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Better Luck Tomorrow: Asian Flavor of the Month, or the Beginning of a New Era for Asian Americans in Film? (4 of 4)
When Ben breaks away from his pre-ordained life, and then his friends,
part of us wants to cheer, but his assertion of personal choice seems
too individualistic a choice. Yes, it’s valid to question our parents’ vision
of the American dream against the reality of racism in America. And yes,
American society gives us the loneliness of personal choice as part of
our passage to adulthood. But this is the American dream that doesn’t
work for Asian Americans (or for most white Americans, either). It is
more than a truism that we need each other and that we are tied to the
fate of other Asian Americans. It is a political and social reality.
Asian Americans are in many ways the creation of the politics of race
in America. Confused for each other by white America and thrown together
by the necessity of survival despite the tensions and very real differences
among Asian nationalities, we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers – beyond
family, beyond country or origin. Asian Americans must find a way – our
own way, but we must find it in relation to and in combination with each
other.
Yellow Cross
But then again, I wouldn’t be too harsh on BLT.
After all, Tarantino, Kevin Smith and the other white wunderkinds
of film do not have to bear the Spike Lee cross – each
work is a measure of whether he is a credit to his race and representing
all Black people. Whereas I think people like Spike and hopefully
Justin Lin are de facto role models by having achieved what they
have and being in the spotlight, they should not have to have
each piece of work weighed against the weight of whether it is
the “ideal” Black or Asian American movie. Part of
the point of equality in the arts is to let a thousand flowers
bloom … which is hard to do when you’re the only
yellow rose in the bunch. Artists need to be judged on the totality
of their work. On the other hand, every shot you’ve got
had better be a good one. After all, how many do we have?
