Kudos to Pixar for Asian American star of 'Up'

Guy Aoki's letter to the editor was published in the LA Times:

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While it was interesting reading John Horn's story about how the creators of the movie "Up" developed the plot of the movie ("Up, Up and Away," May 10), he missed a very significant element of the production: The costar of the film is an overweight Asian American boy. So in addition to praising the studio for telling the story of a senior citizen (an often overlooked demographic of society), kudos should be given to Disney/Pixar for not shying away from using a person of color -- who also didn't fit the ultra-thin model of attractiveness foisted upon us by the media -- to costar in their big budget film.

Guy Aoki

Happy Asian Pacific American Heritage Month!

We at MANAA have been celebrating lately by doing things like attending the East West Players Anniversary Visionary Awards Dinner and the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (technically, not all of those were in May, but they were certainly celebrations of Asian Pacific Americans). What are you doing to celebrate?

Asian Americans on Heroes

During our weekly Heroes-watching, we usually feel a mix of emotions -- excitement to see Masi Oka and James Kyson Lee in such complex and hilarious starring roles, confusion as to why they are always bumbling fools with high-pitched voices -- and these last two weeks have been no exception.

We were excited to see Hiro and Ando get picked up by this trucker, who they first assume is Japanese, but who turns out to be a good old Southern boy with a strong twang. It's a bit awkward that he says "don't go all foreign on me," but we're just happy that the writers seem to be toying with their own predilection for having all non-white people be foreigners. He's likable, and the scene is funny.

The next week, however, Angela takes the whole Petrelli family to a deserted camp in the desert to dig up old memories of when people with powers were being taken away and killed (by no less than another accented Asian, the now-villainous Chandra Suresh from the 1960s). It was nice, I suppose, to see the internment being condemned in a sort of half-hearted way (since internment was wrong, this whole imprisoning people with powers thing must be wrong too!) but at the same time, the visual comparisons were strong and the storyline was not. The whole episode was weak in terms of racial politics (would an Indian have immigrated in 1961 to start his own facility, would a black man even be allowed into that diner?) and in general the history of internment was ignored in favor of Angela's need to dig up the family bones (creepy!). Perhaps I'm being overly sensitive, but to show people being carted into a "relocation center" and made to live in barracks in the desert demands more than one line about how this was somewhat related to internment. It was a missed opportunity to actually discuss the internment, and to explicitly connect the visual landscape that had been recreated here to the experiences of 120,000 Japanese Americans.

More on Avatar

We sent our letter about the casting of the Avatar film to Paramount in early February, and we received this response on March 25:

March 25, 2009

Mr. Guy Aoki
Media Action Network For Asian Americans
P.O. Box 11105
Burbank, CA 91510

Dear Mr. Aoki,

Thank you for your letter and interest in our film.

As devoted fans of the original series, our goal is to create a film that will not only live up to the expectations of the television series’ fan base, but also expand it to a world-wide audience in ways that only a full-length motion picture can offer.

From the outset of the creative process, the Producers and the Director have envisioned embodying the Airbender universe with a large and ethnically diverse cast that represents many different heritages and cultures from all corners of the globe.

The Director’s vision for this film is one of world, influenced and inspired by the Asian undertones of the series, and that is both diverse and inclusive in the make up of the four nations represented in the film’s cinematic world.

Early casting includes an Indian actor, born in Mumbai and raised in the UK and the US; a Persian actor born in Tehran and raised in the UK, Switzerland and the US; a Maori actor born and raised in New Zealand; a Korean-American actor, born and raised in Chicago; an American actress of Italian, French and Mexican heritage; among several others of varied nationalities from around the world.

The four nations represented in the film reflect not one community, but the world’s citizens. These societies will be cast from a diversity of all races and cultures.

In particular, the Earth Kingdom will be cast with Asian, East Asian and Africans.

With this global perspective in mind, we believe we can best honor the true themes, ethos and fantastical nature of the Airbender stories and best capture the spirit and scale of the series to appeal to its worldwide fans.

