A response to Sylvie Kim’s Salon.com article

http://entertainment.salon.com/2012/03/27/judd_apatows_racist_new_trailer/singleton/

Here’s the link to the original story.

Okay, Ms. Kim, I understand what you are trying to say.  I completely understand it.  And you are wrong.  Let me be clear first, I am of Chinese descent therefore I am Asian and I wasn’t the least bit offended by the joke made in the trailer for five-year engagement.  Let me lay my points out.

First and foremost, why are you so offended?  I’m Asian, I didn’t feel that it was racist at all.  Actually, I found it quite funny.  That’s because this wasn’t racist.  If you substituted out the lines to be “this Mexican, that Mexican” it would have been fine in my book.  To take a 2 second piece of material and then say that its a bigger problem and Hollywood is full of racists is going a little to far, dontcha think?  

What about it is racist in the first place?  Seriously.  Isn’t it a little more racist that there were no black or Latina “past-lovers”?  Not that that was racist anyways.

Mr. Chang was an obvious over-exaggerated caricature of Asians.  If he’s a “racist” character then hey, isn’t every black guy playing the drug dealer in law and order also racist?  Isn’t every Latina playing a cleaning lady on TV or in the movies considered racist?

“Hollywood still thinks it is OK to make racist jokes when Asians are the target.”  Ummmm, no they don’t.  They think its ok to make jokes that involve race, lets call them “racial jokes” for the lack of a better term.  Was the joke saying “Asians should go back to their countries?” or was it saying “Asians are not worth being people and they are inferior and should be subservient to the dominant race”?  

Yes, an Asian woman was credited as “George’s Girlfriend” and guess what, sometimes others are credited as “Dead Person #1” or “Stupid Guy #4”.  That was such a non-issue, it shouldn’t have even been brought up.

“1) indistinguishable Asian faces and identities,”  You got that all from one line.  One line.  Theres no possible way that it could have been that those girls were one night stands whose name they could not remember.  Remember in How I Met Your Mother, a show that Jason Segel is on, played a game called “Name that bitch” so this could have been more of a misogynistic joke rather than racist.

“2) the abundant sexual availability of Asian women”  As an Asian, I didn’t even know that this was a stereotype.  Really?  Are we just going to invent stuff here?  When did the “All Asian girls are sluts” stereotype get out to the public?

“3) the anonymity of Asians within a white context, sexual or otherwise”  Thats just true.

 Okay here’s my gripe with your article.  This is not worth crying “racist” over.  It just isn’t.  If we, as Asians, complain about any and everything, it really harms the legitimacy of our claims.  How come you don’t call racist when it happens to a race that isn’t your own?  When you see a Mexican person playing an over-exaggerated cholo, why don’t you call “racist” for that?  Guess what, letting a guy go after he chased down and shot an unarmed black teenager?  That’s racism.  Having a line in the movie that goes “this Korean, that Korean” is not.

Racism is not just calling someone a “chink” or a “spick” anymore.  It is unfair treatment.  It is isolation, seclusion, degradation of people because of their race, not making a joke. 

1 month ago  /  1 note

Modern Family, Funny or Funniest?

Modern Family, winner of multiple Emmy awards in a ton of categories.  The show has more than earned the right to be in the discussion of whether or not it is the best comedy not only on air but all time.  From Ed O’Neil to Sarah Hyland, this show is thoroughly funny and I have watched every episode (as I do with most shows).

So the question is: Modern Family, Funny show or Funniest show?  
The Answer: Its a Funny show.

Modern Family is a great show, and definitely one of the funniest show on television but it is not the funniest show of all time nor is it the funniest show on television.

Before everyone begins to maul me and or tear me to shreds, let me present my argument.  Modern Family is not the funniest show ever on television because it doesn’t have those signature moments that the “greatest ever” shows have.

For example, take Friends.  Moments on the show that people never forget such as Ross’ first kiss with Rachel, or Ross saying Rachel’s name at his wedding with Emily, or the stairway scene (PIVOT!!!!).  Friends had a myriad of moments throughout its run that I clearly remember as if I had just watched the scene two seconds ago.  Modern Family doesn’t have any of these scenes.   63 episodes in and there is only one moment that sticks out to me in Modern Family: when Gloria says that there is love on every corner and it cuts to her saying that there are a lot of hookers from where she comes from.

That was one small joke in 3 seasons.

