Falling for Grace

   This movie was focused on a relationship between a asian woman and a white man. We had seen movies earlier in the class that showed simliar relationships but we also learned that at the time white men wherent allowed to kiss asian women in the film, nor in real life was it acceptable to be in an open relationship. This move is in the 21 centruary where things have become a little more accepting. Grace starts out a your average Chinese american who is mistaken for another asian who owns a famous clothing store. There at the event she meets a guy and from there they develope a relationship thats ends in her telling the truth and him leaving his fiance.
    It was nice seeing all the actors and actress we had watched in previous movies. Also seeing some actors that I am familiar with like Margret Cho and Ken Leung. Aslo since it is closer to out time I like seeing alot more chinese actors and seeing her kiss the white guy and not get bad reviews because of it.

All American Girl

    IN this class we watched the show, "All American Girl," which starred Chinese American actor Margret Cho. This show was funny. She is a very funny actor. The episode we watched was the one where her mother wanted her to date a Chinese guy and she purposely dated a white man who had no job and dressed weird. She learned that her mother just wanted what was good for her. So she agreed to let her mother set her up on a blind date and she ended up liking the guy because he was hot. But she found herself pretending to be someone that she wasn't.
     She was trying so hard to follow the customs by dressing appropriately, and speaking  politely to even having manners at the dinner table which she doesn't normally have any of these characteristics. She wanted to be with him so badly but she couldn't see her self continuing to live a lie. When she confronted him and told her she couldn't be that way, he said he couldn't be with her anymore.
    This show showed us how some traditions of asian cultures they show are tv can be a little extreme. Example would be when they were at the dinner table. Though some people may do that, its not a custom for everyone.

    Today we went on a trip to the Moca Museum. It was a nice experience. I had been to China town before, but never at night. So it was nice to not deal with the crowd of people. Also it was great having our teacher walk us through and tell us about stuff. Like when we walked through the park and saw the older people playing Chinese checkers and chess.
    The museum was nice. I like the activity she gave us. She gave us slides with questions on them and we would find the corresponding artifact in the room and read more about it. The best part of the trip was the food! Ive never really had authentic Chinese food before. It was nice having it house style, ordering large portions and sharing them. The best were the cakes. We had four different kinds. I thought they were dumplings but there weren't. I'm glad I was able to experience the trip because it was fun and I learned alot.

    This class focused on how many times Chinese people weren't played by Chinese people but either by  a white man dressed as a Chinese man or even by Japanese or Korean actors. We watched movies like Charlie Chin and Dr. Fu Man Chu. Also Charlie Chan and the Chinese Cat. There are so many versions of Charlie Chin.
     I think this was very common among the film industry. Instead of actually hiring Chinese actors, they just got white actors to play the part. There are such cases with African Americans as well where they would get a white actor and paint him black. Or he would just act in a way a "black man" would supposedly act and you would know he was supposed to be black.

     We watched the Joy Luck CLub. Which I found to be amazing. The story surrounds four women who all have daughters. It starts off with the daughter of one mother who had past away. And she question why her mother brought her up the way she did. Making her involved in the Asian Community, since they now lived in the United States. Why she wanted her to be so popular so she could brag to her friends about her.
     The movie is so significant. I feel like I can use the term, "like mother like daughter." Each woman went over the past life they had in China. Some better than others. Some didn't get the chance to be with their mothers, and some were left behind in arranged marriages they did not want to take part in. By the end of their flashback you could see the despair on the women faces as they remembered hard times in China. One woman going through phases where she wouldn't talk or eat, she would just stare at the ceiling remembering the harsh marriage she had and actually killing the only son she had birth. Though she seems much happier in their marriage now that she is in America, she still thinks about the hardship and regrets that decision.
     The mothers try so hard to give their daughters the life they didn't have. I think because the girls are so accustom to American way would be the reason they rebel and don't really want to take part in what they think is the Chinese life, but if only they really knew what their mothers suffered and experienced in China. I really like the movie because you saw the lives of both the mother and the daughters. Though the mothers pressured the girls into marrying someone they saw fit, in the end they just really wanted for them to be happy.

Overview of Stereotypes

     Today we focused on the stereotypes both Asians and Asian Americans deal with in the media. For a long time just as black actors, Asians just wanted normal roles. They never got the chance to play as a main character. They were always portrayed as an old man with big teeth, or a bus boy. They were always "the others". I find this common and may minorities at this time in film and the media. We went over a list of Asian American Actors that have been in film like Margret Cho.