Our challenge and commitment to our film audience is to harness all the elements that have made the series the incredible phenomenon it is.

We look forward to introducing you to THE LAST AIRBENDER next summer.

Sincerely,

The Producers

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MANAA responded with this letter:

April 9, 2009

Dear Producers of The Last Airbender;

Thank you for your letter. Because it raises important questions regarding your perceptions of diversity, we are again requesting a meeting to discuss the casting and depiction of cultures in the movie (and your future projects) so this film can truly be the success we all want. We are interested, for instance, in how your ideal of including people from “all corners of the globe” correlates with your casting policies. Specifically seeking out white actors and casting four white leads for what M. Night Shymalan admitted was an “Asian fantasy world” does not celebrate ethnic diversity. Re-casting the sole villainous lead with an actor of color is a concession that results in three heroic nations going to war against an evil nation of color.

After dealing with Hollywood studios for the past 17 years, we are more than familiar with the justifications used to cast white actors instead of actors of color. Other film productions have previously used the same pretexts, touting diversity through the casting of supporting roles--but only after first discriminating in casting the lead roles.

These are the points MANAA and others—including East West Players and a petition of industry professionals— listed as specific concerns:

* The outdated and discriminatory practice of casting white actors to depict Asian characters.
* Casting calls indicating a preference for white actors for leads; people of color for extras.
* Culturally ignorant language used by members of the production (e.g. DeeDee Rickets: “If you’re a Korean, wear a kimono” to the casting call).
* The implications of featuring a villainous nation with dark-skinned, partly South Asian actors and a heroic nation led by white heroes who liberate the “Asian and African” nation.
* Cultural appropriation of Pacific Rim cultures and the franchise's core Asian concepts, despite a glass ceiling blocking off Asian American actors from playing lead protagonists.

Listing the ethnic composition of five cast members does not directly address these outstanding issues and only serves to obscure the fact that you are making rationalizations to white-wash this project hoping to bring in more viewers. The conventional wisdom in Hollywood is that in order for fantasy/science fiction/superhero movies to become successful, they must first pass muster with fans of the original source material. You are clearly not passing that bar.

MANAA is a strong supporter of studios’ efforts to increase diversity, but it is absurd to use that as an excuse to make a project more white and to say the original concept wasn’t diverse enough when the cultures of the four Asian nations clearly were.

Conversely, does this mean that in the future, you’ll take a story featuring only white people but make a movie with the top four stars all initially being persons of color?

How can you, in good faith, say you are trying to honor the integrity of the television series by taking a story written with Asian themes, settings, characters, and populating it with white leads—especially when there are so few Asian roles available in Hollywood? You are continuing a generations-long practice of racial discrimination where the opportunity for actors of color to be heroes for a change is taken away (this time in the name of “diversity.”).

Fortunately, one of your rivals, Disney/Pixar, was enlightened enough to create an Asian American hero in next month’s film Up. They obviously don’t believe that having Asian faces as leads will turn off the majority of their potential audience. In fact, they are probably counting on the unique look of that hero (Asian American boy who’s overweight) to interest ticket buyers.

If your production values the support of the thousands of fans and members of the public disturbed by the casting of The Last Airbender adaptation, we urge you to address their concerns more honestly. Again, we are requesting to meet as soon as possible to discuss the casting and depiction of cultures in the movie so that the film can be a success. We look forward to hearing from you sometime next week.

Sincerely,

Guy Aoki

Founding President, MANAA

Mr. Yunioshi featurette decoded with Mark Young

Despite the beauty and iconicity of the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s, there was one thing that stuck out as being a terrible mistake, particularly to Asian Americans—the character of Mr.Yunioshi. Played by Mickey Rooney, the role called for using makeup and prosthetics to transform the White actor into a caricature of a Japanese man. This practice, called “yellowface,” was unfortunately fairly common in early cinema, but Rooney took the act to new lows by affecting a hideous accent and generally making the character an embarrassing buffoon. When producers began planning extra featurettes for the Centennial Collection’s version of the film, Eric Young of Sparkhill saw the opportunity to openly discuss the problem of Mr. Yunioshi.