Another example is That 70’s Show, another one of my person favorites.  Who could forget the moment Eric Foreman is sleeping on Donna’s bed and he says in his sleep “So cold.  Can’t use… the force.”  Who could forget the circle when Hyde says “There’s this car that runs on water.”

Modern Family definitely is a funny show.  But it is not the funniest show on Earth, at least to this little writer.  The thing is, funny is subjective.  This is a cop-out, I know.  To all of those who feel that Modern Family is funny, but something about it seems missing, I hope this explains it.  It took me quite a while to figure out.

3 months ago  /  1 note

Who is the American Dream?

The American Dream.  The idea that a poor kid will someday come to rule the world.  It is why we love this country, because in this country, a poor kid growing up on the streets of Chicago can one day become the President of the United States.

Of course, President Barack Obama does personify the American Dream.  Sure.  He grew up from less than modest backgrounds and then, through effort and talent, he became the most powerful person in the world.  I would argue, however, that it is not Barack Obama that best personifies the American Dream.

Give me a moment to justify this statement (even I realize that it sounds stupid and it just might be).  See, President Barack Obama had a white mother and grandmother who gave him many chances at success by moving him into better environments.  This is not to slight anything that he has done. He has achieved what 99.9999999 percent of humans can’t.  The thing is, President Obama, while not in a great initial position to achieve, didn’t have as hard as a time as who I believe personifies the American Dream best.

My nomination is Jay Z.  Shawn Carter.

Now this may seem far fetched but let me justify this.  Jay Z was born into a hopeless neighborhood in the middle of Brooklyn.  He was abandoned by his father at a very early age and was driven into selling drugs.  He was born into hopelessness yet he rose above.  Right now there is no one in show business that holds the prowess that he does.  He was a man grown out of hopelessness into a symbol of hope.  Through talent and unmeasurable amounts of effort, he is able to become one of the most influential people on Earth.

There are countless reasons for you to poke holes in my argument and they are all valid.  I don’t think that it has to be one or the other and whoever you feel as a role model can be correct.  This is just food for thought.  I hold President Barack Obama in the absolute highest regard but I could argue that Jay Z may come close to him when it comes to representing the American Dream.

3 months ago  /  1 note

Why I Love TV #goodbyechuck

In the eternal argument on whether television shows are better or movies are better, I want to make my case.

Now I’m just a regular person who loves movies, television, radio, youtube, podcasts, music, comedy, books, newspapers, magazines, online articles.  I love everything to do with entertainment but nothing compares to television.

Now don’t get me wrong, television has its faults mainly because there is this trend among people that say that television is deteriorating.  That all that is on TV are Kardashians and reality competition shows.  Yes, thats true, but the same can be said for all forms of media.  There are bad movies (Bucky Larson comes to mind), there are bad radio stations (Morning shows with people named Penis and the Butt), there are bad youtube channels (the weird japanese girl that does nothing but stare at the camera), there are bad everything.

What I love about a great television show as opposed to a good movie is this, a great television show allows you to connect with the characters in a way movies just cannot.

Lets say, for example, the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  In total (if you count all the bonus scenes on dvd) there is a good 12 hours of immersion into the movies.  You have 12 hours to connect to a character before that character leaves.  Yes, while some movies have an astounding effect on people and we care about the characters, we just aren’t that invested.  In Inception, I found myself heavily invested in what would happen to Cobb but I didn’t have enough time to connect to him for me to, for a lack of better terms, car what eventually happened to him.  In this regards I want to argue that TV is better

In television, a good television show, for example Friday Night Lights, you are given 5 seasons, 5 full years to grow a connection with Coach Taylor and Mrs. Coach.  You spend hours, days, months at a time.  You see the development of Matthew Saracen and the maturation of Julie Taylor in what may seem like real time.  You see these characters grow up and you grow up with them.

Now Friday Night Lights is not a particularly good example to use for me, I watched it all on netflix and then DVD after it ended.  What I will use is the first TV show that I had watched from pilot to finale as it aired.  This show was Chuck.  I started watching Chuck the moment it came out and I felt a connection with the underachiever known as Charles Bartowski.  I liked him.  I wanted him to succeed.  Furthermore, I wanted him to be happy.  All this time I do realize that not only have I never met Charles Bartowski, he wasn’t even a real person.

