Gil Asakawa's Nikkei View | asian american
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October 23, 2009

tetsuwan_atomu_1_21Astro Boy," the new American computer-animated version of the Japanese comic and cartoon that launched the revolution we now call anime, opens today. I'm more than a little nervous about seeing the movie, since it may not resemble the Japanese cartoon I grew up with, and because Hollywood really screwed up "Speed Racer" when they decided to turn that classic anime into a big live-action spectacle. (The following text is a re-worked version of a pre-blog Nikkei View column I wrote back in 2003.) Astro Boy, called "Tetsuwan Atomu" in Japan, was originally introduced in 1952, as a manga, or comic book character, and later turned into an animated television series. Created by the pioneering Japanese comic and anime (animation) artist Osamu Tezuka, his name stands for "The Mighty Atom," an image still vivid in the minds of millions of Japanese who had lived through the end of World War II just seven years before, and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The cartoon character is best-known in the US for the English-dubbed versions of the "Astro Boy" series that first aired in 1963 and then was re-launched with a new series in 1982 and resurrected in a computer-animated film opening today, featuring the voices of Freddie Highmore, Nicolas Cage, Kristen Bell, Bill Nighy and Samuel L. Jackson. The story line is a spin on Pinocchio and superhero comics, mixed with a dose of Steven Spielberg's film "A.I." (actually "A.I." borrows more than a dose from Astro Boy). When the kindhearted Dr. Boynton's (Professor Tenna in the Japanese original) son is killed in a car accident, he invents an atomic-powered robotic replacement only to discover that there's no way that the android can truly be human. The mechanical boy was born on April 7, 2003 -- the far future -- in the original manga.
October 22, 2009

Racist "Fee Ling yu Variation of the racist "Fee Ling yuI'm starting to dread Hallowe'en. It seems like every year, there's some new offensive costume that makes racist fun of Asians or perpetuates a racial stereotype. I wrote about this back in 2002, when a really sick costume called "Kung Fool" was sold. Today I read AngryAsianMan.com and saw that mainstream America once again thinks it's cool to manufacture a caricature of Asians into a mass-market costume: One that's even available on Amazon.com. The Fee Ling Yu mask is disgusting -- the mask itself is bad enough, but there are variations being sold and shown online that include a different cap and thick round glasses. I grew up with this image of myself and others like me. It's incredible and sad and horrifying... downright scary... that I still have to see this now, decades later. Some of the annual parade of costumes simply perpetuate a stereotype, like geisha costumes and wigs that are standard fare.
October 21, 2009

MyFoxNY newsman Ti-Hua Chang reports on a video that shows a New York City traffic agent -- a parking enforcement officer, I think we'd call her in Denver -- who can be seen intimidating, allegedly cursing and making racist statements and possibly striking a Chinese man, in Manhattan's Chinatown district. I saw this first in an email, then on the new AAPI social news site, Rice St. The agent gave a parking ticket to the man, who claimed to Ti-Hua Chang he tried to explain that there was still a minute left on the meter (ain't that everyone's nightmare of a parking ticket?) and that his wife was down the block paying for more time.
October 21, 2009

Here's a great idea: Rice St. is a new website launched by an Asian American webhead in Brooklyn New Yawk, to help us all keep track of the increasing number of Asian American news and blog sites, as well as news about Asian and Asian Americans in mainstream media sites and blogs. Check it out: You'll see a list of...

October 20, 2009

Asian American Pacific Islanders have been so invisible in mainstream American society, working hard in the background but rarely achieving high profile attention (unless it's for something lousy, like Jon Gosselin or Falcon Heene!), that we're shocked when the spotlight suddenly shines on some aspect of our culture and identity. A lot of the reason is that culturally, Asians have a tendency to eschew attention. It's the old "the nail that sticks out will be pounded in" rule. Don't bring attention to yourself, don't make waves, don't complain, don't don't don't. It's partly our own fault that we're invisible. But another reason is that the mainstream media, from Hollywood movies to the news industry, tends to ignore us, marginalize us or exoticize us. We're the "model minority," we're doing fine, we don't have complaints, we don't need the attention. Things are changing... I've written about the increase in Asian faces on TV, for instance. But there's still a ways to go.
October 18, 2009

Jon and Kate Gosselin in happier -- we think -- times.When I first found out Jon Gosselin is Asian American, I thought, "Cool!" His kids were an adorable hapa brood, and Kate was a somewhat... shall we say ... difficult partner. A mixed-race family is nothing unfamiliar to many AAPIs (and especially Japanese Americans, who have had the highest out-marriage rate of all AAPI ethnicities for decades). Erin called it almost the first time she happened to tune in to the show. She pointed out all the ways that Kate showed little emotional intelligence (barking, "What planet are you from, Jon?" in one show), and the ways Jon seemed to be distancing himself from Kate in his body language and expressions. That's what the first look at "Jon and Kate Plus 8" was like for us. Now, Jon Gosselin just looks like a fool, not cool. He's being sued by TLC for breach of contract. And his antics may have also cost Kate, soon to be his ex, a chance at her own show with the kids, "Kate Plus 8." He tried preventing crews from filming their kids, so TLC has apparently postponed the new show's Nov. 2 launch, according to TV Guide. Other reports have said the show has been canceled altogether. What's ironic is that Kate's been coached and appears to be a different person from the hard and harsh wife from the start of the series in 2007. She's been reinventing her brand to a sympathetic character and a warm-hearted mom. Meanwhile Jon's devolved his brand from long-suffering husband and kinda bumbling dad to dumbass playboy twerphead. She might deserve another 15 minutes of fame, but his clock's run out.
October 17, 2009

Members of Denver I learned a whole lot about Genghis Khan, the Mongolian ruler who in the 13th century conquered most of the known world of the time, from Asian to the Middle East and into Europe. We also learned about Mongolian culture, and this morning, I learned why, as a child, I was classified as "Mongoloid" -- and why that term had its origins in Genghis Khan's time but now has an offensive connotation. What sparked so much learning? The opening of an exhibit, "Genghis Khan," at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and a gala event we were fortunate enough to attend last night. Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper was there to welcome dignitaries from the Mongolian government including Ambassador Khasbazaryn Bekhbat; speeches were made, diploamtic gifts exchanged, and then attendees had a buffet catered by the museum that featured mostly Mongolian or Asian themed food (except for the salmon in pastry shells and the table of veggies and dip), such as Mongolian noodle bowls, a stiry-fried variant of Mongolian barbecue without the piles of meat, and generic Chinese chicken dumplings (the brand sold by Costco, I bet) that were boiled then pan-fried and not so bad). While dining, we chatted, networked and schmoozed while a stream of performers entertained the crowds -- most unfamiliar with any of the riches of Mongolian culture -- with traditional music and dancing, as well as the esoteric art of Tsam masks (giant scary-looking masks worn by "dancers" who move slowly to ominous music) and the more modern flashiness of a contortionist.
October 15, 2009

The Heene family in a publicity shot from ABC, for the network I don't know about other Asians, but I bet Erin and I are not the only ones who flinch whenever we hear or see coverage in the news media that involves an Asian or Asian American. If it's good news, hooray and we cheer on the butt-kicking Asian, or applaud the award or medal or accomplishment. But if it's bad news, we share the tragedy, shame or embarrassment as if it's happening to our own family. A good example is the big story today north of Denver, where a six-year-old boy reportedly climbed into his parents' homemade flying saucer-shaped balloon which took off and floated for several hours across northern Colorado. The media first reported that the "balloon boy" had crawled into the balloon and managed to untie a tether, which set the helium-filled craft free into the sky.