I am sure Obama is glad to be on the way home to face the economic crisis, the healthcare debate and Sarah Palin's book. He is glad to be out of Asia because this was his most difficult foreign trip since becoming president. While he was received warmly by the masses in Asia, he was not the rock star that went to Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Other than getting support from Russian president Medvedev on Iran, he didn't get much of anything else, especially in China.
Obama's critic is all over him for appearing weak on the trip. They even criticized him for bowing to the emperor of Japan. This is absurd. Bowing is a form of politeness in much of Asia, especially Japan. The old saying, "when in Rome do what the Romans do", apply here. I mean, what about Bush kissing the king of Saudi Arabia and holding his hand? I find that way more gross! But in all seriousness there is a sense of American power abroad eroding even before this trip. In the past the American president will have been able to work out agreements that he wanted before leaving home. This way it looks like he accomplished something on the trip. Now other contries are not afraid to tell the U.S. "no" ahead of time. I think Obama knows that he had to repair a lot of damage from the past and he cannot show up arrogant and demand things.
The economic crisis also makes it hard for Obama on this trip. In the past American officials can tell China and others that if they want economic growth they have to follow the U.S. With China being our lender now, we can't afford to lecture. As a result Obama did not get anything in regard to Iran, North Korea or the Chinese currency situation. China depends on Iran for oil, and the U.S. depends on China to buy our treasury bills, so why would China offend Iran to please us? China holds a lot of American dollars, so why would it increase the value its currency vs the dollar so that its investment value immediately decrease? Given this situation why would China listen to Obama about Tibet?
There is one good sign that I have not seen anyone talk about. That is Obama was allowed to speak to students in Shanghai. Even though the town hall style meeting was not broadcast on Chinese national tv, it could be seen over the internet without censorship. The setting is significant because Shanghai is where Fudan University is located. The three top universities in China are Peking, Quinghua and Fudan. The first two are both located in Bejing and are where most of the Chinese leaderships came from. Peking is most conservative and Quinghua is more technological. Of the three Fudan is by far the most liberal and has the most relations with international intellectuals. Fudan annually hosts a conference for college students from the Pacific rim which includes the U.S., Russia, Cananda, Australia in addition to Asian countries. My daughter attended the conference couple of years ago and said that there were very open discussions about human rights, Taiwan and Tibet. Chinese professors were openly critical of their own country on these issues without fear of censorship. I think if the future leaders of China come out Fudan instead of Peking or Quinghua, then I think China will become more democratic. The fact that China allowed Obama to speak near Fudan instead of Bejing is a good sign I believe.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Monday, November 02, 2009
Recently my wife and I attended the San Diego Asian Film Festival. We took in 5 movies over a 2 day period. The films we saw, in the order we saw them were: " All About Dad", "The Real Shaolin", "Yang Yang", "Whatever It Takes", and "Shades of Ray". I will rate to a scale of up to 5 and comment on each one.
"All About Dad" is about a Vietnamese American family and is a familiar story of values of parents vs the dreams of children in an Asian immigrant family. For the most part it is a very funny movie. The audience laughed loudly throughout the movie. I like the movie a lot despite the fact the main character, the youngest son who just finished his first year in college, reminds my wife and I of our own youngest child. As usual the Dad is the bad guy. More about that later. I give this movie a 4.2 out of 5.
"The Real Shaolin" is an documentary about 4 people trying to master kung fu in one of the Shaolin schools in central China. The main characters were an American, a Frenchman, a Chinese fighter trying to make it in Sanda, a Chinese version of kickboxing, and a young orphan growing up in the temple trying to become a kung fu monk. It has a lot of funny scenes but also lots of heartbreaking events. I thought it was the best of the 5 movies I saw. I give it a 4.6.
"Yang Yang" is about a half Taiwanese, half French girl growing up in Taiwan with her mother, step father and half sister. She is a high school track star, coached by her step father. She falls in love with her half sister's boyfriend. The first half of the movie was decent as the tension of the love triangle builds. But ultimately the story went flat. It was the weakest of the five movies and I give it a 3.0.
"Whatever It Takes" is a story of a Chinese American business man, unfulfillled in his work, becomes a principal at a new South Bronx magnet high school. It shows him and some dedicated teachers trying to help minority students overcome odds to go to college. It is suppose to be a story of tough love but I find the main character bending over too much for the students. There was still some very poor discipline given that the students supposedly want to go there instead of their neighborhood school in order to better themselves. The main student the film followed was obviously smart but she flunk almost all of her classes because she never did her homework. Despite that she got into Dartmouth's summer program. There were some kids who did much better but were only mentioned in passing. I guessing showing someone who succeeded because he/she studied everyday was not as interesting as someone who worked very little but somehow got chosen by some ultra-liberal institution. I give this film a 3.7.
"Shades of Ray" is about a half Pakistani man who proposed to his white girlfriend but while he waited for her answer, falls in love with a half Pakistani woman his father had set up for him. This was supposed to be one the big film of the festival as it stars Zachary Levi, star of TV show "Chuck" and Brian George who played Babu in Seinfeld. It was very funny but I find it hard to believe that a Pakistani man who married a white woman would insist that his son marry a Pakistani woman. The same with the girl's father. Also while Levi was funny, he acts and sounds too much like Seinfeld. I never saw "Chuck" so I don't know how he usually acts. I like Seinfeld but I would not want him to play a romantic role. I give this film a 4.0.
