Category: Musings

Asian ≠ disabled

Jae-Ha Kim

I found this picture of Marlee Matlin and me. I remember it was a fun photo shoot. While she was in hair and makeup, the photographer took a few test shots of me to make sure the lighting etc. was set up properly. He snapped a picture of the two of us before I interviewed her. She had just gotten all made up. Me? As you can see, not so much. But, I still like the photo. And it reminds me that I want to dig out that James Dean shirt for the summer. (I used to collect them. Did you know that?)

Defying stereotypes one role at a time

Jae-Ha Kim

It has been almost three decades since Long Duk Dong made his appearance in “16 Candles,” and it doesn’t look like Hollywood’s perception of Asian men has changed all that much. Actor John Wusah turned down a chance to audition for a film, where the Asian character was there just to be made fun of. I can’t imagine that it’d be easy for an actor of any race to turn down an opportunity to work. So Kudos, Mr. Wusah.

The TIDE hasn’t changed

Jae-Ha Kim

I was thinking, “Why are all you bigots assuming that the grandmother can’t speak English, just because she isn’t heard speaking English?” If she’s anything like the real-life immigrants I know, she’s probably self conscious about her accent, which probably was the subject of much derision by the monolingual knuckledraggers who speak English real good.

Shoplifting and graffiti

Jae-Ha Kim

When I was a young teenager, my parents gave me some money to buy a new outfit at Sears. We didn’t live too far from there, so I walked over by myself. I was always careful with money, so I looked at the items I was interested in, compared prices and then tried a few things on before selecting the final item I wanted to purchase. The cashier looked at the woman standing behind me. It turned out that the woman was a plainclothes security guard whose job it was to profile and trail people who were likely to shoplift. I’m not sure why I was pegged.

Hair and makeup

Jae-Ha Kim

A few years back, I was flown out to Los Angeles to audition for a new entertainment news show that was being developed. There was a handful of journalists, as well as “personalities,” vying for the position. Honestly, I didn’t want to go. I was newly married and looking forward to heading overseas on vacation with my husband. But, it seemed like it could be a good opportunity, so off I went.

Accents

Jae-Ha Kim

When I was in graduate school, my journalism teacher asked me, “Why can’t Asians pronounce r’s and l’s?” Seriously? I looked at her and said in perfect English, “I really, really don’t know.” She didn’t get it. She basically was asking an Asian who spoke perfect English, why I couldn’t speak perfect English. She couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that maybe I was fluent because I was raised in the United States.

Gas station ice cream

Jae-Ha Kim

A long time ago, a friend asked me why I shook my bottle of milk before I poured it. I said what my father had always told me (or what I thought he had told me) — that shaking it distributed the vitamins evenly. The person laughed and said, “No, it doesn’t.” I didn’t give it much thought until recently. I realized that the reason I shook my milk was because when we first immigrated to the United States, we drank powered milk.

My mother’s memories

Jae-Ha Kim

This memory made me think about Korean singer Insooni and Ronald Lewis, an American GI who befriended the biracial teenager when she was ostracized by Korean society. There was never anything romantic between the two. Lewis said he had experienced racism in the U.S., but hadn’t expected it in other countries. When he saw it happening to Insooni, he and his friends took her under their wings. They bought her food. They didn’t assume they could buy her. Are there men today who would still be this kind to a child?

Fifty shades of Jae

Jae-Ha Kim

A few months ago, the book club I belong to picked “Fifty Shades of Grey” to read. You know what I’m talking about. “Mommy porn,” as it came to be called by the media, which took note of its popularity with middle-aged married women. With a controversial subject (S&M, kinky sex), it’s the type of book that no one wants to admit they read, much less liked.

Sohn Kee-Chung of Korea, not Son Kitei of Japan

Jae-Ha Kim

Growing up, I had heard my father talk about Sohn Kee-Chung (손기정). Sohn was the first Korean to win an Olympic medal, and it was gold. At the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, he set a world record in the marathon. So it wasn’t surprising that when the 1988 Games were held in South Korea, Sohn had the honor of carrying the Olympic torch into the Seoul Olympic Stadium.

Komodo Dragon Attacks Tour Guide

Jae-Ha Kim

Remember when Sharon Stone arranged for her then husband, Phil Bronstein, to pet a Komodo dragon at the Los Angeles Zoo? And remember when dragon bit him on the foot, completely crushing his big toe? I thought about this when my husband and I were on the eastern Indonesian island of Komodo, touring an area full of the dragons for which it’s famous. There were experienced guides leading our little group, and they carried large, pointy sticks. I remember asking the lead guide if that’s what he’d use if a Komodo dragon were to attack, and he said, “Yes. It’s very effective.”

My shoes

Jae-Ha Kim

Back before MTV aired shows about pregnant teenagers, it had a program on called “House of Style.” I used to love that fashion show, which was hosted by Cindy Crawford. I remember seeing an episode where models Shalom Harlow and Amber Valetta (I think it was them, anyhow) showed viewers what was in their closets. The thing that stuck out was their boxes and boxes of shoes, which were stacked neatly with Polaroid photos of the contents taped to each box. I thought this idea was brilliant. So I did the same.

Where’s MY Pulitzer Prize?!!!

Jae-Ha Kim

Wow. You’ve probably heard about this column by Joel Brinkley, which is just all kinds of wrong. On the surface, it seems like the author would have something of value to say. He’s a Pulitzer Prize winner and a professor at Stanford. Impressive. This column? Not so much. Where’s the research? How about the reporting? It’s good on the xenophobia, though. His rebuttal is even better (or worse, depending on how you look at it).