tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post7902208453731338606..comments2024-03-06T08:29:13.333-08:00Comments on stuff white people do: think of asians in terms of faceless hordesmacon dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07795547197817128339noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-60351226470801011462010-04-06T11:12:50.596-07:002010-04-06T11:12:50.596-07:00[Scarlett, you need to read the "commenting g...[Scarlett, you need to read the "<a href="http://stuffwhitepeopledo.blogspot.com/2010/02/commenting-guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">commenting guidelines</a>," especially items 2 and 9. ~macon]macon dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07795547197817128339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-47948464372542427412010-01-01T15:29:03.027-08:002010-01-01T15:29:03.027-08:00UGH! I hate that commercial!!!! My husband thinks ...UGH! I hate that commercial!!!! My husband thinks I am crazy.<br /><br />It really bothers me that whenever someone happens to see something that offends them someone else always manages to come along and call them complainers and says things like<br /><br />"It amazes me that people have absolutely nothing better to do than to search for underlying "racist" motifs in advertising. "<br /><br />Alright, smart guy! Since when does someone have to "search" for offensive and stupid things when they are presented to you by a third party and they RIGHT IN YOUR FACE!?<br /><br />UGH! I freaking hate people! In general they are much like the Palm Pre Worship the White Lady Ad -- Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!kill your televisionnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-35339071782516839462009-10-28T21:32:38.069-07:002009-10-28T21:32:38.069-07:00@ onely I agree!!!
Anyways I have one of those Te...@ onely I agree!!!<br /><br />Anyways I have one of those Ten Thousand Villages stores in my town. Its run by a bunch of white menonites. I've been shopping there off and on for a few weeks and I noticed that feeling of it being in the same kind of moral gray area as maybe American Apparel(sexist Dov Charney and union issues).J.R.M.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-36074871852739014032009-10-18T09:34:49.045-07:002009-10-18T09:34:49.045-07:00H, I googled the EXACT same thing and found this p...H, I googled the EXACT same thing and found this post--I've been seeing the Palm Pre ad every time I watch The Daily Show online at Comedy Central, and I've actually stopped watching TDS recently because the ad annoys me so much. What's with everyone bowing down to that emaciated, wispy woman? Maybe I will have to write a letter of annoyance to Comedy Central. Yeah, like they'll pay attention. = ) <br />ChristinaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-42177376078842159282009-08-17T21:22:57.328-07:002009-08-17T21:22:57.328-07:00Yes! I just googled 'palm pre racist ad' t...Yes! I just googled 'palm pre racist ad' to find this post because I couldn't believe it. It's like, 'Isn't it wonderful to be white, and just have the world flowing exactly as you want it to at all times, and you never have to even think about the technology you use (which was created where? by whom? a crowd of Asian people moving at your whim?)' Unbelievable.Hnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-62170839180987480422009-07-29T17:12:29.589-07:002009-07-29T17:12:29.589-07:00Everyone likes round numbers. You see the same thi...Everyone likes round numbers. You see the same thing in books by white authors.<br /><br />Just because the dancers were Asian doesn't mean the ad is racist. If it were a thousand white dancers you'd say it were racist because other races weren't represented. The similarity of having all of the dancers look similar makes the ad more pleasing while separating the dancers from the main woman in the center. Having a mix of different races would distract from the ad's central message.<br /><br />Plus, it's kung fu, which originated in China. It makes sense to have Chinese dancers doing a Chinese form of self expression.Sparkly Eyesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-88425402771485204812009-07-29T12:54:53.942-07:002009-07-29T12:54:53.942-07:00Thanks for this post--I just saw the advertisement...Thanks for this post--I just saw the advertisement for the first time. It is amazingly bad.rosmarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17644767870193735776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-54995812514581103142009-07-15T02:50:15.479-07:002009-07-15T02:50:15.479-07:00I think it's interesting that the person who p...I think it's interesting that the person who posted the ad to youtube thinking it was so amazing described the dancing as "kung-fu"Lindynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-32727418486847466422009-07-10T23:07:59.390-07:002009-07-10T23:07:59.390-07:00It amazes me that people have absolutely nothing b...It amazes me that people have absolutely nothing better to do than to search for underlying "racist" motifs in advertising. Advertising has to be as broad and clear as possible so as to garner viewer retention. I get that you enjoy cultural self-loathing and the stereotypical white obsession with "awareness", but you're finding connections where there are none. ultimately you could always rebut this by using five dollar words like "popular subconscious" but what's most likely here, is that the advertiser went for the image because it's striking. like the opening ceremony in question, it's memorable. That is all. And with the ethnicity of the model there is no grand conspiracy, to portray all other races as subservient. It's just that the product is targeted towards white folk. The model is always chosen so as to appeal to the largest targeted demographic. The rest is purely incidental. You live in a developed western nation, there the vast majority of potential buyers are white people, what do you expect. It's how advertising functions. I can imagine why people don't like watching television with you. It's not because they're ignorant white racists, it's purely because most people do not enjoy the company of those who racially self-flagellate at every opportunity. Especially if they're doing it to with the interest of taking righteous stance at every possible opportunity. You represent one of the worst kinds of modern man. The well-off "Awareness Crusader". I'm sorry, that was somewhat childish of me. The hordes of you people just get to me.Wesleynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-44162283214330732472009-07-01T22:10:25.753-07:002009-07-01T22:10:25.753-07:00The servility and facelessness of Asians in the ad...The servility and facelessness of Asians in the ad, and in so much else in the popular culture and imagination, is a reflection of the colonial mentality. In the end, it sees Asians--as well as other minorities--as interchangably available for sex and, therefore, domination. <br /><br />The "willingness" and "availability" (to use two terms I've often heard) of Asian women is a consequence of coming from a society in which upper-class men kept concubines to cater to their sexual whims. So, while Caucasian males saw women who seemed to be free of the Victorian strictures on sexual relations, they didn't see what a terrible price--the loss of their individual dignity, their "face"--those women paid for it.<br /><br />De-personalizing someone of a different race--making him or her "faceless," if you will--ALWAYS has to do with seeing that person in a subservient sexual role.Justine Valinottihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10852069587181432102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-41589935867672544842009-07-01T20:37:42.296-07:002009-07-01T20:37:42.296-07:00@ Nexus: "I am one of those consumers using o...@ Nexus: "I am one of those consumers using one of those devices to send you this message, but I would be willing give up the Internet if it meant that no human being would be dehumanized by having to work in a factory."<br /><br />What? That's a ridiculous statement. That's like saying, "Hey, I would be willing to stop being a Gestapo if it meant no more people would be killed in concentration camps."<br /><br />If you feel so guilty about being complicit in a system that oppresses people, then stop being complicit! Obviously you can't stop everyone from being dehumanized in factories, but at least you would no longer feel responsible for financially supporting the oppressors. Inane hypothetical sacrifices that could never happen don't help anyone.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-11224304768715300552009-07-01T20:20:03.376-07:002009-07-01T20:20:03.376-07:00What I got from the ad wasn't so much "as...What I got from the ad wasn't so much "asian hordes" as "buddhist togetherness". The association most Americans have with those orange robes is with buddhist monks, and the lines in the movie about connection with other lives sounds like the vague impression Americans have of buddhism as preaching universal harmony. Sure, it's a cynical bit of cultural appropriation, but I think it's different than the stereotype of Asian hordes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-68460355576665973702009-06-26T15:47:58.327-07:002009-06-26T15:47:58.327-07:00What a gorgeous ad - beautifully produced and phot...What a gorgeous ad - beautifully produced and photographed - lovely choreography.Gnathostomehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07025847713683172694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-1229760928780247462009-06-26T14:34:29.867-07:002009-06-26T14:34:29.867-07:00Eusthenopteron and others, I don't think that ...Eusthenopteron and others, I don't think that the depiction of hordes of non-white people in some other contexts means that the depiction of apparently "Asian" hordes isn't specifically racist. The depiction of a faceless, undifferentiated mass that evokes and continues hoary conjurations of a "yellow peril" is a specific, and specifically racist, depiction of a mass of people that differs from depictions of other masses of people.