“It was almost like the proverbial elephant in the room that needed commenting on,” said his brother Mark Young, who eventually produced the segment, Mr. Yunioshi: An Asian Perspective. “Breakfast at Tiffany’s is such an iconic film and it just had this mistake right in the middle of it, this character, and here we are in a more contemporary era—it just begs to be addressed and discussed.”

Young knew that he wanted to interview a panel of experts for the featurette, so he started making phone calls to academics who studied representations of Asian Americans in the media. Since it was the beginning of the school year, they were too busy to participate in the project. That’s when he turned to MANAA, the Media Action Network for Asian Americans.

“When I was able to reach Phil Lee at MANAA it was like reaching pay dirt, he was so receptive and he invited me to a meeting,” said Young. “When I first met the group at MANAA’s meeting I knew I’d have a nice lively group of individuals to interview, each with a different personality. Everyone’s background was different so we had different voices in discussing the same topic.”

From MANAA, Young found President Phil Lee, Vice President Jeffery Mio, and Founding President Guy Aoki. Since they wanted to include a female perspective as well, they suggested Marilyn Tokuda, an actress who had a long history of acting in films and was currently involved with East West Players.

In the 17-minute segment, stories of reactions to the film and the character of Mr. Yunioshi eventually opened into wider territory. Lee, Mio, Aoki and Tokuda also discuss the Japanese American internment, activism toward redress for Japanese Americans, the perils of being an Asian American actor/actress, and the impact of George Takei’s role on Star Trek for the Asian American community, among other topics.

“I know I’ll get specific answers to specific questions to build my story, but I like to leave room for personal stories or other topics or issues that are important to the person I’m interviewing,” said Young. “I found it very interesting to hear from the interviews what it’s like, what impression the movie made on them, and growing up in the environment with yellowface being part of the culture. Myself, an Anglo, not having that sensitivity but in hearing the stories, I gained a real appreciation for it.”

It may seem strange for a studio to include information on their own DVD that criticizes the film, but Young said that Paramount was open to the idea from the first proposal. They were curious to see how the segment would turn out, but he says that when they saw the final product they were happy to put it on the DVD. For his part, Young is proud to have contributed to a discussion of these important issues.

“For me personally I’ll always remember it,” he said. “It’s a standout both because of the subject matter and the people I met and interviewed for it.”


For the entire interview, check out: www.manaa.org

ER hype obscures invisibilty of Asian American doctors

The racial makeup of the doctors did not accurately reflect the number of Asian American physicians in Chicago.

Guy Aoki's letter to the editor was published in the LA Times today:

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Enough with reverential, self-congratulatory articles on the end of "ER." One of the legacies your paper failed to discuss is how the series failed to acknowledge the existence of Asian American doctors in a meaningful way.

In Chicago, where the show takes place, 15% of physicians are of Asian descent, more than black and Latino physicians combined. Yet John Wells and company waited until the fifth season to add an Asian American regular (Ming-Na), only after casting a Croatian doctor first. That's a joke. Yes, Parminder Nagra later joined the cast, but she's British.

Guy Aoki
Los Angeles

MANAA demands Jonas brother apologize for eye-slanting gesture in a public photo

Press Release from MANAA
Contact: Guy Aoki, Media Action Network for Asian Americans: (818) 241-7817

LOS ANGELES–Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA), the only organization solely dedicated to monitoring the media and its depiction of Asian Americans, is demanding that Disney star Joe Jonas apologize for slanting his eyes in a picture that has been widely seen throughout cyberspace. Given its historical significance in degrading people of Asian descent, the mock-Asian pose is considered racially offensive and continues to have a negative impact on the Asian American community.

Nineteen-year-old Joe Jonas is the middle-brother of pop-rock boy band Jonas Brothers, which has become a worldwide teen sensation. His older brother recently dated fellow Disney star Miley Cyrus, who was also caught slanting her eyes in a public photo that offended the Asian American community. She offered two public statements (initially insisting she was only making “goofy faces”), but neither fully acknowledged the significance of the hurtful gesture in a way that was satisfactory to civil rights and media groups like MANAA.

