The growing popularity of the Internet in general and YouTube specifically have opened the door for a new generation of Asian Americans to become the producers of their own culture, enabling young Asian Americans with limited time, experience, and funds to distribute their content to viewers all over the world. The work of several such young Asian American YouTube video creators has become so popular that they have been catapulted into the role of "YouTube celebrities," boasting spots on the top of YouTube's all time most subscribed list and receiving recognition from fans and even the larger media community. These YouTube celebrities have used YouTube, blogs, and social networking websites to interact both with each other and with their fans, resulting in the forging of a larger online community. For many, including my fiancé (an avid fan), these young Asian Americans who have opted to represent themselves provide a refreshing break from the mass media's stereotypical and limited portrayals of Asian Americans and serve as role models for our generation.
Specific personalities that come to mind include (and I will refer to them by their YouTube account names) kevjumba, nigahiga, HappySlip, and davidchoimusic.
With over 100,000 subscribers, kevjumba, a Chinese American, is ranked number 3 on YouTube's all time most subscribed list and number 1 on its list of all time most subscribed comedians. kevjumba draws on his Chinese American heritage as well as on his everyday life for subject matter in his short comedy sketches.
http://youtube.com/user/kevjumba
http://www.kevjumba.com/
Also topping 100,000 subscribers, Japanese American nigahiga is ranked fourth on YouTube's all time most subscribed list (second for all time most subscribed comedians). nigahiga is famous for his parody sketches, such as his line of "how to" videos on topics such as "How to be Emo," "How to be Gangster," and "How to be a Ninja."
http://youtube.com/user/nigahiga
http://www.myspace.com/ryannigahiga
Not far behind at number 5 all time most subscribed (number 3 in all time most subscribed directors) is Filipino American HappySlip. Famous for her impersonations of her family and for her humorous parody renditions of popular songs, HappySlip is one of the few top users to edit, write, direct, star in, and produce all of her shorts. She is a big name in the community, and was even selected to be featured at the 2007 Imprint media conference focusing on Asian American and urban culture. In the true spirit of community, HappySlip frequently pairs up with real-life friend kevjumba in her videos.
http://www.youtube.com/user/HappySlip
http://www.happyslip.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Slip
http://www.intertrend.com/imprint/imprint2007/
Finally, at number 41 (number 10 most subscribed all time musicians) is Korean American davidchoimusic, a real-life music producer known for his renditions of popular songs (as well as a few of his own) on guitar and vocals. He is also famous for not smiling, a fact which had prompted much prodding by his fans, as well as a popular video with HappySlip in which she tries to get him to finally smile on camera (but to no avail). davidchoimusic was also invited to perform at the 2007 Imprint media conference, which is where he met HappySlip in the first place.
http://youtube.com/user/davidchoimusic
http://www.myspace.com/davidchoimusic
http://www.intertrend.com/imprint/imprint2007/
Together these young Asian American media makers (along with others) are helping to redefine Asian American culture and what it means to be Asian American.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Fortune Cookies
In Amy Tan's novel, The Joy Luck Club, two Chinese immigrant women find their first job in America at a fortune cookie factory, making desserts non-existent in their place of origin yet sold as Chinese in the United States. Fortune cookie, along with chop suey and chow mein sandwiches, was invented in the U.S. sometime in the first two decades of the twentieth century. There are many stories as to who was the first one to popularize the crisp cookie baked around a piece of paper--some say Makoto Hagiwara of Japanese Tea Garden, some point at David Jung of the Hong Kong Noodle Company, and the most recent scholarship argues that the cookie is neither Chinese nor America but Japanese (see: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/16/dining/16fort.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th)
But regardless of its origins, fortune cookie has established itself as an integral part of Chinese cuisine experience and perhaps even has become a symbol of exoticness that Asia American has to offer. After all, mass production of the cookie began in 1930s in San Francisco Chinatown to attract tourists and find a way to boost the local economy that was at all time low. At first containing Confucian aphorisms, the fortune papers began adopting biblical passages and other Western philosophical passages in order to appeal to the white American tourists and clienteles. During the cold war scare, five thousand Chinese fortune cookies were tossed to the crowd from a cable car, each cookie containing "Happy New Year" greeting for Chinese New Year perhaps as an attempt to diffuse the cultural difference between Chinese Americans and the rest of the Americans so that Chinese Americans wouldn't be perceived as Communists. Although most fortune cookies are now cranked out from factory machines, there are some places today where Asian Americans hand-make them to attract tourists (see the NYT article from Dec. 26th 2004). Examining the development of this cultural product should reveal one way the Asian American communities have transformed themselves to survive in this country, and it should also raise some important questions about how Asia continues to be perceived as exotic (its food contains oracular passages) and how Asian American community contends with assimilation and link to Asia.
