Yellow Fever/Yellow Immunity

[greywing]

You probably don't know who Yani Tseng is. But that's ok, because I don't even remember why I know who Yani Tseng is. She does, however, have a few things in common with SNSD: she's an '89er who's claimed a heaping chunk of #1s and just happens to be Asian. She's also the non-face face of the LGPA . . . at least in America

Comments

[koganbot]

There's obviously a huge huge huge prejudice against people with Asian features, though the nature of the prejudice is strange in that it isn't analogous to the hostility a lot of Americans of entirely European descent feel towards blacks and Hispanics. Yet blacks and Hispanics do very well in American entertainment.

Something to note: the most famous golfer in the world (Tiger Woods) is of predominantly Asian heritage but he codes black. Perhaps the most successful breakthrough pop singer of the last couple of years (Bruno Mars) is of part Asian heritage but he codes... not sure how he codes, actually. Hispanic? R&B? Perhaps the most successful breakthrough rapper of the last couple of years (Nicki Minaj) is of part Asian descent but she codes black. The winner of last year's Dancing With The Stars (Hines Ward) is of half-Korean descent, but he codes black. The near-winner - second place by 2 percentage points - of The Voice (Dia Frampton) is of half-Korean descent and... again, not sure how she codes. Most of the audience probably

[greywing]

Yes, I feel that this is how race matters have run as well and replied to JKO above in that same vein. That there are certain stereotypes working against Asian Americans in these pop culture fields and that they might not be easily overcome. It's a built-in prejudice that may be more subconscious (and insidious because of that) than anything else.

Sports is an interesting field because we do have Asian American athletes that we have been proud to lift high, like Kristie Yamaguchi. Or Michelle Wie.who is of Korean descent. There are also foreign athletes that leak into our fields, such as Yao Ming. But these can often be exceptions rather than rules: I remember watching the trailer to "No Look Pass," which follows a young Asian American woman basketball player and her best friends make a remark like, "She's one of the best basketball players I know and she's Asian," as if to imply that Asian and basketball do not go together--they're as big, they're not as strong, they're not as talented, etc

[koganbot]

I cannot say for sure if we've spoken before, this being the Web, where everyone changes names every six minutes. But probably not. Twas Mat (askbask) who brought me to snsd_ffa, twas a Spanish fellow who calls himself anhh and who was interested in my writing because he thinks some of it's "theory" who introduced me to K-pop, twas E.via and 2NE1 who made me fall in love (there's an off-the-wall post where I decide that E.via is the Rolling Stones).

Also (to change subjects), I'm a massive Jane Austen stan. Didn't click the links where male gaze gets discussed, however (such articles usually make me want to throw things), but in reading P&P I get a huge sense of Elizabeth's emotional sensuousness and a sensuousness to her strength of character. So as Darcy is falling in love with her during her visits to Bingley's bungalow (this is suggested by Austen in a very few admiring words of his) I can, with absolute conviction, feel that it's necessary and feel it happening. And none of this takes away from Elizabeth being an agent of desire as well as an

[greywing]

I saw you featured over at Intl Wota, kogan! Unfortunately, our theory heydays here at FFA seem to be behind us, but occasionally we dive into a meaty subject. And you can always hit up AG if you want to get deluged with Jpop. XD

[arbitrary_greay]

I want to reply to comments, but my brain is completely too scattered right now to do anything of the sort.

But just recently I found a treasure trove of stuff about Pink Lady's excursions into America, and the similarities are striking.
Apparently being the biggest selling female record act in the world and having your own variety show on prime time NBC while flying back and forth to the home country for sold-out concerts will result in disbanding a year after said show fails.(and said show subsequently getting mocked by SNL) But at least they broke the Billboard Top 40 at #37!
"In an attempt to expand the scope of their popularity as recording stars, Mie and Kei came to America----twice---- to seek truly international recognition." Sound familiar

[arbitrary_greay]

There is something about certain images and languages that do and don't jibe with an American audience. And a lot of this has to do with how media has interpreted the Asian presence in America--and I'm not sure these are mores that can be easily overcome. But I wonder. For Blacks and Hispanics, both ethnicities had their own music: not American-with-a-twist. Hell American music grew out of Black music. And while the Latin artists have their dance tracks, too, that tends to skew Latin-with-an-American-flavor, as well as how American music has taken some influence from them as well, especially in hip hop with reggaeton

[arbitrary_greay]

In that sense, perhaps the way is for Asians to stake out an aspect of pop music that is "Asian" in nature. It may not be politically incorrect, but neither were Louis Armstrong, Eddie Cantor, and BET is still technically politcally incorrect. But it's about establishing a platform for exposure until Americans grow accustomed to it and begin to assimilate it. The opposite approach, trying to assimilate from the start, not only wipes personality but also means that once something not "American" pops up it throws the entire vibe off. Whereas emphasizing the Asian-ness would aim at changing American culture itself, (a la your Chinese food example) something that would last longer and be less likely to die with the artist

[arbitrary_greay]

After all, the goal is not for everyone to speak without accent,(and how would they determine what the "default" accent is anyways) but for people to not bat an eyelash if someone walks up and speaks with any accent. The only way for that to happen is continued exposure.

