Race In My Fandom

kieradoe:

indiancrownaffair:

eat-lay-grub:

indiancrownaffair:

thirstrani:

“you’re khan? are you sure? you look like a baiganbharta cucumberraita to me” - mohini

BAINGANBHARTHA CUCUMBERRAITA IS OFFICIALLY A THING

SABASH

also adding more khans

Aamir Khan would’ve been great as Khan, seriously.

agreed

all I can say is JJ Abrams really lost out with this casting

Man… no disrespect to the rest of the wonderful Khans up there, but I would’ve been here forever if Aamir was cast, to be quite honest. -sigh-

(Source: faineemae, via racebending)

glockgal:

spicyobsession:

frankhowley:

Seeking Asian Female (2012)

Steven is a white man with a dream. Now in his 60s, he scours numerous catalogs and websites in search of a young Chinese wife. After fruitlessly corresponding with numerous women online, and even making some in-person visits, he finally convinces Sandy, a young woman from Anhui, to become his bride. However, when Sandy finally arrives in San Francisco, Steven gets much more than he bargained for. (x)

I was attracted to this film because I deeply relate to its subject matter. As an obsessive Asian cinephile and self-proclaimed anime geek, I have my own experience with perpetuating the yellow fever phenomenon. I’m aware of its stigma and I openly carry a sense of self-deprecating humor about it. Last year I made a short film that touched on the same theme, a mockumentary titled The Otaku, that follows a white anime nerd who tries to interact with Asian-Americans. I wrote and starred in it myself, taking inspiration from real-life events.

Seeking Asian Female isn’t fictional however. Similar in tone to American Movie, it’s a fantastic documentary that’s equally funny, sad, beautiful, and strikingly relevant. Even beyond my own Asian obsessions, the film struck me on another level. The film is very funny throughout, but there are definite struggles that spring up due to Steven and Sandy’s communication and cultural barrier. My father, an Irish-American, met my mother while vacationing in Russia. He brought her back to America with him and they quickly got married despite the language barrier. I was born soon after, but they later divorced when I was just two-years old.

Watching the film reminded me of my parent’s difficulties and I found it to really profound. Another brilliant part of the film is how Debbie Lum, the filmmaker herself, gets thrown into the story by serving as their translator. Debbie is the only immediate friend that Sandy has, and through Chinese, they speak together and it offers plenty of insight to the immigration experience.

I loved Seeking Asian Female and I hope it has continued success on the festival circuit and finds distribution. It’ll be screened next year on PBS, so follow its website for more information. It already won Best Documentary at the San Diego Asian Film Festival and it’s a lock for my favorite documentary of the year. I only hope that more people will see it because it offers fascinating discourse on stereotypes and the limits of love. Funny and touching, it’s a great documentary.

Trailer
Official Site

I need to watch this, stat.

I watched this at VIFF and I have mixed feelings about it?  I don’t really know how to explain it.  I really liked Debbie Lum’s path through it, and how she realizes that the documentary is becoming less of one, as she becomes their counsellor  therapist, confidante…eventually the documentary becomes about the documentarist, not the original theme.  Lum isn’t afraid to show this.

It’s a movie I’d want to watch with people I trust would understand Lum’s underlying (overlying?) message, in the end. Because she’s not explicit about it, she’s very subtle (perhaps unintentionally unanalysed but not in a bad way? For the right audience.  But I can easily see how some people might take away the overall theme for this as ‘hee hee whimsical cute documentary, aww maladjusted white guy really wuvs his mail-order Asian bride, awww, and Debbie loves and supports them awww! See it’s not always THAT bad, seeeeee? Sandy gets a better life in the US overall! At least he doesn’t beat her!’

I don’t trust audiences. 

I recently watched this on PBS, but I missed the beginning (I think- I came in on the part right when Steven started communicating with Sandy). I agree with the above poster- I have mixed feelings that I don’t know how to describe. I will say that the best thing about the film was Sandy. She wasn’t the stereotype that I think Steven was hoping for- she didn’t put up with his sloppiness and she wanted a career for her own.

jim114:

Universe Star by Jim114

(via shadesoffantasy)

racebending:

papercrushed:

Ruth Negga from Misfits would have been ABSOLUTELY PERFECT for the role of Nora in Warm Bodies. She is a phenomenal actress and she actually IS half-Ethiopian. 

In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, see my Nora rant from a couple of days ago.

When we wrote about whitewashing in Warm Bodies people said that a white actress had to be cast because it would be too hard to find a half-Ethiopian actress.  Yet, here is an actress who is half Ethiopian and has more acting experience than the person they actually cast.

(Source: ashwrites)