Make sure you download the readings for this week!!! And answer these questions by Monday, 19 Nov 07 at 5 pm:
1. Lisa Lowe's chapter discusses the myriad ways that Asian Americans have always been figured as "immigrants" and "aliens" in contradistinction to American "citizens," even when Asian Americans *are* citizens. She talks about the uses of cheap Asian labor, the national origins quotas, the repeals of those quotas, the model minority myth. How can you use Lowe's theories and the history she describes to "read" (i.e., make meaning from) Wave Twisters?
2. How can you use Lowe to read the episode of Robot Stories that we saw?
3. What did you find interesting, intriguing, puzzling, or surprising in either the Greg Pak interviews or the DJ Qbert interviews (or the Wave Twisters reviews) or both?
Note: You won't get any points if your answers are along the lines of, "I don't see any way that the Lowe chapter relates to those movies, and I didn't find anything interesting in the interviews." Not. Acceptable. Answers.
16 comments:
1. Even though you specified not to state anything non-relative, I do have to say Lisa Lowe's chapters did not relate very well to Wave Twister at all. However if you would like an answer, the closest comparable idea that I can withdraw from the reading and the viewing is that one of the DJ's are Asian and happens to represent an Alien? In fact there was almost no trace of
anything Asian in Wave Twisters, it was more so hip-hop related culture. If this was to lead to
the fact that Asians have worked their way out of the generalized, quiet, complacent Asian norm
then this is it.
2. The Lowe chapter more correlates to the Robot Stories selection. Indeed where in fact the robots were cheap labor, able to perform and complete tasks at amazing speeds and also were alien
like. The female robot more so than the male robot seem to have a some Asian appearance to her.
Even the manuals revealed in the movie had a Japanese instructions section to it. And this leads to the questions if robots were created what likeness would they closest represent? If not caucasian and Asian than a mixture of both?
3. One of the interesting things I found about the DJ Qbert interview was that he created the QFO. I had seen something similar to it but can't recall the name, however they both had the same layout. Being a musician is not just performing the music, but it's also great to come up with something more intuitive than the prior.
(1) Wave Twisters’ most blatant reference to Asian American would probably be that most of the main characters are aliens. Lowe discussed the idea that even Asian Americans who have become citizens or even if they have always been citizens, are seen as alien. It is this grand scale version of Asian American life that is visible through Wave Twisters. Throughout Wave Twisters there is a prominent use of a satirical use of American media. In the beginning clips of game shows, George Bush talking about broccoli, and other random clips of common American television. Throughout the video other traces of 50’s video clips and commercials are also used. An argument could be made that these are all a result of a feeling of distance from not only Asian Americans but also the hip-hop culture.
(2) The Asian Amercian theme is even more visible in Robot Stories. Greg Pak creates a direct connection between his stories and Asian American culture by simply casting Asian Americans. In the movie we watched in class he made it even more obvious by contrasting the Asian robots with the Caucasian office mates, except for the boss. Lowe goes into detail about the tons of racist mistreatment that the United States showed the Asian American community. Greg Pak shows a robot community that that is mistreated and ignored. The parallels are very obvious.
(3) I found Greg Pak's possitive attitude towards aritificial intelligence interesting and well founded. I don't really know why so much of the world is so pessimistic towards robot intelligence. It was also interesting how Pak had such an open mind towards what he had to do to get his films to the masses. I am speaking specifically of "Asian Pride Porn." Not many filmmakers would be willing to "dillute" their argument with something as contraversial as porn. I was surprised that he was so open to the idea.
1. I know you asked that we not reply with, I didn’t find anything that was similar or comparable I really didn’t think that wave twisters touched the stereotype of Asians as well as it could have. I could see how the images and the DJ himself may be relative to Asian culture but other than that I didn’t see any evidence of minority myths.
2. I loved watching this show!! Clearly the show uses the robots to represent Asians as non-confrontational, hard working people. Anytime something non work related happened the robot would quickly remind himself that there was work to do and to get busy! I also found it interesting how the robots would stay late and finish their work; the lights would be shut off on them. It was though the other co- workers took advantage of the hard work they performed. Another thing I found interesting was that the female robot would repeat things that she heard such as; they could have made her breasts bigger, or something along those lines. I felt that that was a direct jab at stereotypes.
3. The DJ Qbert interviews were interesting. I like how every now and again a sublimianal message would flash across the screen. I'm a fan of techno and house music so I liked the beat and appreciated DJ Qbert's talent.
