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July 26, 2006

Yellow Peril & Other News

Stuff in the news lately:

From the blog of Bryan Thao Worra (who contributed his writings to Hyphen #9), Iron Man Villain Announced: Yellow Peril Stereotype--Oops, I mean, the Mandarin. Bryan points to an article that says the main villain of the Iron Man movie will be The Mandarin. With a name like that, it doesn't sound too good. Bryan writes:

The long and the short is that the Mandarin is part of a long tradition of 'yellow peril' characters in popular culture, including Fu Manchu, Shiwan Khan, Ming the Merciless and numerous other Asian/Eurasian despots of the pulp fiction era.

Oh boy. I'm already dreading this film.

More onLt. Watada, who is being court-martialed for refusing to deploy to Iraq.

From last week's NY Times: A story about Rich and Tone Talauega making commericals for The Gap. The Talauegas (who are Samoan American) are two of the most sought-after music video choreographers. They are also producers of the film, Rize, about krumping. One of our editors, Momo, interviewed them for Issue 9. By the way, Momo wrote a great story about krumping for Issue 9. I know I'm biased, but you should check it out.

Story in Newsday about the complexities of serving increasingly diverse populations in New York. "As the Latino and Asian populations have exploded in recent years, they've grown not only in sheer numbers but in complexity. And none have had to adjust more to that reality than the community organizations that have been serving those groups."

From yesterday's LA Times, a story about new versus old in Chinatown. A Community's Ethnic Tradition in Transition. "L.A.'s old Chinatown of family shops and traditions is grudgingly giving way to galleries and lofts. Even Quentin Tarantino is buying in."

Posted by Melissa at July 26, 2006 10:10 AM

Comments

For more on the Yellow Peril, check out this excerpt from Jack London's book The Strength of the Strong, published in 1914.

Posted by: julian at July 26, 2006 8:52 PM

How sad is it that they have to pick Mandarin, a character so old I forgot about him. That's the problem with Iron Man, he doesn't have a rogue's gallery like Batman.

I thought Iron Man's deadliest enemy was his drinking problem, but I guess you can't make a movie where Iron Man blasts away at a giant bottle of vodka. :p

Posted by: Chowgirl at August 1, 2006 12:52 AM

I would like to see Jet Li play as Bruce Lee. As you know Jet li is also from China and also has the same backround in comparison with martial arts in techniques and forms. All Jet li has to do is adapt more in Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune do.

Posted by: Ismail at October 24, 2006 1:05 PM