Futari
I’m cutting back slightly on the posting frequency. I think I’ve been pretty good at posting once or twice a day, and there are still tons of stories and thoughts I’d like to post, but I really do need to cut back. My novel is underway, and it’s going well. That should be a priority. Plus I’ve got a whole lot of other things that need to get done. I think I can still post once every other two or three days though.
I saw this post off of TMM’s blog: What if the “best books” were not always centered on male protagonists? The blog author Meg takes issue with Nicholas Kristof’s “Best Kids’ Books Ever,” noting that of the thirteen books that Nicky chose, only one centers on a female protagonist and none focus on people of color. When it comes to non condescending articles on race, I literally expect nothing from Nicky (as you can see here), but Meg raises some good issues about stories and the overwhelming male focus. I never even considered the idea that Charlotte’s Web is more about Wilbur than Charlotte. Would gender relations be more equal if there were more publications with women’s stories? I think they would be. (Important sidenote: I think Asian American literature has more female stories than male stories. In our case, we just need more female stories that don’t revolve around White ma…aww, f#$k, I’m tired of beating this dead horse so I choose not to complete this thought.)
In thinking about this topic, I was reminded of a TV show that I used to watch in Japan called “Futari,” which mean “Two people” or “Two Together” or maybe just “Together.” It used to be on TV at the same time as my Japanese lessons, and because I loved the show so much, I wound up skipping my lessons (which is why my Japanese sucks.).
The story is about Mika (played by Okina Megumi) and Chizuko Kitao (Isshiki Sae), two sisters in high school. Chizuko is the older sister and happens to be an overachiever–she has high grades, is very popular, and was the lead in the student play–while Mika lives in her older sister’s shadow. In the first episode, Chizuko tragically dies in a car accident, leaving Mika and her parents alone and distraught. Mika suffers from debilitating low self-esteem, and with Chizuko’s death, she is stuck trying to fulfill the expectations of her teachers, her fellow students, and her parents. The story is about how Chizuko comes back as a spirit in order to teach her sister to excel in high school and to become her own person. It’s a touching story of love and sisterhood from the perspective of two women. I haven’t seen anything like it in the U.S. before or since.
I don’t know how any of you would get a hold of this drama, but if you do, it’s worth the watch. The photography of small town Japan is stunning. In addition to some great performances by Okina and Isshiki, Komine Rena shines as the high school female bully, and Kawamuri Ryuichi plays a pretty cool boxer dude from the other side of the tracks.
Anyway, I’m mentioning this because there are lots of stories out there. Travel is good, learning is good. We need to expose ourselves to different cultures and narratives. I wish I had grown up with more female stories and stories about people of color. They are out there; we just have to find them…or tell them.
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Keenan Ivory Wayans once said “If you want to see something you have to make it yourself.” That’s the sad truth about Hollyweird. We’re seeing a MASSIVE backlash by the studios backed by white people in general.
Blackface is back with a vengeance. The Blind Side is a blockbuster movie (the plot taken straight out of apartheid South African white-messiah nonsense) and white people are furious that Tyler Perry is going to “retire” Madea.
The media is not a group of neutral observers (no pun intended) they are active participants in all this. They see themselves as cultural gatekeepers and they see themselves and their hegemony under siege by the “other” who happen to be –let’s just come out and say it– people of color.
They don’t like having Will Smith as the biggest star on the planet. They can tolerate it, but they don’t want more than one of him. They don’t care about merit or what the masses would most like. They want to maintain their position as most favored group. Whiteness must be something to be aspired to and anything else must be seen as “other.”
And that means controlling what is seen and how it’s presented. Korea recently decided that they mandate that shows have so many Koreans in the cast or they can’tbe shown. This is because they realized the stuff they imported from the US was totally bleached.
POCs in the US should follow that example.
Western culture gave us Cinderella, and Chinese culture gave us Mulan.
I think that speaks volumes about the differences between the 2 cultures regarding sexual-cultural indoctrination.