Congrats to Kal Penn, and don't forget about us!

Actor Kal Penn, who we've long enjoyed for his groundbreaking roles in movies like The Namesake and Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, has begun his job at the White House. We're excited because Obama has asked him to be a liaison between the Asian American arts communities and the White House -- could this mean greater visibility and access for Asian Americans in the film industry? Penn's always seemed aware of Asian American political causes alongside his acting work -- once upon a time he even came to a MANAA meeting, where hopefully we had an enlightened conversation on this topic -- so we have great hopes for him in this role.

Message from the President

Dear friends,

Hope you're having a wonderful July 4th weekend. It's already been a month since I posted to the blog. Longer than I planned, but I think the holiday has given me that extra bit of motivation to sit down and write something. July 4th being a day when we recall the history-changing Declaration of Independence, and acknowledge the amazing freedom we have in the U.S., I am reminded to appreciate that MANAA might not even exist without those freedoms. There's something very special about how we can freely watch, read, and listen to all kinds of media. Not only that, but we as individuals and groups can freely respond, praise and protest the content of the mass media -- in more ways than ever, thanks to the world wide web.

Of course, free speech is not unlimited. Actually, my own speech was somewhat hampered recently -- although not in the way you might expect! On Friday, I was supposed to be a guest on a radio program to discuss the controversy over casting for The Last Airbender movie. But due to technical difficulties, we weren't able to make the phone connection work. I didn't get on the air at all. It was a strange experience listening to the live program on-line and knowing that I was supposed to be a participant.

However, I thought the host and two other guests did a really nice job of talking about Airbender and the casting backlash by the fans. It's great that KFPA radio in Berkeley took the time to cover this issue. In fact, it was an intern at the radio station who brought it to their attention -- and that's something we can use more of: help with keeping the coverage and discussion about The Last Airbender going.

If you would like to check out the interview, just go to the KPFA website and find the archive broadcast of "Living Room" for Friday, July 3rd.

Phil L.

Press Release: Asian American Media Watchdog Group Praises Disney/Pixar’s “Up” for Creating Asian American Protagonist

LOS ANGELES–The Media Action Network for Asian Americans, the only organization solely dedicated to monitoring media depictions of Asian Americans, is praising Disney/Pixar for creating an Asian American boy as a co-star in their summer blockbuster film, “Up.”

Nine-year-old Jordan Nagai, who is Japanese American, beat out 500 other auditioning children to star as Russell, a chubby Wilderness Explorer and wayward stowaway who tags along on septuagenarian Carl Fredricksen’s South American adventure.

"Because Russell is just about the only young character in the entire movie, children will identify with him and see the film through his eyes," Guy Aoki, founding president of MANAA, said. "The fact that he's Asian American will help bring acceptance not only to Asian American boys, but overweight ones at that."

The character’s design was inspired by the physical appearance of Pixar employee Peter Sohn, a Korean American director and story artist whose short film, “Partly Cloudy,” plays in theaters as the opening act for “Up.”

"Children watching this movie will not see race in this story, but accept Russell as a fellow kid, which will make them more broad-minded than many of today's adults in accepting people of color as heroes," Aoki said. Noting that “Up” grossed $68.2 million over the weekend, making it Pixar’s third-highest opening film, Aoki says, “We hope the success of this project will lead studios to cast Asian Americans as the stars of live-action movies, because just as audiences can relate to Russell in "Up," they'll be able to relate to Asian American characters in live-action projects as well.”

Veteran actor Aki Aleong praised Disney/Pixar for rebuking typecasting and creating a unique Asian American character and urged the Asian American community to support the movie.

"Disney/Pixar could have drawn Russell as a white character, but instead, they demonstrated their commitment to diversity," Aleong, a past MANAA President, said. "MANAA sincerely hopes that producers and film studios will follow Disney/Pixar's lead and cast Asian Americans in non-traditional lead roles.”

With a career spanning half a decade, Aleong, 74, has witnessed first-hand the discriminatory practices Asian American actors have faced in Hollywood—and continue to face even today. Recently, MANAA condemned Sony Pictures for using mostly white actors to play real-life Asian Americans in the film “21” and Paramount Pictures for choosing white actors to portray Asian characters in next year’s “The Last Airbender.”

