Who Is Considered More “Native”? Me vs. Reindeer

During Week One of my Midwest vacation-adventure, we visited a local reindeer ranch. My kids got to pet Blitzen as well as ride on a real horse (As did I, too.) The rancher told us that reindeer were imported from Siberia to Alaska as livestock in 1892.

Wait, what? Haha, Chinese have been in US territory decades before reindeer.

ROFLMAO!

Avatar: The White Savior Story

I saw Avatar on the opening midnight showing. I know….hard core, right? I’m visiting family in the Midwest and honestly…..I don’t know what else to do out here but watch every movie out this season.

(Spoilers warning. Not like it was a surprising plot, but don’t day I didn’t warn you!)

SciFi-wise, Avatar is freaking unbelievable! CG quality was amazing. The humanoid aliens were so realistic that sometimes I forgot they’re not real. The landscaping was magnificent. The animals were fakey and less lifelike in comparison. Reminded me of old school Jurassic Park dinos. Other pluses: OMG wicked awesome aircrafts; alien nookie; a few minority minor characters (with speaking roles even – gasp!); and characters falling in love while swooping through aerial stunts on pterosaurs thingies. Hawt.

Here comes my view: Countless John Smith - Pocahontas, noble savage, colonial cliché view crammed enough up your ass that you'll never have a bowel movement again. It was Dances With Wolves/The Last Samurai/Planet of the Apes/Power of One on scifi steroids. There’s no end to the stereotypes, graceful indigenous people freeballing in war paint, bow and arrows, “tribal” music full of chants, drums, and flutes, spiritually connect to Mother nature, large group hypnotic ceremonies, the works. I half expected to see an Ewok to jump out on screen. Or straight at my being a 3d movie.

Story is from the corrupted, emotionally broken man, Jake Scully, as he learns the ways of the noble people, falls in love with the hottie native, rallies the people and defeats the powerful money hungry invaders (aka corporate.) Going native and saving the savages…. a white man’s wet dream. I mean the new girlfriend’s betroth, the alpha warrior, even end up forgiving our dear Jake and the two totally become BFF. That is until Alpha dies honorable death.

I enjoyed Avatar and wouldn’t mind seeing it again. And you should go see it, too. It’s a visual feast. But acknowledge it as the white savior story that it is. They just replaced brown/yellow/ black with blue ten foot tall, four fingered aliens. What's White Savior? See here.

Also, what’s up with the ending song “I See You”? Was that Celine singing?

"I'm Chinese American" says my seven year old daughter.

My first grade daughter's class is doing a whole "cultural sharing" unit this month. It's like "ethnic" show-and-tell. Kids bring something from home to share about their culture. My overachieving self made a lantern using the skin of a pomelo for her to bring to class. Old school.

This week, our dinner guest asked my girl "Which culture did you pick to share with your class?" As in: "Did you bring a white folk thing or some mythical Chinese item?" My daughter matter-of-factly said "I didn't pick one. I shared about me. I'm Chinese American."

I just about fell out of my chair from sheer joy. She didn't feeling like she had to pick sides! She understood what it means to be Chinese American, (at a 7 year old level) she really got it. I can tell from the look on her face she was not just repeating my words. She really felt it.

It's not a pass-fail. Her search for identity is not "over." Hapa questions and loyalty feelings will continue to be in our daily lives. But for a moment that night, just a brief moment I heard angels singing hallelujah.

T-Mobile Butt Dialing Commercial

You guys remember T-Mobile's wicked awesome commercial for their flip Blackberry?

Coolness Factor Number One: features a South Asian couple who's "normal" and don't end up as the butt of the joke. (Pun intended)

Coolness Factor Number Two: It's totally tight.


I used #1 and #2 in a butt related post. Yeah, I went there.