I was surfing imdb.com when I found this upcoming indie film: The Shanghai Kid. It seems to be a dramedy (if I'm even using the term correctly) that addresses some of the issues facing Asian Americans as an underrepresented minority in Hollywood. Starring Kelly Hu and Ken Leung (known, at least to me, as that badass who fought Jackie Chan with an axe in Rush Hour). It's filming now, so keep an eye out.

Check out this lovely editorial, which I found via AngryAsianMan. Why is it that college students feel the need to start off every article with an inflammatory and aggressive statement like "I want all Arabs to be stripped naked and cavity-searched if they get within 100 yards of an airport."? Do they just want to be popularized for a week with some controversy? Or do they actually think such a statement isn't humiliating and degrading? Well whatever the answer, this columnist was fired for misquoting some Arab-American students in an attempt to validate her opinion.

People are allowed to have any opinions they want, and a university should absolutely be a place to discuss them, perhaps even with a degree of playfulness. But we seem far too eager to cross the line and shove our thoughts down people's throats, with the intent of angering and embarassing them. It's all the result of ridiculous partisan divides, to which liberals contribute just as much as conservatives. As for racial profiling itself, I'll write something a bit longer on that issue at a later date.

The U.S. trailer for Memoirs of a Geisha is online, although I personally like the international trailer better. Having never read the book, I can say that the plot seems interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing the film's depiction of the time period (I have a fondness for stories set in the 1920s and 1930s, especially when they take place outside of the U.S) On the other hand, the characters seem to fall into typical Hollywood depiction of "non-Americans" - foreign enough to speak in exaggerated accents, but not enough to speak in Japanese with subtitles. I have to add however, that the film looks visually stunning. I plan to post a review for the movie as soon as I see it in theaters.

Japan's economic bubble may have burst, but they're still set to beat us out in the robot industry. Interesting stuff, but am I the only one who finds it unnerving that robots (presumably designed to be as intelligent as possible) are destined for the service industry? Silly humans, we never learn!

If you have a subscription to Time magazine, or can easily pick up the most recent issue, check out this article: Black Guy, White Music. Ah the joys of cultural isolation. Although I don't know how much I like the idea of "black music" and "white music". But maybe I'm just naive.

So I was walking around my school library today, trying to look academic, when I spotted this book: "The Lives of Dwarfs". It goes into the history and prejudices against dwarfism, as well as depictions of dwarfs in modern media. Like blacks and Asians, dwarfs have faced vicious stereotypes in early cinema (the book calls it "heightism"). Only recently have things started to get better, but it's not hard to find that amusingly angry little person on TV. The entertainment industry capitalizing on prejudice? Who'da thunk it?

Also check out Kanye West's rant against the federal government and media regarding Hurricane Katrina. It may not be smart to alienate conservatives during a charity rally (especially considering who has the money) but the look on Mike Meyers' face is pretty funny.

Poplicks.com has a very good article which illustrates my thoughts perfectly, and far more eloquently than I could. It also provides a bunch of links to other editorials on the same subject. Check it out.

So this came to my attention a number of times over the last day or two. "Black People loot, white people find". The blogger makes the good point that "finding" or salvaging is taking things that you need, while looting is taking things that you don't need, like electronics. Now there is a lot of looting going on in New Orleans (and much of it will definitely be harming small business owners). But those pictures, as far as I can tell, don't depict any kind of unnecessary products being stolen.

The problem here is a combination of racial and class prejudice. Poor and black = looting, while middle/upper class and white = finding, or needing. We associate the "well-to-do" masses with proper ethics; that is, they would steal only when necessary. Heck, it's not stealing, it's finding! But the poor don't have proper ethics. They steal because they want to. Hence "looting".

I really doubt there is any conscious intent on the part of journalists here. It's simply an example of biases that are a part of our culture. Personally I'm more distressed by two things. One, that the lower class (either because of residential segregation or lack of resources) were left particularly vulnerable to this natural disaster - something that may result in increased social tension. And two, that our culture of favoring private charity over public works has made the damage worse. Apparently the National Guard is not even allowing Red Cross officials in yet. We refuse to (dare I say it!) raise taxes and fund public services so that we can give to charity, only to take away those charities' ability to do anything helpful. The exposing of racism in the coverage of looting is important, but it' indicative of the much larger systemic problem of race and class in America. And that much larger problem led to a particular group of people being left behind among filth, disease, violent gangs, rape and lack of food in the destruction of New Orleans.

The convoys have arrived and people are finally getting the food and medicine they need. Let's hope the messing around stops now and we get those victims the hell out of there.

Being completely isolated from most forms of televised and printed media made the totality of Hurricane Katrina dawn on me slower than most. This is shaping up to be a tragedy comparable to 9/11. If you can, please donate to help relieve the historic city and birthplace of much of American culture.