This Sunday I'm reading: A WWI hero; fighting sexual stereotypes of Asian American men and women

Here I am again, in my quiet back yard, sitting on my deck reading in the shade of a big-ol' tree that I planted decades ago. It's early morning before the breezes pick up but you can tell it's going to be a warm day. It's quiet except for the Vietnamese music being played by neighbor as he enjoys his back yard. 

Funny, I'm reading a piece about a line in Full Metal Jacket (1987) by Stanley Kubrick, that has become a rallying point for Asian American women about the Yellow Fever held by some American men's way they view AAPI women. "Me love you long time." is one of the lingering after-effects of the Vietnam War where Americans viewed the Vietnamese people as "others" in their own country. By calling them "gooks," (a word originating from the Philippine American War) thus making them less than human, it became easier to kill them: men, women, elderly, children.

Thuc Nguyen writes in Flaunt Magazine, "'Me love you long time:' Sticks around a long, long time," a phrase from the movie uttered by a Vietnamese prostitute to an American GI.  

"Over time, the phrase has entered various areas of pop culture, school yards and the music and apparel industries, often called out by people who know that it's racist and sexist. It's used to reduce Asian and Asian American women to sex objects. "

A scene from 'Full Metal Jacket.'

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The last line in Stevie Wonder's song “Black Man,” asks: “Who was the soldier of Company G who won high honors for his courage and heroism in World War I?" The answer is Lau Sing Kee. He was an American hero from World War I, but he was also mocked as a “Chinese boy” in his California home town. He was a civic leader, but he also became a convicted criminal for skirting anti-Chinese immigration laws. The New York Times has an article about this unsung (Until Stevie) war hero entitled: Overlooked No More: Lau Sing Kee, War Hero Jailed for Helping Immigrants."

Lau Sing KeeL from war hero to immigrants' advocate.

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"If you were an Asian guy, there was nothing out there to look up to. Nothing. Until Bruce Lee. It was like growing up in a dry, empty desert, then one day you walk over a hill ― and there’s the Pacific Ocean. That was Bruce. He was the ocean." -- KWONG LEE, Be Like Water

As an Asian guy, I took umbrage at the recent depiction of Bruce Lee in the Quentin Tarantino movie, Once Upon A Time in Hollywood.

Lee was not a perfect human being but he was one of very few role models for Asian Americans that wasn't weak, asexual and the "best friend" of the white lead role.

One screen and off, he defied the old stereotypes and spent a lifetime trying to change the image of Asian males. So when Tarantino presented him as arrogant, a punk, really and unable to convincingly beat an aging white stunt man, naturally Asian men were upset. Certainly, Tarantino could have achieved his cinematic point in some other creative way without taking down one of the few "heroes" of a generation of Asian American men.

Brittany Wong writes a thoughtful piece for HuffPost: "The Radical Way Bruce Lee Redefined Asian American Masculinity."

For those who are interested, here's my some of my own thoughts on the Legend.

In the movie, ' Way of The Dragon," Bruce Lee fights another martial arts legend, Chuck Norris.

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TGIF Feature: 2018 Haikus For Hotties calendar destroys the Asian male stereotype

STILL LOOKING for that perfect stocking stuffer for someone turns up a nose at the notion of dating Asian guys?

The Haikus for Hotties 2018 calendar is now taking orders. This is the third year this special calendar is being offered. Part spoof, part social commentary, it actually works as a calendar.

Haikus With Hotties is a calendar series that highlights the attractive and talented Asian men in media that often don’t get as much attention as they deserve.

The calendar counters the popular stereotype that attempts to emasculate Asian men: they can't be sexy, they can't be romantic, they aren't attractive. Or, to reference Steve Harvey, they aren't datable.

Haikus With Hotties is a series that celebrates Asian male hotness in all forms, mainly shirtless and lots of six-pack abs.

After the series launched in 2013 with Godfrey Gao, “Haikus With Hotties” released its first calendar in 2016 after a successful Kickstarter campaign featuring Yoshi and Peter Sudarso. 2017 brought a second calendar with a new twist: “From the makers of Haikus With Hotties now comes Haikus *On* Hotties.” 

For 2018, the fans have been invited to participate in the fun and write Haikus *For* Hotties. What started out as a joke has become a nice excuse to feature a variety of Asian American men doing interesting things in the media. 

For more information, visit www.haikuswithhotties.com.

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Apple's new commercial shows Asians in a different light

Apple's latest promo for its iPhone7 camera features means a lot more to Asian/Americans
and Pacific Islanders' visibility.

APPLE didn't pay me for this post.

I just have to bring your attention to the refreshing, new Apple 7 commercial featuring a young attractive, hip couple who happened to be Asian.

Dubbed "The City," which is part of Apple's "Practically Magic" campaign, the couple playfully romps through Shanghai, taking pictures, everybody else seems to disappear as they (subliminally, the camera) focuses on them alone. You can focus on who you love and leave everything else behind.

You can't hear them speak any language except for the language of love, which translates to all cultures. 

The song playing in the background is a simply beautiful love song, “Sing to Me” by Walter Martin (of the indie rock band The Walkmen) featuring Karen O. 

A lovely spot that made me smile.

The commercial is in stark contrast to Apple's commercials that have aired only in China, depicting the older China adapting to modern, high-tech culture.

As Quartz attempts to explain:

What explains the change in direction? It’s possible Apple found that its target Chinese customers relate more to the urban playground Shanghai of “The City” than the Shanghai depicted in “The Old Song.” While carrier subsidies help make the iPhone more affordable for the average Chinese person, the country’s smartphone market is largely dominated by low and mid-tier Android devices. Consumers that can comfortably afford an iPhone are likely just as steeped in international pop culture and indie US bands as they are in Chinese pop culture.

Overseas brands and production studios are also sensing that the Chinese feel pandered to when they see movies peppered with not-so-subtle nods to Chinese culture. 'The Great Wall,' for example, a Hollywood-China co-production that pits Matt Damon alongside a Chinese cast in an action film filled with historical references, got trashed by Chinese film critics. One common critique from reviewers was that references to Chinese culture felt forced and insincere.

On another level, the 60-second commercial shows an Asian man and an Asian woman blissfully in love with each other, an emotion that Hollywood and Madison Ave. don't often associate with Asians. 

Unfortunately, non-Asians have been brainwashed to see Asians as inscrutable and sexless nerds, martial artists or dragon ladies devoid of any emotion because western eyes can't read our emotions; or, we're lusting after a white partner because being white, even indirectly by association, is the universal standard of what they think everybody wants to be. Yeah, right.

As innocent as it seems, the commercial has attracted a bit of negative feedback because they don't like seeing Asians ...

• On American TV
• Outside their own narrow perceptions of what Asians should be
• Sneaking into U.S. culture in preparation for world domination.

Com'n folks, really?!