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Ellen Rauck - AAST355 Map, Cultural Citizenship, Model Minority Stereotype…

- - - - relates to "The Other Question" and its discussion on fixity
        
        Arakau's aggression tells the audience that Asian men are dangerous and you can't trust them around white women. This creates a distinction between white and Asian men, arguing that there are distinct differences between the two. Movies that do this add to fixity. The text defines fixity as a “Sign of cultural/historical/racial difference [that] connotes rigidity and an unchanging order" (pg 94). Essentially it is saying that movies like "The Cheat" are contributing to the labeling of Asian Americans as "others" and "less than".
      - don't trust: Arakau is deceitful and hides his "true agressive" self
        
        "East is East and West is West and never the Twain shall meet" (43:29). I think this quote shows that no matter how much Arakau seems like and acts like a Western white man, the movie wants us to think that there will always be clear differences. Arakau seems like a kind man. When Edith tries to return the money however, Arakau kicks out his assistant? and once he is gone, switches to an extremely violent side and attacks Edith (31:00-33:30). The film is trying to say that Asian men are different and can't let go of their violent side, regardless of how much it seems they have. This stereotypes Asian men as violent and deceitful. It also makes Asian men seem dangerous because a white woman, who are seen as frail and needing protection, isn't safe when alone with an Asian man.
        
        Racial Otherness
        
        All of these are examples of how Asian Americans are grouped into the 'other' category in terms of race. I believe this has connections to power. Grouping Asian Americans as others, is a way of treating them as less than, because they are not treated as equals to white people. In "Mississippi Masala", I think the quote highlighted shows that it is meaningless what they are, since everyone they group into the other category is in their minds less than and therefore not worth learning about.
      - relates to "Romance and Yellow Peril" through how the article describes how yellow peril is shown in the film
        
        The article explains that one way yellow peril is created in films is when "the rape of the white woman becomes a metaphor for the threat posed to Western culture" (pg 3). Though Arakau didn't rape Edith, he attacked her and therefore is still seen as a threat to white women, like they could never be safe around him even if he seems nice and gentle. So, I think this quote applies a lot to this film.
      - brands Edith (possessive)
        
        "That means it belongs to me" (18:12). Arakau says this when he puts his stamp on one of his objects.
        
        33:00-33:20: Arakau brands Edith after she returns the money to Arakau. It's the same mark he used at 18:12 to show that the object belongs to him. He does this because she's trying to leave him (she doesn't need him anymore because she has money now) and he doesn't want to lose her. This is stereotyping Arakau as possessive.
    - - When Edith didn't have a lot of money she took interest in Arakau, someone with a lot of money.
      - Once Edith got money, she tried to return Arakau's money (because she no longer needed their deal and didn't want to be a part of it anymore.
      - Implies that Asian men aren't desirable and wanted (over a white man) for a relationship.
    - - When Edith shares that Arakau attacked her (53:00), a mob of people in the courtroom (white men) storm the floor and try to attack Arakau, in defense of Edith. They don't even wait to hear what he has to say before they act.
      - This implies that white women are victims in need of protecting from dangerous Asian men (circles back to the idea of how yellow peril is shown in the film creating this fear of the East).
- - - - When Allen is asked if he's in love with Lotus Flower, he responds, "Why not? She's sweet and charming -- and different" (12:57). This goes along with the exotic stereotype, that Asian women seem appealing to white men because they are different and exotic.
      - In at lot of scenes, she's posing with nature (like at 14:57), treating her more like an object to look at versus an actual person.
    - - Lotus Flower is devastated after Allen returns to America, and spends years waiting for his return. She isn't seen doing very much besides being with her and Allen's son and writing fake letters that she claims come from Allen. She doesn't appear to have any friends or family to talk to either. This is pretty much saying that she is nothing if she is not with him.
      - Lotus Flower gives up her baby to Allen and his wife to go live in America. It feels like they're saying Lotus Flower isn't good enough to raise her child and is much better off with people he never met before. It feels like they're saying the baby is better off with his father and White Lotus needs his help to raise the child right.
      - When White Lotus dies at the end, even though the movie says the Sea is supposed to take much more than it gives, I feel like it's also saying that White Lotus has nothing to live for if she can't be with Allen.
    - - discussed in Color-as-hue and "Color-as-race: Early Technicolor, Ornamentalism"
        
        The article argues that the use of Technicolor in the film "marks [Lotus Flower] as racially distinct from her Caucasian lover and female
        counterpart" (pg 299). Because of the vibrant greens and reds, she is seen as a part of her environment and not a character in the foreground.
        
        I feel like this dehumanizes her and contributes to her being viewed as "exotic". The Technicolor causes her to be depicted more as an object of attraction instead of a real person. Also, when comparing her bright clothing to Allen's dull boring clothing, the movie clearly wants to show how different the two characters are. I feel like she is supposed to come across as less civilized and not good enough to go live with Allen in America.
    - - The article "When Dragon Ladies Die" mentions how often in films "Wong's characters conveniently 'elect' suicide so as not to mar the future happiness of their white lovers and their white fiances" (pg 25).
        
        In this film, is one of the examples the article is talking about
  - - - 9:40-10:00: Fu Manchu reveals he has come back "from the grave"
      - 41:20-42:00: Smoke appears and a gong is played, and then Ling Moy talks to her father. Fu Manchu then responds to his daughter (even though he's dead). I think the scene (smoke and gong sound) and the fact that the dead is talking contribute to the mythical/mysterious vibe.
      - I feel like this plays into the yellow peril, where these unrealistic "powers" Fu Manchu has contributes to a fear of the East. Fu Manchu holds a grudge against this entire family (over one member of it) and won't stop, even after his death, to get revenge. This all creates a fear of the mystery and unknown that they are establishing through these "magical powers" Fu Manchu possesses.
        
