Today's Round Up

By -

Richard Park, number 12, celebrating score with team mate Chris Kunitz

So I'm watching the hockey game last night between my Washington Capitals and their rivals the Pittsburgh Penguins. My man Richard Park came back from playing in Europe and signed on with the Penguins. He's not a standout player, but a 3rd or 4th line kind of guy. If you're not familiar with hockey, each team has 4 lines and they rotate them in and out of the game on shifts. Usually your top two lines have your main stars and scorers. Anyway, at last night's game, the play by play announcer, Doc Emerick makes a comment about Richard Park as being "from Seoul, Korea". Huh?

You know, that kind of stuff just promotes North American Asians as somehow being this "other" group, still foreign and "not one of us". For those in the hockey world who know, yes, Park was born in Seoul, but as a kid his family emigrated to North America. He grew up in Canada and the US. Maybe it's nothing, but it just kind of irked me that McGuire didn't fill in the blanks and say more about Park's background, like he grew up in North America and took up hockey . Am I being too sensitive? Maybe. But I still don't like it. Anyway, my man Richard made a great play against the Caps, damn him! One of the Caps top sniper had a wide open net to shoot the puck into but Richard laid himself out and blocked the shot with part of his body.

Also, in today's Washington Post, there's an interesting bit in the Washington Post's TV Column about the stupid CBS show "Two Broke Girls" and the constant stereotyping of minorities in the show for stupid laughs from stupid people. An excerpt from the article:

A couple of questions later, King noted that in the last three episodes, he had not written a single Asian joke – only made short jokes about Han, the diner owner. Then he wondered aloud if the critics would consider a “blond rich b----” a stereotype or a “sarcastic-mouthed waitress” a stereotype.

Critics did not even feel that slap — they were way back at where King said he hadn’t done a single Asian racist gag in three whole episodes, confining himself to short jokes about Han.

“Does that mean you’re not going to go back to Asian stereotypes?” one critic asked, hopefully.

“I’m gay!” an exasperated King shouted, flinging himself around in his chair on stage. “I’m putting in gay stereotypes very week! . . . I don’t find it offensive -- any of this. I find it comic to take everybody down!”

Another critic jumped on the pile, asking King whether being a member of one traditionally disenfranchised minority makes it okay for him to make fun of members of other disenfranchised minorities.


Unbelievable. How the hell do you battle bad media images of yourself when nimrods like this guy have control?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Interview with Rick Lee

By J -
Image
Q: I'm an avid follower of your site and had a question, since I believe you are the most recent one to have done an interview /been in contact with Rick Lee. I was wondering: is he still actively keeping up with his website?  Also I was wondering if you ever heard of the podcast DVDASA hosted by David Choe ? I'm sure you know of him or can easily find out who he is, but I wanted to know how I can contact him. I think he'd make a great guest on the show especially, because of his Asian-Man website. I believe he was the first Asian male porn star. David Choe talks about it sometimes, but he mentions Keni Styles as the first, but Rick is.  I'd love for him to be able to get on the show, set the record straight and help continue changing perceptions of Asian males.  Sorry if this is sort of random. Anyways hope to hear from you soon Thanks! -J My Answer: Are you trying to contact David Choe or are you trying to contact Rick Lee or both?  I'm s
Read more

Muscle Building Diet for the Asian Male

By J -
Image
As a strength trainer with an Asian American background, I often get questions and comments from Asian dudes all over the world. A common theme that pops up among Asian lifters is the belief that their Asian genes are limiting their progress in their quest for a muscular physique. I always tell them this: don't let race or ethnicity be a limiting factor in your training goals or any goal. It does not matter if you are Asian or a skinny bastard or a woman. If your goal is to be bigger, faster, stronger, then you still travel the same road that everyone else travels to size and strength. I mean look at Tommy Kono . Here was a Japanese American who grew up in an internment camp, and he became arguably the greatest Olympic weightlifter the US offered to the world.  He was also a successful bodybuilder, winning the Mr. Universe title in 1955 and 1957.  He built a phenomenal physique in an era before steroids. He didn't let race or ethnicity be a limiting factor in his mind or on
Read more

Strength Training for the Asian Lifter, Part II

By J -
Image
Since I keep getting inquiries on my previous article Strength and Bodybuilding for the Asian Lifter , I thought I'd write up a follow-up: I’m a bit of a bodybuilding purist. I normally don’t write my exercise articles from the angle of “develop the muscles that drive her wild in bed!” Men’s Fitness, however, interviewed me one time for an article titled Sculpting Her Five Favorite Body Parts. The interviewer picked my brain on how to develop muscles so that a woman, as she put it, “couldn't keep her hands off you.” When it comes down to it, Asian men want the same thing everybody else wants when they exercise: to look good naked! Women don’t give a crap how much you bench, but they will notice the tone in your arms when you’re wearing a T-shirt. A lot of Asian guys feel that their Asian genes are somehow holding them back when it comes to gaining muscle. But guess what? Whether or not it is true that Asian men have a harder time gaining muscle, most women don’t
Read more