[Natali Ramon]

Nira,

I think it’s wonderful that you aim to teach our students about Chinese values with the intention of making them more open minded human beings.  I think this really helps to combat the non-reciprocal relationship that Professor Rosen talks about in which audiences in the US are not really open to films from China.  In learning more about Asian culture and thinking, I hope that students at our school will be more open to seeing cinema from other countries.  Additionally, in reading your post I also found a new interpretative lens about US culture. You mentioned that in Chinese culture, animals tend to talk on superpowers whereas in the US heroes tend to be human.  I think this difference highlights an observation I have on US values and frames of thinking.  As opposed to other cultures including my parents’ culture from abroad, many other communities tend to be community oriented whereby they act upon the better good of the community or the family.  When I think about the differences with US values and mindsets, I feel like there is a more me-centric individualistic frame of thinking.  I think the use of humans as heroes speaks a lot to this sense of me-centricity.  I wonder how your students interpret the difference of characters in films.   

[Natali Ramon]

 Midori,

What a wonderful idea of tying this post card presentation to students’ families story of their arrival to the US. I really like the component of students introducing a country and or their culture/life style through these post cards.  In my Spanish class, students must have a wealth of knowledge about Spanish speaking countries, but at the same time I also want my students to be exposed to other countries around the world.  Your project is a great jump off point for an assigned I have in mind within the world language department at my school.  I have a great relationship with the Mandarin teacher at my school and a really cool way of bringing Asia into my Spanish classroom as well has bringing the Spanish speaking world into the Mandarin classroom is if we could exchange post cards.  The Mandarin students could tell my Spanish students about regions in the Mandarin speaking world, whereas my students could tell the Mandarin students about a Spanish speaking country.

[Natali Ramon]

Professor Brown’s first part of the lecture helped to cement my understanding of Japan and the power it wields in East Asia. I thought it was particularly interesting that at first Commodore Matthew Perry was portrayed in a demonic way on earlier illustrations, but later on Japan was very open to adopting western styles of government and invasion.  It’s willingness to adopt western techniques, I feel contributed to the level of domination they achieved in East Asia. This dynamic was well captured in Professor Brown’s observation that Japan “culturally left Asia and it united with the West”.  This trend of adopting western styles was emulated in the post cards we saw in class today, and I was fascinated to see how elements of Japanese culture were added.  As a lover of Art Deco, I appreciate being exposed to Japan’s take on “modern” styles. In my class, we focus in the Spanish language and Latin America. One way in which we can draw parallels between how Japan developed dominance by adopting a western style and how some Latin American countries did it is by looking at countries like Argentina and Mexico during the Porfirio Diaz regime.  Argentina is known to be one of the more Europeanized countries in Latin America and a lot of people call Buenos Aires the “Paris of Latin American”. It would be interesting to see why Argentina, much like Japan, was so willing to take on many stylistic aspects from Europe.  Additionally, during the Porfirian regime, Mexico’s elite also adopted a lot of European cultural aspects. Today, there are several architectural structures in Mexico City that look extremely French.  It would be interesting to see how and why Mexico decided to adopt European styles for the sake of “modernity” just like Japan did.    

[Natali Ramon]

Kim,

I hadn’t really thought about the power of post cards in enhancing the tourism and consumer culture of a country but you are totally right! You have also given me an idea to create a lesson plan for my Spanish class in which we examine what message countries in Latin America want to emulate with the post cards they create.  I notice you have an idea for a mini country research project. Wouldn’t it be awesome if we added this to my Latin America countries project for Spanish 1? Lets chat soon!  

[Natali Ramon]

I can’t read Chinese, but I can assume this image shows tourists or a delegation from Africa visiting China.  It is clear that the delegation is visiting China because of the Chinese characters in the background.  Additionally, there seems to be tractors in the background and I assume the purpose of this visit is to show China’s progress and technology. The image shows a lot of colors and the smiling faces of both the visitors and the hosts and this conveys the positivity of China’s interaction with other countries.  I can infer that it also shows China’s inclination to share its ideas and technology with other countries. Since the workers are prominently featured, I can assume this image was created during the Cultural Revolution.