"While other studios continue to deliberately cast whites to play Asian characters, Disney/Pixar has recognized that people of color can be heroes in feature films, too,” said Marissa Lee, spokesperson of racebending.com, a fan site protesting the casting of “The Last Airbender.”

"Disney/Pixar did not define Russell's character by overemphasizing or stereotyping his ethnicity," Lee said. "He was courageous, determined, and kind to the people and animals he met on his adventure. While he is Asian American, what mattered most was the content of his character."

In 1999, MANAA honored Disney for producing the Chinese-based story “Mulan” and again recognized the studio in 2006 for using a Hawaiian setting and creating an Asian Pacific American protagonist, Lilo, for “Lilo And Stitch.” Disney’s next animated feature film, “The Princess And The Frog,” also features a protagonist of color, Tiana, a New Orleans waitress-turned-princess, who is African American.

"We are a country of change, and a colorblind America for all can only be realized when we portray the American scene honestly," Aleong said. “Against the accustomed and unfounded fears of box office failure if a main character is non-white, ‘Up’ is a solid hit and now, history has been made.”

Message from the President of MANAA

Dear friends,

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month is over for another year, but that doesn’t mean the work stops for an organization like ours. Indeed, it feels like we are busier than ever, and that’s why I am writing to let you know about what's happening and to invite you to join the group. The month of May ended with with two very different notes for the API community. On the one hand, it was great to see that “Up” - the new Disney-Pixar movie that happens to co-star an Asian American boy named Russell - opened to strong reviews and #1 at the box office. On the other hand, I was sad to acknowledge the passing away of Ron Takaki, noted Asian American Studies scholar, and one my professors from college (anyone else read “Strangers From A Different Shore” for Intro to Asian Am. Class?).

Then there is another movie, "The Last Airbender,”which in contrast to "Up" is still very much a work in progress. We appreciate the support MANAA has received from fans to keep a spotlight on Airbender’s casting and production, and in the near future, I’ll be posting an update on how that campaign is going.

And just in case you missed it (see the posting below!), we’re co-sponsoring a panel discussion this Thursday night at the UC Irvine University Club. If you are in the Southern California area and can’t make the meetings in LA, please come meet us in person there!

Last but not least, we’re finally on Facebook! Well, we've been there, but we’re just starting to use it more now: http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=14661828412 If you can’t come out to LA or OC, then come say hi to us there! I also invite you to come connect with me at my MANAA/Facebook page. It's still very new, and you can find it using the email address plee@manaa.org.

Best regards,

Phil Lee

President, MANAA

OCA-OC and MANAA Announces “You Oughta Be in Pictures!” to Discuss Images of Asian Americans In Media

OCA-OC and MANAA announced that the two organizations will jointly host a forum to discuss the images of Asian Americans in media. OCA-OC is an organization dedicated to advancing the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian and Pacific Americans in the United States. MANAA advocates for balanced, sensitive, and positive coverage and portrayals of Asian Americans in the media. The public is encouraged to join in a lively panel discussion as actor Francois Chau ("Lost"), actor Tzi Ma ("Rush Hour" and 24), and Guy Aoki (MANAA founding president, and Rafu Shimpo columnist), share their experiences with Hollywood and efforts to change the way mainstream media portrays Asian Americans.

“This discussion will inform the public of how the Asian and Pacific Americans have been portrayed,” said Ellen Lu, President of OCA-OC. “The changes to a more accurate and positive portrayal of all ethnic minority communities, including Asian and Pacific Islander community, will be instrumental in fighting discrimination and prejudice."

"Anyone interested in the changing relationship between our communities and the media should find this evening both fun and thought-provoking,” said Phil Lee, MANAA President.

Who: Guy Aoki, founding president, MANAA
Tzi Ma, actor ("Rush Hour" and "24")
Francois Chau, actor ("Lost")

What: Lively discussion on changes in the way mainstream media portrays Asian Americans.

When: Thursday, June 4, 2009
6 PM Registration and Networking
7 PM Program

Where: UC Irvine University Club
801 East Peltason Drive, Irvine

Cost: MANAA and OCA-OC Members: $5
Non-Members: $10

Etc: Drinks and hors d’oeuvres provided
Parking is complimentary

RSVP: rsvp@oca-oc.org

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