Film: Ghost in the Shell
- Set in what appears to be an Futuristic city in Asia.
- Didn’t have enough time to tell the actual Ghost in the Shell story
- Movie was much like almost every other dystopian Sci-Fi in that the visuals were heavily inspired by Blade Runner.
- Matrix vibes throughout the film (Human Consciousness breaking your reality and all that).
- Really honored the stories origin by having a full three prominent Japanese characters in the movie. Only one of which actually spoke Japanese in the film.
- Aramaki being the only Japanese speaking character felt a little bit like they were specifically drawing attention to that as to say “Hey look it’s a Japanese story remember?
- I have seen the choice of Scarlet Johansson for Major defended as the white blonde American being the beauty standard in Japan. Don’t necessarily agree but as reasoning it makes sense. But don’t you think in a futuristic world where they put brains in robots and the cities seem to be fully multicultural, that the standard person wouldn’t be a white American.
- A retelling of the classic coming of age story with a twist.
- Some of the dialogue was rough.
Text: Asian American History: A Very Short Introduction
- One thing this text seemed to give many examples of it is the reliance of Asian-Americans on social organization. Many Asian-American communities were only able to survive threw the barriers and vitriol thrown there way because of the communities they were able to carve for themselves (It wasn’t forced segregation but it might have well been because they weren’t accepted elsewhere).
- Book could have been structured so that it followed a chronological timeline instead of just jumping from from era to era.
- This book overviews the harsh realities that Asian peoples had to face in the past three centuries of American life. even so their are countless examples of Asian peoples obtaining some form of success in the face of their brutal adversities.
- Stark contrast of image of Asian-Americans today compared to just fifty years ago is jaw dropping.
- The book points out how quick the stereotypes for Asian Americans developed, changed, and then homogenized.
- Everyone should check out The Four Immigrants Manga by Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama an early 1900’s comic strip by a Japanese Immigrant. This comic strip draws from the life of four Japanese immigrants and grants a very interesting view into the early 1900’s America from the their own point of view.
- The concept of a “Model Minority” seems to still be expected by certain groups in the United States.
- It’s always surprised me how little the general population knows of even the most recent atrocities committed by the USA.