7|gavin|In the Year 2004|1|3|8|2004|2|17|33|AM|0|0|1|no|yes|open|||no
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All this Asian American history is overwhelming my brain. Today I find out that one of America's greatest entertainers in the early 20th century was Asian.|*||*|I'm thinking 'How the hell did I not know about this?'
I watched a documentary called "The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam" this afternoon. Long Tack Sam was an acrobat/magician vaudeville performer who sold out shows the world over. The greats of his age like George Burns thought he was the best.|*||*|You've got to watch the film to see just how prolific a career Long Tack Sam built for himself, and how complex a life he lived. It's amazing.|*||*|After the movie, I was thinking, you know, it's easy to believe that Asian Americans don't have a rich history of entertainment like the Jews or Blacks, with their well-known comedy acts in the Catskill resorts, or Black-run minstrel shows after the Civil War. But it's like Prof. Hamamoto was saying in last night's q+a. We have a culture as significant as any other, in music, movies, and magical acts. The history of Asian American entertainment runs deep, deeper than we're ever led to believe growing up.|*||*|To that end, the next film I saw today was "Piccadilly" at the Castro Theatre. This was a 1929 film featuring Anna May Wong as Shosho, a Chinese nightclub dancer who wows the crowds with her sultry moves. It was a British film (Anna May had to flee racist Hollywood for Europe to make films) and a silent film.|*||*|Without dialogue, the facial expressions told the story. Anna May's eyes commanded everyone's attention, including mine.|*||*|Tonight's showing featured a live accompaniment composed and performed by Jon Jang. For almost two hours, Jon played the piano without missing a beat. He set the mood and matched the movie's pacing flawlessly. I stood up with the others at the end and applauded. |*||*|After the show, I talked with my friends Simon, Louie and Clarence about the movie. We thought it pretty remarkable that an Asian American actress could land a leading role like that in 1929. Her character was manipulative, using her sensuality to cozy up to the White boss while she left her Asian guy hanging (Hey, my ex-girlfriend could've played this role). Most of all, her character was real, good traits and bad, and therefore timeless.|*||*|I wonder if Anna May Wong could have imagined that in 2004, we're still looking for three-dimensional roles like that. 
Amy Lam|63.194.220.178|||1|3|8|2004|2|45|1|PM|Yeah, what's up with us peeps not knowing our APA history? Maybe because we're too quick to write off Anna May Wong's characters as the exotico-dragon-lady.|*||*|Good to see NAATA bringing films like these and last year's "Flower Drum Song" to the forefront.