All posts by Amok

animal rights, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) blog, blog, diversity, Filipino, humor, movies, race

Emil Guillermo: Why are Filipinos always the punchline? Seeing FX’s “The Comedians” reminded me of a dumb joke in “Anchorman 2.”

We know that Manny Pacquiao can punch.

And that  the champ is nobody’s  punchline.

DSC06620

So why is it that in U.S. pop culture, that’s not true for the rest of us.

Have you noticed? Filipinos are way too often the punchline.

WTF?

It happened again the other night on the FX debut of “The Comedians.” Joshua Gad jokes about joining Billy Crystal in a sitcom. Talking to his agent on the phone, Gad says he wants Latinos to see his work; And blacks; And that other group. You know that group….

The agent then says, “Filipinos?  (beat) They’re terrific.”

The tag doesn’t soften the blow.

Listen to the dialogue here: 150409_001

So we’re mentioned. That’s some consolation prize.  Inclusion? I didn’t see any Filipinos in the cast.

It reminded me how Anchorman 2 had a Filipino dog eating joke that was really offensive. See my take here.

Replace “Filipino” with “Jew” and you know there’d be cries of anti-Semitism. It would be  somewhat mitigated by the fact that the Jews are making the products on screen.

So that’s really the answer isn’t it? We  need to  see more American Filipinos producing and directing projects.

If that were the case,  we can tell our own dog jokes.

CHECK OUT THE NEW HOME FOR THE AMOK COLUMN: www.aaldef.org/blog

LIKE  and FOLLOW us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/emilguillermo.media

And FOLLOW my latest tweets  on  Twitter    http://www.twitter.com/emilamok

 

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) blog, blog, diversity, news, politics, race

Emil Guillermo: Remembering Lu Lingzi, Boston Marathon victim, as the Tsarnaev verdicts are announced; Death Penalty next?

I wrote about Lu Lingzi two years ago when she made the news as a victim of the Boston Marathon bombing.

lulinghzi

Her name came up as the Tsarnaev verdicts were read. She was just one victim, but an Asian American one.

You don’t immigrate to  America  expecting  to meet  your death.

Tsarnaev was guilty on all 30 counts, 17 death penalty eligible.

Can the defense attorney for Tsarnaev find one juror willing to act humanely at this point to save his life?

The real legal struggle is just beginning.

Here’s what I thought two years ago when the case broke. 

My feelings haven’t changed.

Do two years make a difference for you?

 

CHECK OUT THE NEW HOME FOR THE AMOK COLUMN: www.aaldef.org/blog

LIKE  and FOLLOW us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/emilguillermo.media

And FOLLOW my latest tweets  on  Twitter    http://www.twitter.com/emilamok

 

 

 

 

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) blog, blog, diversity, news, politics, race

Emil Guillermo: South Carolina incident shows how video is changing justice. You want justice? Carry your smart phone, have plenty of memory and batteries. Videotape all evil. Your iPhone makes the best iWitness.

Seeing is definitely believing.

The NY Times has obtained this video of a South Carolina cop shooting an unarmed African American, Walter Scott.

It’s yet another reminder how video enabled phones are a necessity when you see injustice, or racism.

Without it, it’s your word against the bad guys, the stalemated justice we’re used to getting.

:21 seconds in and you see what murder passing as justice looks like.

Just within the last few weeks we saw what the absence of video has meant in fighting discrimination in the Ellen Pao case.

We saw what the video meant in exposing NYPD’s Patrick Cherry’s racist tirade.

And now this.

Make sure you carry your smart phone if you want justice in America.

Scott was stopped for a broken tail-light in North Charleston, South Carolina on Saturday.

The video forced authorities to act quickly.  That’s how strong the video is.

You have to wonder, how did we have justice before video?

I’ve been stopped for a tail light before. I’ve often felt the fear of being non-white in a gun crazy white community.

North Charleston is an example of what happens more often than we think. But only because we have a  video.

Nothing like having instant replay on life itself.

CHECK OUT THE NEW HOME FOR THE AMOK COLUMN: www.aaldef.org/blog

LIKE  and FOLLOW us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/emilguillermo.media

And FOLLOW my latest tweets  on  Twitter    http://www.twitter.com/emilamok

blog, boxing, diversity, Filipino

Emil Guillermo: The Easter Bunny isn’t real, but that Pacquiao/Mayweather fight sure looks real now…

Especially at  $89.95 for the Pay-Per-View, according to reports.

And you bring your own lumpia.

pacmaytic

I’ve paid anywhere from $59-69 per fight.  But $89.95?

Fight of the Century?  It’s a young century.

With Showtime/Mayweather and HBO/Pacquaio, everyone wants to be paid.

At $89.95  so you can do your boxing karaoke in the privacy of your living, the fight is a relative bargain. That is, invite all your relatives and ask them to pitch in a few bucks.

May be the way to go, considering that tickets from brokers are going for around $4500  in the Baguio nosebleed sections.

But on the floor, people are asking for $20,000 and up.

I saw one site asking for $53,600!

Tuition alone at Harvard is $43,938.

Clearly, you’ll pay more for the School of Hard Knocks.

 

CHECK OUT THE NEW HOME FOR THE AMOK COLUMN: www.aaldef.org/blog

LIKE  and FOLLOW us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/emilguillermo.media

And FOLLOW my latest tweets  on  Twitter    http://www.twitter.com/emilamok