Pop Culture

Resolution 2014

| arun

My New Year’s resolution for this blog is to read Jane Iwamura’s Virtual Orientalism. I’ve listened to a podcast interview with Iwamura on New Books in Religion (thanks, Danny!), and I’ve read an article by her in Hyphen Magazine (thanks, Barbara!). I’m intrigued with how Iwamura writes about the “Oriental monk” icon. I would even argue that one cannot properly understand Buddhism in America without understanding this icon.

Note that my resolution is to read this book, not necessarily to write about it. My writing has trailed off over the past few months. I don’t expect ever to publish as frequently as once a month. But if you are inspired to read, question and discuss this book, then I hope you share your thoughts by leaving a comment below. (Just remember the comments policy.)

Ebert: Last Airbender is “Wrong”

| arun

A friend forwarded me an opinion by critic Roger Ebert, which brought me some good comfort this morning. He responds to a question about the “whitewashing” of the upcoming film The Last Airbender.

Q. Regarding the upcoming M. Night Shyamalan vehicle “The Last Airbender,” what do you think about the whitewashing of the production so that all of the original Asian cultural landmarks, architecture, philosophy, and costume design are being retained while they cast white kids to play the main characters?
Arlene C. Harris
A. Wrong. The original series “Avatar: The Last Airbender” was highly regarded and popular for three seasons on Nickelodeon. Its fans take it for granted that its heroes are Asian. Why would Paramount and Shyamalan go out of their way to offend these fans? There are many young Asian actors capable of playing the parts.

I posted about this controversy several months ago, and I particularly appreciate Gene Yang’s perspective.

But intentionally or not, they are adding another chapter to Hollywood’s long, sordid history of Yellowface. By giving white actors roles that are so obviously Asian – and by stating from the get-go their preference for Caucasians – they tell Asian-Americans that who we are and how we look make us inherently inadequate for American audiences, even in a movie that celebrates our culture.

Check out this video too. Ugh.

Modern Art for An Ancient Tradition

| arun

Artist Emi Motokawa talks with LAist about the role Buddhism plays in her art.

Buddhism influences my work tremendously. My fascination is Buddhist concepts such as oneness, universality, compassion, and human nature. I try to take these old concepts and express through a pop, modern picture. By doing this, it helps me to deepen my own spirituality. It’s a very fun process for me and my drive is to become better at it. Right now, I am painting caricatures of different bodhisattvas that appear in Buddhist sutras.

You can buy some of her unique “Krokeshi” dolls from the Japanese American National Museum store.

Finally Read Dharma Punx

| arun

Fortunately due to a delayed flight, I was able to read all of Noah Levine’s Dharma Punx straight to the end. This topical sentence popped out at me:

My mind tended toward judging and resenting all of the rich, white Buddhists who were there with their brand new BMWs and designer clothes, yet in my better moments I realized that maybe there was some hope for our country if the ruling class was at least trying to wake up.

Hm.

The Surface of Buddhism

| arun

Atlasien’s recent blog post touches on superficial perspectives on Islam and Buddhism, and also that pernicious East-West mindset.

Islamic mystique diverged from the pattern somewhere in the 20th century. The value of the white mediator became not so romantic. Racialization of Islam swelled to truly amazing proportions. Today in the United States, the negative stereotypes of Islam I listed above are not just applicable to Muslims; they stretch to Sikhs, Arab Christians, anyone who looks vaguely Middle Eastern. On the other hand, the positive stereotypes of Buddhism do not extend to East Asians! East Asian cultures are still stereotyped as repressive towards women, lovers of hierarchy and haters of individuality, unchanging and ahistorical, superficially clever but not really innovative, etcetera.

Should you read the piece, keep in mind that the audience is “predominantly people of color who are not Buddhists.”

Sickest Buddhist

| arun

This video made my day. It’s a great musical parody satire.

[Archivist’s Note: the original post contained an embedded video of a satirical music video titled “Sickest Buddhist.” The video was embedded via Flash which is no longer supported by the Internet.]

It’s been making its rounds, though I just saw it today.

Update: This video has since been taken down off all major streaming video sites, so far as I can tell.

Racebending Avatar

| arun

Intrigued on by posts on Dharma Folk and on Breathe, I went to learn more about the show Avatar rooted in Asian and Buddhist/Taoist/Confucian themes. I ended up finding a whole ’nother blog spat over the whitewashing of the movie version.

Avatar has been hugely popular among kids of all races. There was no backlash against an all-Asian show. Much as those who watch anime don’t freak out at the paucity of white characters. Yet, somehow the Hollywood producers think the live action version has to be white washed. Except for the villians, of course, it’s okay for them to be brown.

Gene Yang talks about the implications for Asian Americans in a way that’s also applicable to perceptions generated by mainstream American Buddhist media.

But intentionally or not, they are adding another chapter to Hollywood’s long, sordid history of Yellowface. By giving white actors roles that are so obviously Asian – and by stating from the get-go their preference for Caucasians – they tell Asian-Americans that who we are and how we look make us inherently inadequate for American audiences, even in a movie that celebrates our culture.

As Richard L. Daley writes:

The truth is, we are not a post-race society, and it isn’t just the ethnicities of African descent that are affected by this fact. The values that have been a part of the past, influence the images that we see today, which in turn influences the values that will be in the future. The effects of racism have been compared to a moving walkway, if we do nothing, it keeps rolling along, and takes us with it.

For more on race and Avatar, you can check out Aang Ain’t White and racebending.com.

Racialicious Buddhism

| arun

On the race and pop culture blog, Racialicious, guest writer Atlasien kicks off a series on race and Buddhism by discussing Buddhism through the prism of her family history.

The next installment of the series — Is Buddhism the Anti-Islam? — will talk more about cultural Christianity and how Buddhism and Islam are often stereotyped as polar opposites from a culturally Christian perspective. Complicity and Conflict will discuss representations of global power struggles involving Buddhism, including examples in which Buddhism has been complicit in state repression. Yes, I will be touching Tibet, but gingerly, with a ten-foot pole. Converts and Immigrants will outline the sociology and history of Buddhism in the United States, and provide an alternate narrative than the one in which white converts represent the face of modern American Buddhism. I might change the order and add or subtract from the series based on comments and suggestions, so feel free to comment on other issues you want to hear about. I might not have the space to include it, but I’ll probably try.

There’s already nervous sweat on my palms, I can sense the coming storm. It feels as though every time Asian Americans speak out about the complicated issues of race and Buddhism, there’s an instant backlash from self-proclaimed white progressives. A handful of them defend us, but most stand by and watch in silence. I am profoundly grateful to have found Atlasien’s voice, and I look forward to her upcoming pieces.