Overall it was good to see many talented Asian actors, directors and producers show their stuff. It is very difficult for Asian actors to get roles in Hollywood, especially Asian males. Even in "Shades of Ray" both Levi and George are not South Asians. The director Jaffar Mahmoud was at the film festival and he explained that he interviewed every South Asian actor in LA to cast the main character. He just couldn't find the right person. I can accept his explanation that he had to find the best person for the role. But if a South Asian can't play the role of a South Asian, what can he possibly play? One of the actors in "All About Dad" say that there is no decent role for Asian males and that he is thankful he has an engineering degree from Michigan State.
Which brings up my final point. Why is it that the dad is always the bad guy in films of conflict within an Asian family? I am sure that there are dads who are prejudiced but I don't believe that if one is married to someone of another race that he would try everything he can to stop his son from doing the same. Why is it that when an Asian man tells his son that studying hard is more important than trying to make films as the dad in "All About Dad" did is old fashion. But when an Asian man tells his black students that in order to make it out of the slum they have to study hard, then he is a hero? The message is the same but if you deliver it to your own son, it makes you look bad. But if you deliver it to your minority students you look great. I am sure the actor that got his engineering degree is glad that he listened to his Asian dad!
"All About Dad" is about a Vietnamese American family and is a familiar story of values of parents vs the dreams of children in an Asian immigrant family. For the most part it is a very funny movie. The audience laughed loudly throughout the movie. I like the movie a lot despite the fact the main character, the youngest son who just finished his first year in college, reminds my wife and I of our own youngest child. As usual the Dad is the bad guy. More about that later. I give this movie a 4.2 out of 5.
"The Real Shaolin" is an documentary about 4 people trying to master kung fu in one of the Shaolin schools in central China. The main characters were an American, a Frenchman, a Chinese fighter trying to make it in Sanda, a Chinese version of kickboxing, and a young orphan growing up in the temple trying to become a kung fu monk. It has a lot of funny scenes but also lots of heartbreaking events. I thought it was the best of the 5 movies I saw. I give it a 4.6.
"Yang Yang" is about a half Taiwanese, half French girl growing up in Taiwan with her mother, step father and half sister. She is a high school track star, coached by her step father. She falls in love with her half sister's boyfriend. The first half of the movie was decent as the tension of the love triangle builds. But ultimately the story went flat. It was the weakest of the five movies and I give it a 3.0.
"Whatever It Takes" is a story of a Chinese American business man, unfulfillled in his work, becomes a principal at a new South Bronx magnet high school. It shows him and some dedicated teachers trying to help minority students overcome odds to go to college. It is suppose to be a story of tough love but I find the main character bending over too much for the students. There was still some very poor discipline given that the students supposedly want to go there instead of their neighborhood school in order to better themselves. The main student the film followed was obviously smart but she flunk almost all of her classes because she never did her homework. Despite that she got into Dartmouth's summer program. There were some kids who did much better but were only mentioned in passing. I guessing showing someone who succeeded because he/she studied everyday was not as interesting as someone who worked very little but somehow got chosen by some ultra-liberal institution. I give this film a 3.7.
"Shades of Ray" is about a half Pakistani man who proposed to his white girlfriend but while he waited for her answer, falls in love with a half Pakistani woman his father had set up for him. This was supposed to be one the big film of the festival as it stars Zachary Levi, star of TV show "Chuck" and Brian George who played Babu in Seinfeld. It was very funny but I find it hard to believe that a Pakistani man who married a white woman would insist that his son marry a Pakistani woman. The same with the girl's father. Also while Levi was funny, he acts and sounds too much like Seinfeld. I never saw "Chuck" so I don't know how he usually acts. I like Seinfeld but I would not want him to play a romantic role. I give this film a 4.0.
Overall it was good to see many talented Asian actors, directors and producers show their stuff. It is very difficult for Asian actors to get roles in Hollywood, especially Asian males. Even in "Shades of Ray" both Levi and George are not South Asians. The director Jaffar Mahmoud was at the film festival and he explained that he interviewed every South Asian actor in LA to cast the main character. He just couldn't find the right person. I can accept his explanation that he had to find the best person for the role. But if a South Asian can't play the role of a South Asian, what can he possibly play? One of the actors in "All About Dad" say that there is no decent role for Asian males and that he is thankful he has an engineering degree from Michigan State.
Which brings up my final point. Why is it that the dad is always the bad guy in films of conflict within an Asian family? I am sure that there are dads who are prejudiced but I don't believe that if one is married to someone of another race that he would try everything he can to stop his son from doing the same. Why is it that when an Asian man tells his son that studying hard is more important than trying to make films as the dad in "All About Dad" did is old fashion. But when an Asian man tells his black students that in order to make it out of the slum they have to study hard, then he is a hero? The message is the same but if you deliver it to your own son, it makes you look bad. But if you deliver it to your minority students you look great. I am sure the actor that got his engineering degree is glad that he listened to his Asian dad!