Brad Cameron’s Blog

This is a blog in response to the mooooovies that we watched in class monday. Robot stories was pretty interesting however i did not necessarily view them directly as  Asian American films.

Robot Baby was my least favorite out of all of them. I understood how the director was trying to tie in the beginning of the film to the end but i just didn’t feel that it was done successfully. About the most Asian American thing that i got out of that was the fact that her husband had to go to Tokyo to do a business proposal and left her at home with the robot baby.

The Robot Healer was my second least favorite. Basically A guy (wilson) gets hit by a car.. he’s dead but his mum thinks that he’ll bounce right back and to help him come back she goes around to garage sales and tries to find all the missing pieces to his toys and then some. His mother did seem a bit harsh at times ( just like the mum in Kingston story that we read). she told her son to stop playing and that he needed to get up. What I did see another connection in was that her son had a masters in programing but instead of doing what he had a masters in he was filling in as a temp. Much like Henry’s father in the Native Speaker (only Henry’s father was trained in engineering and was working at a vegetable/ fruit salesman).

Machine Love was my favorite movie. To me it was the most interesting/creative/bizarre.  As talked about in class both the people who played robots were Asian Americans who were half Asian/Caucasian. I found it interesting how in the beginning of the film it was talking about the robot people and how they were the most productive and how they could get the job done better than anyone else. It was very similar to what we were reading in Takaki because he was talking about how the Asian coutry’s such as china and japan were being solicited for their people to work because they would work efficiently and for cheap… just like the robot. I like the line “he just delivered himself” because it made me think of how today many chinese are trying to escape china and come to america to work, and they’re basically delivering themselves to america so that they can work here. I like how when the robot’s battery was dying the boss had just told bob to leave him plugged into the wall… it was kind of like how the Chinese worked 18 hour days when they were here. Also how the robot (archie) tried to interact with other people but they did want any part of him because he was not one of them, it was very similar once again to what was talked about in takaki. and i say ” i like” to much.

Clay was interesting… dragged on in parts. but the whole idea of scanning your consciousness was interesting because it is something that i have never thought of before.   When his son told him that it was illegal and immoral for him not to get his consciousness scanned it made me wonder really what this world might come to someday. Besides the interracial relationship between and asian man and a black woman i did not see any racial issues at all.

In conclusion I feel that the only film out of the 4 the successfully communicated the idea of being asian american the most was machine love. maybe i don’t think deeply enough.. or i’m just not good at making connections but I really feel that these short films were more of a commentary on technology and where we are heading in the future. Although i was glad that i got to see them in class (it was fun).

This article was talking about the Asian American Film genre of movies and how there was very little distinction for that. It went on to describe that if a movie was made by an asain american then it was catagorized as an asain film even though it was not made in asia. It also talked about other movies that have an incorperated asian feel but are considered american because of the use of white actors such as face off with nicholas cage and the matrix with reeves. It would be hard to make it as an asian american film maker if you are trying to just do small low budget films, asian american directors were expressing their frustrations that their films were not selling.

One point which i did find very interesting was when it was talking about Chris Chang Lee and how he was shooting a movie in his parents store which he had helped rebuild after the riots of 1992. he said that the Korean/Black strife was all made up by the media and that he was wanting to show through his film that there was not an undying hatred between the two groups.

I perosonally can’t wait to see this movie on monday because i like movies… i like making them and i really like watching them. and with that said i’m going to go make pictures for graphic design.

So I am happy to let you all know that I went to Burger King last night with my dad, and I ordered a double cheeseburger… and it was delicious:)

Ok so i’m not going to lie… when i first started reading this book i got sick to my stomach because the author used the word “meat” so many times it was sickening. but as the story progressed it got very interesting. this book in my opinion is far different than all the other books that we have to read for this class. It didn’t really seem as much a story about asian americans as it was about america.

I found that some of the facts in this book were sickening, especially when it talked about feed and how they were feeding the cows plastic and their own feces back to them. particularly the scene where they are at the dunn ranch and they are being shown around. I like how John Dunn did not like how his son was running things, and was saying that all the money he was investing on feeding the cows medicine before they were sick was a bad idea.  All the chemicals and stuff was also causing rose to get sick. a 5 year old with a fully developed body is just not natural.

