Romeo Must Die

I was so excited to watch this movie. You have no idea. I was ready to move on from the horrendous Jackie Chan stuff and onto some real action and some real representation. But alas... it didn't really come true. It fell flat. On its face. 

Disclaimer: This movie does not follow the original Shakespeare play at all. 
It starts with the son of an Oakland Chinese gangster being at a "black" club called Silk's. The son's bodyguards, headed by Kai (Russell Wong) show up and there's a lot of gunshots. The bodyguards, Kai, and the son are asked to leave. Kai berates the son for going into an "enemy" club, but The Son rolls his eyes and drives away. His body is found the next morning... dead. The father, Chu Sing (Henry O), finds out, as does his rival head-of-the-stereotypical-black-gang, Isaak O'Day (Delroy Lindo). It makes the situation between them very sticky. The Son's brother, Han (Jet Li), finds out while he is imprisoned in Hong Kong, so he escapes using his badassedness and somehow gets to Oakland (which is really Vancouver but whatever). Isaak gets worried that the Chinese gang will retaliate and attack his daughter, Trisha (Aaliyah), so he puts a bodyguard on her, comic relief by the name of Maurice (Anthony Anderson). They go to a record store together and Trisha runs away because she doesn't like her bodyguard. She jumps into a cab that Han has just stolen and then they drive away. Han can't drive. That's okay, because it starts a nice conversation. And they flirt and it's reaaaaaaally cute. Meanwhile, Isaak meets with a white businessman named Roth (Edoardo Ballerini) about selling some of his waterfront property to build a NFL stadium and own a football team. Isaak has decided to give up his life of crime to own the stadium and team, so he is willing to do whatever in the deal with Roth. Later, Han drops off Trish at her store (yeah, she owns a store) and she finds her brother Colin (D.B. Woodside) making shady business deals over the phone. Naturally, this upsets her, but he consoles her and they hug. It's cute. Meanwhile, Han breaks into his brother's swanky high-rise apartment and finds out that the last number his brother dialed was that of Trish's store. Trish is then called to a diner to meet with Isaak's second-in-command, Mac (Isaiah Washington), who warns her to be careful. Trish rolls her eyes and goes home... and Han followed her home! He asks her about the phone call but she says she doesn't know what it's about. But then Maurice and some of his cronies show up and immediately suspect Han of something, even though he presents himself as a dim sum delivery kid. No matter. There's a badass fight anyways, and Han wins, because he's a winner. Han then steals Maurice's SUV. Han then goes to his brother's funeral and confront his father, Chu, about his brother's death. Apparently, Han and his brother were very close. Chu refuses to even talk about his son's death, so Han decides to talk to Kai. Kai informs Han that the Chinatown gangs (yeah, you read that correctly) and Isaak's gang are fighting over the waterfront properties, as both gangs want to own the NFL stadium and stuff. Kai and Han have a fight because it's fun, and Han goes back to Trisha's and they hang out and flirt some more and it's really cute. Later that night, Colin and his girlfriend are thrown out of the window of their high-rise apartment by someone mysterious and they both die. The next day, Han returns to his brother's apartment and finds it completely trashed. He then finds his brother's car with a list of addresses of waterfront properties. Going back to the apartment, Han finds Trisha, who tells him about Colin's death. They decide to work together to figure out the mysterious waterfront property list. They arrive at the first waterfront business, which is owned by a Chinese man, but he's been murdered, along with his coworkers. Han and Trish spot the assassins as they are motorcycling away, so they give chase. While fighting, Han discovers that the assassins are Chinese, which makes him worry. Han then informs his father, who dismisses it as a plot by Isaak to "get even" or one-up him on the waterfront properties. Meanwhile, Mac tortures a black waterfront property owner into handing over the property deed to him. So both Kai and Mac are killing and doing bad things to obtain the businesses and land that they want. Isaak freaks out and has Trisha move back into her childhood home to be safe. He also forbids her to see Han ever again and stresses the dangers of the Chinese. Trisha then gets suspicious and asks her dad if he had anything to do with the murder of Han's brother, which Isaak denies. Then they have a heart-to-heart, but Roth calls and tells Isaak he wants to seal the deal now. They agree to meet at the Silk's, the bar where the first fight scene takes place. Han and Trisha decide to go to Silk's too, unaware of the meeting that is happening there. When they show up, everyone stares at Han because he's Chinese - however, this doesn't daunt Trisha, who decides to dance with Han. Scaaaaandal. Silk (DMX), the owner of the bar, sees them and smells trouble, so he scoops them off of the dance floor and takes them up to his office. There's some exposition about Isaak's gang buying up all of the waterfront properties... blah blah blah... until Mac bursts in and shoots Silk and takes the property deed! Han is beaten up and Trisha is taken away. Han gets taken away to a weird warehouse that looks like the set of the final chase scene in The Fugitive. There's another badass fight sequence and Han escapes to find Trisha! Later, Isaak refuses to sell the newly acquired waterfront properties to Roth, claiming that he wants to be a partner. This makes Mac upset, who then reveals that he's been working with Chu to kill off the other property owners and that he was the one who killed Colin. This makes Isaak very angry, and he launches himself at Mac but gets shot. Then Roth's guys start shooting everywhere and most of Isaak's men get killed. Roth steals all of the deeds and tries to make it to a waiting helicopter but drops all of the deeds. Han shows up and interrogates Mac about the death of his brother, who says that it happened "in house," and then is about to shoot Han when - SURPRISE! Trisha shoots Mac! Han and Trisha go back to Isaak to make sure that he gets to a hospital, and Isaak gives his blessing for Han and Trisha - awww. Then Han departs to avenge his brother. He shows up at his father's house and confronts Kai, who confesses that he was the one who killed Han's brother. Then Kai and Han have a ginormous fight and ends with Kai being killed. Han then goes and confronts his dad, who asks that Han kill him. Han decides to step away and leave it to the police, but his dad shoots himself. The film ends with Trisha and Han hugging (not kissing like they are obviously supposed to) and walking away holding hands (what are they, fourth graders?!). 

They're cuuuute. But they aren't fourth graders. So they should do more than just hold hands.

