Asia Pacific Arts

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

This magazine is a treasure trove of articles that are far more pertinent to my practice: Middle School English. I can see all kinds of correlations between what is available and what is of interest to my kids. There is a terrific article on photography in the current issue and there are good materials for provoking thought from my low performing kids. Manga version of Tale of the Genji, now that's something they would go for! And why not? It's classical but possibly appealing because of format.[Edit by="rmansdorf on Aug 10, 11:08:20 PM"]http://www.international.ucla.edu/asia/article.asp?parentid=10674 Great article![/Edit]

[Anonymous]

This is a review/evaluation of the website http://www.asiaarts.ucla.edu

When ever I go on a web site, the first thing that catches my eyes is the sight of it all. I am always a bit shocked by the "racy" pictures on the front page of an Asian website largely because of my traditional upbringing. However, I found this website to be fairly balanced because it covers modern and traditional forms of arts representing the Asian culture. I particularly enjoyed the review of the movie of how the directors try to portray "stupid Asians" which reminds a bit of the movie called "Better Luck Tommorow."

Dave

[Anonymous]

Interview with author Mary Yakari Waters in APA Interviews
I am definately going to check her book, 'The Laws of Evening' from the libruary after reading the interview.
In the interview the author talks about how people like to read novels and stories about people and worlds that are different than theirs. To really get into the lives and thinking of people at different times and places.
That is me with movies and novels. Her life and the time her stories are dealing with seem very interesting.
Melody

[Anonymous]

http://www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=10925
I really like the review/article of the Lotus Steps at UCLA by Chau Nguyen. The author had descriptive details of the performances by the Chinese Cultural Dance Club. He/She described in detail the Chinese clothing, movement, and lighting of the performance. After reading the article I wanted to see the performance myself. I also like how the author included a short description of CCDC and their website. I went to the site and found out I can request CCDC to perform at my school. I will contact them as soon as I get permission from my principal. I think this is a great way to bring the Asian culture to the school.

[clay dube]

Melody's referring to the interview available at:

http://www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=12287

[Anonymous]

I was reading this post and wondered which magazine had the Manga style Tale of Genji. [I have never posted or done chat rooms, so I am a little timid.] I also teach middle school age students. Is it a magazine called Asia Pacific Arts? Can I find old editions? Thanks!

Okay, I visited the website listed in the post and found the article. Now, I can find the book. Thank you for listing the website. [Edit by="bbrown on Nov 4, 8:13:52 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

Cornucopia...... My goodness. I went to check out the article about the China Dance because I teach some in my dance classes. But when I got to that issue, I was quickly distracted (for a very long time) by the article on Mary Yukari Waters. She is an author; she is biracial having lived in Japan for her formative years. Her answers were insightful and may be helpful to some of our students who grew up in other countries. She also tells of how she started in another profession (CPA) before becoming a writer. She talks about different phases of life. It is an article the students may enjoy.

Then I saw the interview about the young lady starring in Bombay Dreams on Broadway. I saw this musical in London twice. It is fabulous and I hope that a road company will be coming to LA soon. I used the music for our dance concert last year. LA is slow to pick up the Indian explosion that is happening in so many cities across the world. A song from the show, Shakalaka Baby, won the MTV international video award last year. Check it out if you can.

Wow, I like this zine.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for this information. I have passed this information on
to the Literacy Coach at our school. She thinks this will be a
perfect way to initiate thestudy of Asian Poetry by precipitating
students to see things first hand.[Edit by="pdobkin on Jan 24, 6:31:48 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

I was reading articles pertaining to the current crises of the tsunami, and came across an article titled "The Japanese Have a Word for It." @http://www.international.ucla.edu/asia/article.asp?parentid=19733

The suject is the Japanese response to the tsunami crises. Japan has donated more money and aid to the relief than any other asian nation. The article also touched upon the stereotype that Japan is reluctant to help in international affairs, citing the 1991 Gulf war in which Japan was accused of not participating with military aid.

I found the article interesting because it brought up stereotypes and evidence to show that these are merely unfair perceptions of a very generous and caring nation.

[Anonymous]

With the passing of Eun-Ju Lee one has to question the role of women and how the mainstream ideology creates tension in the life of a talented actress who took her own life.

In the Memoriam of Eun-Ju Lee, Jennifer Flynn mentions that "However, while actors are seldom censored for portryain violent or sexually explicit characters, many actresses has found her reputation damaged for playing characters whose morals don't match the mainstream standard."

I wonder how much censoring Lee received while alive. Flynn continues by stating, "Criticism is especilly for female 'talent' who take sexually explicit roles or appear in nude or semi-nude phot shoots, whether in an attempt to hodl onto fleeting celebrity or out of real artistic concern."

It makes me feel concerned for women whose reputations have been ruined based on the films that they have made. My question is it only their reputations or are a part of these actresses like Lee ruined as well?