Given the outcry over the Cyrus controversy, the organization demands that Jonas issue an apology for his actions to discourage similar inappropriate and harmful behavior and to make it clear to his fans that this should not be repeated. Because Joe Jonas is a popular star and role model, he could turn this embarrassing situation into a positive learning experience for his fans.

MANAA President Phil Lee notes, “It sounds like the photo was taken a couple years ago but only surfaced last week. If there is an explanation, we’d very much like to hear it, as the silence just seems to be making the controversy grow.” A few days after the photo went public, MANAA contacted Lillian Matulic, Vice-President of Publicity at Jonas’ label, Hollywood Records, for further information. Matulic said she was not aware of the specific photo and that the company had no comment.

MANAA member and college student Sylvia Pham explains, “The eye-slanting gesture is not only offensive because it is used to mock the physical features of individuals of Asian descent, but it also perpetuates the alienation of Asian American individuals within American society, which creates a hostile environment for us.”

An audit report made by The National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium found that “insensitive media coverage of minority groups and issues, leading to the perpetuation of stereotypes, instead of the recognition that Asian Pacific Americans are just as American as their neighbors,” is one of the main factors leading to the rapid increase of anti-Asian American violence.

Racist caricature at Label's Delicatessen

One version of Bruce Krakoff's offensive sign

A recent Chinese American visitor to Label's Delicatessen in West Los Angeles was horrified to find a racist caricature advertising their chinese chicken salad, with the phrase "You don't have to be Chinese to enjoy our new dish." He left the restaurant and called owner/manager Bruce Krakoff to ask that the sign be removed, but Krakoff stated that he was free to do whatever he liked in his store and would not remove the sign, which he also claimed that his customers loved.

This is unfortunate, because the caricature is evocative of anti-Chinese discrimination and violence from the turn of the century, when the image of the "coolie" represented an oppressed lower class that was systemically excluded from citizenship and civil rights in the United States because they were seen as alien. Given this history, it is by no means a harmless cartoon, and should not be used in this context.

Since then, the Anti-Defamation League and OCA have both sent letters to Krakoff, and as far as we know this sign can still be seen in the deli. The original complainant says that this is not the picture he saw, which was much more offensive, suggesting that there are multiple versions of the chicken salad advertisement.

MANAA would like to add their voice to the mix by requesting not only that all advertisements with racist caricatures be removed from the store, but also that Krakoff issue an apology to his customers.

Adam Carolla takes it all back in last show

We thought that MANAA's Guy Aoki and Adam Carolla had reached a gentleman's agreement of sorts, after their clash over Carolla's use of "ching-chong" to mock the Asian Excellence Awards in 2006. That was a battle that Carolla decidedly lost (both by his own admission and apology, and by his advertisers, seven of whom pulled out of his show). But when Rosie O'Donnell came under attack for her "ching-chong" comments, Carolla brought Aoki back on the show to make sure he was after her as well, and it appeared that the two had made amends. Carolla told Aoki, "I like this, I feel like this is like Terminator 2, I came back down and now I'm on your side...Keep up the good fight my brother, I feel like we've won an ally now." Then he tried to get Aoki to go after Mazda for not representing any Asians in their commercial.

Fast forward to last month, when Carolla's show was cancelled. In his second-to-last show on Feb. 19, he was in the middle of talking to a caller who was sad to see Carolla go, and suddenly he started talking about how he was so glad that he didn't have to keep an eye on "swearing or a-holes like Guy Aoki. Racist a-holes, by the way, like Guy Aoki, who’re gonna climb up my ass if I say anything about all the Asian people that he, evidentally, represents. That’s every single Asian person on the entire planet. I will no longer have to worry about a-holes like that or guys like Jack Silver that are paranoid about extortionist racist a-holes like Guy Aoki." Jack Silver was Carolla's program director at the station Carolla broadcasted from, 97.1 FM.

