Vote for Your Favorite Asian American Love

February 13, 2005

Then I opened up the book review and there was an essay about the sudden revival of interest in the timeless love story of Abelard and Heloise, as evidenced in five new books about them. He was her tutor, her uncle castrated him, they died in monasteries. Yikes.

So, since I really have nothing else to blog about except news and speed dating, and since we can't get away from the weird love theme, and since this blog is supposed to be all Asian American and political, let's use this opportunity to talk about how Asian American love is portrayed in our best friend, the cinema. Or rather, why don't you all tell us all what your favorite Asian American (or Asian/American or American Asian) cinematic love is and why?

I'll start the ball rolling with some that might be my least favorite:

• Tamlyn Tomita and Dennis Quaid in Come See the Paradise, 'cause it was the first movie I ever saw about internment, and the stupid love story kept getting in the way. (I still love you, though, Dennis!)
• Sandra Oh and Callum Keith Rennie in Double Happiness, 'cause there wasn't a single available Chinese man in all of Vancouver that our heroine could date so she had to hook up with whitey. (I still love you, though, Callum!)
• Jennifer Jones and William Holden in Love is a Many-Splendored Thing, only 'cause Jennifer Jones is *hello!* not Asian and her makeup job was cheap. (I still love you, though, Han Suyin!)
• Aaliyah and Jet Li in Romeo Must Die, 'cause, although they're a totally hot couple, they never got to hook up! Plus, the title makes no sense.
• Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fat in Anna and the King, 'cause do you actually believe that if you were alone in the moonlight in Thailand with Chow Yun-Fat, your corset would manage to stay on for longer than five seconds? Reality check!

Okay, I'm sensing a theme here. All of the abovementioned loves are interracial. But I've been racking my brain for an Asian Am on Asian Am love in the cinema and drawing blanks. Here's what I got on the least favorite front:

• Both couples in Charlotte Sometimes, but isn't that the point?
• The cheerleader and the rich guy in Better Luck Tomorrow, obviously. Less obviously, I don't like her and the geek together, either. But I think that's the point as well.
• ...

Okay, I thought of a couple I liked!:
• The Mackintosh G10s in Robot Stories, 'cause they're cool and rebellious and 'cause they're robots.

Contributor: 

Comments

Comments

I'm feeling bloggy today...I liked the love interest in "Saving Face", the new Alice Wu movie which is the opening night flick of the SFIAAFF. Although there was a dash of personality disordering to be found there...And here's a shameless plug: Come to the Third Thursday this Feb 17th, it's on Relationships:"After the Chocolate High: Keeping your relationship post-Valentine's Day"r
Does anyone know how/where to get a hold of decent videorecordings of Asian American plays? I'm looking for some of the seminal ones: Chickencoop Chinaman, Yankee Dawg You Die, Tea, etc., etc.
no clue, but you might try contacting the asian american theater company http://www.asianamericantheater.org/ or the national asian american telecommunications association (NAATA) http://www.naatanet.org/ and asking if they know.