[arbitrary_greay]

Ah, I remember the point I forgot before:
Asian cinema and dramas have taken this route, and it's the uniquely Asian pieces that get noticed Someone once pointed out that the real long-lasting Hallyu Wave in Japan is K-dramas, and that the music groups are just a passing fad. Most people in Japan but for certain demographics neither know nor care about Kpop groups, but most all of them know about Winter Sonata and its actors. And famous Asian directors doing films in English usually don't get the same kind of acclaim as their native language counterparts, Ang Lee excepted. Why does music have to follow a different strategy?

[koganbot]

Jeremy Lin. Ongoing story, probably, though maybe just a flash in the pan. I don't have enough basketball smarts to know. But absolutely no one was expecting this. NY Times: "Lin's Success Surprising to Everyone."

[koganbot]

Holy fvck:

Lin scores 38 to lead Knicks over Lakers 92-85
BRIAN MAHONEY
From Associated Press
February 11, 2012 1:08 AM EST
NEW YORK (AP) - Jeremy Lin outplayed Kobe Bryant, ended the mighty Lakers' dominance of the Knicks and then tried to pretend it was just another game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jASZKxSMhcM

[arbitrary_greay]

I recall Yao Ming also having his moment in the sun, with a documentary to his name, but don't remember if he ever had such distinguished moments in his career. Wikipedia doesn't mention any 30+ point games.

[koganbot]

I don't really know basketball anymore, but I think Yao's role was different. But Lin is a very different phenomenon anyway, since I believe Yao was already an established talent before he joined the NBA. Obviously, Lin should have been recognized as a talent, but this Lin's success does seem to come out of nowhere. The entire phenomenon has happened in the last week (and the point totals aren't really it; presumably when Anthony and Stoudemire are back Lin will be dishing the ball off to them a lot, but one reason he'll be able to do so effectively - presumably - is that he himself is a credible scorer, so the defense won't be able to back off him and concentrate on the other guys). Lin isn't just scoring a lot, he's pulling the team together.

[koganbot]

I hope I'm wrong, but there's another potential barrier to SNSD's succeeding in America, one that has nothing to do with attitudes towards Asians: American popular music is awash in what I consider a pseudo-knowingness about sex and relationships, or sex and drugs; anyway, it jabs you pretty much in the ribs with it in 9 out of 10 r&b and hip-hop songs, while portraying itself as sophisticated or tough or some such nonsense. For reasons probably both bad and good, that doesn't play the same way in Korea. HyunA gets to cause an outrage with stuff that'd be considered mild and rather sweet here. I consider it mild and rather sweet, anyway. "Gee" probably wouldn't compute here as music for the 20 to 35 crowd. As I said, I hope I'm wrong about this

[arbitrary_greay]

What happened to Yao Ming anyways?

A couple of years ago there was a kid-to-young-adult market for Jason Derulo and Iyaz and Jay Sean, so I don't say that there's no potential market for SNSD. And if SNSD were to hit with something that sounds like "Genie" or "Gee," which are hardly exotic or incomprehensible but at the same time don't match what's on the U.S. charts, they would own the territory, since we have no one here who sounds like that.

Can you elaborate on that, especially the connection to Derulo et al? For that, did you mean the sound, or just the fan demographic, and why SNSD would be able to capture that?

It'll be tricky. Preexisting SNSD fans are clamoring for harder beats, but in the direction of what's already B-list in America like "Evacuate the Dancefloor,"(To which I always twitch because of Son Dambi's uncanny Cascada impression.) or "DJ Got Us Falling In Love Again." SNSD's Ke$ha affectations were clear in "Run Devil Run," too, and there is no distinct vocal sound to be found on their albums, so I don't know

[arbitrary_greay]

*so I don't know that they themselves are aiming to continue along that

[greywing]

American popular music is awash in what I consider a pseudo-knowingness about sex and relationships, or sex and drugs;

I really like how you phrased that.

For reasons probably both bad and good, that doesn't play the same way in Korea. HyunA gets to cause an outrage with stuff that'd be considered mild and rather sweet here.Because they haven't had their Madonna. XD Which I say only half in jest. As far as I know, Asian countries haven't had the same type of sexual revolution that happened in America. And I won't include Europe in this because they're much more open about and accepting of sex than we are. Americans have a very contentious relationship with sex and sexual expression, partly because that revolution, when it happened, was very divisive. As a result, On one hand, we're inundated with sex through imagery, song, advertisement, even sometimes depressing reality. On the other hand, there's still a force that wants to push all this sexualization under a rug