Because Being “Kawaii” is so in Right Now

Posted on April 23, 2014 by Alice Vega

Oh Avril… please do us all a favor and just go back to singing about skater boys.

Avril Lavigne is back and released a new single titled “Hello Kitty.” If that doesn’t already make you somewhat cringe, just listen to the first four seconds of the song where she totally butchers the Japanese language and made people worldwide unanimously go “SMH.”

This sadly isn’t anything new in the land of pop music. Katy Perry donned a full geisha outfit during the American Music Awards last year and flashback 10 years before that Gwen Stefani donned her whole Harajuku girl posse everywhere she went. Can we all just take a moment and say “WTF WHITE PEOPLE? WTF.”

Cultural appropriation is the adoption of specific elements of one culture by a different cultural group. This is a phenomenon that’s been happening for years, but has recently been pushed to the forefront of any pop culture discussion thanks to people like Katy Perry and Gwen Stefani. Miley Cyrus doin’ that whole “thug lyfe, I’m a bad ass bitch that can twerk” is yet another example of how one culture appropriates another. This can be a hard concept to understand by some because some people interpret this adopting as a positive thing. Like, we’re all sharing ideas and we like how this culture does this, so therefore, this is something that should be celebrated, right?

Well… no. Not exactly.

It’s one thing to exchange ideas and celebrate diversity in a RESPECTFUL manner. (Notice how I capitalized the word RESPECTFUL.) It’s another thing to do a modern day version of colonizing a culture and its people and use their ideas as your own. People are not accessories to your identity. People are people. Appropriating cultures in this manner dehumanizes people and belittles years and years of rich history from these cultures.

So let me sound off here. It’s really fucking annoying to see yet another pop star take this aspect of Japanese culture and wear it like a cute pair of shoes. I mean, can you see those robotic, emotionless Asian back up dancers?! That’s all INTENTIONAL. That was choreographed that way. This song and video is absolutely terrible in every sense of the word. It’s pretty much just like that Chinese food video that the other White girl sang about on Youtube.

Dear God,

Make it all stop.

Sincerely,
one of the many pissed off Asian girls that can’t take off this skin.

Shut up With That Racist Shit!

Posted on September 16, 2013 by Alice Vega

Hey everyone!

So in the recent months, the subject of race and ethnicity have been a hot topic in politics and pop culture. For one, the Trayvon Martin case definitely evoked intense feelings of oppression and injustice in the court system. Now the newest wave of racist gossip comes from last night’s announcement of our new Miss America.

Photo from jezebel.com

If you haven’t already, check out this article from Jezebel that was published today titled, “Racists Are Being Hella Racist Because Miss America Isn’t White.” The article displays some of the vicious tweets from people about the reaction to Miss New York Nina Duvulari winning the title of Miss America. Here are a couple from the article so you can get an idea of what kind of feedback they gave:

1) “How the fuck does a foreigner win Miss America? She is a Arab! #idiots”
-Jake Amick (@Jackamick5)

2) “Miss America? You mean Miss 7-11”
-CHEEZ-IT (@JPLman95)

3) “Don’t you have to be American to win Miss AMERICA? This bitch is some type of Indian.”
-Emily (@emi_adkins)
Soo.. let’s let that sink in for a minute.

The ignorance, stupidity, and maliciousness that consume most of this country just baffles me. I don’t even know where to start with this one. I guess I’ll start with the most obvious one: geography.

Remember in grade school when you were forced to look at a map of the world? And your teacher taught you that all those colorful pieces of land are called continents and within each continent there are different countries? If you weren’t taught this, then I guess I can understand why you’re a fucking idiot. This, my friends, is called the WORLD. The world is made up of many different places. There are countries and within these countries are PEOPLE. Depending on what country you’re in, there are different dialects and customs. It’s called.. um.. LIFE. Yeah. Go read about other people’s lives while you color in your geography worksheet. Remember, North and South America are two continents, k?

