Asian American Males to be Celebrated

[ChairmanMah]

I know it's not the usual thing for guys to big up others since we're quite competitive but i'd like to start a list of honorable Asian males taking our image further.

Jin tha MC
DJ/producer from Linkin Park
Chen from Pharell and Chen
Q-bert
Gary Locke, mayor of seattle

cant think of more now, can i get some help.

[>:^|]

Daniel Inouye
Daniel Akaka
Frank Chin
Frank Wu
Gordon Hirabayashi
(darn! I don't have another Gordon)

[ChairmanMah]

Dat Phan, winner of Last comic Standing (i think that's the name of the show)

Richard Park from the Minnesota Wild

[ChairmanMah]

Originally Posted by >:^|

Daniel Inouye
Daniel Akaka
Frank Chin
Frank Wu
Gordon Hirabayashi
(darn! I don't have another Gordon)

who are these people? please elaborate for all to learn

[rice cracker]

Originally Posted by ChairmanMah

Dat Phan, winner of Last comic Standing (i think that's the name of the show)

Richard Park from the Minnesota Wild

No offense, but I really don't think Dat Phan does much to further the image of Asian men and nor should he be "celebrated."

Add to list, George Takei from Star Trek :)

[ChairmanMah]

Originally Posted by rice cracker

No offense, but I really don't think Dat Phan does much to further the image of Asian men and nor should he be "celebrated."

Add to list, George Takei from Star Trek :)

could you detail why not? maybe i missed something.

i think it's just cool that an asian won something like this.

[ellsworth81]

Are you talkin about Chad Hugo from Neptunes?

How exactly is Jin taking our image further? q-bert, from what i've read, invented/adapted his own turntablist technique/manuever (the crab i think it's called). Jin is just another freestyler.

We should add to the list Korematsu and the other Japanese guys who opposed the internment in various ways. Oh yea, I guess Vincent Chin had an indirect impact.

Ichiro and the other Japanese baseball players.

Justin Lin, for making a decent movie featuring Asian-Ams that didn't rely entirely on ethnic stereotypes.

Originally Posted by ChairmanMah

I know it's not the usual thing for guys to big up others since we're quite competitive but i'd like to start a list of honorable Asian males taking our image further.

Jin tha MC
DJ/producer from Linkin Park
Chen from Pharell and Chen
Q-bert
Gary Locke, mayor of seattle

cant think of more now, can i get some help.

[rice cracker]

Originally Posted by ChairmanMah

could you detail why not? maybe i missed something.

i think it's just cool that an asian won something like this.

Oh, I agree that it's cool that he won, but it's what he won for, not the actual award, that I have a problem with. His act is basically a male version of Margaret Cho's mommy issues, but not as funny. I found his parody of Asian parents to be too mocking to really be promoting anything positive for Asians in general.

[ChairmanMah]

Originally Posted by ellsworth81

Are you talkin about Chad Hugo from Neptunes?

How exactly is Jin taking our image further? q-bert, from what i've read, invented/adapted his own turntablist technique/manuever (the crab i think it's called). Jin is just another freestyler.

We should add to the list Korematsu and the other Japanese guys who opposed the internment in various ways. Oh yea, I guess Vincent Chin had an indirect impact.

Ichiro and the other Japanese baseball players.

Justin Lin, for making a decent movie featuring Asian-Ams that didn't rely entirely on ethnic stereotypes.

yeah, that dude from the neptunes. I thought it was Chen, but anyways..

regarding Jin, why is he not furthering AAM's? not many Asian MC's i've seen.

[ChairmanMah]

Originally Posted by rice cracker

Oh, I agree that it's cool that he won, but it's what he won for, not the actual award, that I have a problem with. His act is basically a male version of Margaret Cho's mommy issues, but not as funny. I found his parody of Asian parents to be too mocking to really be promoting anything positive for Asians in general.

you do have a point, that mocking the parents is not that funny but it's probly true. I think he is trying to shake these stereotypes. Heck, i don't like my parent's antics much neither.

