Thanksgiving Day Greetings

Ha, I don’t know if anyone is actually reading this on Turkey Day, but since it’s been a while since I’ve posted something as MANAA President, I’m taking a break from the cooking and eating to wish you all a “Happy Thanksgiving!” And also to post some news after last week’s monthly meeting.

The group had a fun time discussing Asian Americans in television, including shows like Glee, So You Think You Can Dance, Trauma, Three Rivers, and Law and Order: SVU. Generally, the reports this month were positive, but of course, that’s just a small percentage of what’s out there! (If you have a show that you want to report on, come out to the next meeting!)

Speaking of reports, the Asian Pacific American Media Coalition will be releasing their annual TV diversity report card in early December. The report card rates diversity (regarding Asian and Pacific Islanders) for all the major TV network companies. We’ll be posting more info about that on the blog shortly, and we can use your help to publicize it!

A couple weeks ago, we posted the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) release about the big meeting with Paramount, but at the MANAA meeting, we got to hear even more of the details. It’s too much to write here, but it was a productive meeting, with both The Goods AND The Last Airbender being talked about. Plus the outlook for future communication with Paramount is looking pretty good. I really would like to thank the folks at MANAA, as well all our friends and colleagues, for all their hard work to keep the dialog going about both those movies.

And speaking of thanks, that brings us back to “Happy Thanksgiving!” I hope that all of you out there have a great holiday weekend, and remember that there is a lot to be thankful for.

Phil Lee
President, MANAA

P.S. Ninja Assassin is out this weekend! Is anyone going to see it? Someone pointed out to us that all the billboard ads for this movie cut off the main character’s image above the nose, and questioned why they didn’t include his whole face: was someone worried that it looked “too Asian” or just not tough enough? It’s an interesting question. Actually, I believe even back in Korea, when Rain was starting out, the studios rejected him because they didn’t like his look! Of course, he's come a long way since then. As much as we like to see Asian American actors get starring roles (the American studios often pick established stars from Asian hoping that it leads to more box office globally), I think it would be great if Ninja Assassin leads to further success in the U.S. for the Korean pop star.