Curriculum Vitae of Miguel B. Llora,and various other topics

Asian Studies

Introduction

My goal is to deepen my understanding of the ways in which migration, race, racial discrimination, and resistance to racial discrimination, in relation to the Asian American communities, have shaped and continue to shape social thought as well as institutions in the United States. Understanding the past as well as contemporary issues that challenged and continue to shape Asian American communities begins with knowing that these issues are intrinsically linked to the phenomenon of migration and settlement. Finally, I wish to develop a solid knowledge base with which to examine how all these issues influence, inform, and transition America and Asian Americans into the 21st century. In an effort to understand these dynamic, I will need to explore four independent but inter-related themes: migration and labor, racism and resistance, identity and community, as well as migration and globalization. An interdisciplinary perspective informed the selection of readings into this pool that includes disciplines such as literature, film studies, anthropology, history, and cultural studies to examine the experiences of Asian Americans living and contributing to the mosaic that is the United States. In this examination, I examine the colonial projects of the United States and other colonial powers involved in Asia and the resultant Asian Diasporas of the 19th century. We will look at issues of race, and the anti-Asian movements in the US. This examination also deals with the emergence of the Asian American movement during the 1960s. My aim is to understand the Asian American experiences from the mid-twentieth century onward to issues such as the refugee narrative. The questions that intrigue me are both general and specific: Who are Asian Americans? Why do Asian Americans as well as Asian American Studies matter? What is the past, present, and future of Asian America? Delving into disparate but interrelated issues that confront Asian Americans based on a solid foundation of fact and then moving into analysis will allow me to achieve my goal and gain valuable expertise in this essential area of study.

Publications 2009

Llora, Miguel. Communities in Transition: Filipino Americans in San Diego and the Imperial Valley. Saarbrücken: VDM Verlag, 2009.

This work involves the Filipino American communities of San Diego and Imperial Valley as case studies to examine salient cohesiveness. Within these two spaces, I consider how home bound linguistic, ethnic, regional loyalties, and values acted and continue to act as a barriers to long term sustained unity. With good reason, previous studies that examined the Filipino American communities limited themselves to either urban spaces or rural spaces, never both. Filipino American communities of San Diego County and the Imperial Valley region are juxtaposed in an effort to compare and contrast current urban and rural spaces. This approach is important as it treats each space as discrete yet both spaces are also seen vis-a-vis each other in the context of a larger space. The book concludes with the finding that despite the lack of unity individuals, sub-groups, and in some cases the community at-large continue to make significant contributions to the health, welfare, and education of San Diego and Imperial County.

Courses Taught

2007 FALL: Lecturer Asian Studies 310 - Contemporary Issues in Asian American Communities
Department of Asian Studies, San Diego State University

2007 SPRING : Lecturer Asian Studies 310 - Diasporan Communities of the Asia Pacific
Department of Asian Studies, San Diego State University

2006 FALL: Lecturer Asian Studies 310 - Diasporan Communities of the Asia Pacific
Department of Asian Studies, San Diego State University

Reflections on Asians in America


	Race, Rights, and the Asian American Experience by Angelo N. Ancheta: Ancheta does not pull any punches. This is a serious book and it deals with serious issues. Race, Rights and the Asian American Experience is defined by its strong views and lucidity. Ancheta offers a sketch of the history of discrimination against Asian Americans, this writer suggests though that for a more robust narrative the reader would have to turn to the likes of Ronald Takaki and tackle something in the area of Stranger's From a Different Shore. Ancheta moves to outline what he defines as a legal subordination of Asian Americans. Deftly articulating the insidious impact of nativism on race relations and the production of citizenship. Ancheta leaves no one out as he takes aim at the very Constitution itself outlining that it "can... restrict the scope of anti-discrimination laws." Ancheta argues that all these so called anti-discrimination laws do not consider the inherent racial bias contained therein. Ancheta sees race as a dynamic, social construction as opposed to something intrinsic or natural. Moreover, Ancheta points to the shifts in the demographic landscape as perhaps the single most significant force responsible for problematizing the black-white bifurcation. As a case in point, in Ho v. San Francisco "model minority" is a handicap to those defined as such. In perhaps the most telling of cases in United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind (1923), Ancheta glosses over it but he does not miss the significance of the cases. Ancheta posits that we have come far since the 1790 Nationality Act that allowed only "Free White" aliens to be admitted to U.S. Citizenship yet more work has to be done. Even well the turn of the century, in Ozawa v. United States (1922) and in United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind (1923), Japanese Americans as well as Asian Indians both failed in their push to be classified as white so that they could obtain citizenship. Since only whites could become citizens, there was a race to prove that one was "white." Ancheta writes: "In United States v. Thind, the Supreme Court ruled that Asian Indians were barred from naturalization, even though scientific evidence at the time indicated that Indians belonged to the Caucasian race. The popular conception of Caucasian, the Court noted, clearly excluded Indians: "It is a matter of familiar observation and knowledge that the physical group characteristics of the Hindus renders them readily distinguishable from the various persons in this country commonly recognized as white." The Court also indicated that the racial bar applied to other Asians as well: "There is much in the origin and historic development of the statute to suggest that no Asiatic whatever was included"" (24). Feeling that Ancheta was going to take this further, I was disappointed in that it seems clearer than ever that the rulings were devoid of any real basis in law and fact but rather relied on "familiar observation and knowledge" as if some `common-sense' hegemony ruled over such things as objective science and the law. It is argued by some critics that Ancheta ignores a wider global perspective. I argue that despite the very international scope of the book, globalization and such issues is not within the thesis or framework of the book. Ancheta should be commended for his groundbreaking piece.