 

[Natali Ramon]

Wen,

I also noticed and appreciate the fact that a lot of the film we saw during this lecture feature the mundane aspects of life in Japan.  There is great value in films like these because it really allows the viewer to intimately get to know what daily life is like in Japan. Very often when films are full of special effects, we can’t really get to know a culture the way it must be on a daily basis.  I really like your idea of drawing parallels with Little Miss Sunshine.  Unlike the big blockbusters, Little Miss Sunshine is much more simple, down to earth, and it provides a more reasonable portrayal of life in the US and its family dynamics.

 

[Natali Ramon]

Jessica,

I agree with your observation that Ozu’s films are very similar to films in Mexico’s golden age.  Immediately as we started to watch clips of Tokyo Story, I felt as if I was watching a Pedro Infante movie.  I started to do some research on films in the Mexican golden age that portrays family dynamics and I found Una familia de Tantas (1948) by Alejandro Galindo.  I have yet to watch it but in reading the synopsis, I read that the film deals with the issues of strict families, the patriarchy and it introduces of the concept of women’s liberation.  Given its time period and place, the film seems to be groundbreaking. Perhaps a great analytical perspective might be to focus on how old family conventions are broken down or challenged.  When I think of this theme, what comes to mind is the scenes from Tokyo Story we saw in which children ignore their grandparents.  That seems to go against the ideas of respecting your elders.

[Natali Ramon]

I was delighted to learn more about Japan’s robust film history. I had attended previous lectures on Japanese films and I was happy to learn more about it, and in this case, go into the intricacies of a golden age film like Tokyo Story.  It was very interesting to see how the culture of Japan was such a significant influence in a lot of the artistic choices made in the production of this film.  For example, the choice to film with a camera that is set 2.5 feet off the group would probably not meld well in a dinner scene in a western country.  It’s also really fascinating to see that the shots taken of Tokyo were very telling of the redevelopment of Japan in the post war period. I was also really appreciative of the insights professor Yasar gave us on the family dynamics presented in the film. If I were to incorporate this film into my classroom, I would probably use it in my unit that deals with family and community.  As I saw the theme of family unfold during the film, I was reminded of Gregory Nava’s film Mi Familia, which also deals with family dynamics.  Additionally, similarly to Tokyo Story, Gregory Nava’s film uses the Los Angeles backdrop as a way of story telling.  Additionally, he recreates Los Angeles at various moments in its history and it reminded me of how Ozu used the shots of Tokyo to show how far Japan had gotten in it’s process of rebuilding.  In my class, I would have my students examine the parallels between how Tokyo Story and Mi Familia both show family relationships as well as change within a city.  

[Natali Ramon]

As I listened to Professor Berry’s lecture on Mao’s Legacy on contemporary Chinese culture, I was most struck by Liao Bingxiong for two reasons.  The first reason I was most surprised by Bingxiong was that he was able to look beyond the atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers and he was able to see that it was the Japanese government and the business people who were truly behind the atrocities committed in the Sino-Japanese War.  Talk about analytical thinking! I don’t think most people have the capacity to think that critically when they are suffering such suffering. Secondly, upon seeing Bingxiong’s work I was reminded of one of Mexico’s most famous illustrators, José Guadalupe Posada. This page shows a lot of his works and it also explains the social commentary of his works:

https://publicdomainreview.org/collections/the-calaveras-of-jose-guadalupe-posada/

Similarly to Bingxiong, Posada used imagery to express his critique of the elite and the “progress” and infrastructure that was brought about with technology in the late 19^th century and the early 20^th century.  I would want my students to examine both Bingxiong’s work and Posada’s work to see the role of images in providing social commentary.  Additionally, it would be worth seeing what parallels existed between China and Mexico.    

[Natali Ramon]

Carissa,

 

The idea that there is a “cultural imbalance” also resonated with me. I think this speaks to how closed minded many Americans can be.  In my opinion, part of the reason Chinese audiences are far more open to US cinema than US viewers are to Chinese cinema is imperialism.  Through a long history of invasion, Americans and white Europeans have long established themselves as the norm and/or the epitome of beauty and sex appeal. After all, a lot of commercial movies sell themselves on the participation of actors that are attractive.  Additionally, I also think English has been established as the unofficial (or maybe even official) language of popular culture that is exported to the world.  I believe not being open to cinema in another language is also a factor that keeps English speaking audiences from being receptive to Chinese cinema.  Chinese companies as expanding their stake by producing a lot of films, however in producing films that have white and English speaking audiences is not really helping to open audiences to films in Chinese and artists of Asian backgrounds. It would be incredibly helpful to see more commercials and previews of Chinese film more often.  At least for me, that would pique my interest in checking out more international film.  I don’t think Chinese films get enough exposure to appeal to a larger audience.  