Phew. Long-winded plot, eh? Kinda puts those Jackie Chan films to shame.
Now, about the kiss that got cut and replaced with a hug. A bit of context: The original cut of the film featured Jet Li and Aaliyah kissing and then the movie ending. However, when showed at test screenings, viewers did not like the fact that Jet Li and Aaliyah were kissing. So they replaced the kiss with a hug. Stupid, right? I know. And it was a hug. The hug implies that they're only good friends, which is just utterly false and an understatement - Trisha and Han obviously have chemistry together - so... they just hug? It's an anti-climactic ending, especially with all the bad stuff going down in the rest of the movie. Just a hug? Come on, they had been holding in all their sexual tension the whole movie and they just hug? Liberate yourselves, kiddos! Kiss her!

No kissing!!

But I digress. This film came out in 2000. Anti-miscegenation laws had been nonexistent for 33 years. It was 16 years after the release of Sixteen Candles. Hard to believe that in the year 2000, people still had issues with interracial kissing. But here's my question. Was it the fact that it was a black girl and an Asian guy kissing? Or was it the fact that it was Aaliyah kissing a relatively unknown Asian actor? Aaliyah was a very famous, very talented singer who was just starting her film career - she already had a fan base because of her musical career. Did her fans think she was too - dare I say it? - good for Jet Li? Was it because Jet Li did not have the status as a sex symbol that Aaliyah did? Would it have made a difference if it was a different black female actress? Who knows? I just wonder why it was such a huge issue. I mean, there was some serious in-your-face interracial kissing back in Crimson Kimono - that film was released in 1959. In 2000, audiences couldn't have a badass Asian dude kiss a pretty black girl. What's up with that?!

Despite the lack-of-kiss controversy, Romeo Must Die was a groundbreaking film. Well, sort of. Well, not really. More of a groundbreaking premise than an actually important and impressive film. There's the fact that it stars Jet Li as a calm, cool, funny dude who just happens to be from Hong Kong and he just happens to be a badass. If you cut all of the martial arts scenes from the film, you would get a film about a normal Asian dude who falls in love with a black girl. Normality! His character is almost boring - and you have no idea how refreshing it is. 
The only similarities between the Bruce Lee caricature and the character of Han is that they both excel at martial arts and are quite noble. There are almost no similarities between Han and Jackie Chan - Han is not loud and clumsy, nor is he silly or bumbling. It's great!
But of course, Han remains a badass. And here's proof!

Something also has to be said about who this film is appealing to. Essentially, this is a movie of martial arts and love for the hip-hop generation. It's definitely marketed as an action movie for the 13-25 age range (I'm guessing here). So if a bunch of 13-25 year olds were watching this movie and they see a positive representation of... well, one Asian guy, the impact would have been notable. The normality of Han's characteristics shows that some Asian guys are pretty darn normal. They play football and try to impress girls. They're funny and goofy and they're just like any other kid you'd meet on the street. On the other hand, Han's supercool martial arts skillz make him into a hero. His ability to take out a group of bad guys makes him somebody to look up to. When was the last time people looked up to an Asian guy? 

Han even beasts at American football! Look at that! 
Another merit of this film is that it doesn't rely solely on the fight scenes - there is a (long-winded and slightly convoluted) plot, and it works (ish). 
Remember how Jackie Chan's debut film in America was that awful pile of poop called Rumble in the Bronx? Well, this was Jet Li's American debut film. (I'm ignoring Lethal Weapon 4) No comparison needed, no contest - Jet Li is the winner. He wins on a positive portrayal, a semi-tolerable movie, better fight scenes, and he has a happy smile. And he never gets too subservient or too anything, really. However, Li isn't a winner just because of Romeo Must Die. He has not caricature-ized himself while acting in America at all and has retained a very good public image. Jet Li has consistently chosen roles that are not completely stereotypical portrayals of Asian people - so not only is he a badass, he's also a conscious, smart human being! Is it any wonder that I'm on Team Jet Li and not on Team Jackie Chan?!

There is, of course, the issue of gangs, regardless of racial background. I'm going to focus specifically on the Chinese gangs, however. Eerily reminiscent of the Sherlock episode I wrote about, this idea of warring families and all the Chinese families banding together just rubs me the wrong way. The entire plot of the film definitely rests on the race-based gang premise, so that kinda makes this whole film... uncomfortable. Chu Sing isn't a nice guy - he puts his enemies in refrigerators and his right-hand man killed his own son for the good of the business. He's a kind of frail Fu Manchu, with Kai acting as his mercenary. Not the best portrayal, and it isn't really redeemed with Han's character at all... 
I wish this film had used this topic (so much potential!) to make some sort of social commentary about race relations or organized crime or something - but it never does. Never ever. And there's never any Shakespeare references either! Hmph.

So overall... I think this was a movie that had a lot of creative potential, and had the potential to be really groundbreaking. The concept was interesting and showed a lot of promise, but none of it was actually achieved, which is hugely disappointing. Then of course there's the no kissing thing. And the gangs. I'm taking solace in the fact that I can watch the Russell Wong vs. Jet Li fight scene over and over again... 
Oh well. You can't win them all. 

Chan is Missing

Chan is Missing is the story of two cabbies, Jo and Steve, (Wood Moy, Marc Hayashi) who were trying to get a cab driving license. They enlisted the help of a man named Chan Hung, giving him $4000 to obtain the license. Before Chan can get the license, he disappears, taking the $4000 too. Jo and Steve, wanting their license and the $4000 dollars, decide to go find where Chan could be. The resulting journey takes them all over San Francisco Chinatown, through middle-class apartments, a Filipino senior center, Chinese restaurants, and ESL schools. They begin by asking Chan's friend, a restaurant cook with a degree in astrophysics and engineering who hates making sweet and sour spareribs, the restaurant's most popular dish. He says that Chan went back to China, but Jo doesn't believe this. Jo says that Chan would only go back to China once he made an impact on America. Later, Jo and Steve find out that Chan was involved in a traffic accident, where he received a ticket. That same day, Jo and Steve hear about the argument between Chan and another elderly Chinese man that resulted in the other man's death. Chan and the other man had recently been in an argument about which flag should have been flown at an annual parade in Chinatown - the People's Republic of China flag versus the Republic of China's flag. Jo and Steve head to a Manilatown senior center, where they find out that Chan enjoyed eating Hi-Hos and listening to the mariachi music performed there. They find Chan's coat there, with newspaper clippings in the pockets of the story of the murdered elderly Chinese man and of the story of the controversy surrounding the flags. Jo and Steve's search for Chan keeps leading them astray and they hear a different story about him every time. Next, they decide to talk to Chan's wife, an Americanized, headstrong lawyer who said that Chan"was too Chinese" to fully assimilate into America. Ties to Communist China keep appearing as well. Eventually ties to an "other woman" surface, and Jo receives a mysterious call telling him to "stop asking questions about Chan." We never actually find out where Chan went, but his daughter brings $4000 to Steve and Jo to make up for the money. The film has a very ambiguous ending with long shots of deserted Chinatown streets with a scratchy recording of Flower Drum Song's "Grant Avenue." 