	Strangers from a Different Shore : A History of Asian Americans by Ronald Takaki: What was useful to me as a new scholar in the area of migration studies is that in Strangers from a Different Shore, Takaki's makes extensive use of numbers - mixed in with a plethora of anecdote. Once again, we are beset with the notion that there are statistics and such. What was really missing, at least for me, was the framing of the Asian American experience (of which Takaki is somewhat self-reflective but contradictory here - since there really is no homogenous `Asian American' experience per se) within the framework of world migration. As much as the anecdotes and references to numbers are concerned they do have explanatory powers but then both are not really examined against hard core migration theory - so in some places the book fails as history. Nonetheless, Takaki's narrative of first generation immigrants is compelling and very accessible and prompts us to ask some fairly fundamental questions. Takaki does move us to ask the very fundamental questions about what it is to be American. He uses a variety of sources - much of which, as indicated above - are problematically anecdotal. Nonetheless, Takaki paints a picture that is in many places lucid. Takaki also provide an explanation for the landscape of modern day demographics and gives the reader a broad base to work with to understand the modern day ethnic dynamic in America. Takaki is far-reaching use of the immigrants own voice. However, the question we are faced with is this `really' reflective of the Asian American voice or does Takaki's examination have an agenda - not that that is bad or wrong per se, it just has to be recognized. I was somewhat disenchanted that Takaki did not provide more detail on the Thai and Hmong Americans. Takaki's examination of the Thai examination was noted only relation to that of the Vietnamese experience and it was certainly not very flattering either way. Also, if Takaki is completely accurate about the Asian Indian experience does this mean that most Asian Indian immigrants to the US are from the Punjab - or at least at the time that Takaki is focusing on? On the other hand, examining anything from a regional studies perspective is always tricky as there are criteria for inclusion and exclusion. What is it really to be Asian American? Where does Asia `really' start and end? Is Takaki `really' focusing on East Asia when he writes extensively about the American Chinese and American Japanese experience? How is the rest of Asia `really' treated? Who defines `Southeast Asia'? Where Takaki sometimes falls short, at least for me, is how he defines what. It is not entirely crucial, per se - just that it would be more helpful to see where and how he came up with some of his categories. Although Takaki does provide extensive detail in relation to particular `Asian American' groups, in a way I still have mixed feelings about how he divided the book into sections then focused on those particular `Asian American' groupings. You would not think by reading this but I do recommend the book highly if only for its extensive scope.
	The Chinese in America: A Narrative History by Iris Chang: Iris Chang, in "The Chinese in America: A Narrative History" articulates the Chinese immigrant experience and identity over historic time. According to Chang, the real push/pull began when "In 1868, China and the U.S. government signed the Burlingame Treaty. In exchange for "most favored nation" status in trade, China agreed to recognize the "inherent and inalienable right of man to change his home and allegiance and also mutual advantage of free migration and emigration of their citizens and subjects respectively from one country to the other for purposes of curiosity or trade or as permanent residents"" (Chang 57). In this narrative, she writes about how Chinese immigrants took the risk of moving to a new and alien land only to realize that they had been duped. Racist laws were enacted and played themselves out by next door neighbors who ultimately suspected then of nativist tendencies and mixed loyalties. In the 150-year historic timeline that Chang writes about, we begin with the realities in Qing dynasty China and a government that nearly bankrupted the nation prompting the Chinese to desperately seek refuge in what they called "Gam Saan." According to Chang, the Chinese immigration falls into three waves: those who came here to be laborers during the days of the California gold rush and the building of the transcontinental railroad, those who came to escape the 1949 communist takeover, and those who came in the 1980s and 1990s as relations between China and the U.S. improved. Over 100,000 Chinese came to work as placer miners during the California rush of 1849. This first rush ended in 1882 with the Chinese Exclusion Act when "[Horace] Page's bill passed both houses of Congress. This time, President Arthur, doubtless fully sensitive to the response after his previous veto, did not oppose it. On May 6, 1882, he signed into law the Chinese Exclusion Act. Thus was enacted, as one scholar has put it, "one of the most infamous and tragic statues in American history," one that would "frame the immigration debate in the years that followed and [result in] greater and greater restrictions on foreigners seeking refuge and freedom in the United States"' (Chang 132). Along the same lines, according to Chang, the Chinese have forever been marked, stereotyped, and attacked but also that the signifier shifts. Chang also explores the current triple-bind that is the American-born Chinese or the "ABC" experience: to excel, to become white, and to embrace their ethnic heritage, in all this time dealing with a dominant white majority that shifts the signifier that is the Chinese American. Chang writes "Almost overnight, the attack on Pearl Harbor transformed the American image of China and Japan - and redistributed stereotypes for both Chinese and Japanese Americans. [...] Some Chinese Americans saw a silver lining in this shift of racial antipathy and used the newly favorable Chinese image to bring about the repeal of the exclusion laws. After Pearl Harbor, several influential Americans, both ethnic Chinese and Caucasian, lobbied to overturn the ban on Chinese immigration that had been enacted back in 1882 (Chang 222-5). Like all books that are based on oral histories the individual story is taken to be representative of a much larger story. In this light, the book is no different from Jung Chang's "Wild Swans." In her defense, I found that the story of the Qing destruction and the internal turmoil that constantly plagues China, which serves as a push factor to move, which Chang stretches over 150 years, to be very useful to get a sense of the scale of the suffering in China. Unlike Ronald Takaki, Chang drops the ball and leaves out the development of the Chinese immigrant in key locations like Hawaii - which was really seminal in the entire migration process. Chang also explores the anti-Chinese hysteria, starting with the race riots in Cleveland during the placer mining era all the way to the espionage witchhunt of the 1990s all really helpful in getting a sense of the Chinese American experience. Chang spends a considerable time on the case of Wen Ho Lee, the Chinese American researcher who worked at Los Alamos. Lee was accused of passing nuclear technology information to Chinese government on inconclusive evidence. Chang suggests that perhaps education and a greater sense of the voice will help to alleviate racism - perhaps there is a lesson in there for all of us.
	Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston: Maxine Hong Kingston's book "The Woman Warrior" is really written on the premise that it is a personal narrative. That the book is a personal narrative is a double edged sword. The narrative style is perspectival which is both it's greatest strength and it's most glaring weakness. The underbelly of the book is that it is articulated as "Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts." The book then takes on a "fantastic" tone. Despite the ghosts representing anything "Other" than Chinese, she relates particularly to the females of her ethnic circle and the personal suffering in their lives, in a male-centered society in China and beyond. Hong Kingston works on the premise of "reconstruction" and sense of myth making. How close are these impressions reflective of authentic Chinese lore? How accurately are her portrayals? Hong Kingston's work is based mostly on memory and imagination which lends itself to personal interpretation. How much of this work is studied? Can it be seen as representative? Hong Kingston style does lend itself to elements that are vivid and alive and the links to the clan are strong. However, based on its personal angle the book cannot be seen to be representative of "the" Chinese American experience. I am sure Hong Kingston would agree. It would be safe to view this, Maxine Hong Kingston's magnum opus, as "talking stories" of development, coming of age, and growth. The Warrior Woman is the subaltern come alive and a triumph which gives voice and a sense of liberation on many levels. Just which levels those are depends on the read, I guess.
	America Is in the Heart: A Personal History by Carlos Bulosan: Writing a review of Carlos Bulosan's AMERICA IS IN THE HEART is a deceptively difficult thing to do. What gives? It is an easy read, very straightforward, and well articulated. On the surface, the ARCHIVE (in the Foucault sense) point to a death by a broken heart. However, closer examination points to a death brought on by the collective affliction, deprivation, and maltreatment since his arrival in the early 30s - not to mention the bouts of excessive drinking and violence. The book, moreover, leans toward a united effort to combat global fascism; but this poignant autobiography is really a testimony to those years of struggle against racism and violence. An autobiography in four parts, Bulosan takes us back (literally and figuratively) to his roots in Binalonan, Pangasinan. Bulosan is keen to intimate his adolescent years were his family barely survived on four hectares of land (which they eventually lost to the moneylender and the absentee landlords) and the efforts of the DYNAMIC LITTLE PEASANT WOMAN. In the end, things just got SO BAD that the men (most barely boys) in the clan eventually opted for the promise of jobs and such in America. This begs the question (and often overlooked by scholars) that the suffering really started at home. His habitus was so bad, it seems, that despite the ravages he (and his direct kin as well as kababayans) experienced, they elected to remain in the US. That seems to be the common plight of most immigrants to the US - and I say this guardedly. At this point, I would like to juxtapose the optimism and the rage that formed the collective consciousness of Carlos Bulosan and his inability to reconcile the contradiction. AMERICA IS ALSO THE NAMELESS FOREIGNER, THE HOMELESS REFUGEE, THE HUNGRY BOY BEGGING FOR A JOB AND THE BLACK BODY DANGLING ON A TREE. AMERICA IS THE ILLITERATE IMMIGRANT WHO IS ASHAMED THAT THE WORLD OF BOOKS AND THE INTELLECTUAL OPPORTUNITIES IS CLOSED TO HIM. WE ARE ALL THAT NAMELESS FOREIGNER, THE HOMELESS REFUGEE, THAT HUNGRY BOY, THAT ILLITERATE IMMIGRANT AND THAT LYNCHED BLACK BODY. ALL OF US, FROM THE FIRST ADAMS TO THE LAST FILIPINO, NATIVE BORN OR ALIEN, EDUCATED OR ILLITERATE. WE ARE AMERICA! Carlos Bulosan, excerpt from AMERICA IS IN THE HEART. Almost echoing the angst of Richard Wright, Bulosan and his proletarian experience is translated quickly to a racism tour-de-force. It cuts right into the heart of his critique. Despite being laced with communist verbiage, the autobiography is a critique against the savagery of prejudice. The subaltern has spoken. We simply need to take heed. One of the most compelling or fascinating issues brought up in AMERICA IS IN THE HEART is the issue of gender discrimination. The laws prohibiting marriage to white women by so-called Mongolian (and later changed to include Malay) was to exacerbate the racist problems. What is the REAL impact on the psyche of a law such as this? What are the long-term effects of ignorant eugenic laws such as these? Who knows? Despite the clarity of the writing, it would seem that the book was written in good faith but it certainly fumbles from a lack of sophistication (which does not pose a problem for me). I don't think Bulosan meant this work to be representative of the entire Filipino-American experience but it certainly suffers an editorial/historical problem. Bulosan certainly edits his experience. Punctuated with a sense of disgust for the human experience it makes me feel that he lacks pathos. In terms of the veracity of the entire book, I have no problem believing the accuracy of the experience but history is already removed one step to us via the writer and one more step removed again by the writer to his actual experience. We may never get to the REAL truth and the REAL extent of the violence. However, if but one experience of violence against a Filipino AS SUCH, or a denial of lodging to a Filipino AS SUCH (or any group for that matter) is accurate then an injustice has occurred. We as a body politic should take note. AMERICA IS IN THE HEART is therefore a book that is also a call for collective agency. To re-iterate, this book may not be fully representative of the PINOY experience and certainly Bulosan should be read carefully. It is an indictment on a negative social condition - where one man can create an OTHER in a society that plays up universal brotherhood. Not to trivialize the concern, this is not an uncommon malady. The question that begs to be asked is: Does Bulosan write AS IF he is writing about the whole truth? In closing, Bulosan is a necessary read because it augments the selection of the Asian-American experience in general and ethnic studies in general. It is a deep and cutting exploration into a Filipino experience - it adds to the complexity of identity creation. If anything, this book is a pause to be self-reflective of the past for both the SAME and the OTHER. In loving memory to a brave kababayan...