As the series went out I started to feel a connection with all of the other characters.  I cared for Sarah Walker.  I laughed with Morgan Grimes.  I felt safe whenever John Casey was around, yes, I literally felt safer when Adam Baldwin was on the screen.  I felt cared for and warm whenever Ellie and Awesome were on screen.  As new characters came in, it took time to develop this connection that was between a viewer and the character but I quickly grew to love Mekenna Melvin as Alex or Linda Hamilton as Mary Bartowski.  I loved the cast, the entire ensemble.

This you cannot do with a movie purely because there isn’t enough time.  I fell in love with Chuck not because of its great stories and great script.  No.  I fell in love with Chuck because of the cast.  The identifiable characters that I have some inexplicable connection to.  Hell, I’m writing this because of the finale.

Chuck did something for me that no movie has ever been able to do.  It made me love the entire cast.  Movies, even in the best ones, have maybe 4 or 5 characters that you truly care about.  In a good television show, there are much more.  In Chuck, I could not imagine watching it without Chuck or Sarah but maybe even more importantly, I could not imagine watching without John Casey or Morgan Grimes or Ellie Bartowski-Woodcomb or Devon Awesome Woodcomb or General Beckman or Alex McHugh or Big Mike or Jeff and Lester.  I even cared for Bryce Larkin (played by Matthew Bomer) who was considered Chucks rival but because of television’s ability of a prolonged development of characters, I grew to view Bryce Larkin as a caring, selfless friend who was always in Chuck’s best interest.

These casts, these families of characters is why a great movie cannot compare to a great television show.

3 months ago  /  2 notes

7 guys beat up 1 guy

I refuse to call this 7 guys beat up 1 asian guy because this wasn’t racial.

These dumbass people are the ones right now saying that these 7 guys who are beating this helpless man should get beat up or they should get shot or they should be violently attacked.  You people, the people who think this, should check yourselves.  Violence begets violence.  You people are the reason this happens, you want violence as retribution for violence and that is a never-ending cycle.  So before you hope that these 7 guys should be killed or they should die or they should get jumped, please check your own minds and your own justifications.

Secondly, to my fellow Asians who are trying to make this racial.  Stop.  You are embarrassing me and everyone in our race.  Why do Asians always try to make things racial when anything bad happens to Asians?  Alexandra Wallace was racist.  Two black guys jumping an Asian guy in the middle of Oakland isn’t racist.  What is racist are the Asians who call the jump-ers the N-word and say that they are violent and good for nothing because they are black.  Put it in this situation, if 7 asian guys jumped 1 black guy and repeatedly call him the N-word, Asians (not all, but the specific Asians that I am referring to) will never admit that its racism.  Some would even say that the black guy deserved it.  In their own blind rage against racism, some people end up being the racists.

I have witnessed this very closely.  A close relative of mine had been a lifelong Democrat.  She voted for every Democrat since she was in America.  She voted for Hillary Clinton in the primaries.  But when Obama won the nomination, she started rooting for McCain despite disagreeing with every policy he stood for.  THAT is racism.  But she would NEVER, EVER, EVER admit it.  She would make the excuse that he doesn’t have enough experience or that he was too young or that he just wasn’t good. No.  This is what Asians do about racism.  They never want to acknowledge it unless its against them.  It doesn’t matter than white cops are shooting unarmed black people.  It doesn’t matter than the government are rounding up Mexicans (sometimes Mexican-Americans) and deporting them.  It doesn’t matter that there is outcry against the building of a perfectly legal Mosque in New York.  But when 7 guys, Asians included, beat up 1 Asian guy, ohhhh shnap, RACISM.

4 months ago  /  48 notes

I is

KRRZE is dynamic
Ever changing, ever evolving
KRRZE is static
Never changing in core ideals

KRRZE is nerd
Online all the time
KRRZE is the jock
Football, Basketball, some UFC

KRRZE is a comic
Thriving on every laugh
KRRZE is conscious
Aware of the darkness in the world

KRRZE is American
Flying the Red, White, and Blue
KRRZE is cultural
Respect for my colored history

KRRZE is

KRRZE is I
I is KRRZE

10 months ago  /  3 notes

KRRZE?

KRRZE (Pronounced craze) is an attempted artist of the word.

Feels weird talking in third person but basically this tumblr is going to be filled with poetry, spoken word written on paper, and prose. It’s gonna be humorous and light but i can also be serious and dark too. Exercise in the mind.

I want to say this is to promote writing and poetry across the world but really its just a place for me to put up my work and vent. I really got nothing else….

10 months ago  /  3 notes