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AAST355 - Asian Americans in Film [ MOVIES], Recuperating Suzie Wong -…

- - - - juxtaposition between richard's testimony and edith's confession through the usage of music and visual demonstration. music played a role in displaying the chaos and brutality of the scene where before the court was calm, collected, in control then transitioning into a scene of chaos, power struggle, and confusion as how to react when a white woman is suddenly exposed
- - - - 17:50 He initially at the rose longingly and touches the petals delicately (kind of how he handles her). However there is evident foreshadowing when the man rips the flower off of the stem. Symbolism that he may also soon cut her off or abandon her.
      - 03:09 "little" Chinese girl, minimizes her importance/sense of identity --> later we see this in the film where she refers to herself as "little nurse" invalidating her mothering abilities
    - - 10:59 Denial of the possible inevitable portrayed through her clutching her heart and covering her ears as if to blatantly ignore the other women's concerns.
        
        31:56 Use of broken English to emphasize the exclusion of her from being American and how she may never fully belong in his world no matter how hard she tries
  - - - 17:55 why can't the man just say no to her coming to America? I guess he feels like he owes her for saving his life before? 20:20 edit: i guess he does try to tell her no...
      - 51:30 what the heck she just gives up her own son to Allen Carver's new wife?? Is she trying to let go of every piece of him and that's why shes also ridding herself of her son?
- - - - 10:08 there was a blurb that said "fighting scenes staged by Bruce Lee" which surprised me that they were open minded to letting him not only act but have an executive role in how the film's fights would be portrayed (ounce more of authenticity perhaps?)
    - - 16:00-19:26 Depicting an Asian woman as self sufficient, able to combat, not necessarily needing a "savior role"
        
        36:24 exoticism of Asian cultures "otherwordly' combined with the use of oriental music to strongly emphasize the foreigness
      - 26:40 openly depicting racism of a Black man being followed by a patrol car and searched for no apparent reason, surprisingly shows him fighting back? wonder if this sets a precedent for audiences watching?
        
        In class we brought up the idea of contrasting Bruce Lee with Han almost as a "compromise". Just because we allow a hypermasculine Asian male to be a heroic lead doesn't "erase" the idea of Asian men having "evil" characteristics --> rly deepens the complexity and moral exceptionalism of Asian male characters
      - 28:55 "They dont live so big over there. Ghettos are the same all over the world. They stink." weird sense of universal unity seen in slums, derogatory connotation, just bc they're the "same" doesnt mean theyre worth any less attention. minimizing concern for the lower class due to the fact that its not extraordinary of how poor they are
        
        39:12 "I like to eat. If I could find something to keep down" drawing negative attention to the strange food in oriental cuisine, distinguishing it as unappetizing, weird, and further contrasting it from the more likeable Western culture
        
        58:55 Asian men as barbarians, ruthless, lacking sympathy, uncivil
- - - - You can gauge a sense of generational trauma that the filmmaker endures from her childhood. Although, there may not have been a lot of verbal storytelling passed on from her grandparents, the emotional toll it took on her mother/family is evident and I am sure she experienced it during holidays where family was meant to get together but instead was left with a gaping absence/lack of relatives
    - - 14:50 the weight of emotional turmoil/horror that the Japanese people must've endured must've been so devastating to the point where the mom has blocked out all memories of it, wishing not to revisit that time
- - - - 20:45 he is almost "trauma bonded" to the place he calls home bc despite all the bad things Sokly experiences (crime rate, discrimination etc) he still finds the positives such as his friends being close by, his school, the restaurants. he HAS to maintain optimistic bc its not like he can afford to move elsewhere more secure and safe anyways...as an immigrant he needs to work 3x harder to achieve stability to be able to "escape"
- - - - 23:45 victim complex...how can Ebens/Nitz sit there without remorse when they were responsible for killing a man. Sure you might've gotten punched but a punch vs a funeral are two very different things...you're also a grown man, handle yourself more maturely! the lack of accountability and emotional restraint dumbfounds me...
      - 28:43 the way that Ebens is complaining about the treatment he received while being in prison is astounding and so ignorant...your discomfort will nvr bring back a life. His discomfort is not equivalent to the cruel treatment he treated Chin in his final moments "I feel like a real jerk for being in jail on Father's Day" --> this quote was insane to me bc it still shows that he is not understanding the extent of his actions and the damage hes inflicted. Is that rly the example you wish to set for your children..??
        