        Yellow Peril
        
        Yellow peril seemed like a bigger theme in the earlier movies we watched, but brown peril came up in a more recent film.
        
        Brown Peril
        
        Similar to yellow peril, as this film shows how harmful brown peril can be on South Asian Americans.
        
        A lot of the early films we watched created a sense of yellow peril. They portray Asian Americans as untrustworthy and violent. This is used to create a sense of fear, making people wary of Asian Americans. I think this connects with the Japanese internment camps, as it showed the consequences of yellow peril and how it negatively impacted Japanese Americans in particular.
    - - the article "When Dragon Ladies Die" discusses how this is a common occurrence in films
        
        "The oscillation between prevailing perceptions of Wong's characters as villainess and victim coincides with the limitations of many, if not all, of her roles" (pg 24).
    - - At the beginning of the movie, Ah Kee is introduced through this line "Ah Kee, a Chinese detective" (4:44). Why does he need to be called a Chinese detective instead of just a detective? He works in Scotland Yard, a police department that is not in China. It seems like his character is defying stereotypes, having a job in London and working along white men, but the movie already has to say that he is a little different.
    - - When Fu Manchu is about to die he says, "my ancestors, if only thou had granted me another son" (19:07). He wants a son to be able to kill off the rest of the Petrie family, even though he already has a daughter. This implies that women are too weak to do any harm.
      - 32:45: when Ling Moy goes to kill Ronald in his room, she is unable to do it, implying that women let their feelings get in the way of doing what needs to be done.
- - - - 19:45-21:45 - robert talks to Gwennie for the first time
        This scene is this first time we are introduced to a woman in the bar. All Gwennie seems interested in is her lack of sex appeal and her friend Chuck, who I’m assuming is a white man. This makes it seem that she puts a lot of value on being attractive to a white man and implying that the only way a white man would want her is for her looks and “sex appeal”. She also cares a lot about the letter he wrote her, since she keeps it in her purse and is excited to read it to Robert, seeming like she gets satisfaction from knowing that he enjoyed his time with her. She clearly wants to be with a white man, therefore making Asian women seem less-than because it implies that they would be so lucky to get to be with a white man.
        She also doesn’t have any character depth in this scene, implying that the only purpose of Asian women characters is to be attractive for white men, because the only way for stop being a prostitute is to find a more permanent partner. She’s wearing a sweater to hide her “skinny arms” and takes off her glasses to look more attractive. She only talks about her physical characteristics, implying that white men only want Asian women for their looks and their body. This works to objectivity Asian women, as all that seems important in this scene is how they look.
      - 53:45-55:40 - suzie brings friends into roberts room
        Suzie seems to be bringing her friends into Robert’s room to show off. Her friends seem really impressed by all the “expensive objects he owns and her claims that he is “crazy mad about” her. At this point in the movie, this is not true and she lies to make it seem like they’re together. This again, depicts Asian women characters as having no character depth. They only seem interested in men and the nice belongings they own.
        This scene also depicts Asian women as untrustworthy. Suzie takes advantage of the fact that Robert is away, taking her friends into his room without his knowledge or permission. They go through his things, violating him and his personal living space. Suzie calls for room service using his money, claiming that he will do anything for her. Also, one of her friends, after seeing his expensive silver hairbrush, says that “some day I’ll open shop and sell silver to tourists”. It’s a quick moment, but it appears that she puts the silver hairbrush in her pocket, so it seems like she is stealing the silver and is planning on selling it to make a lot of money. I think these depictions go along with the idea of yellow peril, that people from Asia should be feared because they can take advantage of people from the West.
      - 1:02:10-1:04:26 - suzie tells her friends robert beat her up
        Suzie appears to be excited about getting beat up. When she tells Robert that she wants to tell her friends that Robert beat her up instead of the Sailor, Robert has the reasonable reaction of saying that she’s crazy for wanting to do that. Suzie’s friends however, agree with Suzie that Robert beating her up is a sign that he is “crazy in love” with her. This doesn’t make any sense, and seems very illogical. I think that the article “Recuperating Suzie Wong” explains this scene very well, saying that “the spectator is simultaneously reassured that Asian women want to be beaten”, separating the two cultures, which are the Eastern and Western cultures, because “Western cultures would never equation violence with devotion”. This scene effectively does the job of othering Asians, making them seem less civilized and lacking in reasoning when compared to people from the West, who like Robert don’t understand why she would lie.
      - In summary, Asian women in the film portrayed as untrustworthy, only valuable when found attractive by white men, and illogical.
    - - The article "Hypersexuality" says that "Figures of Chinese women prostitutes occupied a prominent place in popular culture to the extent that this is an imagined threat shaped immigration, resulting in the Page Law in 1870, which curbed the population. At the turn of the century, Chinese women prostitutes were routinely harassed on the streets" (pg 17).
        
