Better Luck Tomorrow 2002
Wow, I really did not like this movie. I will mention again that I do not usually watch films therefore I might be the most sensitive person in regards to movie viewing, but seeing murder, violence, sex, drugs, etc. was pretty intense! Even though I covered my eyes and ears or walked out of the room, I still wanted to throw up when the movie was done. I say all this as a preface because this clouded my vision to be able to be critical and see themes or aspects to further discuss with other people.
It was refreshing and important to have a movie with majority Asian American cast and directed by an APIA person. This film gives a view into the lives of people living in upper class suburban neighborhoods. There was a lot of sexism in the scenes with women which weren’t many, except when the main character had a crush on the girl that the other guys were all into as well. I did notice that there were no parents seen throughout the whole movie and typically/stereotypically APIA parents are the people who put the most pressure on their children to do well in school and study.
I think it is interesting to think about how this movie reflects the public’s view of the APIA community. I actually feel like white people who see it would say in their subconscious “I knew the Asian American community wasn’t perfect like they seem to be!” This attitude might go into a feeling of being better that APIA people or might make them feel more welcome to join in the APIA community with the common ground of partying or living it up.
Aspects that I would like to explore more:
- Gang “rivalry” in the scene where they were driving next to each other, both groups were non white and different ethnicities.
- What Virgil’s attitude says about his home life (seems like an abusive situation)
- More about what affect this movie had on the APIA community and beyond
Donald Duk by Francis Chin
It’s cool to make connections between texts that we have read because it brings to light the connections in the APIA community and the differences as well. In both Donald Duk and When the Emperor Was Divine the young boys had dreams that connected them to their cultural backgrounds in societies that were not allowing them to live into their ethnic identity. There were obvious themes of racism and white washing.
Stokely’s Presentation + Chico’s Mini Music Lecture + Writing Workshop.
This is the second time I have gotten to experience Stokely give a presentation about research and I am impressed and inspired to become a more engaging speaker. The pieces of advice I am taking away from this time, along with it was good to see the process of looking for articles by using filter words, is having a work space that is constant seems like an awesome practice also going for a run when I get stuck and overwhelmed by work. The work space is important because currently, my main study space at my house is full of laughing roommates. Also, when I am studying it’s hard for me to think of taking a break to go for a run but it always pays off in more attentiveness and focus in my studies.
I am so excited about adding some new tunes to my ears, especially music bringing up themes of equity.
The writing workshop definitely brought clarity to the annotated bibliography and project proposals. I wish that I could do the project proposal again to add depth to what I wrote.