From my perch at Spatium Trientis (Latin for "Third Space"), I have as a human being, an American of ethnic Chinese roots and ancestry, always followed American movies.
I was not only a movie buff, but I see movies, Western or non-Western, as a microcosm of how life's narratives are portrayed in the world of films. And through films, we see part of ourselves as seen by others.
Lately, my friends from Asia-Pacific have been following "Harold and Kumar in White Castle," a cinematic satire about the banal and farcical American culture through the eyes of two Asian anti-heros, Harold (played by Korean-American actor John Cho), and Indo-American actor Kal Penn), obsessed with hamburgers and fries.
It was a DVD release success, now spreading like "wildfire" with a cult following of youthful film afficionados not just in the East but also here in the West. Harold, playing the role of the quintessenial amd stereotypical " straight guy workaholic" Asian, and Kumar, "the slacker" were hilarious. It is not just their misadventures but what they experienced in Americana which made most of us Asians who saw the movie fell out of our chairs, in stitches.
No thanks to the major Hollywood white moguls, mired in their "White-Black" paradigm and mindsets, completely oblivious and marginalizing the yellow and brown narratives around the world.
We who are straddled between East and West, who have been almost completely "invisible" in Hollywood Tinseltown, are finally smashing through those God damn doors of those white moguls who control the gates to Hollywood Tinseltown.
Eat your Mo Goo Gai Pen out, Hollywood Tinseltown.
The yellow and brown hordes are coming ! and Harold and Kumar are leading the charge of the non-white brigades. And these time, Kumar, mistaken for a Muslim terrorist, ahem, "Muslofascist," and Harold, mistaken for a "North Korean spy," are onto their next adventure, escaping from U.S. anti-terror security forces guarding Guantanamo, Mother, Apple Pie, and America ! watch a trailer by surfing on YouTube. http://www.haroldandkumar.com/
For once, we Asians persistently portrayed as asexual "little penises," Thug No. 2, chow-mien, chop-suey chop-chop caricatures in American films are breaking out and smashing through those brain-dead and creative cemeteries we call Hollywood film-making.
Steven Spielberg, you can shove it.
George Clooney, take care of your dirty socks, and stop doing your "Gucci" activism on behalf of Darfur, when you can't even play football with a proper helmet on.
And Richard Gere, next time you go to India and try to paw a Bollywood female star, make sure you wear gloves because of the disease you may carry and spread in India ! You are lucky that Indians in India did not lynch you the last time you think you are the "Great White Sahib" out to civilize the South Asian continent.
And Mia Farrow, don't lash out against China simply because Woody Allen married your adopted Korean daughter.
And for Pete's sake, Julia Roberts, stop having any more babies if you are going to be consistent about making the world sustainable and environmentally safe for humanity.
Hollywood Tinseltown sucks, to this Chinese-American who has had sand kicked in his face, and mistaken for William Hung, the floor mat of "American Idol."
We Asians and Asian-Americans now have Harold and Kumar. And after leading the charge to White Castle; they are now headed to Guantanamo, and escaping from your evil den suffused with Western "Islamophia" and all the perversity of "one justice system for white people, and one justice for colored people."
"Harold and Kumar escapes from Guantanamo," our ant-Asian heroes, are going with their charge against Hollywood Tinseltown with their "yellow" and "brown" hordes cheering them off ..... LOL, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, butt out ! Click on for a preview of this Friday's (April 25) release at your theaters :
Guantanamo ? Abu Graib ? Where's Tibet ? Johnny hipsters and cupcake Suzie probably ain't got a clue !
All said, I have to give the San Francisco Chronicle, my local San Francisco paper, a flicker of hope. At least it appears that they have a sensitive Culture Critic in Peter Hartlaub.
Mr. Hartlaub, at least through the paper's entertainment page, entitled "Datebook," had the decency to publish an interview of John Cho, our anti-hero, our "Harold," at today's issue of the paper. The hyperlink to Mr. Hartlaub's interview with "Harold," i.e. actor John Cho is at following link:http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/23/DD5C107D35.DTL