The great thing about Wayne Wang films is that they are incredibly relatable. You don't even have to be Chinese or Asian-American to enjoy them. Universal messages, people. They work well. Chan is Missing is no exception. However, it does draw attention to the differences in mentality and worldview between Asians from Asia and Asian-Americans. A part of the last 30 minutes of the film act as Jo's monologue about how the reason he couldn't find Chan Hung was because Jo couldn't think like a Chinese-Chinese man. This monologue is said over a montage of iconic yet dismal scenes of San Francisco. Jo was born in America - he found that it was this cultural difference that kept him from finding Chan. And just as Chan can't be found in the city at all, he's also found embedded in the city itself. This is spectacular because it highlights the difference between those who immigrate from Asia and those have Asian heritage and are born in America, something American mainstream media can't even seem to accent now. If you've been keeping up with my blog, you'll realize that this sort of "highlighting" of cultural differences within the Asian-American race is huge. 

Scroll to 4:13 for Chan is Missing
The style and feel of the film also gives a boost to its relatability (just making up words here). Most of the shots are hand-held and take place in people's kitchens. There is a distinctive home-movie quality to the film which makes the film way more familiar to anybody regardless of their race. Also, the film has characters speaking both Cantonese and Mandarin. Hello! Haven't heard any Cantonese since... Oh yeah, Double Happiness. Still. It's not all in Mandarin! And it's funny! Funny without making fun of Asians! This film was a huge step in the integration of proper representations of Asian-Americans in the movie industry, even if it didn't really make a big splash at the time. 

As dear old Ebert said, this is the first film that doesn't rely on all those handy stereotypes that I've been studying. There are no Fu Manchus, no Lotus Blossom girls, no Long Duk Dongs. There's a few Charlie Chan jokes, but they're all making fun of the "venerable" detective. All of the characters (Jo and Steve, in particular) are portrayed as normal human beings who just happen to be Chinese. The normality of the characters and setting is what make this film really stand out (okay, yeah, the cinematography's great too) - this could have been a film about any particular group of people, and the story would not have had to been altered one bit. Not once does the film mock or fetishize Chinatown or Chinese people - and that's probably because it was directed by an Asian-American director. 
I think that when a movie that just so happens to be about Asian-Americans is directed or written by Asian-Americans, the story becomes so much richer and way more relatable. These films end up more authentic because it's not some white director or writer who knows next to nothing about the Asian culture or the experience of Asian-Americans. Those films (Flower Drum Song, anyone?) end up appropriating Asian culture and either making a mockery of it or just representing it in the wrong way (The World of Suzie Wong? The Mask of Fu Manchu?) People always talk about Flower Drum Song as the "first" and the "best." However, it was not authentic. And usually, inauthenticity makes people angry. So what's the best way to capture an authentic picture of the Asian-American experience? Get an Asian-American writer, director - or just Wayne Wang behind the camera.

Just like Joy Luck Club before it, Chan is Missing presents a story with a universal message that just so happens to be about Chinese-Americans. Chan is Missing deals with loss, identity, mystery... you name it. But it's not specifically about Chinese-Americans. Sure, that's a common thread, almost the backbone of the story, but it really isn't the only thing going on in the movie. An example of the Asian-American-ness taking over the plot of a film would probably be Double Happiness. Of course, these aren't even in the same category of films - but they both deal with the subject of being an Asian who has heritage/blood ties to Asia but doesn't fit in there. 
Of course, films like this beg the question: Is this a film that just so happens to feature Asian-Americans? Or is this a film made for Asian-Americans?

Looking Backwards

Warning: Somewhat incoherent and wiggly wonderings ahead. Enjoy!
As the year/semester draws to a close, I have begun thinking about all of the things I've learned, gotten mad at, felt offended or inspired by, or that have just left me speechless. 
It's daunting, actually, to scroll back through all my other posts and summarize what I've learned. It's like completing grade school and then having to go back and remember what you did on the 100th day of school in kindergarten. Daunting.

Before I went into this study/blog/craziness, I had relatively little understanding of how Asians have been represented in the media, how they have been treated in America, and how it continues to exist today. I had virtually no idea about what it means to be Asian American. 
I'm not saying that because of this blog I've had this great epiphany and I know and understand every single Asian American's experience. Instead, I have a deeper understanding of the stereotypes that still exist today and a better understanding of why I may have perceived something as racist (with historical context to boot). 

What are the connections between social and historical forces and the representations we see?

Why is yellowface still acceptable? When and how did yellowface turn into whitewashing?

How do these representations create and/or perpetuate stereotypes that are present in our world? What is the impact?

These questions have been hanging over my head all semester, and I keep wondering if I'm answering them fully. Or if I'm keeping them in mind as I type and try to analyze the movies and television shows I see. Or if my readers even stopped to read these questions. Sometimes I'm even wondering if these stereotypes matter. I know that's a blunt way of putting it, but what if nobody else sees the things I do? Is it my job to get up on my soap box blog and tell the world about these stereotypes and how damaging they are? Do people care? I care. That's kinda why I did an Independent Study in it...
I'm also wondering if yellowface is acceptable to other people, or if it's even part of society's consciousness. I've read so many comments on the IMDB listings for the movies I've watched that have yellowface, and they all say things like, "Ignore the fact that there's Caucasian actors playing Chinese people, this movie is awesome!" Or "I don't think this movie is racist. It's so funny when the white guy imitates the Oriental!" Or "LOL i luv jake gyllenhaaaaaaaaaal!!!!!!11111!!!!1!!!!!1111111111!!!!!1" These comments make me not only concerned about the state of humanity, but also whether or not yellowface is accepted and... liked? Or is it even given a second thought except for me and a few other people? 

Look at my first post ever. I've come a long way. Seriously, I have.
Be prepared for 2011. Even more analysis and soap box soliloquies to come. 
More reflections to be posted in the comments section below!

 

Margaret Cho and the Dilemma of Comedy

Let me start by stating that Margaret Cho is a badass. She really, truly is. She's sassy and brilliant. She has no qualms about giving the finger to society. She's a champion for Asian American and LGBTQ rights. She's fantastic! She was on Dancing With the Stars!

