Hollywood's Has a Racial Diversity Problem

*Note: this whole post is somewhat very opinionated and you may not have the same opinion as me so this is a warning

If you had a childhood, you're probably familiar with Disney. Back in the day, there were black and white cartoons of Mickey Mouse and the gang (the most famous one is Mickey driving a steamboat). But some people don't know that Walt Disney himself was a Nazi sympathizer and had a far right-winged political stance. It's also not a secret that some Disney cartoons back in the day were very controversial .. but what about Disney today?

Just a few days ago I saw the newest Disney movie Big Hero 6 which is based on the original Marvel comic (p.s. if you didn't know: Disney owns Marvel now yay). I've personally have read the comic before seeing the movie and of course I saw some  differences. The plot changed and a few characters were gone and new ones were added but I didn't really mind. 

What really got me irritated was the racial changes and the setting change.

Original Big Hero 6 comic by Marvel

In the comic, the entire storyline is set in Tokyo, Japan. Everyone is Japanese. But for some reason, Disney decided to make the main character and his older brother (who doesn't exist in the comic, he is an added character in the movie) half Caucasian and half Japanese. Not only that, but the whole friend group went from all Japanese people to two Caucasians, one African-American, and some Asian girl. 

Plus, they changed the original setting of the story into this sort of blend of Tokyo and San Francisco calling it San Fransokyo.

"San Fransokyo:  mix of the east and west" ... sigh

San. Fransokyo.

Really, Disney? Really? 

Look, I'm all up for diversity. I love diversity. But what really grinds my gears is that there was literally no point in changing the races or setting whatsoever. It seems as if Hollywood white-washes POC characters to get more media attention. Also, why the heck did they combine

Disney's BH6

SF and Tokyo together? I mean, it would've been totally fine if they just changed the setting of the story to SF but for some reason they were like "Hey, you know what we should do? Combine SF and Tokyo together so we don't seem as bad after changing the ethnicities of the characters!!!!" Nope. Disney, you still look bad. 

This isn't even the first movie that has done this. The movie "21" was based on a true story about MIT students. Guess what??? Those students were Asian-American!!! Guess who the people in the movie were? Caucasians!!! 


Maybe that's why there aren't that many famous minority actors in Hollywood: because they're preventing any to become famous in the first place!!! 

One day, maybe in the near future, I hope to see more minorities on the big screen. Not in dumb roles like "the typical Asian nerd" or "the black guy that dies first in horror movies". I want actual roles, like the main character being POC. Maybe one day. I can only dream. 

Not-So-Thanksgiving Day

The month of November is soon coming to an end which means Thanksgiving is just around the corner. But for some reason, it seems as though Thanksgiving isn't as all hyped as it's supposed to be. 

When I was in elementary school, I was taught that the pilgrims came to America and became friends with the Native Americans and created the day we know as Thanksgiving. Ironically in high school, I was taught the pilgrims pretty much created a mass genocide of the Natives and took over their land. It's funny how when we're younger we believe America was the "land of the free" and "the home of the brave" and as we get older we find out the exact opposite.

I personally do not find Thanksgiving to be important .. at least to me. I say this because I'm not Caucasian so the whole point of eating a huge feast with my family on one day of the year seems ridiculous. I know the whole idea of Thanksgiving is to give 'thanks' to the country we live in and people have always ask me why I don't celebrate it if I'm American. 

Well here are just a few reasons: there used to be laws in the 1800s that prevented Chinese immigrants from having rights plus let's not forget the internment camps Japanese-Americans were put in during WWII... 

What my family does on Thanksgiving is go over to my grandmother's house in the afternoon to have a small dinner (no turkey because 1) turkey is expensive and 2) we don't eat that stuff), go back home and sleep for a bit, then wake up and drive down to the mall or Woodburn for Black Friday shopping.

What I'm trying to say is I'm glad the media commercializes Halloween then transitions to Christmas because I'd rather not celebrate the invasion and genocide of native peoples. 

15 Types of Asian Guys

If you have ever read my earlier posts, you might've noticed the anger and tension in my words. However, whether you are an old or new reader, today's post will be somewhat light-hearted!

Have you ever heard the stereotype "all Asians are the same"? Well, mister or miss reader, I am sorry to say that that is quite false. 

Allow me to show you a video titled "15 Types of Asian Guys"

You, reader, must be wondering why I decided to show you this video today. Well ... I'll tell you. 

Earlier this week my friend Bella (same friend from my second blog post; feel free to read it if you haven't) had told me how she wanted to set me up with this guy in her writing class named .. er .. let's call him Joe. I had politely declined and added that he probably wasn't my type and she laughed and said "but aren't all Asian guys the same?"

Oh, dear naive Bella ... 

Anyway, I just wanted to show you all this funny video I found on the internet. It's quite hilarious if you ask me (and true, no doubt). But it also made me think: why do people think all Asians are the same anyway? Is it because we're all the same race people just assume we're all the same? 

Sadly, I do not have the exact answer. I hope to find out one day.

I hope you all enjoyed the video! I've run out of anger this week which is a surprise because I'm usually angry all the time .. 

Also, if you enjoyed the video below is a video about Asian stereotypes. 

Have a great Halloweekend! :)