Apparently he's not over the situation after all. Disappointing indeed.

Yet another 'chink eye' photo

Not again -- pictures of what looks like Joe Jonas from the Jonas Brothers pulling his eyes back in the "chink eye" gesture have surfaced. He seems to have completely ignored what his brother Nick's ex-girlfriend Miley Cyrus recently went through, complete with botched apology #1 and more sincere apology #2.

We expressed our disappointment when we saw the pictures of Miley, but by now it's starting to get old, so let us be explicit -- there is no situation where this gesture can possibly be construed as funny, goofy, or merely a joke. It is always offensive, demeaning, and belittling, evoking a long history of the mistreatment of Asian Americans. This sends a terrible message to the group's fans.

If this is really Joe Jonas, we ask that he gets it right the first time, and makes a sincere apology that helps to educate others about why this gesture should never be repeated again.

Washington Post covers Airbender controversy

The Washington Post wrote about the Airbender controversy, including quotes from MANAA's Guy Aoki -- as well as casting director DeeDee Ricketts. It's nice to finally hear someone from the production side respond to the criticism, but of course it still seems like they're going to populate their world with Asian extras and White heroes.

MANAA on Breakfast At Tiffany's

We've been voicing our feelings about Breakfast at Tiffany's for years now, which is a bit sad since the movie is 47 years old. Still, the racism of the Mickey Rooney character was too much to let go, even with a movie so beloved, and it continues to teach a valuable lesson about the dangers of "yellowface."

We're proud to say that our voice has been heard, and is now part of the Breakfast at Tiffany's Paramount Centennial Collection, which was released this January. The remastered edition includes a good deal of new material, including a documentary called "Mr. Yunioshi: An Asian Perspective". The segment stars our very own Guy Aoki, Phil Lee, and Jeffrey Mio, as well as actress Marilyn Tokuda, and has been getting great reviews so far.

A sample:
Colin Jacobson from DVD Mag:"It proves pretty interesting. I worried that “Perspective” would do little more than act as an apology for the awful Yunioshi character, but it doesn’t. Correctly, the participants regard the portrayal as a product of its time, but they don’t simply excuse it. This turns into a thought-provoking chat."

Frank Sifaldi at Einsiders.com: "The reason I was glad to see this included is because I remember the first time I saw this film, I was a bit disgusted to see Mr. Rooney is such a horrible, comically stereotyped role as an Asian...It appears that time has healed the wounds of 47 years ago when some Chinese people wouldn't go see the film because of the unjust portrayal of their people. I hope that in the future, ethnic persons will be able to get their roles played by persons of that ethnicity."

Jeremy Thomas at 411 mania: "It's certainly not the kind of featurette that you would expect to see on a celebratory DVD set, and Paramount deserves some praise for addressing this one issue with the film quite candidly and in a balanced way."

Asian Americans on “The L Word”

As a huge fan of the lesbian melodrama “The L Word,” I’ve been keeping my eye out for Asian Americans since the show began. Despite a petition last fall to see more LGBT Asian Americans on the show, it seems that the best we can hope for are mixed race Asians, or Asians playing other races. In looking back at past seasons, there are actually quite a few instances of this. Unfortunately, in the case of mixed race characters, their Asian American identity is never mentioned. This is particularly disappointing given the sensitivity that the show has given to the issue of Bette’s biraciality, which has resulted in one of the best portrayals of mixed race identity we've seen. It’s also clear that Asian American women can only stand in as brief love interests, and then they disappear forever.

Sandrine Holt as Helena’s love interest in season four. They have a weird relationship where Catherine seduces Helena into her high-stakes gambling career. Holt is half-Chinese, half-French.

This season’s hapa star—Mei Melancon as Jamie Chen, Alice and Tasha’s third wheel crush. Jamie is Chinese, Japanese and French. With the character’s last name “Chen,” Melancon is officially the first character to be actually noted as being of Asian heritage. We’ll see if this ever comes up in the plot.