Comedy is an iffy arena for Asian Americans. Comedy is iffy for anybody, because you can't "make it" as a comedian unless people find you funny. But. People find Margaret Cho funny! And I can't say I blame them. 

The first 2 minutes and 8 seconds make such a nice summary of the sentiments of this blog - Asian Americans have always strived for acceptance, tried to assimilate, but based on the cultural stereotypes we have seen perpetuated in the media over the years, it's been made pretty difficult. 

These "people who don't understand the concept of being Asian American" are the ones who keep on believing in the "Perpetual Foreigner" stereotype. Cho's standup highlights that marvelously. Those questions/statements are annoying and something that Asians/-Americans must face almost every day, but the fact that they can be turned into comic material and can be accepted by the audience is something in itself.
Then, of course, there's Cho's "Mommy" material that she employs heavily in her standup. It's mostly her squinching up her face and speaking in an exaggerated "Asian/Korean Mommy" accent. In any other non-Asian comedian's hands, that could come off as racist or demeaning. On it's own, it's slightly racist and demeaning. Is it acceptable because it's Margaret Cho, because she's Asian-American? Is it okay to do because that's what her audience wants? Should she just cut that part of her act completely, because it is potentially offensive? Has anyone been offended by it? I often find myself halfheartedly laughing along with her "Mommy" impersonations, wondering whether it's okay for me to laugh or not. 
Is it possible that Margaret Cho would still be as popular if she completely cut the "Mommy" bits from her stand-up routines? I think she would, she's still very funny and witty and sassy enough to be hilarious. But would other people still enjoy her? Obviously, you can't be holding out for universal popularity as a comedian, but.... Would she still be as immensely popular as she is now if she had no "Asian accent" going on? Do people expect that an Asian comedian will employ the "Asian accent" and it'll be so funny and awesome and ohmygod they are my new favorite comedian! 

Comedy is about making people laugh, making your jokes accessible to everyone. But when an Asian-American employs an accent of their people in their routine... is that catering to non-Asian people's taste? Do other Asian-Americans find it funny? We afraid to speak up and say, "The accent is not funny. The accent is the perpetuation of the Foreigner stereotype." Let's dump our Model Minority umbrella, proclaim "The accent is dead!" and have a successful stand up routine with no accents! With no caricaturization of the Asian accent or Asian people! REAL representation is needed! 
More coming soon!

Joy Luck Club

There's no way I can claim to have a decent Asians/-Americans in the media blog without mentioning this movie. No way. 

Based on Amy Tan's book of the same name, Joy Luck Club (1993) is the story of four Chinese immigrant mothers and their relationships with their grown Chinese-American daughters. Su Yuan, Lindo, Ying Ying, and An-Mei were all born and raised in feudal China, and get together once a week to play mah-jong and drink tea and hope to be lucky in their lives. Their daughters, June, Waverly, Lena, and Rose, were born and raised in America. Su Yuan (Kieu Chinh) has passed away before the movie begins, and her story is told by June, her daughter. We learn about all of the seven other women in their various flashbacks to adolescence and childhood. Su Yuan was married in China to a different man and had twin baby girls. The Japanese invade China and she is forced to evacuate her village and head for Chungking with nothing but her babies. Along the way, she contracts dysentery and is worried that if she dies, it will bring bad luck on her babies and they won't be rescued. So she leaves them at the side of the road with a note asking whoever finds them to contact their father. She then winds up in America, remarries, and has her daughter June (Ming-Na), but she is forever haunted by the loss of her babies. Su Yuan has June begin to play the piano, hoping that she is gifted and will be a child star. However, June doesn't really want to do that, and she doesn't get why her mom wants her to - in fact, she doesn't get her mom at all. Lindo (Tsai Chin) was given away by her mother at age sixteen as part of an arranged marriage to a boy who was sixteen as well. Her husband had no sexual interest in her at all, and they became like brother and sister. Unfortunately, the boy's mother wants Lindo to produce a grandson for her, so she restricts Lindo to her bed until she gives birth to a baby. Lindo makes a plan to get out of her marriage which relies on her mother-in-law's belief in superstition. She escapes to America, remarries, has a daughter, Waverly, and becomes Su Yuan's best friend. The two women raise their children together, and Waverly and June grow up as rivals. Lindo makes Waverly (Tamlyn Tomita) into a chess champion, but has very high expectations of Waverly. When Waverly thinks her mom is using her champion status to draw attention to herself, Waverly quits chess and never plays again, but remains constantly afraid of her mother's criticisms. Ying-ying (France Nuyen) grew up meek and quiet and ended up marrying an abusive douchebag who sleeps around and treats her like dirt. They have a son together, but Ying-ying, wanting revenge, drowns the son. Her husband dies, and she goes to America with her new husband. They have a daughter, Lena, who grows up like her mother, quiet and unable to express herself. Lena (Lauren Tom) winds up in a marriage where her husband makes their relationship financially "equal" and therefore saps their relationship of all tenderness and caring. Lena ends up divorcing her husband and meeting someone new. An-Mei's (Lisa Lu) mother was raped by a wealthy man, and, having nowhere else to turn, she becomes his Fourth Wife and leaves An-Mei to be raised by her grandparents. Eventually, An-Mei's mother comes back for her and brings her to the house of her new husband, where she gave birth to a boy (as result of the rape) who has been adopted by Second Wife, a cruel and manipulative woman. An-Mei's mother commits suicide by eating opium before New Year's. An-Mei realizes her worth, and what has been going on in her new home, and demands that her "stepfather" treat her and her half-brother like they were his children from a First Wife. When An-Mei moves to America, she marries and has a daughter, Rose. Rose (Rosalind Chao) ends up marrying a white man who married her just to spite his racist mother. She is entirely dependent on him and he makes all of the decisions in their relationship. However, he ends up losing interest in her and having an affair. Rose and he decide to split their property and custody of their daughter, until Rose finally learns to stand up for herself and ask for her proper share of the property. All of these flashbacks are occurring during a farewell party for June, who will be going to China to meet the lost twins, who are now grown women and want to meet their mother. However, they don't know that their mother has died, so June must be the bringer of bad news. She goes to China and tells them that their mother has died, but that she came to take her mother's place. And so it ends, with an abundance of Kleenex and tears. 