1.) I didn't see many Asian references in wave twisters. I think the only thing I saw was that the aliens looked a bit Asian, but for me I really didn’t find anything else. I think I was too distracted with the triply colors and music. Also the lady in the pink glasses looked a bit Asian to me and so did the dentist actually. It was interesting because I found that all of the "working jobs" were held by aliens or people that looked Asian. I'm not sure how this ties in but you know the guitar player with the mask on? He looked like a kabuki character. With the white facial mask and darkened black eyes with long black hair surrounding his face.
2.) We watched "machine love" and the Asian robots are known as G9's. They walk, talk, and are coding machines. How this relates to Lowe’s article is that the robots were Asian and it made a parallel to Asian cheap labor because the workers (predominantly white) knew that they didn't have to pay the Asian robots because they would do what they said, no matter what. This made me relate cheap Asian labor with the Asian robots being inferior to the white man (the scientist). I like that Greg pack (who is also an Asian American actor) used his fellow people to tell the story, which I felt was more accurate. I thought that also another comparison that Lowe makes reference to is that she suggests Asian Americans do the "science and math" kind of professions which was also seen in the wave twisters’ movie. It also fed into the stereo types that Lowe suggests for the white male workers talk around her and comments on her breast size. And how they could have at least made them bigger. This stereotype IS NOT ALWAYS true. haha. =) I think that Greg Pak in robot stories made the plot a good lesson to everyone by showing that Archie needed love too.
3.) I like how Greg Pak was himself an Asian American actor, who is also an indie director and film writer. I like how he talks about how he began to appreciate robot fiction on more symbolic levels. he makes a statement and says that "when you talk seriously about robots and artificial intelligence, you end up talking about things that matter deeply to anything that thinks, learns, and feels." this interests me because I love to discuss AI and cloning and whatnot. I also found it interesting that dj qbert liked Evil E from Ice-T because my cousin was SUPER OBSESSED with him and his work. and actually just a week ago made a reference to dj qbert and I was like WOW this guy is well known apparently... I agree with Greg Pak when he says that he thinks pop culture reflects both our hopes and our fears regarding technology. it is interesting to watch both videos and compare and contrast both views on what the future and robots will be like and their visions of how humans and machines will interact with each other in the future.
1) Between Wave Twisters and Robot Stories I think the relation to the article is clearer with Robot Stories, but I think that there were some in Wave Twisters although it seems on a more subtle level. It was mentioned in a post before that when an actually Asian American used he is used as an actual alien that is in an octopus like space ship trying to blast at the good guys. The dentist could be said to have some Asian like qualities on him, but that’s really vague and I’m not positive. I do remember his skin was a different color and the Caucasian baby red worm thing was always trying to get the dentist and his crew.
2) I can’t remember if this is correct or not, but I’m not sure if there were that many Asians in the actual film besides the boss and the robots. Also both the robots are Asian which is paralleling on how some Americans think that Asians are emotionless machines that can’t love, but with the story it shows that they aren’t like that, they aren’t always obsessed with work etc. The robots also fill the role of the “model minority” not only because they are Asian but also because they are robots and they are treated like scum so it’s a double whammy against them. It seems that the film we watched was a short film that took what was talked about in the article, which is stuff actually going on, and putting it on film to visualize it for people and portray it as a mirror reflecting back on American society. They can be like, well that’s cruel the way the treat the robots, um, hello, that’s how a lot of people treat Asian-Americans and Asians.
3) There was one interview with DJ Qbert that I came close to putting down. It really bothered me for some reason. I can’t remember which one it was, but it was one of the first ones and it was short. It was the guy conducting the interview that bothered me; he seemed really immature and goofish with the way he wrote it and asked questions. Most of the interviews were repetitive and the answers had some slight difference. What through me for a loop was when DJ Qbert started talking about the mystical side of the universe and really getting into it. I find it interesting when people really go hardcore into that stuff because part of me wonders how people actually take it as truth; so I really didn’t see that coming from him, he didn’t seem the type. Another thing I liked about one of Pak’s interview is when he takes an interview question further and suggested “what you should have really asked is what It means to me as an Asian American”. I thought that was a great way to turn the interview and shows him that he is passionate about what he does and that he knows what he’s talking about.
1.)Wave Twisters put me in the mind of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. It was weird and wacky, and silly at times. Lowe talks about how Asians are alien, and Wave Twisters literally makes that true. DJ Qbert's scratching is very unique, it sounds like extra terrestrial, outer space, techno punk, music, so maybe he came up with the sound and concept of the film as a way to indirectly admit to feeling alien.