        I found it interesting to learn about the harmful effects of representations of Asian women in films like "The World of Suzie Wong" had on Asian Americans. While it can be viewed as a simple movie, it worked to create a negative perception of Asian American women. Every Asian woman major character in the film is a prostitute, creating this false narrative that practically all Asian women are prostitutes, which was not and is not even close to the actual case.
- - - - "But is there such thing as a unified Asian American Culture? (pg 32)
      - The article describes Asian American as "the name of a coalition of Americans who have come to realize that their political situation ... required them to act together" (pg 32)
      - "It just takes one Asian actor or director, and it gets classed as Asian American Cinema. You don't see films out of Africa called African American" (pg 33)
      - The Asian American label for films "often becomes all that a media critic can see" (pg 33).
  - - - Instead of focusing on if a representation of Asian Americans in films is positive or negative, the text wants us to focus on the power structures put in place that made the representation the way it was displayed in the film.
- - - - Lee is portrayed as a very masculine character, through his appearance and fighting skills
      - Around 1:33:50, Lee is in a fight with the villain of the film (the evil guy who runs the island). He seems very masculine in this scene. His shirt is off and his muscles are showing. He has cuts on his body that make him look tough. He is yelling and doing cool Kung Fu moves. I think that Lee's high Kung Fu ability makes him appear more masculine in the film.
    - - most of prostitutes on the island were Asian
        
        17:00-20:00: Lee's sister is the only Asian woman character in this film to defy this stereotype. She does a very good job at fighting off a couple of men who are chasing her. In the end, she chooses to kill herself instead of becoming a prostitute on the island. This goes against stereotypes by showing that she is more than just an object to look at; she is a capable and tough woman not willing to be treated as an object.
        
        Generally, Asian characters more humanized than I've noticed in past films so far. Ex 1: this scene. Ex 2: 7:30 - Lee gives child the allowance to feel (having feelings = humanization).
        
        42:20: when one of the contestants was offered to have prostitutes in his room for the night, there were 5 Asian and 1 white one for him to choose from (and he gladly took multiple)
      - Lee only contestant we saw who doesn't want a prostitute
        
        43:20: Lee only asks for a specific women because she's working undercover and he wants to talk to her (doesn't want her for her body)
        
        All the other contestants (2) that we see (42:00-43:00), gladly want the prostitutes for their bodies, despite the possibility of it distracting them from their competition. This makes Lee seem lacking in sexuality, in comparison to his competition.
    - - The article "Bruce Lee and the Anti-Imperialism of Kung-Fu" says that "the networks did not want to project a Chinese guy as the main hero (pg 58). So, Bruce Lee being the main hero character was clearly not a very common thing for the time.
      - All of the films we've watched so far had the Asian man main character portrayed as a villian, except for in "Daughter of the Dragon" where Ah Kee is a good guy, but he has a tragic ending in the end. So not only was Lee a hero main character, but he is able to win and have a happy ending.
    - - The article "Bruce Lee and the Anti-Imperialism of Kung-Fu" says that "polyculturalism accepts the existence of differences in cultural practice, but forbids us to see culture as static and antiracist critique as possible" (pg 54).
        
        I think this film does show some of the complexities of culture, but it still doesn't stray away from common stereotypes. While most of the Asian women are prostitutes (common stereotype), Lee's sister defines that by being able to fight and willing to give up her life to not become one. Also, some of the prostitutes in the film are not Asian. While most characters doing Kung Fu are Asian, which makes sense because it was originated in China, there are some characters of other races who are also skilled in Kung Fu. These details show a little polyculturalism by showing characters and moments that defy stereotypes.
  - - - At 48:40 Ben's fish died. He notices it right after the scene where he is seen partying. In the beginning of the movie, there is a montage of all of Ben's responsibilities (5:20), which I see as a reflection of him being a 'model minority'. One part of this montage, Ben is seen taking care of his fish. When I watched this scene, all of Ben's responsibilities seemed very overwhelming to me. When Ben starts to sway from his routine, i.e. when his fish died, it demonstrates how being the model minority is an unrealistic expectation put on Asian Americans.
      - At the beginning of the film Ben quotes "as long as it made it on my college application it was all worth it" (4:00). This shows getting into a good college as one of Ben's main motivators. Going to a good college is one way to prove to others that he is a model minority.
    - - The movie ends with Ben and Steph driving away and Ben saying "for the first time in my life I don't know what my future will hold" (1:34:15). When I first watched the film, I was kind of mad that it ends on a cliffhanger. Now that I think about it, it is a cool ending because it makes the viewer feel his uncertainty. He is uncertain about what will happen in his life, like if Steph will find out or he will get in trouble for what he did, and we are uncertain of what happens to his character.
    - - When Ben kills Steve, he goes from a nerdy high school boy, who isn't portrayed as masculine, to an extremely aggressive, masculine character capable of some real harm. I think this contributes to the yellow peril, where even an seemingly harmless boy can switch up very quickly.
      - The article "Straitjacket Sexualities" discusses the "masculinity and manhood" (pg 156) themes present in the film. It argues that the actions of the young men in the film, like excessive partying, Ben trying so hard to make the basketball team, and ultimately the killing of Steve, reflects their search of "a viable manhood for themselves beyond their Ivy League-bound futures and daily experience with racism and gendered racism" (pg 156). I definitely agree with the article, but think that multiple factors come to play that results in the extreme switch up in the actions of the young men. Particularly, I think the pressures put on them as the 'model minorities' makes them so stressed out that they need a major change.
        
        When talking about making the JV basketball team, Ben says that "it's amazing what one piece of clothing can do for your image" (15:55), referring to him wearing his basketball clothes in school, but then later says "like everything else in my life I get sick of it but at least it'll look good on my college app" (16:20).
        