Notice how the entire main cast is all Asian/-American women? There are hardly any white people in this film too - two husbands (of Waverly and Rose, respectively) and extras. Everyone else is Asian. Really Asian. No yellowface here, no sir. Remember Flower Drum Song? How it boasts an all-Asian American cast, and being the first of its kind? How it was applauded for being such a great portrayal of Chinese-Americans? Remember how it focused so much on being the first of its kind that it lost sight of the plot, dragged on too much and generally sucked? Not so with Joy Luck Club! It's a cast with talented, relatively unknown (back then) Asian-American women and it never loses sight of its plot, never has any contrived dialogue - it's solid all the way through. It tugs at your heartstrings. It's well-made, real, with no cheesy song-and-dance numbers or Monkey King ballets. There are real Asian people in both of the casts, but Flower Drum Song relies too much on its "groundbreaking" cast and forgets that there is something called plot, and it's rather important to a movie. Joy Luck Club has an all-Asian main cast, but it moves beyond that and strives to be a good movie. Sure, this movie deals with being Chinese, being Chinese American (the book even more so), but it doesn't get lost in that. It acknowledges it and moves on. The film uses the Chinese-ness as a backdrop to a compelling story about love and family and moms and daughters. I love this movie. Why did it take so long to make a movie with a primarily Asian cast that wasn't bad? Probably because we had to wait for Amy Tan to write the book, and because it wasn't a musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein. 

There are some really lovely, normal bits in this film, like all the scenes at June's farewell party before she leaves for China. Watching those scenes is like watching any party video. Everyone is acting normal, being regular human beings. If you were to cut out all of the flashbacks and just watch the party scenes, you would see normality, where (in the words of John Cho) "race is a fraction of their identity rather than the sum of their identity." We saw this a little bit in 21 Jump Street and a little more in Harold & Kumar - cool people in America doing regular people things and they just happen to be Asian. They're not smoking opium in dark corners (and there are no references to opium at all in this movie! Joy!) or something. True, there's a mah-jong game being played, but... that's still pretty normal. The people at this party are chatting, eating, drinking (not excessively), being pleasant. There are moments of tenderness (when June is telling Rose's daughter a story), short moments of happiness and gaiety (when a bottle of champagne is opened and it goes everywhere and everyone laughs), moments of chuckle-to-yourself-sweetness (when June is invited to join her mother's best friends at their mah-jong table). It's incredibly human, and that is some REAL representation. Normality! It's great! 

Empowering towards women (especially Asian women), this movie is. The plot, the characters, the relationships - all showing women in a positive light. The only women who are really portrayed as evil or corrupt are left back in China or ignored. The mother figures are shown as caring albeit misunderstood leaders who channel their inner strength in times of need. Almost all of the mothers had previous marriages and escaped them. Their daughters find their inner strength and overcome their own obstacles as well, with nothing but themselves and their mommy's anecdotes to get them through it all. Three of the daughters also end their primary marriages and pursue new ones. Almost none of the Asian stereotypes surrounding women are perpetuated here. There are no murderous, scheming, devilish Dragon Ladies. None of the women act in the manner of Suzie Wong. They don't parade around in body-hugging qipaos doing the cha-cha or seducing white men or selling themselves. The only stereotype that you see here is the one of the Lotus Blossom; however, that stereotype is overcome and pushed aside as the characters mature into stronger women. Joy Luck Club shows this transformation and rejection, not of the stereotype, of the role and oppression of their situation which causes them to act in accordance of that stereotype. The daughters might begin by subscribing to the model minority stereotype (the prodigy children, June and Waverly), but they end up quitting those roles and going on to be themselves. Strong women and the mother-daughter relationship is at the center of the entire film. So watch it with your mom and I dare you not to cry.  

I understand, however, how this film could not do so well in representing men. There's the creep who got his Fourth Wife by raping her, who doesn't end up feeling bad until she dies and her daughter (An-Mei) tells him that her mommy's ghost will come back to settle scores. There's the abusive and manipulative husband who sleeps around and isn't afraid to show it in front of his wife (Ying-Ying). There's the money-grubbing, unloving control freak (Lena's husband). Two sexual predators, one eunuch. All are misogynistic. The eunuch we can immediately classify as a Charlie Chan spin-off - uninterested in love, roly-poly, comical-looking, annoying. The two sexual predators are descendants of our favorite Fu Manchu, or maybe General Yen. Preying on women all the time, being manipulative, sly, crafty, cunning, you name it - they are portrayed as overly sexualized, threatening men. 
There's only one good portrayal of an Asian man in this film, and that is of June's father. June is about to leave to go meet her half-sisters in China. She finds her father sifting through a box of her mother's possessions to find things for the half-sisters to have, because "We have memories of Mommy in here [points to his head], and now they can have memories of Mommy." It's heartbreaking. And sweet. Because June's father loves her and loved her mommy. Reach for Kleenex, go ahead. But this character, who spends maybe all of seven minutes on the screen, is the only really positive male character we see in the film. 
Granted, neither the movie or the book are about men. It's about women, and the relationship between mother and daughter. But the men still matter. And I am unsure whether a movie like this one, with all it's groundbreaking, it's heartfelt-sobfest-ness, can be considered "real representation" if only the women get the proper portrayals. True, women have historically been the more repressed sex, but we can't call it equal representation if it's segregated by gender towards the female side. And, historically, Asian men haven't been represented in that great of a light either. This film is great for the portrayals when you ignore all the men (except June's dad) and focus solely on the women being mommies and daughters. 

Fun Facts About The Film (just because):
Russell Wong, who plays Ying-ying's abusive and cheating husband, also had a lead role in the episode of "The Dragon and the Angel" on 21 Jump Street. Amy Tan has a cameo in the very first scene. She enters the party with her movie family and gives a hug to another guest. My cousin was an extra. Ming-Na, who plays June, was also the voice (talking only, not the singing voice) of Mulan in both Mulan and Mulan II. In the scene of June's piano recital, the girl who is before her is singing "I Enjoy Being a Girl" from Flower Drum Song. Nancy Kwan is not in this movie. Neither is James Shigeta. I wonder why?
Dissenting Opinions
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Sagwa: The Chinese-Siamese Cat

Confession: This used to be my favorite show as a kid. So forgive me if I'm not as critical as I should be. 
Based on the children's book by Amy Tan, this show features a family of cats who write calligraphy with their tails for their master, who is the magistrate of a Chinese province in the countryside. Sagwa, Sheegwa, Dongwa, and their friend Fu-Fu the bat go on adventures together that always end with a moral lesson. Really cute moral lessons, like "Don't turn your back on your friends," or "Don't steal." 