2.)Robot Stories was very honest and purposely deliberate in the way the Asians were portrayed. The film put me in the mind of Cheap immigrant/Asian labor. They(the immigrant/asian) are good at what they do, but that doesn't mean we have to treat them like equals. They are alien, and not like us. Instead we can use them to help us with their intelligence. They are here for us to use.
3.)Even though you told us before the film that Greg Pak did a few Asian porn flicks, I was surprised that he so easily and openly chose porn as an outlet. As a film student, and future director, I wouldn't want to tarnish my "almost career" with porn. However he funded his movies, the talent that he has for visual story telling is obvious. I was surprised that such an intelligent human being and respectable man, was also a pornographer.
1.) The only way I see Lowe's article relating to Wavetwisters is that all of the characters depicted in the film were in fact aliens.
2.) I found a lot more to relation with Lowe's article and Robot Stories. In the film the robots are not of the norm which is similar to when immigrants come to this country. Although they are very different then their human counterparts the robots are pushed into appearing and acting like humans so they can fit in better which closely relates to the idea of a model minority.
3.) As stated by some of the posts above, I thought the most interesting part of the Greg Pak interview was that he so openly discussed his business in the porn industry. Usually when a director or writer has a crossover such as his, they try to conceal it as much as possible because in many instances it is looked down upon.
1.) Im going to have to skip the first one because i could not get the attachment to download! i dont know whats going on with it.
2.) The robot movie that we watched in class was fairly interesting. and with the supplemental readings from Lowe, this robot movie was a great example. i can see more of a sterotype in the movie, as in the reading lowe was just making points. in the movie it was clearly understandable why there would be an american-asain robot in the office. especially since he was a computer software bot. The only thing that through me off was that all the co-workers were white and the boss was possibly of asain decent. i thought that robot life movie was suppose to be making fun of sterotypes, but oh well. i could be wrong.
3.) one thing that i found throughout the interviews of Qbert was how humbling he sounds. there was nothing but a good vibe that i had felt reading abut the history of him. you would think that being a personality like a DJ, you wouldnt have time to go out of your way to have a meet and greet after the shows. i was really impressed that he spends time teaching young kids who are interested in DJ'ing.
1) The only thing that I found in Wave Twisters to relate to Lowe's chapter was the fact that the characters are alien. Lowe stated that Asian are viewed as aliens and that is how they are portrayed in the film.
2) Robot Stories relates to the Lowe's chapter by showing an Asian as a robot. Asian are viewed as a source of cheap labor which is what a robot is. Asians are also expected to conform to American society and "lead the way" as a symbol of the model minority myth. In the film the main character is programed to only work and not to disturb anyone. This is how many people expect Asians to act.
3) I was also surprised to find out that Greg Pak made porn films before making Robot Stories. It takes a lot of courage to branch into film making after making porn.
1. Lowe states in the beginning of this chapter that “Culture is the medium of the present- the imagined equivalencies and identifications through which the individual invents lived relationships with the national collective- but it is simultaneously the site that mediates the past through which history is grasped as difference, as fragments, shock, and flashes of disjunction.” This relates to Wave Twisters in the fact that it is hip-hop and DJ culture that is defining the past and the present in this story. However, oddly enough, anything having to do with Hip-hop culture in the world of Wave Twisters is considered alien. The wave twister itself is a powerful artifact from a strange alien culture, much sought after for its mystery and power. This artifact and the culture it represents is very much “the other”, but it is so foreign, alluring, and profitable that it connects this hip-hop DJ culture to the Model Minority Myth very well.
2. Lowe also states that: “The orientalist construction of cultures and geographies from which Asian immigrants come as fundamentally ‘foreign’ origins apathetic to the modern American society that ‘discovers’ ‘welcomes’ and ‘domesticates’ them.” Discovers, welcomes and domesticates them, ties this quote in well with Robot Stories. In this short movie a robot is “hired” to work for a company. “He” is greeted with distain and suspicion but is tolerated because of how efficient “he” is. The robot tries to make meaningful contacts with his employees but they reject him as they would a printer or a computer. This robot happens to be played by an Asian American man, and this is no accident. This is a commentary on how the Asian American is treated in America. The Model Minority Myth kicks in and they are accepted but treated simply as marketable workers and nothing more.
