Existing/Passing Through/Pioneer

I am taking Asian Pacific American History in Theatre & Film because I am interested in Asian American studies, Theatre and Film. I believe that Asians actually have to struggle for representation in theatre and film (without the usual stereotypes-nerd, immigrant, kung fu master) and since I'm more familiar with Hollywood and mainstream cinema, I'm hoping this class will show me other films I may not have seen that portray Asians differently.


I remember when I told a friend that I was taking this class and she said "oh, I bet you'll watch a lot of Bruce Lee movies, that's cool." Yeah...but, I'm hoping to expand my horizons.


The film we watched in class, Passing Through, is exactly how I felt last semester when I studied abroad in Singapore. I chose Singapore because it is an English-speaking country in Asia and I thought I would blend in, but I didn't realize my American accent and attitude would be so prominent. I'm guessing that's how Nathan felt in Korea and he knew his experience was different from the other adoptees who went to Denmark. The sense of alienation that Nathan feels is something I can relate to as an Asian American and not knowing which culture to belong to. I also wonder: will his "American" family ever travel with him to Korea and how do they feel about kimchi?

It feels good to be a pioneer, that way I'm not being compared to others before me.
As for the articles - Takaki's stories about Asians being seen as "transient labor" can now be shifted to today's view of globalization and how in a sense we're all transient in terms of careers and the ability to travel around the world. Gabriel made me wonder about camera angles and whether we should compare films based on artistic style. Saussure's article was really hard for me to understand, all I got was that denotation is the film and connotation is the way the film is made. Palumbo-Liu's article was interesting because he focused on just one frame/photograph to encapsulate the 1992 L.A. riots and whether the media was enflaming the situation by turning minorities against each other (blacks and Koreans).