	Empire of Care: Nursing and Migration in Filipino American History by Catherine Ceniza Choy: Empire of Care: Nursing and Migration in Filipino American History by Catherine Ceniza Choy is a socio-historical explanation for the migration of Filipino nurses into the US during the 20th century. Principally, she articulates why since the changes in the immigration laws via the 1965 Immigration Act, travel in the US by skilled workers was made much easier and becoming permanent residents of the US made easier still. Choy's examination leads one to conclude that the permanent structural demand in US hospitals, who relied on the labor of foreign-trained nurses, may have been one but certainly not the only reason for the massive exodus out from the Philippines and into the US. Beyond articulating why so many Filipino nurses came to the United States, Choy undertakes and investigation of the experience of these very nurses. She argues that the US colonial experience developed a highly racialized hierarchy with white Americans at the summit and Filipinos at the base. As per to Choy, U.S. colonials at the turn of the century effectively formed the foundation for subsequent migrations through the creation of an American-style infrastructure and training program, initiating an American-style nursing work culture, by effectively gendering the nursing industry and relegating nursing to "women's work," Moreover, this move, perhaps as an unintended consequence developed fluency among the nurses in the use of English, and by starting programs such as the Exchange Visitor Program (EVP) that eventually brought Filipino nursing students to the US for advanced training. Under the auspices of the EVP, Filipino nurses were able to obtain further professional training, while in the US, some nurses decided to reside here permanently. As most immigration experiences go, the monster of racialization rears its ugly head in the cases that Choy highlights as problematic: (1) The Richard Speck murder case and (2) the AV murder case in Ann Arbor Michigan involving 2 Filipino nurses. Richard Speck was accused of and convicted of murdering a group of nurses in a Chicago suburb in 1966, which included two Filipino nurses in the EVP program. Choy examines the disturbing fascination with Speck as opposed to the deaths of 22-year-old Merlita Gargullo and 23-year-old Valentina Pasion. The survival of Corazon Amurao and the subsequent trial and the examination of Speck by Marvin Ziporyn "[...] illustrates the American public's growing fascination with the life and mind of murderer Speck and its fading interest in the lives of the young women slain. In such depictions, these women had become only figments of a larger, seemingly more important story about a criminal mind" (Choy 133-4). The 1977 murder case involving two Filipino nurses accused of poisoning their patients in Ann Arbor, Michigan is arguably more insidious. In a move that reminded this reader of the case of Italian anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti who were arrested outside Boston in 1920 and charged with the robbing and killing of a shoe factory paymaster and his guard. In the same manner the racialization of the nurses as "Filipino" and the resurgence of the negative imagery of Asians is examined in this book. In the chapter "The enigma of the Little Filipino" (Choy 145-52), Choy undertakes to examine the racialized nature of the case and the subsequent FBI actions relating thereto. The sections that examine for the Speck and VA case read like a highly research detective story - the irony is that it is non-fiction should not escape our reading. Another "reality" that Choy brings to mind is that nurses form a significant number of Filipinos working overseas. The Filipino Overseas Worker (FOW), as far as the Philippine government is concerned is a resource. The FOW earns hard currency (usually US dollars) and sends back that money to their families in the form of a remittance. Enduring economic crisis in the balance of payments is seen as the leading cause for export of manpower since, as mentioned previously, the remittances keep the country solvent. The sad part to this testament is the double bind that the Philippine government finds itself experiencing. On the one hand there is the very real need for the remittances, the Philippine government did, to their credit, initially try to hang on to nurses to meet health care deficit at home. However, by the 1970s it had no choice but to promote expatriation as a way to earn much needed foreign currency through those very remittances. Ironically, despite having a real health care professional shortage at home, the Philippines was the leading supplier to the worldwide structural demand for nurses and health care professionals. Historians and the author of this book rightfully return to Colonial times to articulate the flow of immigrant to the US. The American-style of hospital administration foisted in Manila and the provinces according to Choy set the stage for later immigration into the US. By interrelating Philippine migration history to US imperial history Choy makes a seminal contribution to the fields of Migration, Asian, and Filipino studies. Scholars who are interested in these three areas and perhaps more should not overlook this book.
	Locating Filipino Americans: Ethnicity and Cultural Politics of Space by Rick Bonus: Locating Filipino Americans by Rick Bonus is by definition an ethnographic study. Having said that, ethnographic studies carry with them the benefits and risks of undertaking such a project. As most ethnographic studies of this nature are concerned one is able to push forward an agenda without really stating one's agenda up front. In this case, however, bonus is clear that his agenda is plainly descriptive. He deftly moves to describe the Filipino American communities in both Los Angeles and San Diego. Bonus is also clear that he is working within a multi-disciplinary framework and he is examining the connection between identity and space. Bonus posits that particular spaces allow Filipino Americans to react to and oppose the ways in which the dominant discourse has throughout history and via hegemonic institutions have removed this group of agency, hence voice. Bonus zeroes in on three particular "spaces." [1] "Oriental" stores, [2] the community centers (where the pinoys practice "palengke" politics), and [3] through the media via the local newspapers. Identifying the spaces and articulating our mechanisms of resistance Bonus does us a big favor. First, he allows to see what it is we are doing. In this sense he makes us more self-reflective. Second, through this articulation we can now be self-reflective of how we use these mechanisms of resistance to our advantage. Self-reflexivity then allows us to move forward more aware of our actions and move towards some form of positive change. Bonus is also good at showing us how we "invent" ourselves (although the fetish for liminality does not really allow us to pin stuff down in any definite way) and through a reverse sense of "Orientalism" (see his references to Edward Said) in that we tend to appropriate what is needed and exclude what is not useful in an effort to cope with the situation at hand. On the other hand, it seems like Bonus is flirting with the idea that migration becomes a homogenizing experience - which the next generation is losing touch with their roots and becoming more "american" or what they perceive "american" to be. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing but that it is part of an ever-changing landscape of self-identity. Bonus alludes to several really key things that he does not really follow through with. What is missing is the complexity within the community itself. Bonus begins to write about the 150+ sub-groupings under COPAO in San Diego and another 200+ sub-groupings in San Diego. He alludes to a historical development in terms of migration (with a link to colonialism) and intra-ethnic division and loyalty that undermines social as well as political unity. Consider this work then a seed to even further complexity and exploration. Locating Filipino Americans is unique in that Bonus is grounded in a theoretical framework that allows us to get a better understanding of the state of affairs. As much as labels allude to a sense of clear-cut definitions, Filipino Americans are the second largest Asian-American group in America just behind the Chinese. The Filipino-American community should be grateful and use this book in an effort to get a better understanding and potential that is clearly self-evident. Bonus has done an important piece that is as informative and thought provoking as it is inspiring.
