From my Weekend Reading: Being Outed & Geishas

December 5, 2005

  • And, guess what I found in my Sunday Times? Geishas, of course. The "Murmurings of a Geisha" photos by Deborah Turbeville have this subhead: "Japanese women are rediscovering the beauty of a tradition." (Scroll down for the link.) You just can't turn around these days without someone "being inspired" by geishas, from Banana Republic to the New York Times. I can't wait for that movie to be over already.
  • Speaking of movies, the Hollywood Reporter says that a sequel to National Lampoon's Van Wilder is in the works. Van Wilder II: The Rise of Taj, will star Kal Penn (aka Kumar in Harold and Kumar) I love Kal Penn. I think he's great and I think it's great he's going to be in a starring role, but um, why? Do we really need a sequel? Someone's counting their DVD sales before they've hatched...
  • Contributor: 

    Melissa Hung

    Founding Editor

    Melissa Hung is the founding editor of Hyphen. She was the editor in chief for the magazine's first five years and went on to serve in many other leadership roles on the staff and board for more than a decade. She is a writer and freelance journalist. Her essays and reported stories have appeared in NPR, Vogue, Pacific Standard, Longreads, and Catapult, among others. She grew up in Texas, the eldest child of immigrants. Find her on Twitter and Instagram.

    Comments

    Comments

    From the NYTimes piece (second to last photo in online series): The casting of the film "Memoirs of a Geisha," which stars the Chinese actresses Ziyi Zhang and Li Gong, has caused a stir in Japan - particularly among the geisha community. "There is no way anyone outside of Japan can put across Japanese culture, let alone the sensibility of the geisha," Memeryo insists. "It is a world unto itself."
    Oh come on, the sooner her parents find out, the sooner they can deprogram her!(I have yet to find a way to express sarcasm in type)
    you guys suck, erin & melissa, your magazine sucks
    Whoo-hoo. Dissing people anonymously. With nothing to say. Aren't you a big shot?