        This demonstrates the complexities of Ben's motivations. He cares about how he is perceived by others in his school. Him being on the basketball team, like the article says, makes him believe others see him as more masculine, while at the same time, he is motivated by being able to put something on his college app.
      - Steve's view of Ben's masculinity
        
        In a private conversation between Ben and Steve, Steve says to Ben "you like Steph; you want to take her to the winter formal?" (25:10). Despite knowing that Ben likes Steph, Steve doesn't believe that Ben is a threat to his and Steph's relationship, which I believe is because Steve doesn't see Ben as masculine. I think this contributes to the anger Ben has towards Steve and ultimately contributes to his murder of Steve.
- - - - Throughout the film there's an image of a woman filling a canteen with water. In the beginning (4:55) it's a short clip where we only get to see the back of the woman's head. Slowly as the film goes on, we get to see more of the woman. It seems like whenever the narrator gets to learn more about her past, the woman appears and we get to see more of the clip. I think it's used as a symbol of learning more about past, so more of the pieces of the clip come together. Around 23:30 the face of the woman is revealed when the narrator goes to visit the camps because seeing an "Asian face" makes the people living in the surrounding towns remember the camps. I think that time was chosen to show her face because going to the camps is a significant moment in helping the narrator learn about her family's past
      - The narrator says the the Japanese "took barren land and brought water to it. They bought up all the land no one wanted and made things grow on it" (23:55). I think the clips of water are also a symbol for this moment.
    - - Use of comparison shows how little information on Japanese Americans compared to white Americans
        
        The photos her sister was obsessed with "were of white people" (4:05), Then the narrator goes on to say "I often wondered how the movies influenced our lives (4:25). It makes sense that the famous people the narrator's sister idolized white people from the movies because those were the people that were in the movies and the people that created them. The quote about movies influencing people's lives describes the power of movies to spread stereotypes and influence opinions on Asian Americans. Movies reflecting the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the Japanese internment camps come from the POV of white Americans, portraying the effects on Japanese Americans inaccurately or not at all.
        
        There is a big contrast when talking about white American POV and Japanese American POV. When talking about Japanese Americans and how the situation affected them, there is often a black screen with white text describing the situation. When talking about how white Americans viewed the situation, there is often a clip from a movie portraying how they felt. This extreme contrast emphasizes the issue that the stories of Japanese Americans in that time period are unknown and not told by the media.
        
        "There are things that have happened in the world while there were cameras watching" (5:08). A little later, the narrator says "There are other things which have happened while there were no cameras watching which we restage in front of cameras to have images of" (5:50). It shows that the parts people tend to remember more accurately are the parts with the cameras watching, while the parts without cameras gives the movie creators the opportunities to affect how the general public views the situation
        
        It's also crazy how the people in power have the chance to choose what gets captured because "cameras were forbidden" (11:25) at camp.
      - The narrator talks about Japanese Americans' "disappearance from history" (26:45), and her "desire to create an image where there are so few" (26:55). This explains the narrator's whole purpose for this film. She doesn't know much about her family's history and wants people to be aware of the abuse and hardships her family faced.
    - - "History and Memory: For Akiko and Takashige"
        
        This film is third cinema because it brings awareness to the Japanese internment camps, something that doesn't seem to be talked about nearly enough. I don't really remember it being talked about in much detail in any of my history classes in school, maybe briefly mentioned, but still not made it out to seem as big of a deal as it was. It also brings awareness to the fact that it was deliberately kept quiet, because of the cameras not allowed, making the narrative to be told by people who weren't actually there.
        
        I think the style of storytelling is different from the other films we watched and also makes it applicable to the "Third Cinema" movie classification.
      - "The Fall of I-Hotel" EDIT
      - "Who Killed Vincent Chin?"
        
        I think this film can be classified as third cinema because it brings attention to how Vincent Chin and his family were wronged by the justice system and by his murderers.
  - - - VC "enabled radical students of color to seize film as a tool for social justice and social change" (pg 37).
    - - "Third Cinema shares complex histories and relations with the Third World" (pg 29) and "has come to identify an array of media practices that resist reduction to a shared set of formal or thematic features" (pg 29).
- - - - Around 11:00 there is a drastic change in the background music being played. It goes from a more upbeat music when talking about Ronald Ebens past to a completely different and less upbeat tone when talking about Vincent Chin's mother's past. This conveys the hardships the Chin family has faced while also highlighting the privilege Ronald Ebens has to have to not have a care in the world.
      - Throughout the entire film, the scenes cut between hearing about Vincent Chin and his family and friends' perspective to hearing about Ronald Ebens and his family and friends' perspective. I think these tone shifts are extremely powerful and evoke strong feelings of sadness and anger in the viewers. I remember being shocked and upset after watching Vincent Chin's mother crying at 28:00 and then immediately seeing Ronald Ebens talk about how terrible it was for him to spend a night in jail and how "there's no blankets, there's no mattress, there's no pillows" (28:45). It made me so angry to see a man complaining about spending a night in jail after he killed someone, so extremely self-centered.
    - - Ronald Ebens shows no remorse for his actions, showing how little he values the life of an Asian American.
        
        Ronald Ebens says how his night in a jail cell wouldn't "be a good experience for anyone" (28:40). Throughout the film, he talks way more about how he was affected by the murder he committed than how Vincent and his friends and family were affected. It seems like he regrets the inconveniences in his life more than being the cause of the death of a young man.
        
        Towards the end of the film, Ronald Ebens, when asked if the justice system failed in his case (he wasn't given any jail time), says that "I don't see anywhere it did fail" (1:17:55). He is essentially saying here that he doesn't believe he deserves any punishment for his actions, as if he did nothing wrong in the eyes of the law.
        