My favorite character was Dave, I just liked how he was obsessed about his field and how he hated cattle. It was his character which helped open my eyes a little bit to the meat industry… however I still will continue to eat meat because i like having it and we’re all going to die at some point so i might as well just die happy, or fat… or whatever.

I do find it very interesting though how we just pawn our meat off on japan. We bomb them, conquer them, and then force them to take our low quality meat because europe wont accept it anymore.

Well this story is picking up. I really like how chang-rae lee bounces between the subjects that are going on. One moment he will be talking about his son then the next he will be talking about his father. Then he will jump to the subject of kwong and then go right back to talking about his problems with lelia. You never know when his transitions will take place and you feel suspense every time he changes his topic… but he always comes back to answer any unanswered questions or to make your questions even bigger. I think by him not being able to decide what topic to speak about goes really nicely with profession. I know that he is a “spy” and that he has the ability to take on any personality. but the further he gets with the kwong the more attached he seems to get. It does seem that he has a strong admiration for Kwong and that he often compares kwong to himself and his father.

I really do like the social dynamic that the story has. That america is really just a black and white nation but brown and yellow are just caught up in the middle of it all. So far I myself have an admiration for Kwong as well. he is just trying to bring peace to his community. I like the speach he gave where he talks about how the violence between the Koreans and the Blacks is just coming from self loathing. He said that the Koreans should be more respectful and less suspecting of the blacks because in the end of the day they are the ones who pay for their products and put food on their table.

One thing i found interesting was the tapes of Mitt and Lelia talking, it is just weird when you think about it. I like how when Lelia tried to talk with Henry about it she didn’t say Mitt’s name once and Lelia was calling him out on it, she never knows what he’s thinking. He doesn’t speak when he should because he is too consumed with speaking correctly, that when he is searching for the right words to defend himself he often just gives up after realizing he’s taken too long to come up with a response. She doesn’t know who he is truely… parts of him are shielded from her.

All in all this is the best book we’ve been assigned to read (real book… i like Chinese born American more of course).

I must say that this book is not very painful to read at all. it is in fact a “page turner” just like the critics said. It was worth my 15 dollars… i guess.

anyhoo… What most defiantly sticks out most to me is the stories about Henry’s child hood. The moments that stuck out most to me where when he was talking about his mother dying of liver cancer, and how his parents never told him straight forward about what was happening. they merely told him that she had died from an “Korean fever” that the doctors in America could cure. When his mother finally did die he said that it did not feel like she had died but rather she had just disappeared. His father acted no differently, not showing his emotions… not admitting that anything had changed. In fact the only change that did come about was he had changed up his work schedule so that he could be home when Henry was home… only he didn’t actually spend more time with his son. he just spent more time at home working on his car or something around the house. Henry thought that it would just be him and his father going out to eat dinner every night, just the two of them until one night when henry’s father had brought home a new house keeper.

What i found interesting about Ahjuma’s coming to their home was that every time henry’s father had guests henry had put out beer and fruit for the guests. so when henry knew his father was coming home with a guest he had put out the things to entertain his fathers guest… only when his father had showed up with ahjuma his father ahd told him to go help her bring her belongings into the house. henry could tell that by the sheer volume of things that she had brought something was up and she would be there for a while. When they got inside his father had put away all the fruits that were intended to be for the guest. then he was told that she would be there to clean the house and take care of him so his father could work more hours again. and then it was just sprung upon him that they would be moving into the suburbs. his father always made major decisions that would effect his life and he would have no say in the matters.

Ahjuma did play a very big part in his child hood yet we never actually know her real name. i found that awkward and Lelia found that unacceptable. The scene where she tried to force herself upon Ahjuma was painful to incision.  I felt awkward just reading it I could imagine being there if it had really happened. I think that Ahjuma didn’t like or trust Americans and therefore she did not want any part of Lelia and she most certainly did not want anything to do with Mitt.