Some websites and articles to check out:
Korean-American church community
When I meet a Korean-American, whether in my hometown in Seattle or anywhere else in the U.S. or in Korea, one of the first things either of us asks each other is what church we belong to. Korean-Americans literally know how small this world is just because of the tight-knit community between Korean-American churches in the U.S. Each Korean church in Washington knows each other because of the various activities they participate in including sports tournaments, carnivals, retreats, and other events that being many of the churches together. The Korean churches are even more connected to the rest of the U.S. and Korea because they have brother churches all over the U.S. and Korea, In this way, many Korean-Americans in Washington get acquainted with each other and the rest of the Koreans everywhere. If I don’t know a Korean-American person, I will be sure to know the person’s family or friends or a friend of a friend through the church the common person attends. I’ve made instant friends at home, school, and even while studying abroad in Korea just by making connections with people through the churches they attend and the people they know through these churches. This kind of interaction I have all the time with Korean-Americans allows me to feel a connection instantly. Most of the Koreans I know in the U.S. attend a Korean-American church, even if they are not Christian, and are all connected in some way through these churches. The reason for this is because of the role churches play in developing a community that allows Korean-Americans to survive and assimilate into American society.
The Korean-American church community is a phenomenon that plays a huge role in the assimilation and success of Korean immigrants and their future generations in the U.S. It acts not only as a place of worship but a cultural, political, and economic base in the Korean-American communities everywhere. There are over 3,400 Korean American churches in the U.S. that provide counseling, job assistance, and programs for after school activities, learning the Korean language, and helping at-risk youth, senior citizens and newly arrived immigrants(www.kccd3300.org). Over 75% of the Korean American community is connected with churches like these. Not only do these churches serve the Koreans in the community, they contribute to the nation. 64 percent of the churches surveyed raised over $1 million for the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. One of the churches in LA raised $70,000 for the tsunami efforts. With the Korean American population increasing from 102 people in 1903 to 1.3million in 2000, Korean communities were able to support these immigrants and their future generations by developing a church community.
The Korean-American church community is a phenomenon that plays a huge role in the assimilation and success of Korean immigrants and their future generations in the U.S. It acts not only as a place of worship but a cultural, political, and economic base in the Korean-American communities everywhere. There are over 3,400 Korean American churches in the U.S. that provide counseling, job assistance, and programs for after school activities, learning the Korean language, and helping at-risk youth, senior citizens and newly arrived immigrants(www.kccd3300.org). Over 75% of the Korean American community is connected with churches like these. Not only do these churches serve the Koreans in the community, they contribute to the nation. 64 percent of the churches surveyed raised over $1 million for the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. One of the churches in LA raised $70,000 for the tsunami efforts. With the Korean American population increasing from 102 people in 1903 to 1.3million in 2000, Korean communities were able to support these immigrants and their future generations by developing a church community.
Southern California Japanese American Sports Leagues
What began as a way to compensate for racial divides now functions as an entire community in which Japanese American youth can meet each other through the medium of sports. After World War II, Japanese Americans wanting to play the “all-American” sport of baseball were prohibited from playing in Caucasian youth sports leagues, due to lingering racial biases. As a result, Japanese Americans founded their own leagues and organizations around California, such as the South East Youth Organization (SEYO), which is based in Orange County, California. Since then, SEYO has expanded to include basketball and now hosts various tournaments, volunteer events, and social functions in which Japanese American youth across Southern California can connect and meet. SEYO branches out into multiple organizations, each of which has their own basketball and baseball teams.
In addition, SEYO and various other Japanese American organizations come together in the “Nikkei Games” in August, in which Japanese American youth across Southern California compete in various sports such as basketball, baseball, golf, judo, karate, and track and field, to name a few. The Nikkei Games are part of Nisei Week, which takes place in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles, California. During Nisei Week, various aspects of Japanese American culture come together in a festival of sorts, with martial arts exhibits, beauty pageants, and even a gyoza (Japanese dumpling) eating contest. It is through such festivals and games that Japanese Americans in Southern California can come together and connect with their Japanese cultural roots, which may at times seem removed and distant.
Although there are no longer restrictions barring Japanese Americans from playing in other sports leagues, SEYO and its counterparts continues to be extremely popular, as it creates a community for fourth or fifth-generation Japanese Americans to stay connected to a Japanese American community, even when their lives are so fully “American.” Many of these youth speak very little Japanese, as their parents and grandparents have grown up in the United States. It is through these Japanese American organizations that youth can stay connected to and be a part of a culture.
In addition, SEYO and various other Japanese American organizations come together in the “Nikkei Games” in August, in which Japanese American youth across Southern California compete in various sports such as basketball, baseball, golf, judo, karate, and track and field, to name a few. The Nikkei Games are part of Nisei Week, which takes place in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles, California. During Nisei Week, various aspects of Japanese American culture come together in a festival of sorts, with martial arts exhibits, beauty pageants, and even a gyoza (Japanese dumpling) eating contest. It is through such festivals and games that Japanese Americans in Southern California can come together and connect with their Japanese cultural roots, which may at times seem removed and distant.