	Philip Vera Cruz: A Personal History of Filipino Immigrants and the Farmworkers Movement by Craig Scharlin, Lilia V. Villanueva: A very intimate portrait of his struggle as a new immigrant, farm worker and then later activist, Philip Vera Cruz honors us with his reflections in `Philip Vera Cruz: A Personal History of Filipino Immigrants and the Farmworkers Movement.' Authored by Scharlin and Villanueva, Cruz gives us a personal account of his encounters with Cesar Chavez and the rest of the ilk of the United Farm Workers. In an effort to handle the situation that the Filipino migrant workers found themselves in, they cherished the set of connections between friends and family and established cultural, religious, and community organizations, not to mention fraternal organizations. According to Vera Cruz, Filipino migrant workers subsequently organized labor unions and established charters in the AFL. It is established in common sense understanding that the farm workers movement was a Mexican American movement that was set in motion by the 1965 Delano grape strike in the San Joaquin valley (3, 8-21). In reality, the farm workers movement was actually initiated in the 1930s with the Filipino Workers Association, the Filipino Labor Union, and the Filipino Agricultural Laborers Association. In this account we read that the 1965 grape strike was instigated by the Filipino Labor Union, headed by Larry Itlong, and was joined a week later by Cesar Chavez and his National Farm Workers Organization (31-51). The two unions were merged into the United Farm Workers with the support of Philip Vera Cruz, who became a vice president of the UFW (xiii). Philip Vera Cruz provides us with poignant insight regarding the Filipino immigrant experience at the turn of the century and beyond: "New immigrants, who will compete with the workers already here, are arriving everyday from the Philippines, Puerto Rico, the Arab countries, from Jamaica, and especially Mexico. Third World countries have been exploited so much by the multinational corporations that their people, moved by extreme poverty, leave their home countries to seek work in an industrialized country like the United States. The multinationals suck the wealth out of their homeland like a vampire sucks blood. And these same big businesses here greet these new immigrants with open arms. These poor foreigners bring their cheap labor which means increasing profits for the big corporations. When the present group of workers here start to get organized and win some of their struggles for better wages and benefits, then the big agribusinesses here in California, with the help of the government, try to bring in new groups of workers" (145). Immigration was cut short in 1932, when the Great Depression severely curtailed recruitment of Filipino workers abroad. In 1934 the passage of the Tydings-McDuffie Act by the U.S. congress re-categorized Filipinos as aliens and limited their entrance to the U.S. to 50 per annum with a specific but contradictory agenda. According to Vera Cruz it was caused by the fear and insecurities of workers here over their job situation. Although it is not reflective of the conditions of ALL immigrant groups (particularly Asian) Vera Cruz's experience does echo that of Carlos Bulosan and forms part of the discourse and narrative of the manong experience. As mentioned previously, Philip Vera Cruz honors us with his reflections in Philip Vera Cruz: A Personal History of Filipino Immigrants and the Farmworkers Movement.
	The Gangster of Love by Jessica Hagedorn: Interlaced in the story of Rocky Rivera (and a wonderfully developed cast of characters) is a deep sense of the rich heritage that is a Filipino upbringing. Laced with that Hagedorn grit is a consistent level of angst that immigrants feel when moving into a new cultural milieu. Hagedorn is amazing with playing within the private sphere and experience - anxious about the clash between traditional Philippine values and modern American values. Rocky moves to San Francisco from the Philippine with her mother Milagros and brother Voltaire and is thrust into a maelstrom of personalities in the supporting cast of Elvis, Keiko, Auntie Fely and Uncle Bas. Rocky moves to New York to embark on an adventure that is not really representative of the typical Filipino immigrant experience but it is a rich space to explore a sense of displacement. This book raises crucial questions for immigrants in general and Filipinos in particular. What is it that we should retain? What should be ready and willing to let go? Is there a point of no return? When we become American do we stop being Filipino? Do we exist in two realms? Do we exist in multiple spheres? Does this dichotomy REALLY exist or is it real because we make it so? It is not until Rocky is drawn to her father's deathbed that she comes to the realization of the chasm between what she was and what she is and what she is running away from. Which brings to mind another point - running away. Running away is a common problem among displaced immigrants. There is that sense that one has to leave someplace to escape or run away from one's place of origin. It has to be THAT BAD. The sense of desperation is exemplified by Milagros - who is running away from Rocky's philandering father. Milagros is never comfortable in San Francisco - she is torn between what status demands and her embarrassment at being seen in what she has become. She hangs around Auntie Fely. This cultural subtlety is very difficult to pick up from one outside the milieu - when Milagros is embarrassed to be seen with Auntie Fely at the Imelda trial in New York. With one foot in the old country serving as a fulcrum and the other in the new country is little wonder that most immigrants can maintain a sense of center and remain sane. Never really forming a sense of closure but developing coping mechanisms the émigré is left to his/her own devices and is constantly nostalgic about going home. Begs the question: Where is home? Home, I guess, is a matter of perspective. Perspective is another thing Hagedorn is good at. Despite destabilizing a basically linear story she plays with perspectives when she switches from Rocky to Elvis and plays around with what Elvis is thinking and feeling. The whole question of the Chinese experience is not really fully developed in this story - as if Hagedorn did not really want to go there - as if to tease us that there is more there. Maybe the story can be picked up by something like the movie Mano Po (Regal Films) or Arlene Chai's works. Nonetheless, the book is as compelling as any in its genre. After reading Dogeaters, I was convinced that Hagedorn may have missed an opportunity by not presenting a possible solution - but perhaps the cathartic nature of herr work is a solution in itself. I highly recommend this book not only to the Diaspora Filipino trying to form some sense of closure but to the widest possible audience to get a sense of the Filipino immigrant experience and to begin dialogue. This piece is new dawn - a reconstruction from a deconstruction.