[Natali Ramon]

As I heard about the way the K-pop industry is structured, I couldn’t help by noticing how comprehensive it is in regards to developing industries “aged-out” K-pop stars can go into as well as its product placement in music videos. Within the pop culture I’ve been exposed to, I don’t think I have ever come across another industry that’s quite this coordinated. In thinking of how I might incorporate K-pop into my curriculum as a Spanish teacher, I immediate thought about the following article that states that Latinos are the second largest fan base for K-pop:

 

http://remezcla.com/features/music/k-pop-latinos/

 

In reading of how K-pop’s reach is reminiscent of the reach the Latin crossover movement had in the early 2000s, I would like for my students to think about how the crossover movement might be similar or different from the Korean hallyu. I would also be interested to know if K-pop has adopted any of the strategies Latin artists used to appeal to English speaking audiences here in the US.  

 

[Natali Ramon]

Today’s presentation by Professor Kim was fascinating, specifically because it allowed me to see the extent of Kim Jong-il personal interest in film.  As a result of the obscurity of North Korea we are not very well acquainted with the leaders in NK or about the life the citizens of this country live. Today’s presentation was eye opening because it allowed me to get to know the leaders of NK through their interest in film and it also allowed me to begin to wrap my mind around the role of film in NK as well as the messages that are being disseminated to its citizens. I thought it was particularly surprising how NK seems to be really closed off to most of the world, but for a time period it was open to outside influences in regards to its film industry. The fact that NK was open to outside influence in the area of film speaks volumes on the importance of cinema in conveying a message and philosophy to citizens.  In thinking of how I might be able to incorporate film from NK in my classroom, I think I would want my students to examine the techniques used to convey a message to the people.  Within the context of my curriculum, I usually have my students create a PSA about beauty for one of our units in AP Spanish. I think it would be fruitful for us to examine how NK films conveyed a message and in that way, gain some strategies my students can use in their own work.

[Natali Ramon]

Kim,

I agree that it would be powerful to analyze how film is used as propaganda.  What is more, as we watched Lazy Pig (1969) and as we learned that NK has a statewide childcare system in which young children were routinely exposed to films with a specific message, I couldn’t help but notice how effective it was of NK to want to influence the very impressionable minds of children. At the same time, I also wonder how the US has used film and media to indoctrinate the children of our nation.  For instance, the following clip produced in 1951 seems to be aimed at US children about the steps they should take in case of an attack by an atomic bomb:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QxVwafUFgY

I would venture to examine what message this video transmits to children about our adversaries at the time.

 

[Natali Ramon]

Carissa,

I totally agree with the idea you just expressed on how our news/media outlets also do its part in making sure Americans continue to feel hate.  A very poignant example is readily accessible when we take a glimpse at Trump’s tweets which are not only divisive but very hateful.  It seems that lately, and largely as a result of Trump’s meeting with Kim Jung-un, some media outlets are beginning to portray NK in a different light. I would be very interested to see how the citizens of NK view the interactions between NK and the US in light of the message they have been given about the atrocities committed by the US. Are they experiencing the same disbelief we are as we see that Trump is “normalizing” relationships with the more tyrannical leaders like Putin and Jung-un? In regards to the stark contrast of the atmosphere of hate and the messages conveyed by films like “Love, Love, My Love”, I wonder if to some degree these films provided some form of escapism to the harsh reality of life in NK.  Similarly, I wonder if in the age of Trump, Americans are also turning to feel-good content to escape the ridiculousness that we hear about every time we watch the news.  

 

[Natali Ramon]

Hello everyone, 

My name is Natalí Ramón and I am a Spanish teacher at Mendez High School in Boyle Heights.  In past years I had been an avid participant in these institutes and I was thrilled to see a new topic was created that I was eligible to participate in. I am looking forward to learning more about Asia this coming week. 

[Author]

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