3. There is one part in the DJ QBert interview when he is talking about his philosophies in life. One of the things that came up was the Buddhist concept of the “Middle Path.” QBert was explaining how he liked to keep everything in his life in perfect balance. I found it interesting that he has adopted aspects of Buddhism into his life and then have them show up in his work. Wave Twisters is a perfect balance between the art of Scratching and the art of graffiti, which DJ QBert says greatly influenced the look of Wave Twisters.
1. The status granted to Asians in America could be used to explain the affinity for hiphop culture felt by Asians in America. While by the 90's, hiphop was no longer an outsider art, and scratching in particular was already acceptable for mainstream radio play since Herbie Hancock's “Future Shock,” it represented an art form in transition. If scratching is the medium by which artists centered around New York were creating music by the new application of instruments long deemed acceptable by the mainstream, then it can be read as an analogy for the Asian American experience. Jazz was able to hold its outsider status until mainstream (white) urban Americans felt its appeal and 'ate the other,' but scratching is about taking an existent medium and applying a new technique to it, transforming the perspective from which the audience can experience something they felt they were already familiar with. Asian American experience speaks to the exclusion and then integration experienced by scratching as an art form, as Flash animation as acceptable for a feature length film like Wave Twisters, and the ability of the dentists in Wave Twisters to fight a large imperial power first for survival, and eventually for dominance.
2. Lowe's most relevant commentary on American labor history comes in the form of a paraphrased passage from Marx about the use of racialized labor forces: “Theoretically, in a racially homogeneous nation the needs of capital and the needs of the state complement each other. Yet in a racially differentiated nation such as the United States, capital and state imperatives may be contradictory: capital, with its supposed needs for 'abstract labor,' is said by Marx to be unconcerned by the 'origins' of its labor force, whereas the nation-state, with its need for 'abstract citizens' formed by a unified culture to participate in the political sphere, is precisely concerned to maintain a national citizenry bound by race, language, and culture.” Robot Stories depicts a racialized labor force whose separation by labor type depicts a breakdown due to denied integration. Because its necessary to exclude the non-human workforce from human treatment, the robots suffer molestation at the hands of their coworkers, indifferent to their ability to suffer and feel judgment. This speaks to Grek Pak's interview comment to the nature of our feeling that the minute our objects become sentient, we expect them to turn on us, exploring what is really a sublimated urge of post-industrial man to revolt against the inhuman treatment he experiences as part of his work experience.
3. I had no idea how much of a kook DJ Qbert was. That he keeps the moniker he earned as a fat kid makes so much better the constant focus on his body we get from his documentary. Water crystals? Prayer water? “Go on the internet and find out?” Really? I couldn't stop grinning. The Greg Pak interviews were a little repetative, and I got the feeling that you could see at which point he had honed the patter he made with interviewers, but I feel like the most personal interview was the Giant Robot one. Because Giant Robot is a magazine run by Asian Americans, I suspect he just got along better with, and probably even decided to hang out with these guys who have so much nerdy and experiential affinity with him. Greg Pak has a lot to say about our experience of modern technology, and his educational background sets him apart from more intuitive storytellers, who bring us more Frankenstein narratives than anything else.
Really though, it's all about the Fiji water.
1. I think Wave Twisters relates in the aspect that the characters were not human like. To me, they resembled Asian Anime. The way the cartoon was made had an “alien feel” to it. It definitely didn’t look like an American made cartoon. I can’t think of any exact representation that falls into the “Asian stereotype” category, but I definitely think that Lisa Lowe’s chapter, and this movie related to something “non-American.”
2. The robots were Asian and fit the stereotype of the “hardworking Asian.” I also noticed how badly the Americans were taking advantage of the robots. They would just assume they’d do all their work without getting anything back in return. The Americans acted as if they could do anything they wanted to the robots and that they wouldn’t care or even know what was going on. The scene where the male robot continues to work with the lights off is another example of cheap labor and how they were taken for granted.
3. I thought it was interesting that Greg Pak was an Asian writer/Indie filmmaker. He was able to bring in the Asian stereotypes into Robot Stories by understanding them a little more than just an average American film writer. Greg Pak also came off as very intelligent and understanding. I found that to be more interesting than the Dj Qbert article.
[1!]The Wave Twisters movie was not like any mainstream American movie out there. It feels odd watching it. One could say it is alien to American viewing audiences. The alien aspect was not so much what happened in Wave Twisters, but how Wave Twisters wa actually presented.
[2!] While Lowe talks about how America has mistreated the Asian Americans, the movie shows the same theme. The robots representing Asian Americans are looked down upon as weird aliens and are treated horribly by their coworkers. Especially in one scene where the woman keeps saying "Hey" to get him to keep turning around for her amusement.