Although there are no longer restrictions barring Japanese Americans from playing in other sports leagues, SEYO and its counterparts continues to be extremely popular, as it creates a community for fourth or fifth-generation Japanese Americans to stay connected to a Japanese American community, even when their lives are so fully “American.” Many of these youth speak very little Japanese, as their parents and grandparents have grown up in the United States. It is through these Japanese American organizations that youth can stay connected to and be a part of a culture.
Juxtaposed Pictorial Portraits of Asian Americans
Asians were first depicted in American comics as a dangerous threat. It was fall 1942; the US for almost a year was officially at war with the axis powers. Back in the states, there was much fervor surrounding America’s current situation. Walls were covered with patriotic posters, theatres showed short accounts of the war in Europe, and on the newsstands were images of Captain America and his sidekick Bucky delivering some painful haymakers to two Japanese soldiers. At least I think they were soldiers. Looking at the cover of Captain America # 18, it almost appeared as though the costumed crime fighters were tackling some Martians. The Japanese soldiers’ ears were drawn almost as large as their heads and extremely twisted. The coloring of their skin was a dark yellow, sharp vampire-like teeth hung from their mouths, and their eyes were contorted into a menacing shape; to any kids picking up this issue, there was no doubt that Asians were evil.
And yet, it is interesting to see how this villainous representation evolves in the next ten, twenty years. After World War II and just before the Vietnam War, Asians were portrayed very little in American comics. But when they were portrayed, it was not only as villains, but also as heroes. In 1956, Marvel Comics released a comic entitled “The Yellow Claw,” which featured Jimmy Woo, a Chinese American secret agent. Woo’s main archenemy was a brilliant madman, know as the Yellow Claw. The Claw’s appearance harkened back to the World War II comics’ depiction of Asians; he sported a fu Manchu and teeth resembling Dracula’s; his skin was also saturated yellow. Woo, on the other hand, was clean-shaven and had perfect teeth. He was also part of the FBI. This brings up an interesting thought; was Marvel trying to say only foreigners were evil and that those who are American citizens are not forever doomed to bad skin, teeth, and evil thoughts? Despite its well-written plots, the series was canceled within a few issues; the public just wasn’t interested.
During the 50’s and early 60’s, Asians were illustrated more in Japanese manga than in Western comics. An example of this was Astro boy, a robot built by the kind Doctor Tenma. Race and ethnicity did not directly associate with good or evil in manga as they did in American comics. Astro boy caught on with an American audience when it was adapted into a cartoon and has since been a classic icon in both Japanese and American culture. I’m still looking and referring back to different genres implementing the comic book genre at the moment; some things that did pop up was the use of Asians as villains again in the sixties. Tony Stark, later known as Iron Man, was captured by Vietnamese communists and forced to build them a powerful weapon. Peter Parker, the civilian identity of Spider-man, battled a Vietnamese sorcerer who had captured his classmate Flash Thompson when Thompson was drafted into the war. Very convoluted stuff. In my paper, I hope to not only address more fully the depictions of Asians and Asian Americans in comics, but also how comics from Asian (and subsequently translated to English) as well as their animated counterparts have made an impact on American pop culture and its consumer market. You’d be hard-pressed to travel back to 1999 and not find a fourth grader who wasn’t crazy about pokemon.
http://www.coverbrowser.com/covers/captain-america - Issues 18, 38-40
And yet, it is interesting to see how this villainous representation evolves in the next ten, twenty years. After World War II and just before the Vietnam War, Asians were portrayed very little in American comics. But when they were portrayed, it was not only as villains, but also as heroes. In 1956, Marvel Comics released a comic entitled “The Yellow Claw,” which featured Jimmy Woo, a Chinese American secret agent. Woo’s main archenemy was a brilliant madman, know as the Yellow Claw. The Claw’s appearance harkened back to the World War II comics’ depiction of Asians; he sported a fu Manchu and teeth resembling Dracula’s; his skin was also saturated yellow. Woo, on the other hand, was clean-shaven and had perfect teeth. He was also part of the FBI. This brings up an interesting thought; was Marvel trying to say only foreigners were evil and that those who are American citizens are not forever doomed to bad skin, teeth, and evil thoughts? Despite its well-written plots, the series was canceled within a few issues; the public just wasn’t interested.