And listen to that music. Sounds nothing like Mr. Yunioshi's theme song. No obscenely loud gongs. The music isn't a specific/traditional Chinese song - but it's using the traditional instruments and structure as a backbone to all of the songs used in the series. It sounds like the composer for this show sat down and really studied traditional Chinese instruments and songs. And do you hear that? That's singing in Mandarin. About half of the singing in the theme song is in Mandarin. Not in English. Not in some made-up "Chinese" language. In Mandarin. Whooohoo! 

What's lovely about this show, you ask? It's cute little cats who write with their tails. Little Chinese cats who write in very accurate and traditional-looking calligraphy. Cute little Chinese cats who go on adventures with their best friend who is a bat. Cats who write with their tails and live in ancient China (social history lessons, kids!). Most of the character's names are derived from actual Chinese words/names. This is probably the most accurate and positive portrayal on a children's television show of (specifically) ancient Chinese culture, therefore instilling a respect towards China and it's history. Is that not cause for celebration? 

I have no complaints about any of the cat characters, because they are not based on any caricatures of Chinese people. They're generic kid show characters. There's the cute, cheerful, slightly ditzy little sister (Sheegwa), the whiney, slightly myopic and dramatic cool older brother (Dongwa), the curious, kind and occasionally very bossy middle sister (Sagwa), the strict yet funny dad (Baba Miao), the gentle but strict mommy (Mama Miao), and the clumsy but very smart sidekick (Fu-Fu the bat). There's also a gang of alley cats (Aristocats, anyone?), three Pekingese "sleeve" dogs, some mice, and cat grandparents. Ignore the fact that they're cats in China. This ensemble cast could be any kid's television show. They just happen to be cats and they just happen to be Chinese cats who write calligraphy with their tails. Nothing else.

Now the humans, on the other hand, that's where this show teeters on the brink of being potentially (mildly) offensive. There's the gluttonous, absent-minded Foolish Magistrate, a dumbed-down Charlie Chan character, who keeps potstickers in the sleeves of his robes and enjoys eating noodles and making up silly rules. There's his demanding wife Tai-Tai who keeps Pekingese dogs in her sleeves and is an extremely watered-down Fu Manchu/Dragon Lady combo what with her ability to manipulate her husband into doing whatever she wants. There are their three daughters, dumbed-down Lotus Blossom girls who giggle pointlessly and don't really serve a purpose except as stock characters. There's the Cook, a cheerful man who cooks for the magistrate and his family, and is subservient, rotund, and just like Charlie Chan, except he doesn't solve mysteries. He does use a lot of aphorisms. Then there's the Reader, the slapstick comic relief man who reads the rules set out by the magistrate to the rest of the village/province. He falls down a lot - he's the human manifestation of Fu-Fu the bat. Both are wise, clumsy, sometimes silly, and wear glasses. Almost all of the human characters in the TV show of Sagwa are based in strange, old, funky stereotypes, even though they are watered down considerably and aren't portrayed as caricatures or meant to be racist.

There is the concern that the main characters of Sagwa (the cats) are voiced by white people, and this raises the issue of whitewashing - giving a role that could be for any actor of any race that ends up being played by a white actor just because. Look out for whitewashing in upcoming film/television posts! Was denying an Asian vocal actor the chance to play a Chinese cat wrong? Was there ever any denial of an Asian vocal actor? Was an Asian vocal actor ever considered for one of the lead roles? Is it because it's only the role of a cat that the race of the actor doesn't matter? Thankfully, a majority of the human caricatures (oops, I mean characters) are voiced by people of Asian descent, albeit relatively unknown/unrecognized actors. So is casting a white actor (rather, using a white actor's voice) to play an Asian character in a vocal role whitewashing? Or... not?

In the past, cartoons depicting Chinese people always featured prominent teeth and slanty eyes on the people. Not so here! Nobody's eyes are drawn as a diagonal line. Most of them even have whites around their irises! Everyone can see in this show! And not one of them has buck teeth. Not one. I don't think any of the characters are actually drawn with teeth, so I guess teeth are irrelevant here. 

 Effort was put into making this show accurate and a good representation, which sets it apart from shows like Juniper Lee or Jake Long. The theme song, the drawings, the usage of real Chinese words, the references to Chinese history: it all screams of effort and research on the part of the creators. How awesome is that? 

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle

I burned a lot of calories laughing at this one.

Warning: This post not safe for 12 and under.

Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) are roommates, best buddies, and stoners. Harold works in an office, where the white guys push off all the work on Harold because they think that "those Asian guys love crunching numbers." Kumar's father wants him to go to med school, but all Kumar wants to do is smoke pot and have fun. Kumar screws up his interview to get into med school by talking to Harold over the phone in front of the dean and goes home. Harold is upset because now he has lots more work to do, his parking spot got stolen by some white "extreme sports punks" who yell at him "Better Ruck Tomorrow!!!" and Harold cannot work up the courage to talk to the pretty-indeterminate-race-girl-next-door and his crush, Maria. So Harold and Kumar get high and get the munchies. They see an ad for White Castle and... cravings. They hop in Harold's car (despite the amount of work Harold has) and make the journey to White Castle. And shenanigans ensue. Unfortunately, the old White Castle in New Brunswick was replaced with a crappier burger joint (ha ha, joint), but there's another White Castle open 24 hours a day in Cherry Hill. Along the way, Kumar starts to come down and decides to stop by Princeton to get some more pot. While Harold gets taken to an "Asia Club" meeting by some chick he doesn't like, Kumar finds a pot supplier and buys some from him, and is then approached by two British Preppy McPrepsteresses. They give Kumar their room number, and this makes Kumar happy. Then he takes his pot and he and Harold get high in the stairwell and are almost caught by a campus policeman. They make a run for it and hide in the girl's bathroom. The two Preppy McPrepsteresses come into the bathroom as Harold and Kumar are hiding in a stall. The two Preppy McPrepsteresses take care of some business (taco sh*ts) and, needless to say but I'll say it anyway - Harold and Kumar run away, leave their pot and the pot supplier guy gets arrested. Our dynamic duo get back in their car and resume their quest for White Castle burgers. Kumar pulls over to urinate, but he leaves the door open and a raccoon gets in and bites Harold. Harold gets paranoid and insists on stopping by a hospital to check and see if he has rabies. At the hospital, Harold doesn't have rabies but Kumar runs into his doctor dad, who is very disappointed that Kumar didn't get into med school. Kumar apologizes and then steals his father's medical marijuana card. However, someone mistakes Kumar for his doctor brother and Kumar has to operate on a gunshot victim. Kumar saves the man's life, and in return, the man tells him how to get to White Castle from the hospital. Our dynamic duo hops in the car and drives on. They pass by a movie theatre and see Harold's crush (Maria, played by Paula Garcés) outside. Kumar yells to get her attention, and Harold panics and hits the gas pedal to get Kumar to drive away. They drive off the road and land in a ditch. A boil-covered, Jesus-loving tow-truck man named Freakshow (Christopher Meloni) helps them out and takes them back to his tiny, Jesus-bedecked, pink house with his whorey wife. She is about to give Harold oral sex (told you this post wasn't safe for 12 and unders) when Freakshow comes in a gets mad, even though he gave them permission to do that sort of thing. Then he offers to have a foursome and our dynamic duo run away with their car, frightened to death. They drive off, and a little ways later Kumar spots a hitchhiker and stops for him. It turns out to be Neil Patrick Harris playing Neil Patrick Harris. He is high on ecstasy and wants to go to a strip club but Harold and Kumar are adamant in their quest for White Castle burgers. However, they don't know where they are, so they decide to stop at a gas station to get directions. While they're there, the Extreme Sports Punks are there too, and they harass the (just so happens to be) Indian gas station store owner, much to the anger of Kumar. Then Neil Patrick Harris steals Harold's car. Harold and Kumar decide to leave the gas station and find a pay phone. They are about to jaywalk across the street (at 2:00 in the morning, no less) when a white cop gives Harold a ticket for jaywalking. Kumar antagonizes Harold and Harold punches the white cop, who throws Harold in jail. In jail, Harold sees the pot supplier kid from Princeton get taken away by his mother, leaving his bag of pot on the table and he meets a black professor who was arrested by the same white cop for being black. Kumar fakes a 911 call so he can break out Harold and they can go to White Castle. Kumar then spots the bag of pot and steals it, and also helps Harold break out. They escape with the bag of pot into the woods, where they run into an escaped cheetah and smoke pot with it. Then they try and ride the cheetah to White Castle until Harold gets hit by a branch and falls off the cheetah. Kumar jumps off too and the cheetah runs away, and unfortunately, the computer that Harold has been working on all night is broken. They then wander out of the forest and see a hot dog joint (derp derp) and decide that they really want White Castle. They have another encounter with the Extreme Sports Punks and steal their car. Then they have a sing along to song bad 80's pop, when an officer spots their car and chases after them, until Harold and Kumar are trapped at the edge of a cliff looking down on their destination: White Castle!! They take a hang glider from the truck and fly/crash down to the White Castle and walk inside to get their 30 burgers, 5 servings of fries and 4 large drinks each (It's now about 7:00 in the morning). Only Kumar blew all their cash on the pot he bought at Princeton. Who should turn up but Neil Patrick Harris? He gives Harold $40 for their meal and $200 for the damage to Harold's car. Then Harold and Kumar chow down. Kumar realizes he does want to be a doctor, but he's afraid of conforming to the stereotype that Indians become doctors. Harold sees his coworkers that pushed all the work off on the "quiet Asian guy" and gives them hell for it. They get sheepish and cowardly and this pushes Harold to go pursue Maria (neighbor-crush-girl). They talk in the elevator of their apartment building and they kiss (YAY!). Then Maria reveals that she's heading for Amsterdam, and Kumar immediately wants to go too, because pot is legal there.

Did you just hear that cracking noise? I heard it too. It was the sound of John Cho and Kal Penn taking their hammers and chisels and making tiny cracks in the granite ceiling that is the model minority. Harold and Kumar are not really law-abiding citizens. True, Harold works as an investment banker, and Kumar could be a great doctor. But Harold seems to hate his job and Kumar is reluctant (until the end of the movie) to go to med school. Even Bobby Lee's character (the stuffy, very Asian kid at Princeton who gets excited about kimchee chicken and investment banking) gets loose and dances on a table shirtless throwing pot in the air and asking two girls to flash him. Harold and Kumar even confront racism head on - when they encounter the Extreme Sports Punks, when they deal with the racist white cop... Even better - young, intelligent Asian kids are doing things that we don't perceive as "Asian" things. They are breaking rules, being outrageous and silly and fun. We watch them have fun being crazy and not part of the model minority stereotype. Cracks in the model minority ceiling? No, I see some serious fissures! Asian people can get high, get chicks, wind up in jail, break out of jail, sing along to bad 80's pop, run away from creepers, and go on crazy, Dude, Where's My Car?-esque adventures just like white people!

The American Dream. Our people did come to America for a better life. "Escaping persecution, poverty, and hunger... they wanted to live in a land that treated them as equals." Unfortunately, this speech does not inspire... anything. It's very contrived and silly. I didn't feel any more connected to my people. I didn't get teary-eyed. I laughed (and I'm pretty sure taht was the point of it). But it made me think again of this "model minority" stereotype.
Both Harold and Kumar are achievers of the American Dream (yeah, let's put aside the pot stuff for a quick bit). They are intelligent kids who have (or, in Kumar's case, going to have) high-paying, successful jobs. Of course, that's going to beg the question "What is success?" but I am not going there. At all. They made it in America. They're well-off - so much so that they can take an entire night off just to get high and go to White Castle. However, they rebel against their "model minority" selves. And that is what makes this movie special. SPECIAL!

Twice in this film Harold mentions Sixteen Candles as one of his favorite movies. But not once does he or any other character mention Long Duk Dong. Part of me thinks that would have been too obvious if they had a reference to how stereotypical that character was in the script. All Harold says about it is that it's a classic and it's one of his favorites. That's it. No "OOooooh, sexy girlfriend!" No "What's a-happenin', hotstuff?" None of that at all. Just mentions the movie as a whole in passing. It's amazing. You'd think the screenwriters would have a field day with that. But they didn't! Did someone finally realize that we'd like to sweep that particular performance under the rug and not bring it up in a mainstream movie again (ahem, Kickin' It Old Skool)? Either way, Long duk Dong has no cameo in this here movie, no sir. And for that, it's awesome. 

Asian man isn't so quiet and subservient now, huh??

Think about it. A movie with non-emasculated, cool Asian characters. A film with attractive Asian actors. Harold gets the girl! A girl of indeterminate race, but still! They make out several times in an elevator! When was the last time you saw something like that? When was the last time you saw a male Asian character get a girl like that? Hmm? Lemme know when you think of one. A mainstream, goofy stoner movie with cool Asian characters and even cooler Asian actors.