Last but not least, it must be mentioned that Shane’s beautiful ex-fiancee Carmen was played by Sarah Shahi, who is Persian, and Janina Gavankar as the notorious Papi is Indian and Dutch. However, both roles are decidedly Latina.

Oscar night!

The new face of America's global cinema.

The Academy Awards aren't generally a big night for Asian Americans -- after all, there haven't been many noteworthy Asian American wins, and little recognition given overall within the community. This year, with the dominance of Slumdog Millionaire, it was exciting to see Asian faces light up the screen. Despite the fact that the movie can hardly be considered "Asian American," given its British crew and Indian locale, we're crossing our fingers that its impact will nevertheless be felt throughout the Asian American entertainment world.

Some of the major arguments used by studios against casting Asian Americans in lead roles is that they are unheard of, or that mainstream audiences won't come to see Asian actors. While we strongly disagree with the implication that Asian Americans aren't part of "mainstream audiences", or that there aren't enough Asian Americans going to movie theaters to warrant Asian American faces or narratives (um, hello, the spending power of Asian Americans is predicted to be $528 billion this year...do you think they don't spend that on media?), we now have a terrific counterargument for both claims. Slumdog has shown that mainstream audiences will devotedly pour into the theaters to see actors they have never heard of, and stories that take place a world away. As long as the storytelling is strong and the narrative is compelling, there is always room to expand our image of what an actor, or a mainstream film, should look like.

While the film is still potentially problematic for its glorification of third-world poverty and what may or may not be exploitation of its child actors, we gleefully applaud the recognition of a film that opens our doors to a new idea of what American cinema could be.

interview with Asian American Oscar nominee

MANAA member Lori Kido Lopez recently had the opportunity to interview Oscar nominee Steven Okazaki, who is up for short documentary yet again this year. One of the topics that came up was the absence of Asian Americans at these award shows -- a topic that MANAA cares about a lot! Here's an excerpt from the interview:

LKL: Big award shows like these are starting to recognize more African American filmmakers and performers, do you ever look around and wonder where the other Asian Americans are, or when their work is going to be recognized?

Okazaki: Well, I just won an Emmy a couple of months ago and the guy who handed the award to me was the actor on Heroes, and so I said, the first thing I said when I got up on stage was something like, wow, two Asian Americans on stage at one time. That doesn’t happen. When you said there were a lot of Asian Americans [nominated for Academy Awards], I guess...it seems like there should be a lot more. I think that Asian Americans are still really pigeon-holed, particularly the actors. I think the directors and producers are as well. I think I’m lucky, I work with HBO and they, I’m an independent filmmaker but I work with HBO a lot, and they don’t see me as an Asian American filmmaker, they see me as a filmmaker. Where I worked previously there were certain, you should only do Asian American subjects, and your opportunities are really limited. Obviously the actors suffer most for that. There are these tiny little breakthroughs, usually those are like one part in a motion picture or television season. I think it’s still rather dismal compared to what an important part Asian Americans play in our society and in our culture in general.

LKL: You’ve made a lot of movies about Japanese Americans and their stories. Do you think you’re done with making movies about Japanese Americans?

Okazaki: No I don’t think so. I think that I actually haven’t made that many about Japanese Americans, I’ve just made like two out of 20 films. I think that I wanted to explore different subjects from my own creative range, but I do see myself as Asian American filmmaker. I do think telling Asian American stories is important and a fulfilling thing for me. It’s not necessarily a mission or a chore, I find it a really fulfilling thing to connect. And making documentaries gives you an opportunity to dig really deep, deeper than if you were just having a conversation with someone, it gives you license. There were Japanese American subjects, sure, I think at the same time I really think it’s bad enough that people try to limit you because of what you are, so at the same time I want to open up those possibilities as well in terms of the kinds of things I can do. I’ve tried to do a range of documentaries and mess around with narrative films and thing. For me the biggest danger is being bracketed as one thing, or being limited to do only one kind of film or genre. That’s what I’ve tried to put my energy into. To fully express myself as a filmmaker. But I’m hoping to do other things related to the Asian American community. We’re working on things now, and I’m hoping to do things totally unrelated, things relevant and irrelevant as possible.

