Ken Watanabe defended the casting of Memoirs of a Geisha today, likening it to casting non Italians in opera. As I've noted before, I would tend to agree. People have argued that casting other Asians in the roles of Japanese characters stems from the Eurocentric "they all look alike" mentality, but I would argue that ethnic nationalism is in play on both sides. In my humble opinion, anything that blurs the distinction between ethnicity (and ultimately race) is a good thing. One might want to be more concerned with how the West is portraying these characters, and not solely with who they cast.

Just finished watching the golden globes. Sandra Oh won best supporting actress in a television series or motion picture (for Grey's Anatomy) and Ang Lee won best director (for Brokeback Mountain). Zhang Ziyi lost out to Felicity Huffman, and Naveen Andrews lost out to Paul Newman. My fellow Staten Islander Yoon-jin Kim was also on stage for Lost's best television drama award!

Overall there seemed to be a bit more diversity in the proceedings than usual - a good thing to be sure.

It's amazing how little people truly still understand Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s message of tolerance as we continue on through the 21st century. Despite living in a society that praises his words of peace and unity, both racists and racialists continue to resort to violence and self-imposed segregation. His untimely death has left a nation and a world that takes baby steps towards integration when it is strides that are desperately needed. But only when "little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls", and when boys and girls of every race and creed acknowledge each other as brothers and sisters rather than antagonists will we finally live up to Dr. King's dream.

Found this great article from last year about Anna May Wong, the first Asian American actress in Hollywood. It also has links to some cool resources like TIME magazine's archives (if you're a member) and this website, which has mp3s of old radio shows including Wong's The Patriot. Check it out.

I posted a review for "Memoirs of a Geisha", which I saw on New Years Eve.

And here's a link for Sam Magazine, the "first" magazine for Asian American men. Just another case of the media profiting from racial division, I suppose. And why is it that How to Attract Asian Women is considered racist, while the headline on the right side of the magazine cover is not? Is it because one profits off of love-sick white guys while the other profits off of love-sick Asians? Or is it because it's normal to date within your race and abnormal to date outside of it? Whatever the reason, I think I'll play it safe and say that both are grossly offensive.