"Usually when you see Asian faces on screen, they're there for an Asian American reason. Either they're tourists or kung fu masters or whatever. As an Asian American watching film, that's something I'd like to move away from."
--Justin Lin, The Sundance Kid
AKA Don bonus// Better luck tomorrow
Second Paper Assignment
Before directing The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), Fast & Furious (2009) and Fast Five (2011), Justin Lin directed a smaller budget independent film called Better Luck Tomorrow (2002). In it he challenged familiar stereotypes about Asians being quiet, obedient students who get good grades and over achieve. In “The Sundance Kid,” (2002) an interview with motherjones.com—an independent news organization—Lin explained that “usually when you see Asian faces on screen, they’re for an Asian American reason. Either they’re tourists or kung fu masters or whatever. As an Asian American watching film, that’s something I’d like to move away from.” Some of the “Asian American reasons,” that Lin was talking about were listed by Richard Fung in “Center the Margins” (1991) when he said that “Asians can invoke mystery, humour or danger.”
I think that Lin is saying that film makers need to move away from placing Asians on screen primarily because they can represent an Asian stereotype and start putting Asians on screen for reasons other than them being Asian. The idea behind Lin’s quote is exemplified in Lin’s own film Better Luck Tomorrow by having characters that counter the model minority stereotype and in Spencer Nakasako andSokly Ny
In Better Luck Tomorrow Lin did move away from the stereotypes that he explained in his quote, but as discussed in class, he didn’t entirely avoid them. On the surface his characters are prime examples of the model minority stereotype, but on a deeper level the viewers get to see that these model minorities end up getting involved in all kinds of criminal activity that would directly counter the model minority stereotype. On the other hand, in AKA Don Bonus, the main character Don Bonus is someone who might be—as a cursing, gambling, cheating Cambodian from the projects-- considered more of a “gangster” instead of a model minority. Like Better Luck Tomorrow, AKA Don Bonus also counters a common Asian stereotype (“gangster”) by portraying Bonus as a victim of extremely unfortunate circumstances (having to flee his country because of war, losing his dad because of his sacrifice to give Bonus and his family a chance to live in America, getting robbed, etc.) This portrayal makes the viewer see Bonus—who might otherwise be seen in passing by an outsider as a “gangster”—as instead an individual in a sad and unfortunate situation who can’t help but curse when he feels mad and even cry when he feels sad.
The genres of the two films immensely differ from each other. Better Luck Tomorrow is a fictional narrative that feels like a dramatic and exciting movie with a Hollywood-type feel while AKA Don Bonus is a personal documentary which is filmed entirely by the main character (Don Bonus) on a small 8mm camera with a more anti-slick feel. Better Luck Tomorrow took the most different approach from the other films in our class at delivering its message by being a more entertaining film which could even be watched without thinking about whether or not Asians should be in the film or if the portrayal of the Asians in the film is “negative” or “positive.” AKA Don Bonus however, as discussed in lecture, takes a more serious approach in its message delivery not by having an exciting fictional story, but by filming raw footage of real life and showing Don Bonus’s harsh reality. It doesn’t avoid speaking about the specific races of its characters like Better Luck Tomorrow. It instead directly tackles issues that immigrants face like dealing with biculturalism, racism and even just simply trying to survive in such a hostile environment.
The two films also differed in the subject matter contained in the films. Better Luck Tomorrow is primarily about the boredom of the “perfect” suburban life while AKA Don Bonus is about the struggles of a Cambodian refugee inAmerica
Another way the films differ is in their respective historical stages of Asian American films. According to lecture, Better Luck Tomorrow comes from the fourth and latest stage where basically anything goes and AKA Don Bonus comes from the third stage which was particularly interested in identity politics and defining who you are. In the fourth stage, Lin was able to create something that was unlike much of its predecessors in Asian American film in that it was entertaining. I think Lin showed exactly what he meant in his quote with his film. The characters’ race was important to the story in that they engaged in their illegal activities by abusing the model minority stereotype that was both expected and accepted by the world around them. But unlike AKA Don Bonus and most of the other films that have been seen in this class thus far, race is completely secondary to the primary story about suburban kids being bored with their lives and making risky decisions. This was probably able to happen because of being in the fourth stage of Asian American films where Lin had freedom to create a film of this nature.
AKA Don Bonus went a different route as an earlier third stage film. It was even different from other third stage films in that it had an anti-slick aesthetic which was, according to lecture, reminiscent of first stage Asian American films. Unlike Better Luck Tomorrow, race was a very important factor in this film. Although the characters in both movies are Asian American, Don Bonus has a vastly different experience as a first generation immigrant as opposed to the likely second or later generation Asian Americans from Lin’s film. AKA Don Bonus explores biculturalism on multiple levels which can be seen in Bonus’s bilingualism, the celebrations of New Year and Thanksgiving with both Cambodian food along with turkey, the Cambodian and English music that could be heard, etc. Some examples of racism occasionally emerge in the film like when Bonus is teased by his Asian friends for being Cambodian, when he is targeted in the projects as a victim of damage of property and robbery, and during general moments of racial tension. Again, this is all unlike Better Luck Tomorrow which wasn’t very concerned with race.