It is BEYOND depressing that people who are racist can’t even distinguish who they’re racist about. Like, if you’re gonna hate on someone, at least KNOW who and what you’re hating on. Otherwise, you look like an uneducated idiot. Oh, too late for that. You fucked that up yourself.

In case you don’t know the history of this country, let me give you a quick breakdown. English pilgrims came to this country to live and be free from a monarchy. They IMMIGRATED here. This land was already being inhabited by Native Americans. But because these bad ass pilgrims wanted to conquer the land, they drove the Native Americans out and took over. Cuz they’re bad ass and bad asses get what they want.

So with that being said, WE’RE ALL IMMIGRANTS. So shut the fuck up with that nonsense about getting rid of illegal immigrants, as if you actually OWN America. Miss Nina Duvulari IS American. So are you, and so am I. Just because we don’t have white skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes, doesn’t mean we’re not American. If you were born here, raised here, believe in this country and do your part to be a good citizen, then you belong here.

And don’t sound off about minorities like myself being racist to white people. Oh, jeez, don’t even go there. Minorities like myself who write about these kinds of controversies are just bringing light to the bullshit that’s happening before our eyes. There’s something called “White Privilege.” And if you’re white, you automatically have that. And don’t be all like, “Well it’s not my fault I was born white!”

EXACTLY. Just like it’s not anyone’s fault that they’re homosexual or that they’re black. So for the last time, shut the fuck up with this nonsense.

-Ally

ISAtv Introduces a New Variety Game Show

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Alice Vega

Photo courtesy of Youtube

So I’ll admit… I’m a little late on posting about this. But hey, I loved this show so much, I just wanted to share it with you guys in case you haven’t heard of it.

So let’s backtrack a little. ISA is a concert events company that focuses on showcasing rising Asian American talent from online videos. (Basically all the Asian Youtubers in one place.) Founded by the ever popular Wong Fu Productions and Far East Movement, ISA has blossomed into a popular source for Asian American entertainment on the internet.

So if you’ve ever seen any game shows from Asia, you’ll know their game shows are anything but normal. They’re loud, fun, crazy, and there’s always some sort of dancing. Well, at least in Filipino game shows anyway. I for one have always found Asian game shows very entertaining and hilarious to watch. My favorite would have to be Silent Library from Japan.

Photo courtesy by ISAtv’s Official Tumblr

ISAtv basically wanted to create their own version of those popular game shows. If you haven’t watched it yet, you better open up a new tab in your browser and start watching it. Like seriously. I’m waiting for you to do it. Did you do it yet? Ok…. good. All the contestants in this first episode are popular Youtubers that you might recognize. We have Wesley Chan and Ted Fu from Wong Fu Productions, David Choi, Jen FrmHeadtoToe, Ally Maki, Clara C, Freddie Wong, Brandon Laatsch, Mike Song, and Anthony Lee. Hosted by Amy Okuda and Philip Wang from Wong Fu, the contestants were put in different challenges and if they lost, well, they better be ready. Because Game Master Yoshi (a.k.a. KevJumba) was ready to punish the weak.

My favorite challenge they’ve done so far is the game called “Pass It On.” The contestants were lined up and separated by a curtain. Starting with either Phil or Amy, they acted out a phrase. The first contestant then had to act out the same phrase, using NO words, to the next contestant. Basically, if the games Charades and Telephone had a baby, this is what it would be. The last contestant then had to act out the phrase to either Phil or Amy, and he/she would guess what the phrase is. If you’ve ever played the game Telephone as a kid, you’ll know that people misconstrue messages very easily, so you can only imagine how crazy this game turned out to be. If I ever host a party of some sort, I totally want to play this game.

ISAtv’s Youtube channel currently has 3 parts up, and they’re releasing part 4 of the game show TOMORROW! Based on the preview, it looks like the contestants are going to have to go through some sort of obstacle course. Let’s hope Yoshi doesn’t subject them to more torture!

Just kidding, we totally want to see that. Go Yoshi, go Yoshi go!

What are some of your favorite Asian game shows? Leave a comment and share your thoughts with me! 🙂

-Alice