[3!] I really liked when DJ Qbert gets really into talking about the universe. I have a great interest in it because it is such a deep and enormous place where when we advance more into technology, we will find things we couldn't even make up because a lot of the time fact is stranger than fiction.
1. Well from what I saw of that really confusing movie.I remember in the movie the motorcycle gang and the cadillacs with there hydrolics and spraypaint bombs during the war in space scene, and I thought that it was prominately a reflection of California. All the aliens (asians) seem really young and hip hop centered, like dj q-bert. They have to fight the other aliens (mexican american?)to keep their 'power' in a land of gang domination which they know nothing about. Also, in the beginning of the movie with the very fast flashes of classic 1950s american commercials with the typical white american citezens talking about nothing important in perticular but wanting you to pay attention and buy toothpaste. There where no flashes of blacks, indians, latino, or asians; I think it's because whe have other things to worry about/focus on then the president not likeing broccoli.
2. The way I saw it was that the robots were the aliens and that all they are used for are their brains and working, that their feelings weren't important. I noticed the use of asian actors, the robot and the boss. Both are a steriotype of asians in businesses, that they either run the company or have a big part of it, ot that they own the business. The coworkers treated the robots like they were nothing, I think this is a reference to cheap efficiant labor. It seemed that almost all businesses must have at least one since the companies didn't seem like very major international businesses but smaller run of the mill ones.
3. I thought it was really funny how his name is from the video game, I always would hear about it as a kid and once he got in high school how short and fast he was the name just stuck. That was pretty funny because everyone has that in school. It was also good to hear about his family asking for money, I always think about that with celebraties and they always make it seem like everyone is happy and rich in their family after their fame. We like a lot of the same video games( twisted metal!). You can really see it in his movie. The battling and fighting with crazy guns and cars in space.
1. I know it’s not an appropriate answer, but finding the link is really hard. However, I think that the link can be seen in the fact that DJ Qbert is Asian and Wave Twisters is set in an alien setting. I think that maybe he feels like an alien in the United States and especially in the hip hop world, and Wave Twisters is a way to express that.
2. I definately can see the link in this work. I think it touches on how Asians are stereotyped as the people who always do wha they’re told and always obey because they are subservient. The robot was also presented in such a way.
3. I really think it’s interesting to hear DJ Qbert’s side of the hip hop world as I’m sure he is really outnumbered being an Asian in the black hip hop world.
1. In Wave Twister’s, it was hard to determine who were the immigrants and who were the citizens. I think Lowe’s passage relates more to the motivation behind Wave Twister’s than what actually happened in the movie. Being an Asian American musician, nothing he did would get noticed unless it is different. His work is very influenced by both Asian and American culture, art and media. He has old commercial samples scratching in here and there, reminding people to brush their teeth. One thing that stuck out was the reporter at the beginning of the film. He was an Asian man, with a face forehead and wig to make him look American. I think this was making fun of the idea of needing to blend in.
2. In Robot Stories, the 2 robot employees represented immigrants. Everyone wanted them there to get work done and utilize their education and intelligence, but no one wanted to try to understand them or get to know them. Whenever they talked, people said shut-up and work. The other employees thought of them as socially awkward, not considering that it might just be their misunderstanding of the robots that made them seem that way. I think this is very similar, although a bit exaggerated, to immigrants working in America. When the robots fell in love, the Americans were disgusted, even after the 2 human employees had a public display of affection. American’s, especially whites, have always had a history of accepting public affection between whites but considering the same public affection inappropriate when other races are involved. Also, it was the robots inability to be accepted by anyone else that drove them to love each other. I think this is also common with immigrants in the work place, 2 people of the same, or similar backgrounds end up dating or befriending each other because no one else there understood them, related to them, or even gave them a chance.
3. It is very interesting to hear the influences of such a unique, diverse artist. It seems Qbert is a musician whose biggest influences aren’t necessarily music, and I’ve always tried to incorporate that in whatever I do, music, film, writing, etc. He does talk about the DJs he listened to growing up and the Jazz that influenced this production, but it is imagery that really forms his beats and scratched. Named after the popular 80s videogame, Qbert says his favorite games were Kaboom, The Fake Defender for Activision and Asteroids on Atari. Wave Twisters was video game sounds and imagery; the captain was even playing asteroids to fight off enemies! He also discusses how he wanted to make a movie that looked like modern graffiti characters. I think he achieved this very well. Wave Twisters was the epitome of modern hip-hop clashing with modern sci-fi.
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