<br /><br />Regarding clips that go off the page, I don't know what to do about that formatting problem, which arose when YouTube started showing in a wider screen. Could you just double-click on those to go and see them at YouTube?macon dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07795547197817128339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-74703641809890395352009-06-26T14:25:23.300-07:002009-06-26T14:25:23.300-07:00There's also those ad for some phone company (...There's also those ad for some phone company (Verizon?) where its service is represented as a horde of mostly faceless people (most, possibly all, of whom are white). Seems like a broadly similar premise.Eusthenopteronnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-42170352435891995762009-06-26T12:53:36.344-07:002009-06-26T12:53:36.344-07:00I watched the ad, and only when I scrolled down to...I watched the ad, and only when I scrolled down to read the description did I notice that said white woman is one I grew up with. If it makes you feel better, she was a little deprived of popular (ie: American) non-educational media and processed foods growing up.<br /><br />It's much more difficult to organize a large herd of white people into a display like that, like herding cats. The ad concept required a faceless horde, and if they used the "headless fatties" instead, it probably wouldn't have the "flow" look they were going for. Doesn't come off as particularly racist, to me, the Olympics *were* held in Beijing, not Nairobi, if they were looking to recreate that and used anything *but* Asians, it'd appear more racist, whitewashed. <br /><br />The concept seems excessively new-agey indie-vomit-pop style (why must *everyone* run through a field in a white dress these days), but the execution *of* the concept doesn't seem too far out of there.<br /><br />And yes, the video clips go off the edge of the page for me as well.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-57584435823092183602009-06-25T21:28:56.231-07:002009-06-25T21:28:56.231-07:00@nexus:
the problem with Manufactured Landscapes ...@nexus:<br /><br />the problem with Manufactured Landscapes is that when the narrator does speak, he does so in the name of the people being filmed rather than simply interviewing them and asking what they think. as a result, the narrator continuously speculates about what the people may or may not feel rather than simply asking them. it irks the hell out of me because it repeats a very common tendency of (especially well-meaning) white folks, which is to speak for poc rather than just letting them speak for themselves. thus the film wasn't really about the people OR the systems - it was about the filmmakers interpretations of those things. it was also about filming arresting images of a very dire situation - aestheticizing oppression, if you will.aubinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-88384750601545853122009-06-25T21:17:42.508-07:002009-06-25T21:17:42.508-07:00@Reamo
Kurt, thanks for the info about Ten Thou V...@Reamo<br /><br /><i>Kurt, thanks for the info about Ten Thou Villages. I agree that what they're doing is nice, but I also think they play up at times to (largely white) customer ideas about how to tart up their habitats with foreign-made, handcrafted, psuedo-artisan exotica. There's a racist colonialist frame around that kind of thing, which positions the consumer in a certain privileged and fantasized relation to the makers of the objects d'art.</i><br /><br />I totally agree. I could definitely sense that in some customers and their attitudes and the questions they ask, etc. At the same time, whaddya gonna do? I mean, how else can you help artisans in other countries sell their wares in the states without some of that? Not that I agree with it, but isn't some of it fairly inevitable? I'm definitely open to hearing other possibilities, though.Kurthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06853466897066647127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-53507970361398015362009-06-25T16:45:29.932-07:002009-06-25T16:45:29.932-07:00Big Man said...
Before I started paying attention...Big Man said... <br /><i>Before I started paying attention, I always thought Asians had it "easy" as minorities.</i><br /><br />Thank you for saying that - there had been so many times that racism against Asians have been dismissed by people, I have found that black people either refuse to believe that Asians are also discriminated in "Western" countries or at least find it hard to believe. And then they fall into the trick of whiteness by regurgitating the same stereotypes of Asians that white culture has fed to them. I don't believe it is an intentional malice by black people but they do it without realising because society is so saturated with so many prejudices against Asians that it's hard to see unless you're the one being made into a caricature.<br /><br />Besides Asian Nation by CN Le and Restructure, I can't think of too many other Asian bloggers who focus on issues of racial relations that also include Asians rather than just Latino or Black. The fact that so few even mention Asians that it is a form of erasure in itself. Please refer me to more sites if anyone knows of any other!gooblyglobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09782587968107641808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-16530991339994652602009-06-25T13:18:34.643-07:002009-06-25T13:18:34.643-07:00Reamo, I'm just pointing out that most of the ...Reamo, I'm just pointing out that most of the stuff Amy Tan has written doesn't have round numbers in the titles, and it's all about "the Asian Experience".