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VC Filmfest 2004 - The Visual Communications Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film & Video Festival begins tonight. Vern's getting his own show: 10 'Trading's' Yip says he's leaving. He'll start production on NBC's Design Intervention in June. People were writing/calling/messaging me about tonight's Law & Order before it even aired on the west coast. From the NBC website: A VIOLENT ROBBERY ISN'T AS CLEAR CUT AS IT SEEMS -- When a female Japanese tourist is gunned down while seeing the sights with her husband, Detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) utilize the description of the attacker provided by the grieving spouse, to scour for a suspect. However, when they arrest of the suspect uncovers an alleged conspiracy plot, they focus their suspicions on the victim's husband as the mastermind behind this murder. The episode, entitled "Gaijin," opens with a frantic 911 call. The emergency operator can't understand the caller, who has a thick Japanese accent. Normally unaccented Will Yun Lee plays the grieving husband, who claims he and his wife was assaulted and robbed by a black man. But get this, there is no black man, he made it up--it's the Yakuza! The episode pretty much just spirals into the most racist, stereotypical crap you can imagine, complete with Japanese gangsters and bad BAD accents. Not to mention the HUGE racial implications of blaming the fictitious black suspect--the exploitation of racial division. The episode's still on as I write this, just getting worse and worse. Read this coverage of the show over at Banana-Coconut Magazine: 11 Fancy A Kick In The Beanbag Or In Your Pearly Whites? I can't believe they fit that much racist crap into one episode. Like the rest of America, I was all pumped to see it--but now I'm not down. Got this from Mike Kang's 12 blog: I was watching Letterman and Andy Richter was on promoting the new Olsen Twins movie that he's in. It turns out that he plays a white guy who is the adopted son of a Chinatown mob boss. On top of being a bad kung-fu artist a la "Beverly Hills Ninja" and playing the inscrutable treacherous villain, he's got a friggin' CHINESE CHING CHONG ACCENT! He even gave a nod to how fucked up it was at the end of the interview calling out for the protest letters. But this time you've let me down, allowing this kind of crap in your movie. As a company, Fairchild Publications takes this issue very seriously and we are working toward a positive resolution. Details Editor-in-Chief Daniel Peres has issued a statement of apology for the article. In addition, we are meeting with leaders from the Gay and Asian communities over the next week. Peres will address this matter in the June/July issue of the magazine. It has been made abundantly clear to me that this story, which is part of an ongoing series challenging male cultural stereotypes, was insensitive, hurtful, and in poor taste - an obvious point that I regret not recognizing prior to publication. There's a line that should never be crossed in any satirical humor, and Details crossed it. I, on behalf of the magazine, deeply regret this misstep, and apologize to those who were offended. Sincerely, Daniel Peres Editor-in-Chief, Details Again, thank you for contacting us. We want to assure you we are taking measures to address your concerns. Sincerely, Andrea Kaplan Vice President, Corporate Communications Fairchild Publications, Inc. I know there are people out there who think my website is a pain in the ass. You can think whatever you want, as long as you respect my right to publish it. But there's definitely a line between protected free speech and advocating violence. The web's a scary, powerful tool, and I guess we sometimes do need to keep it in check. A lengthy but important article about real immigrant worker exploitation. The Cleveland Indians recently called up Kazuhito Tadano to the majors from Class AAA Buffalo. Wong says, "It has the potential to be a very commercial mainstream comedy with an Asian American point of view that is honest and fresh. If you don't know about 20 manja, you don't know nothin'. Manja is an independent online guide to Asian American arts events going on in the San Francisco Bay Area. Don't know how big their roles are, or if their roles are even any good. In other movie news, check out this article: 24 Action flick turns ugly. It's about the recent production of Stealth, an action/adventure flick running into problems with environmentalists on location. People are blaming lack of support for SJSU's football program on the school's large Asian population? The argument is that being a more recent immigrant community, Asians aren't into football. People don't go to Spartan games because the Spartans suck. If you have a winning football team, people will come out to the games--it's as simple as that. If the Spartans were playing good football, with a sellout crowd every game, I highly doubt people would specifically credit Asian students for their loyal support. Dude, she even beat out former Run-DMC frontman Joseph Simmons (Rev. The ImaginAsian will be the only theater in New York City dedicated to first-run Asian and Asian-American films. The venue, located at 239 East 59th Street (between Second and Third Avenues), will offer 300 seats for the screening of feature films, music performances, satellite-fed events and exhibitions. They've even signed the 27th Asian-American International Film Festival (July 16-24) as its first event. Interesting insights on filmmaking, the industry, post-BLT success and future projects. Featuring the biggest and best of Asian and Asian American film. Opening Night kicks off with a newly restored print screening of Wayne Wang's Chan Is Missing--the old school classic that jumpstarted Asian American indie film. The festival also features a retrospective of Wayne Wang's earlier films, along with a wide array of the latest and greatest Asian/Asian American films and videos. Closing Night film is the LA premiere of Takeshi Kitano's Zatoichi, the Blind Swordsman. All starting this week, presented by 34 Visual Communications. Voice your opinion to execs at NBC, and let them know you stand behind this kind of diversity in casting. The good folks at Asian Media Watchdog have started up a 36 support campaign, complete with petitions and contact info. Asian American contractors will no longer be automatically included in Chicago's construction set-aside program --essentially, they're no longer considered a "presumptively socially disadvantaged": 38 Asians bumped from set-aside plan. This week, they (with representatives from other groups) met with Details/Fairchild Publications to outline their demands over the matter. Here's an 41 overview of the meeting (with proposed demands and outcomes). They've also got 43 photos from last week's protest in NYC. Truck Was Stuck, the new album from singer 44 Annie Lin, is now available at 45 CD Baby. The even includes "Bombs and Butterflies," a massive spoken word showcase featuring the likes of Mango Tribe and 8th Wonder. Among opening credits characters, the percentage increased threefold, from two percent to six percent. More than half of all prime time shows now include at least one Latino character. Older women were difficult to find on prime-time television. Both Latinos and Middle Easterners were more likely to be criminals than to have a professional job such as a doctor or a judge. Far from the simpering, passive stereotype of Asian masculinity he's supposed to represent, Hung has shown little fear in boldly taking to the stage, and not as some shuckin' and jivin' act. His earnestness, call it naivete if you insist, can be painful to watch, but it's also what Hung contributes. Far from the one-dimensional cartoon his critics paint him as, Hung comes off instead as vulnerable, confused, optimistic, and joyful, all at once. It's as complex and inspiring a portrait of humanity as one could hope for, and truly, when was the last time we've seen that in any American idol, Asian or otherwise? His detractors say he's an Asian geek, the image of everything we've been fighting against. Yes, it sucks that he's currently the m...
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