Overall, both films dealt with portraying Asians in a way that was vastly opposed to the historically stereotypical representations of Asians in films. In the process both film makers came out with two very different products that manage to deal with a similar problem. Better Luck Tomorrow manages to create a mainstream type film and counter model minority stereotypes and AKA Don Bonus manages to create an insightful look into the life of a young Cambodian refugee and at the same time counter the “Asian gangster” stereotype. As we’ve gone through this class so far it appears that one issue can be interestingly explored in an infinite amount of ways as long as film makers are willing to experiment with new formats.
I think that Lin is saying that film makers need to move away from placing Asians on screen primarily because they can represent an Asian stereotype and start putting Asians on screen for reasons other than them being Asian. The idea behind Lin’s quote is exemplified in Lin’s own film Better Luck Tomorrow by having characters that counter the model minority stereotype and in Spencer Nakasako and
In Better Luck Tomorrow Lin did move away from the stereotypes that he explained in his quote, but as discussed in class, he didn’t entirely avoid them. On the surface his characters are prime examples of the model minority stereotype, but on a deeper level the viewers get to see that these model minorities end up getting involved in all kinds of criminal activity that would directly counter the model minority stereotype. On the other hand, in AKA Don Bonus, the main character Don Bonus is someone who might be—as a cursing, gambling, cheating Cambodian from the projects-- considered more of a “gangster” instead of a model minority. Like Better Luck Tomorrow, AKA Don Bonus also counters a common Asian stereotype (“gangster”) by portraying Bonus as a victim of extremely unfortunate circumstances (having to flee his country because of war, losing his dad because of his sacrifice to give Bonus and his family a chance to live in America, getting robbed, etc.) This portrayal makes the viewer see Bonus—who might otherwise be seen in passing by an outsider as a “gangster”—as instead an individual in a sad and unfortunate situation who can’t help but curse when he feels mad and even cry when he feels sad.
The genres of the two films immensely differ from each other. Better Luck Tomorrow is a fictional narrative that feels like a dramatic and exciting movie with a Hollywood-type feel while AKA Don Bonus is a personal documentary which is filmed entirely by the main character (Don Bonus) on a small 8mm camera with a more anti-slick feel. Better Luck Tomorrow took the most different approach from the other films in our class at delivering its message by being a more entertaining film which could even be watched without thinking about whether or not Asians should be in the film or if the portrayal of the Asians in the film is “negative” or “positive.” AKA Don Bonus however, as discussed in lecture, takes a more serious approach in its message delivery not by having an exciting fictional story, but by filming raw footage of real life and showing Don Bonus’s harsh reality. It doesn’t avoid speaking about the specific races of its characters like Better Luck Tomorrow. It instead directly tackles issues that immigrants face like dealing with biculturalism, racism and even just simply trying to survive in such a hostile environment.
The two films also differed in the subject matter contained in the films. Better Luck Tomorrow is primarily about the boredom of the “perfect” suburban life while AKA Don Bonus is about the struggles of a Cambodian refugee in
Another way the films differ is in their respective historical stages of Asian American films. According to lecture, Better Luck Tomorrow comes from the fourth and latest stage where basically anything goes and AKA Don Bonus comes from the third stage which was particularly interested in identity politics and defining who you are. In the fourth stage, Lin was able to create something that was unlike much of its predecessors in Asian American film in that it was entertaining. I think Lin showed exactly what he meant in his quote with his film. The characters’ race was important to the story in that they engaged in their illegal activities by abusing the model minority stereotype that was both expected and accepted by the world around them. But unlike AKA Don Bonus and most of the other films that have been seen in this class thus far, race is completely secondary to the primary story about suburban kids being bored with their lives and making risky decisions. This was probably able to happen because of being in the fourth stage of Asian American films where Lin had freedom to create a film of this nature.
AKA Don Bonus went a different route as an earlier third stage film. It was even different from other third stage films in that it had an anti-slick aesthetic which was, according to lecture, reminiscent of first stage Asian American films. Unlike Better Luck Tomorrow, race was a very important factor in this film. Although the characters in both movies are Asian American, Don Bonus has a vastly different experience as a first generation immigrant as opposed to the likely second or later generation Asian Americans from Lin’s film. AKA Don Bonus explores biculturalism on multiple levels which can be seen in Bonus’s bilingualism, the celebrations of New Year and Thanksgiving with both Cambodian food along with turkey, the Cambodian and English music that could be heard, etc. Some examples of racism occasionally emerge in the film like when Bonus is teased by his Asian friends for being Cambodian, when he is targeted in the projects as a victim of damage of property and robbery, and during general moments of racial tension. Again, this is all unlike Better Luck Tomorrow which wasn’t very concerned with race.
Overall, both films dealt with portraying Asians in a way that was vastly opposed to the historically stereotypical representations of Asians in films. In the process both film makers came out with two very different products that manage to deal with a similar problem. Better Luck Tomorrow manages to create a mainstream type film and counter model minority stereotypes and AKA Don Bonus manages to create an insightful look into the life of a young Cambodian refugee and at the same time counter the “Asian gangster” stereotype. As we’ve gone through this class so far it appears that one issue can be interestingly explored in an infinite amount of ways as long as film makers are willing to experiment with new formats.
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