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Memoir in Movies: On "Jurassic Park" (1993) and Sensitivity

My main problem when I was little was that I was too sensitive. I would care too much about certain things. Then again, maybe it was a sensitivity imbalance altogether. I would fixate on certain things and gloss over others. I would daydream. My feelings would be easily hurt too. One of the big early memories of my sensitivity being tested was when I saw Jurassic Park in theaters with my parents…

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Active Spectatorship: Stuart Hall’s Reception Theory.

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Hollywood Tries Its Hand at Video Essaying

Trying my hand at pop culture writing, and sharing some admirable people's work.

GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (remix remixed 2013) by Laura Mulvey: http://mediacommons.org/intransition/2014/03/04/intransition-editors-introduction Andrew Dominick’s “Blonde” (2022) is often hyper-focused on minuscule moments of Marilyn Monroe (played by Ana de Armas) in states of pose (and some times repose). In these moments, Dominick seems to be covering some of the same territory as thinkers,…

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Po-mo No Homo

Julie Moon an artist and film enthusiast is reflecting on film in her blog “Bits ‘n Pieces”. She invited me to have a conversation about “The Lighthouse” and “The Power of the Dog”, and I was surprised to discover complicated, conflicting thoughts about these films.

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High School Poem: "Heritage Hemorrhage" (2005)

High School Poem: “Heritage Hemorrhage” (2005)

I’m a 32-year-old who finds himself teaching about Asian American studies and literature, in a difficult time. It has been helpful for me to look back at a poem I wrote in high school (when poetry was a fun creative outlet during my science-focused school program). Its title hits at themes that I’ve come to recognize in Asian postcolonial studies and Asian American studies, like Rey Chow’s “logic…

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Blessed to be learning about video essays at Middlebury College for two weeks! #videocamp (at Middlebury College) https://www.instagram.com/p/By0b2ZmnE8J/?igshid=1o70jj2qvoe8t

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This Thursday 3:30PM is the first bilingual Storytime of the summer at @mocanyc Feel free to let new parent circles know! (at Museum of Chinese in America) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByjZSaKnLMh/?igshid=pm04zkbm1gfp

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So grateful to have gotten to explore animation with high schoolers in Flushing this semester thanks to @movingimagenyc . This is a little rotoscoping practice I did on @flipaclip. Come to our Afterschool Animation Showcase on Friday, Jun. 7 at 5 PM! (at Museum of the Moving Image) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByV674MntYI/?igshid=17gavxnar6f15

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Reading Hikaru no Go, a manga which I've learned is many people's introduction to the game Go.

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@stormmarrero_healthjourney !

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Arts and crafts inspired by Chinese writing and Chinese calligraphy and woodcuts today! (at Museum of Chinese in America)

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Art! Exploratory, interactive, public, folk all in one! (at Taipei Fine Arts Museum)

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Having mulled wine in Xmas Village in Taipei 101! My cuz is a European! (at TAIPEI 101 MALL 台北 101 購物中心)

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A few months ago, I had a millennial outrage episode when I read a white theater director describe a famous Asian American play she was reviving as a "Chinese box". I was perplexed by the term, of which I had heard before, but never understood and copped to orientalism. Lo and behold, when I went to the National Palace Museum in Taipei, what do I find but a whole special exhibit devoted to Chinese boxes 😅 It was all about the Qianlong Emporer in the late 1700s, who was passionate about commissioning beautiful, intricate packaging for curio boxes. Contrary to these boxes being "puzzles" of some sort, the exhibition argues that these boxes were a form of early branding to broadcast the sophistication of Chinese culture to the rest of the world, especially Western European trading partners who were increasingly interested in China. Some boxes take the shape of zithers and drums, common instruments in China, perhaps meant to give some supplementally cultural context to their packaged contents. Thinking about how this was the same emperor that did not kowtow to Britain's request to have greater access to China's trade, this exhibition struck me with how this self-orientalizing process has had very long historical path - a fascinating look at the roots of how Chineseness has been projected to the rest of the world.

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#7days7photos

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Participating in the "7 Days, 7 Photos" challenge b/c I'm facilitating an after school photography program and I need to put my money where my mouth is.

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SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS ARE WHITE

SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS ARE WHITE by Beau Sia

you’re not responsible for the other white people.

i see you sharing

black lives matter! dope post!

i see you marching

on instagram! dope post!

i see you donating

to THE cause. dope post!

your cousin in mountain view,

your best friend from college,

your aunt on your dad’s side.

NOT YOUR RESPONSIBILITY!

what his fascination with asian bodies got to do with you???

what her view on black men in the club got to do with you???

what auntie say about towelheads got to do with you???

you got bills, career instability, failed romance, a painful relationship with your father, global fear, comparison judgment, and the new season of favorite tv show on your plate,

what more can be asked of you?

you already have a puerto rican friend,

you already teach kids who’s future assignment is prison,

you already passed 2010’s ally exam.

i get it. there’s just not enough time for anything more.

besides,

it’s not your responsibility.

and anyway, we know how hard you try.

we’re all trying so hard, i know.

we are all frauds & failures & fucking wack

in the eyes of those who condemn us

to the color of our skin.

we let ourselves be agents of hate,

as if the power of our silence at thanksgiving,

in the boardroom,

amongst shared ethnic background,

will evolve from within

what silence has yet to evolve

in anything.

II.

i thought i could click like my way to evolution.

i thought revolution was proven on the internet.

i thought my face excused me from others’ struggle.

i thought example would magically transform all i touched.

i thought writing the poem was the most i needed to do.

i thought all the world’s problems separated by borders.

i thought responsibility was only what i did for myself.

you are not responsible for

the other asian people.

the aunt who still clutches her purse to acknowledge black.

the best friend from college whose best friends are now all white.

the cousin fucking his hate into the poorest nations on earth.

you are not responsible for

the other asian people.

you can talk your way out of any wrongdoing.

you can make believers out of anyone.

you can present like corporate long game.

you are only responsible

for who you are.

III.

you’re not a coward.

you been living

in a reward system

that erases

us all.

when we gonna challenge the roles we been assigned?

when we gonna challenge the comfort of our peers?

when we gonna challenge the traditions of our past?

when we gonna challenge the way our daily ignores color?

when we gonna challenge the narratives of war?

when we gonna challenge the truth of ongoing slavery?

when we gonna challenge the fear of facing our own hate?

when we gonna challenge the people against humanity?

when we gonna challenge the 8 men who rule over everyone?

when we gonna challenge the how that keeps failing truth?

when we gonna challenge the world made by our choices?

don’t worry,

making buzzfeed rich

is probably enough.

don’t worry,

becoming my friend

is probably enough.

don’t worry,

sharing this

is probably enough.

i mean,

what else can you do?

you’re not responsible

for the other white people.

you’re only responsible

for who you are.

and who knows

where you at

in understanding

that truth.

and who knows

whether this is something

you listen to

or become

defensive about.

and who knows

their responsibility

waking

into the reality

we’ve lived

the shared lie

that

we only have

as much power as

the masters give us.

you’re not responsible

for the other white people.

keep saying it

until all the mirrors die.

until there’s nothing left

of us.

This poem by Beau Sia has been removed by Facebook twice for “not meeting"community standards.“  We don’t believe Beau should be censored, and encourage you to share.