No European Colonialism = No issues in former colonies?

From Racialicious, posted by Eujunco:

Now Thats some sad stuff, if the Europeans just left everyone alone we probably won’t have as much problems as we do today, all we can do now is try to work things out with each other with violence being the last option, or not even an option.

I think it will depend on the country and the issues we’re talking about. Japan wasn’t a European colony, but it is certainly influenced by the west, especially after it opened to the “outside world” in the nineteenth century (there were westerners in Japan prior to 1854, but to my understanding, they were mostly missionaries). I mean, would we as a society, be playing Grand Theft Auto (I’m not playing this, but the boyfriend is) on our PS3s? Will we be driving Toyotas? Buying Toshiba laptops? Eating sushi? I don’t know of a single person who doesn’t own at least one Japanese brand. Even my grandparents, who grew up in China during WWII own a Japanese rice cooker, watches Chinese soaps on a Sony television and drives a Toyota!

In some cases, yes, there might be issues, especially in terms of ethnicity, but we might not be enjoying products we love without western influence!

US Version of Little Mosque on the Prairie to air 2009ish

According to the Globe and Mail, an American version of the show is set to debut some time next year.  Anyone worried that it’ll be screwed up?  I am WILLING TO BET that Fox will make the Muslim characters lower-income.  And no way would the Baber character be a funny bigot.

Othello airs on the CBC on June 15…interesting casting though

Carlo Rota, who plays Lebanese-Canadian Yassir on Little Mosque on the Prairie will be playing Othello in the upcoming movie on the CBC. The thing is, Carlo isn’t Lebanese, but Italian. The rest of the cast is also white. Is this weird? Lately, they tend to cast black actors as Othello, unless you’re going a la Patrick Stewart, with a white Othello and a primarily black cast. I have heard the argument that since Othello is a “Moor” from northern Africa, he’s going to look more Arabic anyway. And since Carlo is darker, it would work. Should they have casted a black actor? My high school did Othello a few years ago, and used a South Asian actor in the title role.  Personally, I think Othello should “contrast” from the rest.  He’s supposed to be “different.”  An actor of Italian descent isn’t “different” enough.

Note that black face isn’t used in this production.

The movie is directed by Zaib Shaikh (Amaar on Little Mosque). He may be a better Othello, but he’s too young. Maybe we’ll see him in Stratford in 15 years?

Sex and the City!!!

I have to admit that I LUUUURVVVVEEED the show and CANNOT WAIT to see the movie. I know that it opens today (well, midnight was the first showing), but I probably won’t be able to see it until later this weekend or maybe even next week. I also know that I can’t possibly drag my boyfriend to this. That’ll be just too cruel (even if he said that he’s okay with seeing it).

I know that many people, especially non-whites don’t really like the show. To many people, it isn’t realistic, not only because Carrie seems to be spending more money than she possibly can, but because New York isn’t as white as the show makes it out to be. You know, I never really noticed that.  I also never really noticed that the “girls” didn’t have seem to hang out with people who weren’t of their own race. Perhaps it’s because lots of people I know don’t either, unless these friends are people they know from work.  And I live in Toronto.  Diverse Toronto.

I’ve seen pictures of weddings my friends have gone to.  I’ve been to parties.  If it isn’t an Asian party, I’m usually one of the tokens.  And at Asian parties, my boyfriend (if he goes) is one of the token white people.  And this goes back to high school, too.  My high school, like many other Toronto-area private schools, was pretty much white or East Asian (many of the Asian kids were foreign students or immigrants, btw)…I recalled that there weren’t many Asian kids at the post-prom party I went to.  Out of all the kids in my grade who actually went to the prom, I think only five (MAX) Asian kids actually came to the post party.  University wasn’t that different, though how diverse your group of friends was would depend on your major and your club connections.

Another thing that’s been bugging me is how some people have been criticizing Jennifer Hudson’s character, Louise.  Louise is Carrie’s assistant.  People are saying that this is the modern equivalent of the Mammy character.  But let’s look at it this way. Louise is a 20-something.  Many 20-somethings work as assistants, so why shouldn’t Louise?  Seriously, do you expect her to be Carrie’s boss?  Unless Louise has her own company, it’s unlikely she’d be a CEO.  Not at her age.  That’s even less realistic as someone with Carrie’s salary affording 100s of Manolos!

New Asian Girl on Gossip Girl vs Asian Girls at my Alma Mater

Racialicious has a post about a new character on the CW show, Gossip Girl. I have to admit that I DO NOT watch the show, but I DO know schools like the one on the show. And people like that too. I WENT to a snotty school! I admit it! (but the Mean Girls do kind of mellow out as they mature…if they mature….the kids at these schools are a lot more snobby and spoiled today then they were 10 years ago).

Anyway, the new girl is Asian and is pretty much a walking stereotype: violin lugging, SAT-studying, etc. Interesting that the post says she had (at one time) a boyfriend, because most nerdy Asian girls I knew growing up DID NOT HAVE BOYFRIENDS (they weren’t total bookworms either. Most played a musical instrument and were members of an ensemble and participated in athletics too (usually badminton)). No, that was for the bad girls. You know, helicopter kids - the kids who live with a grandparent or a university-aged sibling while the parents are working in the old country. And you know what happens when you’re 15 years old and the only adult in the house is 20! Let the booze flow and the party begin. These are also girls who never hung out with people who didn’t speak Cantonese (the overwhelming majority of Asian students at my high school were from Hong Kong) and started wearing make-up long before everyone else did. Even the white Mean Girls wore less make-up than the Asian Mean Girls (though the hair dyeing rate was about the same). They were also more likely to be interested in high-end brands (the white girls didn’t catch on until after I graduated). In high school, I was actually CRITICIZED at one point because I came back from Hong Kong wearing “only” a typical “mall brand” and not something DESIGNER. Like, who cares? It fit, it looked great (at least to my 15 year old self) and it wasn’t made up of very crappy material. It wasn’t even all that cheap, either! Why, because it isn’t oh, I don’t know, Prada (or whoever was “in” back in the mid 90s…..I wasn’t fashionista back then), it’s no good? (I was actually out shopping a few months ago and overheard a Cantonese speaking woman saying something about never buying Tory Burch because it’s “not a well-known brand” and therefore not worth the money. WTF? Was she living in a cave? The Reva ballet flat was pretty much an IT shoe last year!) I’m not saying that most of the Asian students at this school were Mean Girls/Bad Girls, but they certainly stood out (back then, anyway)!

***I want to add that the Gossip Girl books is apparently on the reading list (or at least WAS a couple of years ago) of at least one Toronto area private school.  What are they trying to do, compare IRL cases with fiction?***