DISGRASIAN™

Yo, Is This Racist? Podcast f/t DISGRASIAN Day 4: Was The HBO ‘Girls’ Controversy About Racism Or Sexism?

Happy Thursday! Sick of me talking yet? I hope not, because this is my favorite of the Yo, Is This Racist? podcasts I’ve had the pleasure to participate in so far.

The cast of HBO’s ‘Girls’

In this one, host Andrew Ti and I talk about HBO’s GIRLS, which got a lot of attention in its first season for the show’s lack of diversity. Was it fair? Or were people just piling on because the show was created by a woman? Have a listen:

The post I wrote last year about people of color finally appearing on GIRLS can be found here, and the one about women critiquing women is here.

[Yo, Is This Racist? podcast]

Filed under: Andrew Ti, Comedy Central, Girls Show, HBO, HBO Girls, HBO Girls Lack of Diversity, HBO's Girls, Judd Apatow, Kroll Show, Lena Dunham, New York Girls, TV, TV Criticism, Woman Hate, Women in TV, Women Showrunners, Yo Is This Racist?

Sex And The City 2: Shameful Or Spectacular?

Look, guys! It’s a photo from the Tokyo premiere of Sex and the City 2!

Oh YOU. Don’t hate. (HA! Look who’s talking!)

I’m going to say this once even though I know that many of you won’t believe me, many more will scoff, and even more will ridicule me for it:

THE MOVIE IS NOT THAT BAD.

I saw it last Thursday, fully convinced it was going to be a stinker–likely for the same reasons as you: Your best friend walked out of the theater grousing about what a drop-kick to feminism this flick is (by the way, should we really be looking to movies that contain bedazzled logos for feminist benchmarks?). The 16% Rotten Tomatoes rating is simply… pathetic. The “I Am Woman” karaoke scene is worse than it sounds (in fact, every musical number is worth a cringe). Someone told you about the burqa escape scene (sadly, true) and multiple appearances/mentions of camels/magic carpets (also true).

Or you saw the first movie, which was downright abysmal.

But by golly, I’ll stand behind my statement. SATC2 is fun, familiar, and a worthwhile way to spend a few evening hours, especially for a die-hard fan that’s willing to watch the PG-macheted, syndicated reruns on TBS every night while ordering dinner (or owns an SJP fragrance). That, my friends, is who I am. Jen is like, my full-on bestie, and even she has only just begun to understand the extend of my SATC nerd-dom. I’m like a Trekkie, but for Sex (or as Jen’s best mate calls us, “sluts!”)

So if you are like me, you love the HBO series unconditionally–despite Miranda Continue reading Sex And The City 2: Shameful Or Spectacular?

Filed under: Aidan Shaw, Alexandra Fong, Amazian Jr., Burqas, Carrie Bradshaw, HBO, Neuroses, Nonsense, Not So Bad, Romps, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sex and The City, Sex and the City 2, Sex and the City Movie Sequel, SJP Fragrances, Sluts, Taking a Hating Break, Trekkies

BABEWATCH: Lucia Micarelli Of HBO’s Treme

Name: Lucia Micarelli

Hails from: NYC

Ethnicity: Korean and Italian

Occupation: Classically-trained violinist and cast member of HBO’s Treme

The Wire‘s David Simon has a new show debuting in April. It’s set in post-Katrina New Orleans and follows the lives of a group of musicians and other locals. The lovely Lucia Micarelli, who’s toured with Every-Hardass-Asian-Mom’s-Musical-Crush Josh Groban, will play “Annie,” a street musician (see below).

Continue reading BABEWATCH: Lucia Micarelli Of HBO’s Treme

Filed under: Classical Musicians, Classical Training, Hardass Asian Parents' Wet Dreams, HBO, HBO Treme, Hot Asian Ladies, Josh Groban, Lucia Micarelli, Mixed People, New Orleans, NOLA, The Wire, Violinists

BABEWATCH: Sonja Sohn “reWIRED”

Name: Sonja Sohn

Hails from: Virginia

Occupation: Actress and activist

Why She’s a Babe: As Detective Kima Greggs on the best television show of all time, The Wire, Sonja proved that she could drink, smoke, fuck, and fuck up her relationships right alongside the big boys. And now the Blasian former slam poet–who goes by her Korean American mother’s maiden name because her father didn’t approve of her career choice–is turning her experiences from the show and from filming in the bleakest neighborhoods of Baltimore into a nonprofit called “reWIRED For Change,” a life-skills, violence prevention, and self-esteem-building program targeting at-risk youth, ages 14-24.  This along with The Wire being taught as a course at Harvard next year makes it almost seem like the show never died, went to TV heaven, and left me canceling HBO, watching all five seasons on DVD over and over like a fiend, and in a state of permanent mourning.

Well, almost.

[Boston Globe: 'The Wire' sparks a connection]

[reWIRED For Change]

Source

Filed under: Baltimore, Blasians, Groundbreaking Television, HBO, I Miss The Wire, Korean-Americans, Mixed People, One Hour Dramas, Rewired for Change, sonja sohn, The Wire, The Wire Goes to Harvard

What’s To Like?

Kenneth Branagh’s take on Shakespeare’s As You Like It, which is set in 19th Century Japan (but, as far as my research reveals, features no prominent Asian characters), airs for the first time in the US tonight on HBO.

I’ve tried for months to make some sense of this retahded new adaptasian– Is there any clever significance at all to the Japanese setting? Are there actually any Japanese people in it? Okay, are there any Japanese people that aren’t in the background? Does Branagh just do these kinds of things to piss me off? And the answers are: not really, not so much, mmmno, possibly yes.

How do I like it? Preferably on mute. Or “off.”

Source

Filed under: As You Like It, HBO, I Like it Off, It's Japan But I See No Yellow People, Kenneth Branagh, Lame Shakespeare Adaptasians, When People Run Out of Ideas

Yoko Is an Archetype

Thanks to my friend Claire, I finally took a gander at the new HBO comedy Flight of the Conchords. Despite the hype, the comparisons to Tenacious D (whom I loathe and they are nothing like), and the almost-nauseating, indie-rawk preciousness of the show in look and feel, Flight of the Conchords RULES. It is hilarious, sweet, and absurdist–kind of like the original Office. Last night’s episode was called “Yoko,” and it’s about a girl who–what else?–almost breaks up the band:

Go to HBO.com to view the full episode.

Filed under: Flight of the Conchords, Funny Men, HBO, Indie Rock, Yoko Ono