To read the whole interview, check out VC Online

Letter to the producer of The Last Airbender

Lots of people have contacted MANAA about the casting of the movie "The Last Airbender." As a group we've discussed what the best way to join in these efforts. What follows below is a letter that MANAA sent to Paramount.

This issue is not over. Stay tuned for more.


February 11, 2009

Dear Mr. Mercer:

I left two messages with you—one with your assistant Ricky on Monday and another with Lauren yesterday. I’m writing on behalf of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA), which is dedicated to monitoring the media and advocating for balanced, sensitive, and positive depiction and coverage of Asian Americans. Since 1992, we have consulted with movie studios and met regularly with the top four television networks about ensuring diversity.

We would like Avatar: The Last Airbender to become a successful movie trilogy. However, given the recent outcry over the lack of Asian/Asian American actors in the lead roles, we fear bad word of mouth may doom the first film before it gets off the ground and stop the potential franchise dead in its tracks. Indeed, the outrage over its casting has been greater than anything we’ve witnessed in the last several years. On Entertainment Weekly’s website alone, there are 78 pages of comments from people who feel a strong emotional connection with Avatar, and most of their responses are strongly negative with many threatening to boycott the film.

Surely you have already seen or at least heard some of these concerns. While the show Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko created was a great success in creating a fantasy world inspired heavily by Asian and Inuit elements, M. Night Shyamalan chose Caucasian actors to play all four main characters. Recently, Prince Zuko’s character went to an actor of Asian descent, but otherwise, the only Asian presence in the film is in the sets and background characters.

Compared to other shows, including many anime imports, Avatar: The Last Airbender was unique because it was created for an American audience yet used Asian faces for its main characters. We appreciated that the Nickelodeon series (with the help of Asian American consultants) was intelligent enough to avoid using many of the common Asian stereotypes—both positive and negative--often seen in the media, and that it even made strides in casting Asian American voice talent.

The Asian American community, and the movie-going public at large, is used to seeing Asian men depicted as villains and rarely get the opportunity to see Asian heroes they can get behind and cheer for. This is also an historic opportunity to give Asian American actors a chance to shine in a big-budget film franchise which would bolster their careers for future projects. You will get deserved credit for launching those careers and can break down barriers by understanding that the audience that loved the television series is ready (and expects) to see Asian Americans playing those characters on the big screen.

One of the reasons the Avatar television series was so well-received was that our former Vice President, Edwin Zane, served as its cultural consultant for the first two seasons and helped the producers avoid ethnic missteps. Likewise, please take advantage of us as a resource. We invite you to dialogue with us about the film so that it can really be something fans of the show (and potentially new future fans of the movie) can get excited about. I can be reached at [number removed] or [email removed].

Sincerely,

Guy Aoki
Founding President, MANAA

cc:
Mike DiMartino
Bryan Konietzko
Dan Martinsen, EVP corporate communications, Nickelodeon
Jenna Lutrell, executive in charge of production, Nickelodeon

Miley Cyrus claims pictures are just "goofy"

Although we would prefer for the private lives of celebrities to remain private, the latest photograph of Miley Cyrus caught our attention. We are saddened by the picture of Cyrus and her friends squinting and making slant eye poses for the camera. As young people, maybe they thought it was merely funny, but whether they realized it or not such gestures are commonly used to mock Asians and Asian Americans.

We are also surprised to see this group of teenagers repeating the mistakes of the Spanish basketball team, which was criticized for making the same gesture in an pre-Olympics ad campaign. Their “slit-eyed” pose showed a lack of respect for their Chinese hosts, and brought the heated issue of racially pejorative poses into the spotlight.


