kapogin

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By kapogin • 15 years ago

The Last Airbender and the Rhetoric of Racism

This is something a friend and I wrote up to share with our friends via facebook, but given the conversation here last week about The Last Airbender, we wanted to post it here as well…
For those of you not familiar with the upcoming film, The Last Airbender, it is based on a Nickelodeon cartoon, Avatar: The Last Airbender. The cartoon’s characters are Asian and Inuit, and the setting, while fantasy, is unequivocally Asian (e.g., the characters fight using martial arts, they dress in clothing traditional to a variety of Asian cultures, there are multiple references to Buddhist beliefs, as well as those of other East Asian religions, the architecture throughout the cartoon resembles East Asian architecture, etc.).
Despite these facts, three of the four main characters in the film version have been cast as white. Regarding the fourth, not only is the only non-white actor a replacement for the very white Jesse McCartney who was originally cast (but had to drop out of the film due to scheduling conflicts), he also plays a villain in this film. One of the actors, when asked about the controversy said that when he pulled his hair back in a pony tail and “gets a tan” he hopes that people just won’t think it’s that big of a deal anymore.

By kapogin • 15 years ago

What’s so wrong with being P.C.?

Last night I was reading some of Courtney’s posts in the WaPo pundit competition, and came across a comment here, and here insulting her writing as “politically correct.” In fact, this was about the tenth time in the last week I read or heard “P.C.” used as a pejorative.

I believe an open and honest dialogue is integral to any productive movement, feminist or otherwise. But on the other hand, behavior influences the way we think. Consider how depression patients are treated. Some are treated with medication, and others are treated with behavioral therapy. While brain chemistry affects behavior, behavior also affects brain chemistry. When we allow derogatory language into our vernacular, what implicit biases are we unconsciously reinforcing? What are we doing ...

By kapogin • 15 years ago

Forbes Woman: Thanks but No Thanks

When I heard about the new Forbes Woman I was ecstatic; but then I actually read one of the articles. And then another. And another. Alas, my ecstasy waned.
Maybe it was because of “The Perfect Interview Outfit”, which informed me I should avoid looking “frumpy” if I want to find a job. Or it could have been because of the article “Cleaning Crew” that utilized a metaphor of women cleaning house to illustrate how women are cleaning up the economy- because apparently, I can’t understand the concept of the head of the FDIC calling for a halt on home foreclosures unless you tell me it’s like she “grabbed the mop.”
And then there was “Women’s Achilles ...

When I heard about the new Forbes Woman I was ecstatic; but then I actually read one of the articles. And then another. And another. Alas, my ecstasy waned.
Maybe it was because of “The Perfect ...

By kapogin • 15 years ago

Apparently You Can Get a Man With a Gun

Contrary to what Warner Brothers might have you think, apparently you can get a man with a gun. As a little girl, I watched a depressed Betty Hutton sing “Oh, you can’t get a man with a gun” in the classic 1950 film, Annie Get Your Gun. Although I knew Annie Oakley was an actual historical figure, I never gave much thought to the film’s historical accuracy. I recently discovered just how far from history the classic musical had wandered.
The film version of Frank Butler’s character finds Annie Oakley’s superior talent and country-bumpkin ways disturbingly unfeminine until Annie deliberately loses to him in a shooting match. Now that he’s defeated her, he magically realizes his undying love; they marry ...

Contrary to what Warner Brothers might have you think, apparently you can get a man with a gun. As a little girl, I watched a depressed Betty Hutton sing “Oh, you can’t get a man with a ...