<br /> Personally I haven't read any of her books, so I couldn't say if they're any good or not. It wasn't meant as a real recommendation.dejamorgananoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-76029708227664058592009-06-25T12:56:00.542-07:002009-06-25T12:56:00.542-07:00Another note about Ten Thousand Villages - it used...Another note about Ten Thousand Villages - it <i>used</i> to be called "Self Help Crafts" - a name that reduced the work artists were doing. Evolution happens. <br /><br />Nice post.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13965259928416432832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-1634495680036424482009-06-25T11:25:58.056-07:002009-06-25T11:25:58.056-07:00I mostly agree about TV, dejamorgana (and Mike) bu...I mostly agree about TV, dejamorgana (and Mike) but i think it's worthwhile to read commercials and shows and such as indicators of how racism works, and of what's still in people's heads, which is what advertisers reach out to.<br /><br />Read Amy Tan, you say? Why, just cuz she's Asian American? She's a "new Orientalist." I hate the tripe she writes and gets rich from:<br /><br />http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_7013/is_41/ai_n31297698/?tag=content;col1<br /><br />Re finding three big round numbers and calling it a trend being a stretch, yeah maybe, but i read it in the post as more of a possibility, which it does seem like to me, since it fits the monolith-making mindset that macon's calling out. but yeah, I'd need a higher number of big round numbers to be convinced.Reamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-1398491112072147412009-06-25T11:00:55.968-07:002009-06-25T11:00:55.968-07:00Like Mike said. Turn off your mind control. TV has...Like Mike said. Turn off your mind control. TV has never been, and will never be, good for you. It doesn't matter what color or race you are. TV exists to sell you stuff you don't need and keep you docile and distracted from the world's problems, half of which could be solved if we shut our TVs off , stopped buying unnecessary crap and talked to each other about our issues instead of gossiping about what so-and-so wore to the Academy Awards and how offensive the latest Palm Pre ad was. TV is the perfect mind control device for governments and big business alike.<br /><br />I agree, the Pre ad sounds like yet another white fantasy. Pretty much like 99% of television programming and advertising, then. Shut the damn thing off and read a book instead. You could start with any one of the dozens of books Amy Tan wrote about the experiences of Asian women that didn't have large round numbers in their titles.<br /><br />Seriously, finding three books about Asia with large numbers in their titles and calling them a trend revealing significant Western preconceptions is a bit of a stretch. Unless maybe "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and "A Million Tiny Pieces" are also about Asia. Then I'd call it a trend.dejamorgananoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-12512947095053190482009-06-25T10:37:40.722-07:002009-06-25T10:37:40.722-07:00Kurt, thanks for the info about Ten Thou Villages....Kurt, thanks for the info about Ten Thou Villages. I agree that what they're doing is nice, but I also think they play up at times to (largely white) customer ideas about how to tart up their habitats with foreign-made, handcrafted, psuedo-artisan exotica. There's a racist colonialist frame around that kind of thing, which positions the consumer in a certain privileged and fantasized relation to the makers of the objects d'art. <br /><br />And to the some not seeing racism in all this (including the interesting round number part), yeah, it does happen in other wasy for other reasons, but when it happens in the selling of things supposedly Asian, well then it's a certain way of doing that, right? And it's a racist way. So Amy Tan's character had something to do with 100, so that's why the book has that title. But did it HAVE to be 100, instead of like, 98 or 123? And did that 100 (SECRET?!) have to be in the title? 100 . . . Secret (Mysterious, Alluring, etc.) Senses (as in Sensual, Sexuality, etc.) You can't tell me that isn't an ethnicity-prostituting title.<br /><br />by the way Macon, LOVE the Twain quote, perfect for this post!Reamonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-43376570287012974892009-06-25T10:11:20.953-07:002009-06-25T10:11:20.953-07:00Before I started paying attention, I always though...Before I started paying attention, I always thought Asians had it "easy" as minorities.<br /><br />They got the smart stereotypes and all that. Plus, there was the historic tension between Asians and black people.<br /><br />But, then, I started reading Asian sites and paying attention, and I realized that Asians are getting creamed, regularly. Asian stereotypes are so pervasive and accepted that it's hard for them to generate much support when they call folks out. Black folks deal with a lot of problems because we are viewed as complainers, but it seems like Asian folks can't even get the chance too complain.<br /><br />It's really sad how tv and the internet feed these horrible mindsets.Big Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02510881583909431416noreply@blogger.com