Cyrus and her friends seem oblivious to this controversy. As her recent apology on her fansite states, "I’ve also been told there are some people upset about some pictures taken of me with friends making goofy faces! Well, Im sorry if those people looked at those pics and took them wrong and out of context! In NO way was I making fun of any ethnicity!" We're left asking, what is the context that excuses offending your fans? Setting aside for a moment the question of what were you thinking, the problem is what you were physically doing. In case you didn’t know, pulling slanted eyes is offensive and demeaning to Asians and Asian Americans. (And no, having an Asian friend in the picture does not automatically make it OK!)

We wish that we could put this incident behind us and simply use it as a lesson about the unfortunate impact that private gestures can have on public audiences. Had this been an average group of party people on some college student’s Facebook, few would have noticed. But this is a world-famous celebrity with millions of fans.

Maybe if some of Miley Cyrus’s young fans wrote to her, at a real and personal level, about how much it hurts to get teased like this, then she and her friends will get why people are upset with the picture and not satisfied with the apology.

Buy tickets for Kollaboration, support MANAA!

Buy tickets here!

Every ticket you buy through this link helps to support your favorite Asian American media advocacy organization, MANAA! This year's lineup at Kollaboration is AMAZING, with performances by Jo Koy from Comedy Central, Kaba Modern and Fanny Pak from America's Best Dance Crew, and a brilliant lineup of competitors. Judges include James Kyson Lee from Heroes and Moon Bloodgood from Terminator 4.

Kollaboration is an annual event and movement created by a small group of professional young Asian Americans, volunteering their time and skills to celebrate the vast talents of their community and hopefully bring them into the mainstream.

It is evident that Asian Americans are often categorized into a certain image. Asian Americans may find it increasingly difficult to get jobs outside the "model minority" or "foreigner" role. Such barriers often result in the lack of Asian Americans in mainstream entertainment industries. Thus, Asian Americans are not only unfairly portrayed but also disproportionately underrepresented in the mainstream media. Our youth are left with few visible role models and a narrowed pool of aspirations.

Through generous sponsorship, Kollaboration endeavors to bring about a paradigm shift of perceptions and to pave the way for future Asian Americans to accomplish their goals and dreams that may be entertainment related.

Date: Saturday, February 21, 2009
Time: 7PM
Venue: Shrine Auditorium
665 W Jefferson Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90007-3626

Bowl cut = Asian = tasty fast food?

Is it just me, or is the bowl cut back? Okay, maybe just back enough to poke some more fun at Asians. First there's Jack in the Box using the ugliness of the bowl cut (man those dweeby Asians, always behind the times!) to sell their new teriyaki bowls (get it? Bad Asian hair, good Asian dish...soooo funny).

Then there's Wendy's and their "3conomics" commercials with this Asian actor -- also sporting a killer bowl cut. Coincidence? I think it's safe to say that in our post-ironic times, the use of the "nerdy" bowl cut is actually signalling something awesomely on trend, some sort of "geek chic," eh? Or maybe not...

Pacific islanders on "The Biggest Loser"

For reality tv fans, it has been refreshing to see Tongan cousins Filipe and Sione competing together on The Biggest Loser: Couples. Reality tv rarely casts minorities except as tokens, and even more rarely do we get to see Pacific Islanders in any capacity.

In their introductory video montage, the cousins explain that in Tonga, "It's accepted to be overweight, and actually, the bigger the better...If you're skinny, you're kind of frowned upon." There's even some cute video footage from back home of their family members. Sione explains that his father is recovering from a stroke, and that was part of what motivated the two of them to come on the show. Their goal is to change the mentality of Polynesian people to the idea that "it's not ok to be big." I don't know how often race is addressed on the show since this is my first season tuning in, but it seems cool that they are addressing the racial aspects of size and body images. Certainly body images means different things in different cultures.

The brothers are among the most lovable on the whole show (admittedly, I love nearly everyone on the show -- it is just so admirable to see them all fighting so hard to achieve their goals), and they are hanging in so far. Filipe also has the best celebratory dance during the weigh-ins, it can't help but leave your cheering for them. So two big cheers for the Tongans, and here's to more healthy discussions of body image!