[>:^|]

Originally Posted by ChairmanMah

who are these people? please elaborate for all to learn

I felt that way about your list, except for Gary Locke. :happy:

Daniel Inouye - Senator and World War II hero. He went into a barbershop wearing his uniform with one empty sleeve and was told "We don't cut Jap Hair." I believe he was the first Senator of Japanese descent. Along with Senator Akaka, he seems to bear a large part of the burden for raising issues of people of color and Asian Americans.

Daniel Akaka - Hawaii's senator, of Hawaiian descent.

Frank Chin - writer and activist. I have to admit I'm not crazy about his fiction, but you really should read his essay "Racist Love."

Frank Wu - law professor, Howard University, author of "Yellow." kittygirl says he's a pompous dick and I'm willing to believe her <VBG>, but Yellow is getting people to read about Asian Americans. Even non-Asians.

Gordon Hirabayashi - challenged the racist curfew law during wartime. His conviction was reversed in the 1980's.

I have mixed feelings about Fred Korematsu ... he underwent plastic surgery and changed his name to try to pass as non-Japanese. Although I don't want to judge him for what he did during wartime, this really bothers me.

Originally Posted by rice cracker

I found his parody of Asian parents to be too mocking to really be promoting anything positive for Asians in general.

I'm not so crazy about Dat Phan either. It seems like he's playing to a non-Asian audience and playing into what they want to hear. But he has this explanation in his livejournal http://www.livejournal.com/users/datphan/

But the way that it works here in Hollywood is that you have to keep on playing the game at first. Give them what they want. Then change the rules when you get the attention of millions of viewers later on in life.

I still don't like it.

[rice cracker]

Originally Posted by ChairmanMah

you do have a point, that mocking the parents is not that funny but it's probly true. I think he is trying to shake these stereotypes. Heck, i don't like my parent's antics much neither.

Well, shaking stereotypes by perpetuating them for laughs seems like an odd way to go about it. Watch his act then decide. Some people may see him in a more noble light than I do.

[ChairmanMah]

Originally Posted by rice cracker

Well, shaking stereotypes by perpetuating them for laughs seems like an odd way to go about it. Watch his act then decide. Some people may see him in a more noble light than I do.

hey, i agree. but maybe just maybe he's just showing how stupid his parents are and for others not to act like that. Or maybe he's showing that he's not like that and neither are most others his age and he wants people to stop making fun of us because he acts more american/canadian. it could be a number of things but i do see your point.

[ChairmanMah]

Originally Posted by >:^|

I felt that way about your list, except for Gary Locke. :happy:

Daniel Inouye - Senator and World War II hero. He went into a barbershop wearing his uniform with one empty sleeve and was told "We don't cut Jap Hair." I believe he was the first Senator of Japanese descent. Along with Senator Akaka, he seems to bear a large part of the burden for raising issues of people of color and Asian Americans.

Daniel Akaka - Hawaii's senator, of Hawaiian descent.

Frank Chin - writer and activist. I have to admit I'm not crazy about his fiction, but you really should read his essay "Racist Love."

Frank Wu - law professor, Howard University, author of "Yellow." kittygirl says he's a pompous dick and I'm willing to believe her <VBG>, but Yellow is getting people to read about Asian Americans. Even non-Asians.

Gordon Hirabayashi - challenged the racist curfew law during wartime. His conviction was reversed in the 1980's.

I have mixed feelings about Fred Korematsu ... he underwent plastic surgery and changed his name to try to pass as non-Japanese. Although I don't want to judge him for what he did during wartime, this really bothers me.



I'm not so crazy about Dat Phan either. It seems like he's playing to a non-Asian audience and playing into what they want to hear. But he has this explanation in his livejournal http://www.livejournal.com/users/datphan/



I still don't like it.

thanks for the details, but i thought Locke was a successful senator?

[>:^|]

I thought Locke was previously a Washington state representative and a prosecutor, not a U.S. senator. But I could be wrong.

Is he the first Asian American governor? Or the first Chinese American governor? Anybody know?