What I’m Thankful For

I spend a lot of time in this column criticizing what’s out there, but with Thanksgiving upon us, I’d like to list what I’m thankful for in the world of Asian Pacific American film, TV and theater.

I’m thankful for the increase in APA faces as regular characters on prime-time TV shows.

Two examples worth mentioning: Sandra Oh’s consistently strong work in Grey’s Anatomy. This may be the most fully drawn APA character ever to appear on American television, and Oh is up to the challenge displaying everything from humor to pathos, oftentimes in a single episode.

And in a recent episode of Lost, we got to see the backstory of how Jin and Sun (the Korean couple played by Yunjin Kim and Daniel Dae Kim) first met. Eschewing the show’s usual sensationalism, we instead got a tender and moving portrait. The two characters had come dangerously close to becoming stereotypes in early episodes, but are now the romantic heart of the show.

I’m thankful that George Takei (Star Trek’s Captain Sulu) has decided to publicly come out. I have no doubt that George will take on homophobia (represented in such issues as the same-sex marriage debate) using the same activist zeal he has tackled with in other issues (like redress for Japanese American internees). He is already displaying some wicked un-Sulu-esque acting in East West Player’s staging of Equus in Los Angeles.

I’m thankful for some new opportunities for young APA filmmakers. On the heels of Alice Wu’s Sundance fave, Saving Face, fellow Sundance alumni Michael Kang’s debut feature The Motel was recently picked up by Island Pictures and will hopefully hit theaters in 2006. Better Luck Tomorrow director Justin Lin has two films coming out: Disney’s Annapolis in January and the third installment of The Fast and the Furious franchise next summer. Plus up-and-coming filmmakers like Chris Chan Lee (Yellow) and Eric Byler (Charlotte Sometimes) are putting the finishing touches on their sophomore features.

I’m thankful that after eight years, the film version of the best-selling novel Memoirs of a Geisha is finally hitting the screen. Though I do have concerns about this project (see my last column), I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will be both a great and authentic film. This is the first major English-language Hollywood production with an all (or mostly all) Asian cast since 1987’s The Last Emperor. Geisha has a shot at winning some major Oscar gold so let’s all wish it well.

I’m thankful for the APA arts community here in Los Angeles that is making the most interesting APA theater anywhere. Without sounding too much like a shameless plug, I have to say I’m continually inspired by the work done by my associates at Lodestone Theatre Ensemble. But the list of other quality theater groups is amazing: East West Players, Cold Tofu, Teada, OPM, ProperGander, hereandnow, 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors (also based out of San Francisco), Great Leap, The Grateful Crane and others. Check out these groups and support live theater. You won’t be disappointed.

I’m thankful for Raquel Gibson, Playboy’s Miss November 2005, who is hapa (her mother is Filipina). Uh … you may be wondering why she’s on this list. Well, aside from being one of the most beautiful women ever, one of her ambitions is to be on a TV sitcom and since I write about TV — well, you see the connection, right? Plus, you have to love a woman this hot who can speak multiple languages (including Tagalog and some Japanese), who considers herself a nerd, whose favorite movie is The Godfather, and whose idea of a perfect date is “cuddling on a couch while watching a movie.” Did I also mention she’s absolutely gorgeous?

But I’m most thankful this year for the absence of American Idol reject William Hung from our pop culture landscape. Praise the Lord and pass the drumstick!