Hyphen magazine - Asian American arts, culture, and politics

photos courtesy of Chinese American Museum, teresapalooza.blogspot.com, and East West Players

While watching The Road, it dawned on me that I really like disaster flicks. One of my first memories of movie-going was coming home after seeing Towering Inferno. Like many, my parents double-checked all the house wiring late into the night. Beyond the rush of seeing entire cities fall into the Pacific Ocean or whole continents ravaged by an asteroid, the genre taps into our fight-or-flight response. We want to do something to evade total destruction, whether it be in our microcosm or larger. I clean my kitchen and organize my underwear after seeing a disaster flick.

What I realized after attending several API events recently is that we need a constant stimulant for our fight-or-flight response. Because we should be in disaster mode already. Hyphen Magazine, National Asian American Theater Festival, Center for Pacific Asian Family, East West Players, Slant Film Festival, Giant Robot, and Rafu Shimpo are just some of the API organizations seeking and needing funds. The Filipino International Film Festival Los Angeles was looking for money up to its event date. But not even the knowledge that Asian Americans are still facing hate violence in Philadelphia and getting fired for speaking Tagalog in Baltimore is enough to spur that response in some people.

But before framing our community in the depths of total destruction, I should tell you that the events I went to reminded me of another movie scene: the Amish barn-raising scene in Witness.

At the Chinese American Museum’s annual benefit, the staff, board, and supporters worked non-stop on making sure that not only the attendees were looked after but the volunteers were cared for as well. Having helped out the museum on several events, I know from experience that the staff truly appreciates the support and takes you into the museum family. After my very first event helping out, I was invited to the staff Christmas party! The strong focus on community is reflected in the thoughtful and valuable exhibits and programs it presents. Remembering Angel Island commemorates the 100^th anniversary of the opening of the Angel Island Immigration Station, and Hollywood Chinese is a startling collection of memorabilia of filmmaker Arthur Dong in conjunction with his documentary of the same name.

Community came together again at the Asian Professionals Exchange gala as well as for the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment social mixer held at Gonpachi, a bar that inspired the sets of Kill Bill. Word got out that Teresa Huang of The Riches and now of United States of Tara was producing a short film, and community people such as David Kono, Victor Chi, Halley Kim, Rich Yap, Mack Wei, and Estevan Vigil chipped in in the midst of car break-ins and scorching heat to help realize her vision.

Koji Steven Sakai and Quentin Lee will bring an innovative ID Film Fest to the Japanese American National Museum which includes a FREE conference for independent Asian American feature filmmakers.

These instances were a “what” to me. A wondrous “what.” Something so wondrous that it can’t be articulated completely.

The end product of what community can do is evidenced in East West Player’s Mysterious Skin, a dynamic and provocative start of its 45^th season. Director Tim Dang and playwright Prince Gomolvilas demanded a lot from the young cast. It is typically an older audience at opening night due to subscriptions. And the daring cast were like guides taking the audience on a thrill-seeking adventure. Loud cannonball-like bangs, drastic tempo shifts akin to a rollercoaster slow-down in prep for a the blood curdling fall, grisly action, and raw dialogue blended into a story about the scars of our past and what we do to reconcile with them. Do we let scabs form over the memories blotting out any reminder? Or do we exploit them to our advantage? Audiences have overwhelmingly gone willingly on the ride provided by the talented team, engrossed in the life beneath the outer layer of a male teenage prostitute. At times the bombastic and theatrical effects jarred me out of the experience when it could have relied on the potent dialogue of Gomolvilas. But it was an exciting beginning in a new direction for EWP.

With several prominent APIs seeking office in this upcoming election -- Kamala Harris, Fiona Ma, Mike Honda, Daniel Inouye, and David Wu, to name a few -- I wonder what direction the community will take. Organizers of API Rock the Vote challenged those in Los Angeles to assert their voices in November. Lisa Ling, husband Paul Song, Kollaboration, CAUSE, and many more brought an amazing night with Dawen, Esna Yoon, Justin Chon, and Quest Crew inspiring the crowd to cheer and get up off their feet. The hope is that it translates to an increased voter turn-out: in California, the API population is 14% yet voter turn-out is only 3%.

Entertainment, tragedies, social events, artistic projects, closures of resources. What other stimuli does the community need to get to disaster mode? As shown, when APIs commit themselves, fantastic things occur. And it’s not that APIs aren’t civic minded -- 83% of California APIs who voted in 2008 declared themselves to be environmentalists.

The API community has been at the cusp of something indescribable; “what” is up to our involvement.

Disclaimer: Ken Choy helped organize ID Film Fest