Fusion

Asian Film Infusion
By Maria Iida, Special Contributor

Asian themes have always had an indispensable influence on Western cinema. Bruce Lee delivered the phrase “Boards don’t hit back” with a withering stare, kung-fu dynamics soared high as bamboos in “ Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” and the straight-A kids of “Better Luck Tomorrow” just recently made a few figurative kicks against the ever-tenacious stereotypes cast on Asian Americans. Recently, the merging of the East and the West has taken a different turn. [more]

Asian Cinema Greets Hollywood
By Tiffany Lee, Staff Writer

All you movie fans, quick: Which movie is about a videotape that kills you a week after you watch it? If you answered The Ring, then you’re right. But did you know that The Ring is actually a remake of a Japanese film. Ringu began as a novel, was scripted into a TV film, and then was brought to the Japanese big screen. [more]

Double Take: A Closer Look at Transracial Adoptees
By Jaeah Joanna Lee, Special Contributor

Imagine yourself walking down Fifth Avenue. It’s the holiday season and herds of festive shoppers swarm the slightly frosted sidewalks. As you approach F.A.O. Schwartz you catch a glance at a merry family of three coming up on your left: Caucasian parents hand-in-hand with a little Asian girl. As you stand with your arms around your racially homogenous siblings, what crosses your mind? [more]

Stretching the Bounds of Culture
By Larissa Lee, Staff Writer

I grew up in a diverse town where we strived to break cultural barriers. In school, we were always learning about other cultures and in doing so, became educated and respectful of the cultural differences in the world. Nowadays I wonder if I learned it all wrong. [more]

Becoming Biracial
By Genevieve Okada, Special Contributor

Biracial individuals are those who have parents that are of two different races or those who can trace their heritage to two different races. Multiracial individuals are those who can trace their heritage to more than two races. Even when we accept that race is a social construction, this does not mean that we can escape its effects on our social reality. Race manifests itself in our everyday lives in both subtle and obvious ways, no matter if you’re White, Black, Asian, or Latino/a. [more]