	Dogeaters by Jessica Hagedorn: Like Carabaos in the mud, we are quick to embrace our own "Otherness". Pause for a second from the breakneck pastiche that Hagedorn is presenting you. Read the reviews that present arguments such as a "fragmented novel" or "multiple narrative" or "disjointed plot progression" and everyone is quick to categorize Dogeaters as a "Postmodern" tour de force. I guess the real question we have to ask ourselves is - What now? It is vogue to jump in to the fashionable world of so-called post colonial examinations and tangle your readers in so-called "Postmodern" purposeful ambiguity and you are left with what? I guess what I am really saying is that the good writers coming out of the vast wealth of material that the turbulent history that the Philippines provides always seem to get mired in that Marcos-era, colonial identity search (a project that is defined by our colonial past - hence we never seem to have our own) and leave the reader with a sense of hopelessness. Does it really have to be that way - I don't think so. Arlene Chai writes "Last Time I saw Mother" and Jessica Hagedorn presents us with "Dogeaters" - both are fascinating looks at a really fragmented identity crisis. Chai chooses a more conventional and sanitized look while Hagedorn chooses a more gritty, stylish and angst ridden version of our identity creation. Where the two converge is the stories they can't seem to help themselves but write about - caricature of Marcos administration style Gestapo tactics, our strong ties to our colonial past, infusion of Tagalog words whose double meaning is lost to those outside the discourse (since we are all "Postmodern" here) - what they are really writing about is an embrace of the "Otherness" that we so much suffer from. While we are object to the gaze - we have reversed our role as subject in this discourse and are looking at the "Other" (in this case our colonial benefactors) and have internalized our "Otherness". We valorize american consumerism while we are being vilified by the west. The fractured nature of our identity is a much written about topic and that we are an amalgam of our colonial past is often written about. What is missing is a sense of our own identity and the celebration thereof . Where are the positive reprsentations? Where is the possiblity? Much of this book focuses on the Maternal leanings of our society. We are all things and nothing. We are indo-malayan, we are spanish, we are wanna-be americans. We watch western music and yearn for a country that is "Other" really. We are not destined to remain Joey Sands or Rio Gonzaga. I will grant Hagedorn her place as a good writer. Despite the book hanging everywhere and not really going anywhere, it offers a slice of life but not the whole picture. The book is sexy, sassy and despite burgis language - the book is anti-burgis. It is kitsch - its trap is that is falls into the samee trap of the caricature of the Filipino as reactionary with no depth. Where is the true "Intelektual" in the halo-halo? Where is Rizal? You might not believe this, but despite everything that I have outlined above, I recommend this book highly. As a Filipino abroad, you will be nostalgic but you will be disturbed by it. The language is pure sensationalism - but it is representative of a slice of life that we might not be proud of but seem to fall into without much examination. That "Dogeaters" is a cold, hard look at ourselves, I give her the 5 stars. The question I have for Jessica Hagedorn is, if this is deconstruction, where is the reconstruction? Do we remain "Dogeaters"?
	The Cheat ~ Sessue Hayakawa (1915): The Cheat was made in 1915 way after the 1904 indefinite extension of The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The Chinese Exclusion Act was a culmination to more than thirty years of arguably systematic racism. Strong anti-Chinese feeling had existed ever since the gam saan-haak migration from China during the gold rush, where white miners and prospectors levied taxes and enacted laws to hinder Chinese success. Racial strife amplified as more and more Chinese came into the US, and created a perceived rivalry on the job market. By as early as 1882 the Chinese were hated enough to be banned from coming into the US; the Chinese Exclusion Act, initially only a ten year policy, was extended indefinitely, and by 1902, made permanent. Things change in 1943 (as we will see with Anna May Wong's Lady from Chungking and Bombs over Burma), China was an important ally of the US against Japan. It would be unpatriotic to discriminate against our allies, so we set out to repeal the Chinese Exclusion Act. Despite the reprieve, there remained a lasting impact in filmic representations in characters like Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan. "East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet," quoth an intertitle in Cecil B. DeMille's The Cheat (1915), before the trial for the shooting of a Burmese aristocrat by a protective white assailant - if we only knew! I am still reeling of the irony of a "Burmese" "Oriental" (Sessue Hayakawa - who is actually Japanese) hell bent on claiming Edith Hardy (Fannie Ward) as his own. Despite the vindication of her husband Richard (Jack Dean), my interest in The Cheat is the invention of the "Scheming Yellow Oriental" and the perpetuation (if not invention) of the filmic representation of the "Yellow Peril." Be critical!