        Touched on the auto-industry failures due to international influences of Asian car brands coming in and doing well in sales. This therefore resulted in a rise of xenophobia and blame placed on ALL Asians for the shortcomings for American car brands not selling as well
    - - 26:16 the description of Vincent Chin by his friend truly humanizes him, setting apart race as a distinction and instead highlighting his brightness, care for others, and easygoing social personality
      - 27:50 "His mother was going to move in with him and his wife.He said that was the traditional thing to do in Chinese families" demonstrates his familial loyalty strong within a lot of AA communities. Caring for ancestors and elders are ingrained in generations succeeding them and is frowned upon if you fail to look after/prioritize your own family at all costs!
- - - - 49:58 thin line between tough love and gaining control. I think it is a careful balance that is shown intricately through the relationship with the grandfather and mother how he doesn't want her to be alone but at the same time is worried abt his reputation and family name being disdained
- - - - 1:19:10 This scene really reminded me of how in the beginning he said he wanted to come to America for a level playing field but now he's nowhere near "leveled" despite being the youngest associate at a known firm and is professionally successful yet racially at an all time low being arrested and having preconceived notions about him being a bomber and all these allegations assumed about him
  - - - 43:20 Bobby already manipulating and painting Changez w suspicion and jumping to conclusions but then later will go to scenes about Changez explaining himself and disproving evidence with logical approach. He goes in saying hes a reporter putting aside preconceived notions but then presents all these judgements that he has in place. How does one work through and past that?
- - - - "culture as the determinant for social formations" but is harder to analyze since it is such a melting pot of race, ideologies, and heritage which is ever evolving. this idea combats "racism from a distance" which is the subtle and indirect ways in which racial prejudice is perpetuated when ppl lack geniune interaction/affinity to a different racial group (pg 52-53)
      - "culture is a process which has no identifiable origin...all the culture to be had is culture in the making" meaning that culture is ever evolving and i guess not really one "definition" or correct "appearance" to what a singular culture may be represented as? (pg 53)
      - "Bruce Lee's polycultural world sets in motion an antiracist ethos that destabilizes the pretense of superiority put in past by white supremacy" arguing that the film does its best to detest racism through diversity and exploring a range of complexities and how it contributes to the framework of Asians (specifically through kung fu) pg 54
      - "Deemed nothing but laborers, [Asians] came to be seen as fundamentally alien, rather than assimilable migrants. Representations of these foreigners exaggerated certain attributes not only strange but also inferior" created an impenetrable barrier that made it difficult for Asians to be accepted, viewed normally, or even valued, their exoticism magnified by media (pg 56)
      - combatted racism and exclusion via creation of documentaries such as Save Chinatown, The Filipino Immigrant, and the Dragon Wore Tennis Shoes to offer insight on asian immigrants and incorporate new perspective on multiculturalism (pg 57)
        
        multiculturalism is the notion that we can hold several cultures at once promoting inclusivity and greater understanding (shortcomings: asking cultures to conform to one viewpoint)
      - "the networks did not want to project a Chinese guy as the main hero"
    - - "Polyculturalism...offers a dynamic view of history mainly because it argues for cultural complexity" does this mean that yellowface and other appropriation practices are arguably "ok" under this definition? Should we condone offensive acts such as these as being polycultural and the process of shaping what a truly representative culture is? (pg 53-54)
      - "the networks did not want to project a Chinese guy as the main hero" why even care that much when Bruce Lee was able to bring in the movie revenue that they were looking for? Why not use his platform to continue the momentum of Asian inclusion in films and empowerment? So sad - missed opportunity (pg 58)
  - - - Mentions Hayakawa's success in being able to establish his own production company but that he was hindered by upper level executives and structural hierarchy that limited his artistic vision in being able to produce powerful and accurate Asian American films (pg 6-7)
    - - "Internment" is never used because it signifies the erasing/minimizing of Japanese Americans so government often used "relocation/assembly centers" --> makes it sound like there was a choice. temporary
  - - - "did what any good Asian American child would do: I applied to medical school" intrinsic expectation that "success" is determined by specific careers/pathways and that others were frowned upon or deemed "lesser than". The stereotype still perpetrates to this day in which i know a lot of older generational families uphold this belief (including my own hence why i am also strongly ingrained in the medical field/found a passion for it bc of my family)
        
        The desperate struggle in getting justice vs being scared to risk their livelihood. AA have been repressed for so long that they weren't even sure how to speak up. Took a group effort but its hard when the foundation of the movement is so unstable/scared
      - "but my filial obligation to my parents - and my entire line of ancestors - was a core part of my Chinese heritage" demonstrates the strong connection to family that Asian American families often possess and how important it is to make them proud since its a reflection on the lineage/ancestry
        
