people who hold the power when you tell them “this important movement applies to us and not you and you can’t help.” They say by 2042 minorities will be the majority in America. I feel that if minorities are going to rightfully be upset about historical prejudices in turn one should also be aware of ways in which we as minorities can belittle others, like these younger whites who are used to seeing and accepting these different cultures growing up in the modern world. I think it’s all about bringing people together and highlighting the ways we are similar rather than argue about the differences, like differences in our struggles. If I was called a small dicked Asian, and you called a hick cousin fucking honkey white, is it really fair to say one is worse than the other?

Spencer London

 

 

Masters of None? or Masters of ALL!

This show is fantastic! This show is monumental. This show is fantastic. Not only does it show that Asian-Americans are truly not just Chinese, but it also shows that they are also individuals! Here we finally are with Aziz Andari truly being himself–no gimmicks, no jokes-especially for other people. Masters of None has made it onto the Netflix train, and I really think that it’s going the right direction. It’s been very popular–or at least getting really popular– really fast. As amazing as Fresh off the Boat and Dr. Ken are, there is something so raw and authentic about Masters of None. Unlike both of the other mentioned shows, this one was actually written by the person who wanted to see his baby come to life: Masters of None. Here it is, and I think it’s coming to life really quickly. I have heard many people talking about it in places other than my classroom. I think that just really goes to show what kinda of power and impact media and media representations can have on society. While it has been used as a form of control and ridicule for YEARS, this may be the first big step towards change and understandings. I love how that story unfolds, as it doesn’t include that traditional and conventional sitcom film, unlike Dr. Ken. This one was actually cowritten by two outstanding Asian Americans who didn’t just write and direct it– but even get to act some of it out! That’s extremely exciting because there are lots of good feelings with Masters of None. Aziz did such a good job at normalizing difference and silently pulling myself out of a situation. His work really goes to show that even if there’s a rule on how to follow a script, you don’t exactly have to. Perhaps Dr. Ken and Fresh off the boat did, but this is just exactly what people are–not entirely just their race. He paints himself as an Indian American in roles you wouldn’t expect to see them in and that’s what so exciting! He’s not a doctor. He’s a normal young man doing typical young men things. He’s figuring himself out, as well as pursuing his love of activity. He’s interacting with confidence and with women whom perhaps a casting director wouldn’t put him with. That’s the beauty of this show. Aziz’s vision is in these clips. That vision helps further the message that race isn’t the first determinant of a person.

Master of None Episode 4

Master of None Episode 4 “Indian-Americans on TV” started off with scenes from many different TV shows portraying how Indians are shown in the media. It even showed Yellowface in the Popchips commercial by having Ashton Kutcher spray tanned and portraying an Indian man speaking with an accent. Indian men are portrayed in the media as liquor storeowners or taxi drivers.

 

Aziz’s character and his friend are auditioning for the role of a taxi driver that has just one line in the scene. The casting directors want them to speak with in accent because that’s how they are usually portrayed in the media. The role didn’t even have a name but they were casting for an Indian person to play the role of the taxi driver.

 

This is similar to how Asian Americans are often casted as convenient store owners or gang members. They are also casted as the scientist or doctor of the group that helps save people in the crime shows. They aren’t often seen as the characters with the guns that go out and capture the bad guys. They often play the roles that examine the body and find out the cause of death.