	The Thief of Bagdad ~ Anna May Wong (1924): Ever wonder where the idea of the magic carpet ride comes from? Well look no further than Raoul Walsh and Douglas Fairbanks's The Thief of Bagdad. An amalgamation of Arabian Nights magic, romance, fantasy, mythical travelogue, and sense of fun The Thief of Bagdad transcends the irony of its caricatures and stereotypes - not just from what it reifies but by what it invents. With its theme nestled squarely on the precept that "Happiness must be earned," The Thief of Bagdad starts with Fairbanks as a happy-go-lucky "Middle Eastern street thief" [the first of many negative stereotypes]. Though at first this cheerful "thief" - who feels he can take what he wants - aand no rules apply, the road to salvation begins when he falls in love with the caliph's daughter (Julanne Johnston) - things take on a different significance.True to character, Fairbanks starts by pretending to be a prince to win her over. Found out, the thief ends up punished and then humbled, in the end seeking the counsel of the "holy man" he earlier abused. He is advised hat if he truly loves the princess, he himself must make the transformation and "become a prince." The epic begins when all suitors must come up with a unique gift. As with all good epics, the thief on a fantastic storybook return "there and back again" to the bottom of the sea, haunted by sirens as well as giant spiders, to the space above the clouds, where Fairbanks discovers the home of the winged horse and the sanctuary of the moon. When taking into consideration filmic representations - I was drawn to this movie via my interest in Anna May Wong - as the "Mongol Slave." However, after further consideration, I was drawn to the character of Sojin - who plays the "Mongol Prince." With purposeful intent or by accident, the Mongol Prince comes across with the same type acquisitiveness of a Dr. Fu Manchu. Coincidence, perhaps but it is an interesting phenomenon to observe. While both the "Mongols" Slave and Prince "sneak" about the "Orientals" in our imagination are reified. Well, it is a magical carpet ride, right?
	The Good Earth ~ Luise Rainer (1937): There were only Chinese in the background. Just like in Memoirs of a Geisha (the actresses - or at least the main ones where Chinese instead of Japanese) the actors and actresses in The Good Earth where not Chinese either. I certainly cried foul when in Memoirs of a Geisha Chinese actresses where asked to play Japanese roles. The actresses in Memoirs of a Geisha did not pull it off then and The Good Earth's stars Paul Muni and Luise Rainer did not pull it off either - sorry. Now, would the role of O-Lan have been better played by Anna May Wong is arguable. As a Chinese American - she was removed from here Chinese ethnic roots - or was she. Nevertheless, the point is there were only Chinese people in the background. Paul Muni plays Wang Lung, a peasant Chinese farmer. Conversely, Luise Rainer is O-Lan, his once slave now wife. This cinematic adaptation of the Pearl Buck novel (which is arguably the source of the problem) has Wang Lung and O-Lan trying to make their way in what is an epic battle against poverty, nature, and a whole host of other impediments - like their own personalities. Starting from scratch and building their land holdings up from nothing, then as the famine hit, losing everything. The family moves south only to slum it on the streets of the city. O-Lan - the perennial luck bringer finds a cache of jewels during a riot (in which she was almost killed herself), she and Wang Lung become the landlords once again. Wang Lung sets up a stereotype of the disloyal Chinese fellow who hurts his wife deeply - one who brought all the luck by engaging in a second, younger wife. To get biblical, our protagonists - using the skills gained by their young son - battle against a plague of locusts and win! Predictably (and it is all over the place) there is a tone of inexcusable jingoism in the movie. The Good Earth more a reflection of how we saw Chinese rather than an authentic rendition of the Chinese themselves. Muni and Rainer (who won an Oscar for this role) are miscast for the roles, and particularly the minor characters (many of whom are also played by Non-Chinese) do a terrible job of playing Chinese - they are all in caricature. One could only give kudos to a movie like this if (1) One thought this was a wonderful rendition of what we think Chinese are, and (2) One has never been to China. It is Orientalism and should be seen as such.
	Bombs over Burma ~ Anna May Wong (1942): Bombs over Burma and Lady from Chungking both starred Anna May Wong; predictably both were made by the same production company at about the same point in the war. Both came at a time when the Japanese (guilty by association - the Japanese Americans) became the enemy (the "Other") and with equal vigor all the rest of the Asians - particularly the Chinese Americans saw a change of heart - we are now all allies. This adds credence to the old adage that "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Bombs over Burma is a good, tight story. Anna May Wong's leading performance more than makes up for this World War II feature's low-budget (but high on propaganda) look. The story has Wong as a schoolteacher who is aiding the allies to keep the Burma Road supply line open, despite many enemy raids. The core of the movie/story centers on how a bus load of people are stranded in a remote monastery along the supply line. The story begins to pick up when it is discovered that one of the group is a traitor and is informing the Japanese Air Force of incoming supply convoys. With little time to tell the story, well, the suspense is maintained rather well for that short time. We are kept guessing as long as possible as to just how things will turn out - we swing from one caricature to another - but we know that Anna is innocent. Wong also gets support from some of the other cast members. In a smaller role as the kind of lowlife Dan Seymour comes through. Leslie Denison as Sir Roger gives it his best. As the Yankee truck driver Nedrick Young has a few of good moments. Finally, Connie Leon does a great job as a Burmese bureaucrat. Despite all its down sides, the story is interesting in itself, and it also serves the purpose of illuminating a vital but little-remembered propaganda aspect of cinema.
	Lady from Chunking ~ Anna May Wong (1943): Lady from Chungking and Bombs over Burma both starred Anna May Wong; predictably both were made by the same production company at about the same point in the war. Both came at a time when the Japanese (guilty by association - the Japanese Americans) became the enemy (the "Other") and with equal vigor all the rest of the Asians - particularly the Chinese Americans saw a change of heart - we are now all allies. This adds credence to the old adage that "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." This is an effective and low budget wartime drama. Anna May Wong's has that special something that adds a bit of magic. The story has Wong as the leader of a resistance group (but this time in the fields (undercover since she is THE Lady from Chungking) to the Japanese invaders in China. Anna May Wong is once again nothing short of stellar. She does however get lots of assistance from her supporting crew. Mae Clarke is hot as "Times Square." The core of Orientalism is seen in the Japanese general with whom Wong's character must outsmart. Harold Huber is miscast for the role. However, for the purposes of the movie he is perfect as the greedy yet short-sighted, egotistical but foolish Japanese general we have been racialized to believe. In this movie, unlike Bombs over Burma, Wong gets to explore her range. At certain times in the movie she is this meek subject of the occupiers, at other instances she is this tough as nails leader of the underground ready to sacrifice everything... and I mean "everything." Despite taking the risk of falling prey to this form of Orientalism may is decked out and looks hot and elegant as the Lady from Chungking - I would fall for her. General Kaimura did not stand a chance. Anna May Wong might be better remembered for high budget productions like The Thief of Bagdad but it is great to see her in this propaganda flick that make available examples of her wide range of talents.
