From my Weekend Reading: Being Outed & Geishas

Melissa Hung
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 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. A writer and freelance journalist, Melissa has written for NPR, Vogue, Pacific Standard, Longreads, and Catapult. She grew up in Texas, the eldest child of immigrants.

    Comments

    Comments

    seng wrote on Mon, 12/05/2005 - 12:37pm
    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."
    deadmike wrote on Tue, 12/06/2005 - 4:59am
    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)
    Anonymous wrote on Tue, 12/06/2005 - 6:37pm
    you guys suck, erin & melissa, your magazine sucks
    Melissa wrote on Wed, 12/07/2005 - 10:34am
    Whoo-hoo. Dissing people anonymously. With nothing to say. Aren't you a big shot?