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[RAG
RAG RAG > Color Commentary]
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| [04/04/01] |
| Color
Commentary: |
| A
Call to Action |
| Rag from Wes Kim |
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| Last week,
I attended a meeting for a local screenwriting group.
The guest speaker, there to talk about the art of pitching,
started by stressing the importance of researching individuals
whom you are going to meet. |
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| "Everybody see that Asian girl in the back?"
she said as all our eyes turned to the back of the room.
"The first thing she did when she walked in was give me
a Diet Coke. Obviously, she must've checked out my web
site and found out that I'm a fiend for Diet Coke. And
so now, I'm going to remember her! See? She was really
smart!" Amid the admiring chuckles that swept the room,
I heard a man behind me say, "Well, aren't they all smart?" |
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| I was dumbstruck by the remark, so much so,
I'm disappointed to admit, that I ultimately said nothing.
When discussing the incident later with a friend who attended
the same meeting, she quipped, "Well, it's hard to know
what to say to something like that. 'We're not all smart
-- some of us are quite stupid!'?" |
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| Indeed, had I confronted the man at that
moment, I suspect that he might not have even perceived
his comment as a slight. I might've had to go into a lengthy
explanation of the "model minority" curse -- how even
"positive" stereotypes place limits on what sorts of roles
minorities are permitted to play. The Asian American who's
always perceived as smart and hard-working is ignored
when creating an artist or slacker; the African American
who excels at athletics is passed over when imagining
a CEO; all minorities are overlooked when a hero is called
for. |
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| This is what it's all about, people. This
is what leads to a network television retelling of the
Chinese legend of "The Monkey King" with a white male
protagonist at its core. This is what leads to the upcoming
cinematic treatment of World War II as a battle between
white and yellow peoples, with no consideration given
to the roles Japanese Americans played, whether as fiercely
loyal American soldiers or as conscientious objectors
who demanded the restoration of their rights as American
citizens before consenting to die for their country. This
is the intellectual laziness that keeps Hollywood from
understanding that a good story properly told will draw
viewers in regardless of the color of the hero's skin. |
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| This, then, is my challenge to all of you
out there: Write that script. Direct that film. Be an
actor. Become a producer. Connect with others trying to
achieve the same goals. You are the main character of
your own life--help create something that shares this
reality with the world. You have nothing to lose but your
continued banishment to the margins of American culture. |
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—W. Kim
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WES
KIM
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| Wes Kim is an aspiring screenwriter/filmmaker
in Seattle, Washington. In addition to maintaining a directory
of events and web sites of interest to Seattle-area Asian-American
filmmakers, he lurks on Joan Huang's Asian American Media
Network, Roger Tang's aa-drama discussion list, Joseph
Yang's SAPAAG discussion list, and the AsianAmericanFilm.com
message boards. He's also the webmaster for Rich Kim's
talktotaka.com. He lives with his wife, two sons, two
dogs, and a cat, which explains the sporadic nature of
his contributions to this site. |
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you can reach Wes at:
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