4 posts tagged “asian american”

More breakdance news (I'm behind as always):
Winner of 2007's Battle of the Year International goes to Korea's Extreme Crew and the winner of the Best Show goes to Japan's Turn Phrase Crew. The Battle of the Year is often referred to as the "World Cup" of breaking.
Check out the finals between Korea and Japan here:
Part 1
Part 2

This means that Korea has won the BOTY 4 times in the last 6 years. (And Japan's won Best Show 3 times in the last 5 years). CRAZY! Why are Asians so good at b-boying?

While we're on the topic of b-boying, Asian American Ronnie also won this year's Red Bull BC One. (After so many attempts, he finally got it!)

I'm sure a few of you have noticed that I say the word "seriously" quite often. I mean, seriously... I do it quite a bit. But this time, there's a really good reason for it, since I'm here to talk about the band - "Seriously".

And no, I don't talk about Asian American bands just because they're Asian. I talk about them if I think they're good. So check out Seriously's Myspace, you might like them too.

They're a little more mainstream than the usual music I talk about and that's a good thing. We need bands to step into that arena.

So Seriously, keep rocking!

Found a thought-provoking video:

In any case, it addresses a few of the concerns I have with media (it's far from exhaustive, but it's something worth watching). And for those of you who are interested about my acting/modelling/extras/anything experiment... I still haven't gotten a call - from anybody. And you know what? I'm not even surprised. I somehow already guessed that I wouldn't get any roles in media. It probably doesn't help when I actually stated I won't take on any stereotypical roles. God, please give me a gig!

Jeff Yang makes an exceptional point in that Asians are using the internet to not only find more realistic representations of themselves, but also to finally represent themselves in ways that we ourselves can truly relate to.

I guess this was one of the reasons why I started this blog. On the one hand I have a deep interest in all things Asian, on the other hand, I want to be able to depict us in a way that we understand, the way we see ourselves - in a positive realistic light.

Keep representing!

For those of you who don't know, McDonald's pretty much owns the term "I am Asian" now. To be honest, it's always weirded me out, the site is sorta trippy I guess... it's got a pig and a dog that shout "Year of the pig!" when you go over them with your mouse... >_>

There's nothing like a multinational corporation reminding me that I am indeed Asian. I know I probably shouldn't be too cynical, at least marketers are starting to notice our demographic. This means that media would become more sensitive to us (or at least I hope so). You can check out the TV commercials too. It's nice representation, but as always, they left out the Asian guy (which is quite annoying).

Speaking of Asian Americans, Yahoo! News recently had an article on "Ten Things Every Brand Should Know About Asian-American Youth".

    1. Many Asian-American youth feel excluded and misunderstood by most
       brands. It's made worse by the fact that they see advertisers actively
       wooing the African-American and Hispanic markets.
    2. Mixed race kids are proudly identifying as Hapa, a once derogatory word
       in Hawaiian to mean "half." Hapa is also slang for marijuana in
       Japanese (spelled Happa). Hapa is supplanting terms like Amerasian,
       biracial, and blasian.
    3. Asian-American youth are secret fans of "easy listening" adult
       contemporary music. Lite FM is a hidden passion.
    4. There's a "hero gap" among Asian-American kids, which is being filled
       for many by activists from other cultures. Martin Luther King is a role
       model and hero to many young Asian-Americans.
    5. Most Asian-American kids refer to white people as "white people" the
       same way African-Americans do.
    6. Underage gambling is huge. The "new" American poker obsession is
       nothing new to Asian-American kids. Gambling has a long history in
       Asian culture. Many students Rigg spoke with are avid online gamblers
       and card players. Some organize private online poker tournaments.
    7. Asian-American kids want an end to the hyper-nerdy images of themselves
       on TV and want to see more punked-out skater and graffiti DJ images
       which reflect a different energy. The feeling is:  Enough with the math
       geeks, future doctors and violinists. Asian-American kids crave street
       credibility -- not just academic accolades.
    8. Asian-American kids universally hate the question:  Where are you from
       -- especially since the answers are usually something like
       "Westchester" or "Boston."
    9. All things Korean are hot and getting hotter. Fashion. Foods. DJs.
       Online communities. Korea is the new Japan.
    10. The 15 minutes of seemingly benign American Idol fame for William Hung
        had a surprisingly negative effect on Asian-American students. There's
        a feeling that Hung perpetuated the worst stereotypes about Asian
        people and gave non-Asians permission to indulge in two years of
        racial stereotyping and mocking.

I defintely agree with the "hero gap" thing. Kids look up to role models, but media has not been portraying Asians in a positive light. That's why I thank God for Bruce Lee, he was my childhood hero... but after 30 years, isn't about time we had another role model? *Kicks Hollywood's butt!*

I can't disagree with much of it, it seems quite right in most aspects. I was a bit surprised by the underage gambling at first, but then after a second of thought, I remembered playing mahjong as a kid. Haha!

(Lol at number 5!)