        "You fit the punishment to the criminal, not the crime" a HUGE disappointment of the justice system essentially giving the white men the easy way out simply bc of the color of their skin. two white men were set free in a city w/a population more than 60% black in which these men were capable of inflicting this harm onto ANYONE
      - "ruin forever my parents' dream - and that of nearly every Asian immigrant parent - to have an offspring who is a doctor, who will care for them in their old age" once again reflects importance of generational care and upholding parents opinions/beliefs
        
        "local unions sponsored sledge-hammer events giving frustrated workers a chance to smash Japanese cars for a dollar a swing. Japanese cars were vandalized and their owners were shot at on the freeways. On TV, radio, anti-Japanese slurs were commonplace." violence is exacerbated to the point where it made individuals concerned for their own well-being for LOOKING asian/japanese
      - "in Detroit, Asian Americans weren't even on the map" even as a minority, Zia's identity was even more ostracized that they didn't belong which is even reflected through the lack of accurate Chinese dishes
      - "The Japanese auto auto imports were everything the gas-guzzlers were not...they were easy to hate" turned to the smallest population minority to blame as a scapegoat since the population was so small in Detroit hence the easiest to place blame on while having the majority of everyone else "join arms" to hate against them
  - - - stereotypes are brought up once more "the queer Asian North American man… is often considered the submissive, obedient partner… linked to the racialization of Asian men as effeminate, sexually deviant, and undesirable while the "queer Asian North American woman is most often read as invisible or as impossible… her queerness is potentially overwritten by an assumed heterosexuality" (pg 6-7)
  - - - "nostalgic depiction of Uganda spurred the criticism that Nair was romanticizing the nation's brutal and demeaning colonial history" can be hard to make a film that addresses so many issue areas. Yet Nair tries to find a balance navigating racial stereotypes and fluidity of individual racial identities through the interactions that Mina and Demetrius have not only with one another but with their families/community members (182)
      - Nair makes an argument that geography influences identity as fundamentally as ethnicity which is true in Jay's yearning to return to Uganda, Mina's hybridity, and many other examples in the film that show the struggle to assimilate into American standards and find their place in the social hierarchy among other racial groups (184)
    - - "Vague location of the film's troubled happily-ever-after conclusion suggests that place - even more than race - is its greatest source of narrative conflict. The film's refusal to find destination points for its characters...creates a double diaspora" I rly like this quote bc not only does it pinpoint a flaw evident in the movie but also conveys an important theme surrounding how native ethnicity and lived geography contributes to the complexities shaping identity (184-185)
    - - "In an economy where Indians have provisional control over capital and blacks supply labor, the pseudo-solidarity that makes "people of color" stick together vanishes when sexual independence threatens economic power structures" --> rly highlights one of the main struggles evident in the film regarding how to break away from this mold or societal stereotypical interaction between African Americans and Indians. It's cordial and respectful until sexual relationships come into play and suddenly its somehow a threat to the system? (189-190)
  - - - "repositions South Asians alongside Arabs and Muslims in the period following 9/11" reminds me of the change in treatment that Changez experiences being a "suspected terrorist" from him being falsely arrested on the street to the random airport siege. Brown narratives are dispensed and discounted as suspicious and untrustworthy (233)
      - Brown presenting person of South Asian, Muslim, or Arab background is already cloaked in suspicion. All these ethnic groups merge together unfairly to those individuals.
      - "model minority employee must embrace the effacing of his or her social difference to uphold the vision of the corporate meritocracy" despite all the snide comments/unconscious bias that Changez receives about his facial hair and how it indirectly relates to him looking like a terrorist or barbaric when in reality hes prideful of it bc it reminds him of Pakistan and his culture. He is firm in his standing in not shaving just to make others around him "comfortable" (243)
        
        "Changez's romance with America disintegrates as he confronts the reality that his brown body is seen as forever foreign." this discontent with America starts to settle into his relationship with Erica as he views her artwork of him as an ostracization and stigmatization of his skin color and identity. This results in a huge blowup at her since he cant confront the world and its perception of him so he gets upset and takes it out on her since it seems like hes subconsciously trying to regain some lvl of control. He is so use to having executive power in his professional life but is now at a loss when it comes to his personal life (248)
  - - - So interesting to see that even the one of the brightest and most educated men of the time even held racist ideals about Chinese people and Hong Kong...goes to show that it is one thing to be academically intelligent and another to be socially/socioeconomically aware/"street smart" (1)
      - work focused AA are depicted as bookish and smart but not necessarily socially intellectual or creative lacking "human touch" thus the concept of techno-Orientalism rose (especially in Japan and films featuring futuristic surroundings and technological advancements) (2)
        
