Jae-Ha Kim

Jeremy Lin is riding a well-deserved wave of goodwill and adulation. After being undrafted and waived by not one, but two, NBA teams last year–the 23-year-old point guard for the New York Knicks has become the sport’s latest sensation. And Asian Americans are loving it. Each time Lin shows off his skills on the basketball court or does an on-air interview where—surprise!–he has no accent, he helps Asian Americans get one step closer to being accepted as “real” Americans.

A couple years ago, actress Katherine Heigl and her husband Josh Kelley adopted an adorable little baby girl from South Korea. No one would deny that they didn’t deserve to be parents. But what some folks—myself included—found curious was that they had been married for less than two years when they were matched with their child.

In both the book “Memoirs of a Geisha” and its film adaptation, women fall into two categories: sexy geisha and conniving dragon ladies, two stereotypes about Asian women that linger today. Already some members of the Asian-American community are worried that the film, which opens locally Friday, may reinforce unflattering images of Asian women as being submissive, sexual objects.

Every woman in a relationship should watch at least one episode of “Laguna Beach,” MTV’s reality series about a group of young, beautiful and rich kids from Orange County, Calif. This suggestion isn’t being made for the eye candy elements of the show — though there’s plenty. Rather, the male-female dynamics are something familiar to most women in their 20s, 30s and, yes, even 40s. And sometimes just turning on the TV can give you the dating pointers that your friends aren’t.

Once relegated to playing houseboys, prostitutes and extras on “M*A*S*H,” Asian-American actors are now appearing on prime-time television not as exoticized versions of reality, but as real people. Sandra Oh, superb in “Sideways,” is a star in the new medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy,” which has kicked “Boston Legal” to the curb and taken the prime slot after “Desperate Housewives” on Sunday nights at ABC. Or turn on ABC’s other hit drama, “Lost,” and you’ll notice not one, but two Asian regulars. Korean-American actors Daniel Dae Kim and Yunjin Kim (no relation to each other — or me) portray a married Korean couple stranded on the creepy island with a crew of folks including a pregnant woman, an Iraqi hottie, a fat dude, an African-American father and his son, a dog and a hobbit (or at least a guy who played a hobbit in “Lord of the Rings”).

“I am your No. 1 fan.” And so began Paul Sheldon’s terrifying encounter with Annie Wilkes, the obsessed character in Stephen King’s Misery who chopped off her idol’s feet so he couldn’t escape. (In the film version, she merely broke his ankles.) In real life, celebrities such as Sheryl Crow, Mel Gibson and Catherine Zeta-Jones are dealing with their own slew of “No. 1 fans.” Some go to prison for their obsessive behavior. But others don’t.

This forum isn’t questioning whether William Kennedy Smith or Kobe Bryant are rapists. It’s about why people have been so hesitant to believe their accusers might be telling the truth. Audra Soulias says Smith raped her five years ago — and then had a consensual sexual relationship with her. Bryant — whose criminal case was dropped Wednesday because the accuser no longer wanted to participate in the proceedings — admitted to having sex with the young woman in Colorado, but insisted it was consensual.

Jet Li. Jackie Chan. Donnie Yen. Quick. Which one of these action film stars grew up in the United States? Or, more appropriately, which one of these stars had to leave the United States before he could make a name for himself in Hollywood? That would be Yen. Sure, while he’s not as famous in the United States as either Li or Chan, he has a loyal following worldwide and an impressive resume of films — the best of which were made in Hong Kong.

Back in my day, a trip to Europe was considered a nice graduation gift. Having your parents pay for your college education was even better. But these days, a growing number of parents are giving girls the gift of the breast augmentation for their Sweet 16 or high school graduation. In 2003, almost 4,000 girls 18 years old and younger had their breasts done. I don’t think this is exactly what feminists had in mind when they encouraged young women to aim higher.

One hour isn’t what it used to be. Back in the day, one hour equaled 60 minutes. But take your film to be processed at one of those one-hour film developing shops and you’ll find that one hour often translates into 120 minutes. Or more. I realize the amount of time it takes to develop film depends on how many photo processing machines are available as well as on the number of customers already there before you.