        Ronald Ebens said "it just happened" (22:50), having no accountability for his involvement in the murder and clearly not seeing what he did as a big deal.
      - Ronald Ebens' family and friends defend his actions, showing how they also don't value the lives of Asian Americans.
        
        While describing Ronald Ebens, his friend says that "he's not the type of person that is outward prejudiced" (56:25). He is saying that Ronald Ebens has prejudice but isn't one to show it. He is pretty much saying that it is alright that he has prejudice, like it's an acceptable thing for someone to have, defending his actions in the process. This also implies that he views Asian Americans are less than because Ronald's prejudice is not wrong in his eyes.
        
        One of Ebens' neighbors said "they're really good people and it could happened to anybody" (5:10). It's like she doesn't believe he is at fault for killing Vincent Chin and that he is just unlucky for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
    - - I think this is particularly effective through the film's use of humanization of Chin. His friends and family help to portray him as a nice and harmless man who didn't deserve a brutal murder. It also emphasizes the harm this murder brought to his mother.
        
        Chin's childhood friend talks about how "people accepted [Chin]" (26:30) and how "he was one for making friends anywhere" (26:45).
        
        At 28:00, Vincent Chin's mom describes the pain she felt while he discovered her son died as she's crying. Then the scene cuts to Ronald Ebens talking about how that night was his first time in a jail cell. His lack of emotion is an extreme contrast to the scene before, making clear the lack of care he has for Asian Americans.
        
        In the last scene, around 1:19:00, Vincent Chin's mother talks about how the court has wrong her, having the audacity to not send the murderers of her son to jail at all. Seeing how upset she is makes it clear how big the event was, despite Ronald Ebens' attempts to downplay it.
        
        The article "Detriot Blues" also effective in humanizing Vincent Chin and his family. Two quotes in particular stuck with me through the article: 1) "his four hundred wedding guests attended his funeral instead" (pg 38) and 2) "Vincent's soul will never rest. My life is over" (pg 53). Both of these quotes show that Vincent Chin had family and friends who cared about him and were greatly affected by his death. Also, because he was about to get married, it feels as if his life was about to begin and Ronald Ebens stole that away from him.
- - - - Makes the film feel genuine, like we get a realistic view into his life: we get to see the serious parts while also just see him be a normal teenager, so it seems like he doesn't purposely hide anything from the audience
        
        Don Bonus sets the camera in front of him in one scene and starts talking about how he "feels lonely" (15:45) because his mom went back to visit Cambodia. This feels realistic because you can tell he's not holding back, and the closer shot on his face gives the scene a realistic, "vlog-like" feel.
        
        At 16:50, there is a scene of Don Bonus and his friends playing cards. This contrast to the serious moments helps to make the film seem genuine. It reminds the viewers that he is just a regular teenager living his life.
      - Makes the viewers feel connected to Don Bonus
        
        Don Bonus films a clip while he is crying in the car and says "why can't we have a normal family" (30:40). This makes me really feel for Don Bonus. He opens up and shares all that he feels, making the viewers feel like we truly understand him.
        
        Don Bonus shares that his entire family is going to his brother's hearing instead of his graduation. He then says that he believes that he "deserve[s] a diploma" (48:20). This is another example of how Don Bonus shows the real him and an example of him effectively building a connection with the audience.
    - - Don Bonus's father "sacrificed himself ... so he could save [his family]" (6:55), then Don Bonus says "so now we are survive in America" (7:05). I think Don Bonus brings this up to show the irony of the situation. His father gave up his life for them to escape but live a difficult life in America.
      - After some kid broke one of the house windows, Don Bonus says "my grandmother, she's terrified" (10:25). It's sad because refugees uproot their lives to find safety, and they can't feel safe in their own home and neighborhood because they can't afford to live in a safer area.
      - Don Bonus says that "us Asian scared to call the police or the cops" because they're afraid the police will give them trouble for it (10:50). The police end of taking forever to respond to the call. It's hard for the refugees to feel safe in their new country when the people supposed to protect them, the police, don't take their calls seriously.
      - After getting robbed two separate times, Don Bonus and his sister "feel afraid and want to move" (19:10). This is another example of how Don Bonus and his family don't feel safe in their living situation.
      - I think the article "Refugeetude" does a good job of explaining the situation of Don Bonus and his family. It states that "the work of seeking refuge does not end when refugees are granted political asylum; what begins instead is a life of low-wage labor, with few opportunities for upward mobility" (pg 110). I think there's a common narrative that people are desperate to get to come to America and that solves all their problems. While they are escaping something serious from their home country, Don Bonus and this article show that Refugees have little to no help in their transition to a new, unfamiliar country.
    - - Don Bonus shares that he failed his composition test that is needed to graduate because he "didn't pay any attention [and he is] also lazy" (24:35). This is the completely opposite of the model minority stereotype, where they are expected to be good students that work hard in school. It seems like he doesn't believe in himself and this highlights one of the struggles of young refugees English isn't his first language so school must be so hard for him.
  - - - Fantasy world as an escape
        
        At 2:45, a VHS tape was placed into the TV that's located in a nail salon, entering the audience into the fantasy world of Erie County Smile. It isn't a very pleasant scene to watch, the focus is on a vacuum moving about the floor and the sounds of that vacuum and background noises aren't very pleasant to hear. In contrast, the bright colors and fun music of the show are appealing and capture the audience's attention. This moment sets the tone as this show being an escape from reality.
        
        At 6:00 the viewers are introduced to the characters of the show Erie County Smile. In this fantasy world, the host can be whoever they want to be and create whatever world she desires. It's so different from the real world (the world in the beginning scene), showing that she wants an escape.
        
