Alpha Asian

Maryland high school basketball player Robb Lim with his girlfriend Karen Mendoza and his father Jesse-Thomas (courtesy of the Washington Post) There was a Washington Post article yesterday about how Jeremy Lin is inspiring other Asian Americans and highlighted on one young basketball player from my area. An excerpt: When Jesse-Thomas Lim was a teenager in the Philippines, it never occurred to his parents to watch an athletic event, much less allow their son to participate in one. But on Friday night at Seneca Valley High School’s varsity basketball game against Damascus, Lim, who is of Chinese ethnicity, yelled himself hoarse as his 18-year-old son, Robb, a lanky 6-foot-3 senior, sprinted up the court and shot the ball through the net. While Robb Lim’s swift, catlike moves have for months attracted the attention of recruiters from colleges such as Hood and St. Mary’s, in recent weeks his name and his race have brought him minor celebrity status at school. Friends call him a “...

I didn't want to post much about Jeremy since there has been enough folks blogging about him. But I did want to post a few things to throw some thoughts out there. First of all, it is quite ground breaking what Jeremy is accomplishing. Everybody has his/her own projections onto what Jeremy means, what he represents, etc...to the point where he basically represents a lot of different things to different people with varied experiences. But he also represents some common experiences in which lots of people can identify with as well. In some sense, we're getting into Joseph Campbell's "The Hero's Journey" mythology, some archetype that resonates within our consciousness. Second, this is America. In a celebrity obsessed culture, there are plenty who love to see you publicly fail just as much as they love seeing you succeed. So, the backlash against Jeremy starts with snide comments by anonymous internet posters, attempting to diminish his accomplishments. Of course...

Most of you have heard by now the racist and xenophobic political ad by Michigan Republican Pete Hoekstra. Once again, villification of Asian people seems to be a conservative demagogue's tactic---let's start up the yellow peril hysteria once again. But Lawrence O'donnell, the political commentator on MSNBC expressed a lot of what I was thinking when he questioned the actress's participation in this racist ad. My first thought was, "Why would you even accept a part in this commercial which perpetuates a stereotype?" But O'donnell explains a lot more and articulates my sentiments. Is it worth it? Did the actress know what she was getting into and how this was going to come off? I'm not slamming her, but I just wonder how she now feels after doing something that perpetuates the stereotype of Asians being sneaky, under handed, and some sort of "yellow peril". What's your take on all of this? Watch O'donnell's comments and let us kno...

So Angry Asian Man posted that Tim Chiou will guest star as the hot Asian guy on 2 Broke Girls . It's an obvious attempt to counter balance the racist caricature Han. Tim Chiou... Tim Chiou... guy's name sounded familiar to me. Then I saw his demo reel and realized that I've seen this guy in a number of shows and movies, such as NCIS (he's killed in the first few minutes by a crazy ex) and a really crappy horror movie called Seventh Moon : He's a good actor and perfect for Alpha Asian roles. Check him out in this short film: Time's Not Up