During the 50’s and early 60’s, Asians were illustrated more in Japanese manga than in Western comics. An example of this was Astro boy, a robot built by the kind Doctor Tenma. Race and ethnicity did not directly associate with good or evil in manga as they did in American comics. Astro boy caught on with an American audience when it was adapted into a cartoon and has since been a classic icon in both Japanese and American culture. I’m still looking and referring back to different genres implementing the comic book genre at the moment; some things that did pop up was the use of Asians as villains again in the sixties. Tony Stark, later known as Iron Man, was captured by Vietnamese communists and forced to build them a powerful weapon. Peter Parker, the civilian identity of Spider-man, battled a Vietnamese sorcerer who had captured his classmate Flash Thompson when Thompson was drafted into the war. Very convoluted stuff. In my paper, I hope to not only address more fully the depictions of Asians and Asian Americans in comics, but also how comics from Asian (and subsequently translated to English) as well as their animated counterparts have made an impact on American pop culture and its consumer market. You’d be hard-pressed to travel back to 1999 and not find a fourth grader who wasn’t crazy about pokemon.
http://www.coverbrowser.com/covers/captain-america - Issues 18, 38-40
"Laughing Matters" Forming an Asian American consciousness through comedy
Thinking outside of the box seems like an easy task for Margaret Cho, Eliot Chang, Los-Angles based Asian American comedic theater group: hereandnow, and other Asian American comedians and troops. Racial topics in comedy (particularly stand-up, sketch, and improv) have been launched into the mainstream and made accessible for both white and non-white audiences through comedians of color. Dave Chapelle, George Lopez, Chris Rock, Margaret Cho (just to name a few) offer bold and essential critiques to race (as well as gender, class, sexuality, etc.) in the United States through their comedy.
Asian American comedians are rapidly hitting the mainstream, pop culture circuit. Koren-American comedian Margaret Cho is a staple in the line-up of big name comedians. Her comedy touches on a variety of topics from her Korean-American mother to her sexuality to politics. In her sketch “Asian American” http://youtube.com/watch?v=kc6mLwOa2Ig&feature=related (featured in her special: “I’m the One that I Want”) there are a lot of things going on within her comedy. She brilliantly intertwines race, gender, relationships, family, friends, physical appearance and other items into her grab bag of sketch comedy. In a number of her sketches Cho explicitly talks about her sexuality in which she has been in relationships and slept with both men and women. I think it’s awesome and powerful to see that one of the most infamous comedians of our generation is an openly queer, Korean-American woman. Go Margaret.
There are many similar themes that both Margaret Cho and Eliot Chang and other Asian American comedians include in their comedy. Topics around family, inter-racial dating, race/racial discrimination, feelings of “otherness” growing up, gender roles, sexuality, class, inter-generational connect and disconnect, basically their comedy is all over of the spectrum. How they help in forming an Asian American consciousness through their comedy is multifaceted. First, they give voice. They as individual, in a lot of ways, reflect a collective Asian American voice speaking against and for
What I think that Asian comedians do that’s particularly important is challenge our thinking around comedy and the ways “comedy” has been commodified and packaged. Who are the images in comedy and how has this been racialized? In what ways is this problematic?
The white-black paradigm of comedy has changed, we as views and consumers must include Latino comedians (i.e. George Lopez, Latin Kings of Comedy), and Asian American in the discourse around smart and daring comedians. Eliot Chang in his sketch “Oh Shit, He’s Asian” talks about “representing the nation” and how as an Asian male, he’s automatically not expected to be funny. I’d definitely encourage you to watch the links!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=wYIqkZvS76s&feature=related <---Eliot Chang
more Margaret Cho
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gevWOlEI5cc&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=dHZR9iS8a-U&feature=related'
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ESSI8AGH8Vk&feature=related
Introducing...The Asian American Webcomic
(Via http://www.comics.com/sam)
Within this niche environment, Asian American webcomic artists are touching upon critical issues facing Asian Americans through the comic strip medium in an effort to communicate their frustrations and those of the larger AAPI community to a mass audience. However, most Asian American webcomics mainly try to address a diverse array of topics in order to increase or retain an extensive fan base. Asian American webcomic artist Jorge Cham of “Piled Higher and Deeper” (PhD) provides a humorous insight into the everyday lives of graduate students. Newspaper syndicated Tak Toyoshima centers “Secret Asian Man” on struggling artist Osamu “SAM” Takahashi, an Asian American who is married to a Caucasian woman and raising a Hapa son. Despite the broad scope of content within each webcomic, Asian American artists strive to add commentary that is tied to their personal lives, particularly in terms of identity, racism, and a host of other issues discussed in Asian American circles.
Each webcomic with an Asian American creator has a different focus and serves distinct audiences. Nevertheless, Asian American webcomic artists collectively provide a new medium of social expression and represent a new segment of the Asian American community in the Web 2.0 era.
Here are some webcomic links – click and enjoy!
Secret Asian Man
Sinfest
PhD Comics
Links to a variety of Asian American webcomics here.
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