        Throughout the film, a phone rings from time to time. At 22:45, the phone rings again and the scene cuts to a rat behind the stage. This rat had taken off its mask to reveal a person underneath. The rat person was making a serious face at the host as if they knew the host should answer the phone even though she didn't want to. The rat taking off its mask signifies that the phone dragging the host back to reality, taking her out of her fantasy world and back to having the responsibilities of a child of an immigrant. It's saying that no matter what the host does, she will always have these responsibilities that she cannot escape from.
      - water scene
        
        While in the water, the host's mother says "wear your jacket" (24:20). The jacket is soaking wet and does nothing to keep the host warm, showing that her mother cares and tries her best but maybe isn't able to meet her daughter's needs.
        
        At 23:35, the host walks into the water as they're talking to their mom. The water slows her down, a metaphor for her role as a daughter dragging her down and not allowing her to be fully integrated into her fantasy world.
        
        At the end of the movie, the host asks her mother for the time she was born to know her astrology signs (24:40). Her mother doesn't seem to understand why she wants that demonstrating a disconnect between them. This also signifies the host's desire to be integrated into American culture, something that her mother doesn't understand.
      - When interviewing the child of nail salon owners, the kid says "I wish there was not that much responsibility ... I think white kids don't really do this after school" (21:50). This is saying that children of immigrant parents have extra responsibilities put on them, like working at their family's nail salon, that other kids in America don't have to do.
- - - - Queerness
        
        Wil tells her mother "I love you and I'm gay" (1:12:55) her mother responds by saying the two can't both be true. Wil's mother doesn't approve of Wil being gay or doesn't even believe that it's possible.
        
        Her mother eventually comes around after Wil tells her she shouldn't marry a man she doesn't love. I think this shows that the relationship between Asian American mothers and daughters can be healed and they can support and accept each other.
        
        At 1:29:30, Wil is finally confident enough to dance with her girlfriend in public. I think this sends a message that being an openly queer Asian American is not a bad thing. I like that the movie depicted this relationship working out, because there was only one other film in this class ("Everything Everywhere All at Once") that shows a queer relationship.
      - Having unplanned for child
    - - At 2:30, a woman is seen talking about her "lazy son," but it turns out he is the VP of a company at the age of 29. This makes the expectations set on children to be extreme and unreasonable.
      - Mother Critical of Daughter's Appearance
        
        Wil's mother tells her "I see men's clothes are still in style" (3:45)
        
        4:35: Wil's grandmother defends Wil's outfit when Wil's mother insults it but then goes on to her own daughters heels.
        
        Wil's mother tells her "So thin. You'll catch your death" (3:40). A similar comment was made in "Everything Everywhere All at Once". It seems like Wil's mother is showing her care in a way that Wil doesn't like.
        
        There seems to be a lot of negative comments on daughter's appearance from their mothers. I think this demonstrates the high expectations. The fact that Wil's grandmother is more forgiving towards Wil but not her own daughter is interesting to see and I'm not sure why that is the case.
    - - 19:15 her dad worried about people "laughing at" him and his reputation (doesnt care that she's upset and still kicks her out)
      - 49:35 GPa kicked her out but still is trying to find her a husband (cares about his image or how she shows care?)
    - - divide bc daughter isn't happy about mother's presence in her house
- - - - Hard to find a sense of belonging/community
        
        Mina's family struggle to relate to the Indian Americans in their community
        
        Mina's father and his friends disagree on ideas about money (as spoken about in money section)
        
        Mina's father's longing for Uganda
        
        Mina's father was sad to leave Uganda and want to return, but he isn't wanted there. At the beginning of the film, Mina's father's friend tells him that " Africa is for Africans, Black Africans" (2:55). It's sad that the place he is longing for and feels at home doesn't accept him or even want him there.
      - Children's relationship to their immigrant parents
        
        Mina's father tells her "you are too intelligent to waste your life cleaning bathrooms" (46:35).
        
        In reference to Mina being with Demetrius, her mother tells her that "all you've done is bring such shame on our heads" (1:19:55).
        
        This follows the idea that immigrants have high expectations for their children, and the idea that their children want different things out of their lives that don't match these expectations.
    - - Mistaking them for different cultures
        
        When complaining about a group on Indians making a lot of noise, an old white man says "send them back to the reservation" (30:20), since he confuses them with Native Americans.
        
        One character asks Mina "you Mexican?" (35:45).
        
        Through these comments, it seems like the people who make these comments group all people who are not white or black together into an 'other category'. It's saying that they don't care what they are because it is meaningless to them, they're all the same in their heads.
      - Mina tells her mother that Harry's mother won't like her because Mina has darker skin and Harry's mother doesn't like that (22:30).
    - - Mina's father's friends don't understand why he is suing Uganda if it isn't about money, his response is "money comes, money goes" (38:55).
      - After Mina got into an accident, the owner of one of the cars says "who is going to pay for it? does money grow on trees?" (20:25)
      - An Indian woman says "You can be dark and have money or you can be fair and have no money, but you can't be dark and have no money" (28:20).
      - There is a stereotype that Indians are materialistic and care a lot about money. All three of these quotes show how this movie portrays these characters to follow this stereotype. There seems to be a lot of talk about money in this film, making the Indian characters seem obsessed with it. This theme also acts as a way to show the differences between Mina's family and other Indian Americans. Mina's father doesn't seem to care about money like his friends do. It shows how because of his unique experiences, how he grew up in Uganda, it's hard to find a place for him to fit in and find people he relates to.
        