Oh my goodness. I could not control myself during this scene. I fell out of my chair laughing. Just so funny. And it's not funny because it's race-based. It's funny because it's goofy and it's bad 80's pop music. And you can't help but smile when you watch it. And that's what I want to do when I see an Asian/American actor onscreen.

You know what's nice about this movie? It is not a movie about Asian stoners. It is not a film about being Asian (although, yes, it does make some references to that). It breaks down stereotypes about Asians in a way that does not end up hurting or perpetuating another stereotype. This is a (really really funny) movie about two stoners who just happen to be Asian. It's a beginning. When Asian actors can just act, and they needn't worry about being typecast as the geek, or the gangster, or anything else that has specific connotations and connections with their race. This is the beginning. And that, my dear readers, is some REAL representation. 

NPR interview with John Cho, Kal Penn, and Tavis Smiley on "Busting Stereotypes in Film" 

21 Jump Street

Remember how I said Crimson Kimono was ahead of it's time? So was 21 Jumpstreet. 

That TV show about the fresh-faced, mullet-haired undercover cops who investigated hardcore crimes in high schools and colleges and the like? Remember? That show that tackled social issues and ended with morals about drugs, sex, and the like? 
Look at the main characters - only two white people featured here. Only two. 3 people of color. Two of whom are black, one who is Asian. 

One who is Asian and doesn't have any accent, dresses like a cool kid, rocks a mullet, is not overly sexualized or completely emasculated either, and he's... normal. He's a normal human being. Not an offspring of some Asian caricature.

He's normal! He's one of the cool kids! He's human! He's Officer H. T. Ioki! (Shouldn't it be Aoki? Whatever) 

What a catchy, feel-good theme song. I wanna sing along. At about 0:44, you get to see Ioki do some serious ass-kicking. Whoooooooohoo!
Harry Truman Ioki is a "Japanese-American" cop who is cool. His "parents named him" Harry Truman - but not really. H. T. Ioki's real name is Vinh Van Tranh, and he is a Vietnamese refugee from Saigon. Ioki's (or is it Vinh Van Tranh?) parents and best friend were killed in an attack by the Vietcong as they were trying to escape Vietnam and head for the US. He escaped from Vietnam on a boat to Guam, and then relocated to Arkansas in a refugee camp when a Methodist church found him a home in St. Louis with a elderly white woman, learning English and being somewhat happy. He eventually decided that he wanted to be a cop, but when he applied, he didn't think a Vietnamese refugee would make it into the department, so he stole the Social Security number and name of a long-dead San Franciscan baby named Harry Truman Ioki. However, he never filled out the name change application thing so his stealing of the Social Security number and the name was illegal (this and all of the above the subject of the episode Christmas in Saigon), so he gets threatened with dismissal from the Undercover Fresh-Faced Cop Team. Everyone on the team expresses sympathy for his plight except for Captain Adam Fuller, a Vietnam war veteran who becomes immediately suspicious against Ioki (Tranh?) after hearing the truth. Only after Johnny Depp's character gives Capt. Fuller a talking to does he forgive Ioki and stick up for him during Ioki' trial. 

This episode was absolutely earthshaking because the story of (really) Vinh Van Tranh actually reflects the story of the actor Dustin Nguyen. He did pretty much the exact same thing as his character on 21 Jumpstreet (minus the stealing of names and the Social Security number business). The episode not only gave Nguyen a chance to reveal his acting chops, it also gave a realistic representation of what really happened to lots of Vietnamese refugees as they were trying to escape from the Vietcong. Christmas in Saigon also showed the viewers how not all of the Vietnamese were the enemy, as shown in the snappy dialogue between Johnny Depp's character (Officer Hanson) and Capt. Fuller.
Now don't go thinking I only watched ONE episode of this super cool show. There's another episode (The Dragon and the Angel) where Ioki joins a Vietnamese (yay, specificity!) street gang (called Pai Gow) to stop them from extorting the Vietnamese community, but somebody offers Ioki the opportunity to find his grandmother that he left in Vietnam.

There's a bit of a love interest for Ioki as well (I guess he actually changed his name after the Christmas in Saigon episode). Hurray! Only her family is apparently Communist, so that makes Ioki a little bit angry... Now there's a battle of ideologies - Communist vs. American capitalist. The father (Van Luy, played by Danny Kamekona) of the girl Ioki seems to have a crush on tells him that "Today's slaves are the Central Americans and the Vietnamese." To which Ioki responds, "You're just like all the others who criticize this country. You're a parasite." Now the love interest girl (Kim, played by Kelly Hu) asks Ioki about his girlfriend, and Ioki says he doesn't have one. Then Kim says, "I see. You're the traditional Vietnamese boy who worships from afar, who has a crush but is too shy to say anything." Well, shoot. Too bad he can't have her, because she likes him too! Look at this! A normal love story between two normal kids who just happen to be Asian. They aren't in love because they're Asian! They're in love because they are! Because they were destined for each other! But let's not forget that Ioki is trying to break up an extortion gang, but it's proving to be tricky! Not only that, Ioki still can't forgive Communism (and therefore Van Luy) for breaking up his family and his country - but eventually he does, because he wants to help his grandmother (filial piety!!). But it turns out that Van Luy just keeps the money for himself. Finally, the Pai Gow plan to raid Van Luy's place for the money, but Ioki informs the police and breaks it up. And in the end, Van Luy has a letter from Ioki's grandmother. 
BUT no developing love story between Ioki and Kim. Barely any of that. It's too bad. They would have been so cute together. I had such hopes. 

H. T. Ioki kicks ass. He's a cop. He's a good cop. He rocks a mullet. He is infinitely cooler than Johnny Depp's character. He does martial arts (something that Dustin Nguyen is proficient in as well). Now, you may be thinking that this is feeding off the Bruce Lee stereotype - but nay! Bruce Lee is almost always a semi-mute character who is only good at kicking ass. Ioki kicks ass and speaks English and is a cop. Ioki is also not all about kicking ass. He uses it to get by - it's not his only saving grace. He is an evolved Bruce Lee. And that, my dears, is cause for celebration. 


Like Crimson Kimono, these two episodes of 21 Jump Street were great in their specificity towards Vietnam and Vietnamese-Americans, even if they didn't involve the same amount of research that Crimson Kimono needed/had. On top of that, it's all in a positive light! Even the extortion gang has a cause for their extortion... kinda. The Asians in these two episodes are portrayed as people. Real people. It's great. It's ahead of it's time. If they make a movie out of this TV show (which apparently is happening), they better keep an H. T. Ioki-esque character in there. With a cameo by Dustin Nguyen.