A ll in all this is a good book and it is very easy to read. A+ so far.

so…. i read the end of the book and now its time to make a blog. What struck me as the most odd thing was that right after the pearl harbor bombing the government was capturing and interrogating the Japanese Issei men almost immediatly. when eventually it was decided that “a jap is a jap no matter what way you slice him” and that both the Issei and Nessei Japanese were to be sent to camps the Itaoi family was uprooted and sent to their temporary camp. It would honestly suck to have that happen. we had talked about comparing that to how the Nazi’s had treated the Jews but i don’t think thats a totally  fair comparison. the Americans didn’t execute or mass murder them… however they did degrade the Japanese and make the “sub” human.I found that monica sone took a very light airy happy feel to how she describes everything. she sounds as if shes so passive… even when she says that she was un happy she still comes off as kissing the americans asses and that she was the one who just needed to deal with it and that it was in her best interest.

so i just finished the reading that was due for today. i must say this started off as more interesting reading and then eventually all the facts and figures got to me and i started to nod off like i usually do. anywho with that being said lets get started. the first pages that we assigned 42-53 were much more interesting… i’m not sure if that was because it was less pages to read and i was much more able to maintain focus or if it was because it just was really much more interesting. I found that the information being presented about the Japanese workers and Japan in general to be much more interesting than the facts and figures about China. I have allways been interested by Japan and that is most likely when I enjoyed this more. with that being said…

What i found most interesting was the differences between the Japanese and the Chinese. Chinese were much more uneducated because they did not have a strong central government like that of Japan. Japan however has a strong central government and they had gone through a period where they were modernizing and part of that was their education system. I found it interesting how Japan encouraged the education of females right along with males. Japan had gone through a period where they were not allowing anyone to emigrate outside of japan… but because they were reaching economic troubles it was necessary for the japanese to leave and find better paying jobs elsewhere. because of this the japanese government began a regulation processes the screened all those who wanted to become migrant workers. Japan only wanted to allow its very best to go overseas, their reasoning behind this was because they saw how the chinese had been banned and were not allowed to emigrate to the US, Japan thought this was a lesson that they must learn and only allowed its educated citizens to leave. infact only about 9% of the Japanese workers were unable to read making them some of the most desirable workers.

I also found the Japanese household and family ties interesting. especially how the Japanese veiwed the children “one to follow”, “one to sell” and “one in reserve”. “one to follow” was mostly their eldest son who would take over the household when the parents were old and take care of them untill they died. also they would keep the land which the family owns in their name. “one to sell” was usually the daughters, because Japanese established relationships with other familys by marrying off their daughters… it was all a move to advance the family further. and “one to keep in reserve” usually referred to the youngest son. most often the migrant workers leaving japan were either the “one to sell” or the “one in reserve” being that either the daughters were sent off to marry Japanese workers who were already in Hawaii or America or sons who did not need to keep ties with his family since he would not be recieving any land from them and needed to find his own path in life. however sometimes the eldest son would leave for what would be intended as a momentary stay to earn money and pay off the family debt. most Japanese immigrants were originally indented to stay for a short time and make money and were not intended to be permanent residents.  however that was oftent not the case and they wound up living their lives outside of japan.

Reading this made me realize when the Chinese were sought after in the previous reading. because Japanese workers were so much better educated and were better and well rounded and spoke English it is natural to assume that they were able to demand higher wages. So the Chinese were used because they would work for less which kept the Japanese in check.

Ok so i just finished reading the assigned reading for strangers from a different shore (i know its a bit late… sorry). well i guess the main theme here is race and how much it costs for their labour. The book by ronald takaki made interesting points by contrasting the differences between Hawaii and California working conditions. Hawaii payed significantly less ($4 a month) than california ($30-$35 a month on most cases) however there were other factors that made them different than just wages. Hawaii provided for food living for the workers. also passage to hawaii was free and the %60 for transportation was paid for by the plantions. however work was hard and they were being imported to just work on the plantations. In california the cost for transportation was not paid for, most chinamen were lent the $60 for the ship fee’s but were ordered to pay back $120 for their loans as soon as they could. The work was harder in china but it did pay more, also it did allow for may different jobs such as farming and the laying of railroads. chinamen also got together and created small companys that they ran to make money, sometimes in partnership with american men who fronted them the money or land to start their businesses in exhange for %50 of the profits. another problem with cali was that chinamen were discouraged from bringing their families because the work they were doing was more migratory and they were never in the same spot working for long. where as Hawaii allowed Chinese workers to bring with them theirs family’s… infact the plantations actually preferred that they bring their wives because they theorized that women had a calming effect on the workers which helped keep them in line.