The article continues to say that Lee's reputation remained intact, but it's hard to believe the author would end the last paragraph on that note when the Lee was obviously distraught over some aspect in her life. So distraught that she ended it.

http://www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=21559

[Edit by="ldriscoll on Mar 16, 6:11:58 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

Asian Designers Infiltate High End Fashion

http://www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=21451

With the attitude of move over Ralph, Donna, and Calvin because young Asian designers are in the house and change is coming-- this article leaps into a history of fashion and how four young Asian designers carried away the runway.

Chinese designer Peter Som believe that when he was growing up his parents placed a great deal of pressure on him to become a doctor or a lawyer. The next generation is more open-minded and more freedom in pursuing career dreams.

I think what is wonderful about this article is that it not only describes the East meets West feeling in fashion, but that the East meets West fusion can be found in music, food, and now clothing. I think this is an extension of a global society that is neatly tied to a give and take type of society where ideas are merged beyond lines of geographic locations.

[Anonymous]

I'm having a little trouble understanding your criticism of my article, but I would like to respond.

First, there is in fact a difference in public perception in Korea between what is commonly termed "talent" who have broad crossover appeal and appear in multiple forms of entertainment and actresses. Some of these women have been sucessfully able to parlay sexually provacative material into popularity, but for others it has been a disaster. There is particular censor of nude photos, but sexually charged music vidoes and acting parts also expose talent to criticism from society.
However, there is very little evidence that Lee Eun-ju's public reputation suffered much from her taking roles in provocative movies. The public perception of her was largely comiserate with being a "serious" actress, with real artistic value attatched to her performances. The criticism was largely in her head. Lee Eun-ju's reputation was not ruined, and she had been continuing to find work precisely because she had earned credibility as an actress (which ties into my commentary on how women in Korean media have to carefully navigate in order to both comply with social norms dictating conservative "Confucian" sexual mores and seek ways to stay in the public eye that frequently exploit their sexuallity)
The final paragraph is NOT meant to contradict the earlier part of the article. Instead, it is my contention that while she seems indeed to have felt guilt and aprehension over her role, this was symptomatic and not causative. Mental illness is a serious problem, and there is ample evidence that Lee Eun-ju was suffering from clinical depression, which was left largely untreated. By assigning a quick and easy "cultural explanation" (ie Lee committed suicide because she couldn't live with herself after taking a sexually explicit role that offended "confucian" propriety) we will fail to understand both the cultural meanings of sexuality in Korean media AND the tragic end to Lee Eun-ju.
Finally, please note that my name is spelled with an "i" not a "y" Flinn, not "Flynn"

[Anonymous]

Your article caught my eye because I felt that
the loss of Eun-Ju Lee was a tragedy.

My comments were not meant to offend or attack you.

I became concerned why someone so young and
talented would take their own life. I guess with any
sort of mental illness or disorder no one really
understands why.

Maybe I was hoping that your article would not
only have covered the loss of an individual, but
also included more details as to what you believe
caused Eun-Ju Lee to take her own life.

[Anonymous]

There's been plenty of discussion in the Korean press, the most popular of which were
* debts her mother and brother had incurred
* discomfort with the sexually provacative nature of her last role
because her suicide notes are not public, both of these (along with conspiracy theories about her being murdered, etc.) are pure speculation. What we *do* know for sure is that she had visited a hospital and been diagnosed with clinical depression, but did not keep follow up appointments or continue to recieve help. Do I think that it's possible that either of the aforementioned scenarios could have played a role in her decision to kill herself? Of course. So could any number of other incidents and happenings that we have no idea about. And ultimately, they are NOT causative. The illness was ultimate cause, and anything she may or may not have expressed was symptomatic.
Depression is a real and terrifying illness, frequently with bio-chemical sources. There are treatments for it, both in terms of counseling and medication. However, the Korean medical system is ill-equipped to deal with patients who need mental health treatment (a particularly horrifying example is the nepalese woman who ended up in a psychiatric treatment fascility because doctors assumed she was mentally ill when she didn't respond to their questions in Korean). And, like most countries, there's a very negative image attatched to people who do seek treatment. This is what I believe is the most real and the most knowable reason for her decision.

[Anonymous]

Just had an opportunity to visit the magazine's website and was quite impressed by its design. One article that caught my attention was how they're using cellphones to read novels in Japan. That was a shocker because I know cell phones are very popular in this country as well... Just can't imagine anyone reading anything even remotely associated with literature. We're lucky the English language isn't deteriorating as we "chat", or every other adult in the country learns how to use the chatting lingo.

I will keep visiting the site and see if I can find resources to present to my language arts students to prove that one can find the unexpected by "reading" information available on the Internet. It's also time we look beyond what exists in our country. =:O

[Author]

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