        The article "At the Crossroads of Two Empires" states that the film "offended viewers who felt the film perpetuated stereotypes of impotent, money-grubbing Indian men" (pg 182). Later on in the article, it is stated that Mira Nair, the creator of the film, "acknowledged the difficultly of serving as 'a self-appointed spokesperson for the community" (pg 194) and shares her wishes to have more than "one ambassador" (pg 194). I think this is an important thing to note, that at the time, there weren't films with "an Indian woman as a romantic lead" (pg 178), and that the responsibilities of portraying an entire community of people.
- - - - Changez tells the CIA agent, "you say guilty people hide so do people who feel hunted" (45:15). I think this describes what Brown Peril has done to Changez. Even when he's walking on the street, the police come after him for no reason.
      - Changez gets told this: "not sure what's going on with the beard situation, but it's starting to freak some people out around here" (1:15:10). It's sad that he can't grow a beard without scaring others who, despite knowing him, still assume he is a terrorist.
      - One man is acting crazy on the street, but the cops, without confirming Changez is the guy they're looking for, start to arrest Changez. After they take him to the police station, they ask him "you ever have any combat training in Afghanistan?" (1:20:10). Because of the Brown Peril, the police are so quick to act and assume the worst in Changez because of how he looks.
      - The article "Model Minority Terrorist" states that after 9/11, Changez's "status as a model minority has been irrevocably eroded, while his brown peril body emerges as a blight that must be regulated, impugned, and ultimately expunged" (pg 245). I think this shows the power of stereotypes and how they change throughout time. One major event (9/11) completely changed how Americans viewed Changez. He went from someone expected to be smart and a model person to someone people were afraid of doing terrorism. Changez himself didn't change in that short of a time, but people's perceptions of him did, and how they treated him changed along with that. I think this shows how absurd stereotypes are.
    - - When living in America, Changez is the example of the perfect model minority. When trying to get a job he shares "I've never gotten a B in my entire life and I'm about to graduate summa cum laude" (16:35), and then he gets the job, which is apparently a very good job.
      - at 21:00, Changezs' boss gives a bunch of employees a hypothetical situation. While all of the other employees seemed to fail the task, Changez thought outside of the box and his boss was impressed by his answer.
      - Even though Changez was a model citizen in the US, he never felt like he belonged. After he comes back to his car after work to find his tires slashed, a man drives by him in his truck and says "f*ck you Osama" (1:01:15). Changez lives and works in America, and is a model minority citizen, yet still isn't treated like he is welcomed. It makes sense why Changez would move out of the US, no matter what he does, he would never be treated like an American.
      - The article "Model Minority Terrorist" states that the movie "provides a way to contextualize the model minority stereotype through the process of selective entrance" (pg 236), essentially only the smartest and skills people are able to gain entrance into the US. I think this is a great point that makes a lot of sense, explaining how the stereotype came to be.
  - - - I feel like the title "It Lives Inside", while clearly referring to the monster that ends up living inside Sam at the end of the movie, has a double meaning. I think it also means that your culture will always be apart of you even if you try to ignore it.
        
        Examples of Sam trying to distance herself from her culture
        
        She goes by Sam, an more American sounding name, instead of Samidha. When talking to Tamira, her old friend from childhood, she tells her "you know you can just call me Sam now" (15:05). This makes it seem like she wants people to call her Sam so that she can fit in.
        
        When Sam got to high school she ditched Tamira because she "wanted to fit in" (43:20) and she "could feel the way people looked at [her] when [she] was with [Tamira]" (43:30). I feel like this goes along with her name change, how she wanted to change herself to fit it. It feels like she was trying to distance herself from her culture in order to fit in, and Tamira is someone from her culture.
        
        Ways the Film Says that You Can't Escape Your Culture
        
        The demon seems to only go after Indian Americans. By going after Sam, it shows that her culture is always apart of her.
        
        She needs help from people from her culture to help her defeat the monster. Her mother gives her advice on how to beat the monster (1:06:45) and Tamira helps her with the chants required to contain the monster inside of her (1:28:50).
- - - - Some of the films share a theme of robots providing comfort, to people who aren't getting enough from real life people.
        
        In "My Robot Baby" after seeing the woman upset, the robot baby comforted the woman (22:00). This happens after her husband goes away on a business trip, so all she has left at the moment is the robot.
        
        In "The Robot Fixer" a mother attempts to complete her son's toy collection while he is in a coma. There is one scene that is a flashback to when the kid was a child, and the mother is looking back on the moment regretting vacuuming up his toy (39:15). This scene explains why she is so focused on completing this collection. When he was a child, she didn't care about her son's interests, and that lead to their disconnect when he reached adulthood. Now that her son's in a coma, she feels guilty for allowing him to slip away out of her life. Finding all the pieces to his toy robots provides her comfort, as a way to connect with her child and make up for her mistakes, despite her son being in a coma.
        