Chinese workers were preferred in both  cali and Hawaii because of the cheap wages that they could be paid. in hawaii chinese workers were wanted because they would work just as hard as the japanese but would accept less.. and whent he japanese went on strike the chinese would keep working. in america chines labou was used to just save money, they were able to offer the chinamen less money to do jobs that white men would want “too much” money to do. one case in north adams mass (20 min from my home… i go to a dented box store there to buy stuff mad cheap… moving on) there was a union of irish men who were put out of jobs in a shoe factory because the chinese were willing to work for less and do the same job. as a result from that incident surrounding businesses forced their white employees to return to work with a 10% cut in wages because if they refused to accept that offer they would be replaced with the chinese.

I just found it interesting how initially the chinese were recieved with open arms. but as soon as it was realized that they were taking jobs and creating racial tensions because of their cheap labour they were instantly looked down upon and attacked. i also found it interesting how there was not that tension in Hawaii because there was no white man there, it was just different minorities or the island natives working on the plantations.

it makes you wonder who is more willing to sell their soul, capitalist american tycoons looking to maximize profits at the risk of social decay or the chinese laboureres who were willing to work in any job in any condition just to earn cheap wages. all in all i don’t see that anyone has really won… just everyone is getting screwed. americans lost their jobs to the cheap labourers and the chinese were victimized by the understandibly pissed of americans. also chinese familly’s were torn apart needlessly. It’s only been 150 years since then and we really haven’t come that far. we still have cheap chinese labour only instead of it being in america its just actually being sent over to china…

all in all i found this an easier read. I don’t fee like i had to read between the lines and understand what the speaker was getting at, it was all presented in a clear straight forward factual way. I also admire the way in which robert presents his information. he states his point, proves his point and then moves onto the next one. he doesn’t make me read 50 pages that aren’t saying anything new except to restate the same point over and over again unsuccessfully arriving at any idea that has been clearly presented and proven to me, such as in the works from the last author assigned to us to read (aka: little man syndrome chin). Its not something i’d read on my own (and trust me i wouldn’t) but its not bad.

first off i would like to start by apologizing for my post being 11 minutes late… edu blogs was being a jerk and was taking forever to load. and with all the excuses out of the way let us talk about this wonderful reading that we had assigned to us. Her name is Maxine, she is a chrisitian chinese american woman who apparently a blatant liar… who says? Frank Chin.. thats who.

Maxine says that Chinese women are subjected to mans rule and they are just like slaves. she even goes to far as to say that the chinese word for woman is the exact same for slave. she paints a picture of china as being very cruel and that women have no value what so ever. however Frank Chin says this is untrue. instead he suggests that Maxine is just another sell out chinese american desperatly trying to be accepted as an american by adopting christianity and the stereotypes that are assigned to her heritage. Chin explains the origins of the first untrue stereotypes that stemmed from the pope in an efforts to make the chinese seem godless and in moral.  likewise the americans had created stereotypes for the oriental immigrants as well things such as them not being christian and they were not immigrating to the US rather they were there to earn enough money to go home and then go back to the homeland rich. also americans said how cruely woman were treated there and that their women were no more than that of slaves. second generaton chinese amercians tried to achieve “acceptance”  by adopting and believing these false stereotypes rather than fighting them. Maxine herself is pictured as being guilty by her false retelling of mulan. chin had included the poem of fa mulan in his publishing and it did infact show a different picture of fa mulan by showing that there was no malicious tatoos placed on her back that she was accepted as an equal amoung the men. maxine tried to defend her lie by saying that the telling of fa mulan was bastardized over the years because of the immagrants coming to amercia and not having access to the peom. which chin says is false.

all in all chin makes a very good argument that how maxine and other christian chinese writers try and pass off the stereotypes as fact to be accepted by the white man. also i find it interesting that the only people published are those very chinese who support the labels put on them. his argument was well stated and supported but unfortunately it was a bit of a snoozer because it became horribly redundant after several pages.

once again sorry my blog is late… have a good weekend everyone!