        The automaton stereotype is older than model minority myth and modern techno-Orientalism and more expansive with its "longer history of Asians as a racially coded model machine". Techno-Orientalism "describes modern Asia as an economic and civilizational threat" while model machine myth is more US focused (4)
        
        "the model machine myth arises more from sporadic ruminations and random musings...erupted in erratic fashion during times of panic related to major political turmoil and socioeconomic transition" --> essentially people needed a scapegoat/a common "enemy" to work against/put down hence Asian Americans who were a little too perfect work ethic wise were the ones that people turned to blame (ex: rallying against foreigners since theyre the sole group responsible for taking jobs away despite Americans not wanting to fulfill those industrial positions anyways...) (5-6)
        
        similar quote but "Asian automatron trope gave shape to and helped diagnose public anxieties around social issues" (5)
      - Asian American labor/industrialization = indispensable, expendable technology
      - "racial machinization involves more than a reduction or refusal of Asian humanity...consider it as a revamping or refiguring of said humanity" --> much more complex? not necessarily encouraging/defending the dehumanization of AA through industralization/cheap labor but also not straight up refuting it...?(3)
      - "Asians as controllable cogs marks them as not empowered intellects but encumbered bodies, a nameless sludge that is easily imposed upon" kinda perpetuates a double narrative that Asian Americans can be manipulative and cunning but ultimately will never "outgame" the socioeconomic//racial structure in place meant to systemically diminish their worth
    - - How does modeling humanism create a distorted picture of Asians as model machines? How does it continue to perpetrate and carry on this faux ideal of model minority myth? (2) --> I really like these questions posed in the reading bc it makes the audience step back to how we may deem some AA as unemotional, mechanical, perfect, but how do we allow them grace for topics surrounding mental health or illness? Generationally speaking, I know my family along with a lot of my friends don't necessarily believe in mental health and that has really impacted my upbringing, morals, and work ethic growing up
      - Model minority intertwines a lot of persisting stereotypes such as perpetual foreigner syndrome, racial formation, and racial form. It really does raise the question of the most effective way to examine and address model minority myth since it affects so many areas (3)
      - What determines the boundaries between human and machine when it comes to the Asian American identity. How can one be efficient without being called machine-like or automated? (3-5)
  - - - some people were upset that Better Luck Tomorrow didn't have "consideration for the community" but the film really embraced Asian American complexity/varying identity and broke out of the model minority mold that had so long been delicately tiptoed around (3).
  - - - How to find the middle ground between supporting Asian American communities, portraying them accurately online with the usage of humor/comedy without backlash? I feel like there will ALWAYS be someone who is upset so why are shows such as Fresh Off the Boat and The Mindy Project held to different standards than shows of the Western counterpart? Should it be the job of directors to constantly commentate on racial issues?
      - Spivak argues that the term Asian American is too broad and therefore dangerous to use. However, then there is a contradiction that it was constructed to strategically destabilize existing racial order and empowers individuals to speak out on behalf of their marginalized community. But then in using this term it greatly overlooks smaller portions of the AA community such as those from South Asia. So how can we reconsider a better terminology when advocating on behalf of AA? Do we only primarily call out certain ethnic groups/subcultures? Do the other groups such as Chinese, Korean, Japanese not matter since they're considered "majority"? (21-22)
    - - "Asian Americans are actively using Twitter as a space for joining together, strategizing, and responding to media images as a collective...operates differently from more traditional face-to-face activism" online activism is taking many forms and roles but is an important tool to challenge preexisting stereotypes and improve representation through education on digital platforms (4)
      - "one important similarity is that Asian American media activists view cultural citizenship as a collective endeavor that cannot be accomplished at the level of the individual" (5) really demonstrates the power of the whole esp in terms of media literacy and advocacy
      - "researchers estimate that we each see over five thousand ads a day" representation exists in advertising as well causing it to have a stronger impact on public perception/consumer intake (9)
      - "advertising contains narratives about race and portrays racialized bodies just as television programs and movies do...The number of hours Americans spend online increases every year, with adults in 2013 averaging well over three hours per day online" advertising companies are just as guilty (if not more responsible) for continuing stereotypes about certain classes or races when they have the power to embrace multiculturalism and accurate representation (9-10)
      - "idea of citizenship for Asian Americans remains a perpetual contradiction...unassimilable perpetual foreigners." even though Asians may gain natural born citizenship they will always be viewed as culturally distinct, segregating them from many cultural rights (16)
      - Robert Lee makes a distinction between alien and foreign. Although both mean "other" foreign is perceived as benignly temporary while alien infers something threatening to stay therefore being a pollutant. One suggests that a certain individual or group poses more of a danger and within media if "alien" is used it could be a source of fear mongering (16)