        In "Clay", the man says "it's all a lie" (1:14:40), in regards to his relationship with a robot. This relationship provided him comfort. This quote makes the argument that robots are capable of providing comfort, but it isn't real love like what is felt in a human relationship. This story is the most interesting to me out of all the four because it seems to contradict the three stories before it. The man, when faced with the choice to become a robot or not, rejects it because it isn't as good as living a human life, while the three stories before personify the robots and show them as misunderstood. This story is the only one that shows the dangers and downsides of having robots in our lives. I like this ending because it makes us question everything we've seen so far.
    - - In "Machine Love", one man tells a robot, "people don't quite get you" (48:40).
      - In "My Robot Baby" the robot, which wrecked the family's house and would be mean to the woman, turned out to be nice and comfort her in the end.
    - - In the opening scene, there are robots shown outputting 0s and 1s, like binary code, until there is a switch up and the robots being outputting base 10 numbers (0-9) (1:20). This sets the scene for the rest of the film, implying the robots in the stories are personified, because computers use binary while humans use base 10.
      - In "Machine Love" the robots show they have feelings. At 51:40, one of the robots makes an upset face when she is being touched by her male coworkers. At 58:25, two robots lovingly embrace. These actions make the robots seem like humans, because they are getting distracted from their assigned tasks and show emotion towards each other.
  - - - Around 7:00, Joy keeps trying to talk to Evelyn but struggles to get through to her. It seems like Evelyn isn't trying to truly listen to Joy and understand what she is trying to say. This shows the disconnect in the mother-daughter relationship, how they don't really know and understand each other.
      - Evelyn tells Joy that Joy is "getting fat" (11:00). It seems like Evelyn does this out of care for Joy, she just wants to make sure Joy is healthy, but clearly this was the wrong thing to say and made Joy upset. This shows Evelyn cares for Joy, but doesn't know how to go about showing it the best way.
      - Joy tells Evelyn about "the pain of having you as my mother" (1:32:40). This shows their strained relationship and the effect it has on Joy.
      - Joy tells Evelyn "for some reason when I'm with you it just hurts the both of us" (2:04:25), but Evelyn shows that she cares for Joy and is able to heal their relationship. I think this shows how these parent-children relationships can be difficult to maintain, but are able to be healed.
    - - There is a big question of the meaning of life in the film. Joy struggles because she believes life has no meaning, and Evelyn sees the world very negatively, but Waymond says that "when I choose to see the good side of things, I'm not being naive. It is strategic and necessary. It's how I've learned to survive through everything." (1:45:45). I definitely like Waymond's outlook the best. There is no point in focusing on the negatives in life or getting so worked up on the little things, and I think that is what the movie wants us to focus on. Evelyn spends so much time worrying about the little things, like her business and taxes, that she lets her relationship with her husband and daughter suffer. I believes that this movie wants to remind us to take care to our relationships in our lives.
    - - In the opening scene, a happy family is shown through a mirror, which goes away, and then the mirror falls down to reveal their messy home (0:35). I think this alludes to Evelyn finally getting to see her true reality for how it is. She doesn't see that her relationships with her husband and daughter a strained, and this hints at how her reality is going to come crashing down on her. Evelyn is also covering her daughter's mouth in the mirror, signifying how she doesn't give her daughter the opportunity to show Evelyn who she truly is.
      - Mirrors show up a lot in the first 20 minutes of the film, making the viewer note this significant theme. At 18:20, Evelyn looks into the mirror for the first time, right before she is transported to the janitors closest, where she first learns something crazy is about to happen to her. The act of looking into the mirror is when she is able to see her reality for the first time, because immediately after, Waymond explains what is going on to her, and her life changes forever from this point. I think this is a really clever detail made by the film.
    - - At a meeting with the IRS, Evelyn and Waymond struggle because they don't fully understand how taxes work (16:30). This demonstrates how hard it is for immigrants in America. They have no help with learning how to do things like taxes, and the Deirdre, the IRS woman, is not very forgiving.
- - - - defined as "a deeper sense of belonging and acceptance within a nation that has long rejected them" (pg 4)
      - "In order for individuals to feel like their cultural practices are accepted and that people like them are included within the nation, they must see themselves and their specific communities represented within the media" (pg 13). This highlights the issue of the lack of representation of Asian Americans in the media.
      - "If cultural citizenship includes participating in the normative cultural practices of a nation and therefore allowing for feelings of belonging and inclusion, then we must consider that many Asians moving through diasporic spaces can possess this kind of citizenship in places other than the United States" (pg 18). This quote is bringing light to how the media makes it seem like American cultural citizenship is portrayed as being highly desirable to Asian Americans, while in reality, they can gain this feeling of belonging in other communities.
    - - This article brings up the question of what the role of Asian American filmmakers and actors is. It discusses those who "see the media as a tool for impacting social change" (pg 4) and explains why disagreements over representation occur. "Asian American media activists seeking to improve representations often take up positions that appear contradictory to the success of Asian American actors, shows, and storylines" (pg 4). This quote brings up a complicated situation. On one hand, change is made through someone recognizing there is an issue and speaking out to bring awareness to the issue. On the other hand, this act of speaking out on the issues of representation in a film could case the Asian Americans who created and starred in the film to feel criticized and unappreciated for the work they did to get an Asian American film made and shown in the theatres.
        
        The article brings up a Mindy Kaling situation that I think describes the complicated issue very well. She was criticized when "The Mindy Project", a show she created, wrote, starred, and sometimes directed, had white males as all the leads and romantic partners. In response to this, "Kaling questioned why her show was being held to a different standard than other shows and emphasized that she worked in television, not politics" (pg 1).
        
        Though Kaling was so involved in the creation of the show, the network ultimately decides what shows get to be aired, and therefore Kaling is receiving criticism for something she doesn't have full control over. And from her point of view, she should be praised for the progress in representation she made with the show. I really appreciate the point she makes that she is being held to a higher standard and how it isn't her responsibility to improve representation. I think this is a case that relates to the first article we read in this class. If the focus of criticism is on the power structures put in place in the film industry that made representation like "The Mindy Project" hard to come around, instead of Kaling herself, it allows for activists to fight for change while simultaneously uplifting Kaling for the progress she made.