	The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu, 4 Full-Length Episodes ~ Carla Balenda (1950s): This set includes The Master Plan of Dr. Fu Manchu. I was especially interested in the last one starring Glen Gordon, Lester Matthews, Clark Howat, Laurette Luez, John George and Carla Balenda. Guest starring Alan Dexter, Steven Geray, Damian O’ Flynn and Stuart Whitman. Written by Arthur Orloff and directed by William Witney. In this story, Dr. Fu Manchu (Glen Gordon) kidnaps a prominent plastic surgeon named Dr. Harlow Henderson (Alan Dexter) and forces him to change the face of the one and only arch demonized individual of all time: Adolf Hitler. Apparently, only Fu Manchu had the know how to keep him alive and in hiding. The yellow peril incarnate, Dr. Fu Manchu plans to join forces with Adolf Hitler and do nothing short of conquering the world! Unbeknownst to him, Dr. John Petrie (Clark Howat) accidentally stumbles into Fu Manchu’s “evil” plot while searching for his lost friend. Dr. Petrie finds himself held prisoner and compelled to care for Henderson’s most recent patient after Dr. Henderson is done away with in classic Dr. Fu Manchu style. The question is: Can Nayland Smith (Lester Matthews) stop this most deadly duo? This episode moves at a nice swift pace. It certainly has some unexpected twists and turns and is actually funny – for the most part – until one begins to understand the juxtaposition. Do some research on Fu Manchu and get a fix on what the character represents, and then all of a sudden it is not so funny.
	The Castle of Fu Manchu ~ Rosalba Neri (1969): The evil villain, Fu Manchu is said to be evil incarnate. Check this out: "Imagine a person, tall, lean and feline, high-shouldered, with a brow like Shakespeare and a face like Satan, a close-shaven skull, and long, magnetic eyes of the true cat-green. Invest him with all the cruel cunning of an entire Eastern race, accumulated in one giant intellect, with all the resources of science past and present, with all the resources, if you will, of a wealthy government--which, however, already has denied all knowledge of his existence. Imagine that awful being, and you have a mental picture of Dr. Fu-Manchu, the yellow peril incarnate in one man." -- Nayland Smith to Dr. Petrie in "The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu": Chapter 2. In this movie, he does not disappoint. Fu Manchu (Christopher Lee) returns with a sinister plan to freeze the oceans of the world. Nayland Smith (Richard Greene) seems to be the only person who can stop the madman from achieving his ultimate goal. Despite the insidious nature of the role, sadly, this is the last performance of Fu Manchu by Christopher Lee. Lee brings a quiet elegance to the Fu Manchu genre like no other. Assisted by Tsai Chin who played his daughter Lin Tang, Fu Manchu is merciless in his attempt at world domination. With regards to this DVD, Blue Underground does a good job of taking us back into Fu Manchu lore. You get the poster, the gallery, the trailer for the film. There are interviews with Jess Franco, Harry Alan Towers, Christopher Lee and Tsai Chin that are worth the DVDs price. In addition to that there are Talent Bios, The Facts of Dr. Fu Manchu and very well written liner notes by Video Watchdog creator Tim Lucas - great stuff! What a wonderful way to get into the history of the villainous Fu Manchu.
	Picture Bride ~ Youki Kudoh: Caught between a rock and a hard place, "Picture Brides" succumb to the "push" factors that force them to leave their homes (in this case Japan) to marry "site unseen" (except for a picture of a man halfway across the world) in this case, Hawaii. Picture Bride centers around the life and time of the fictional Riyo (Youki Kudoh - who made the character "Pumpkin" in Memoirs of a Geisha famous), a 17-year-old who leaves Yokohama, Japan; in order to marry a man (as mentioned previously) she's never met. Set in Hawaii in 1918, Matsuji (Akira Takayama) it is revealed lied about his age. He is 25 years older than she is. Their relationship is unsatisfactory to both sides - her from the betrayal and him, well, you do the math. In the interim, Riyo, formerly of Yokohama is having difficulty coping with her new conditions - working in the sugar fields with one leeg in Hawaii and another trying to book passage back "home." Riyo meets up and forms a bond with Kana (Tamlyn Tomita), who teaches her to earn extra money by doing laundry for others after work in the fields - she fuels a dream to go home. Riyo, as previously mentioned is desperately trying to get back to Japan, puts money away until she slowly begins to see her condition from a different perspective - she will become a settler. The movie is sensitively directed by Kayo Hatta. Hatta does an incredible job maneuvering this already tense drama which sets the stage for the likes of Snow Falling on Cedars but was presaged by Come See Paradise. Engaging in yet a different version of the deceptive pastoral, the movie is set in picturesque Hawaii. Picture Bride is a tribute to the resilience of immigrants and an amazing filmic representation of a narrative that would have otherwise gone silent.
	Better Luck Tomorrow DVD ~ Justin Lin: Justin Lin's Better Luck Tomorrow is a story about testing boundaries. Better Luck Tomorrow reminds me more of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment than anything else. The narrative of the story centers on a core group of four teens that, seeking to make money, find some rather creative techniques to this effect. The eventual rise in prominence leads them to a lifestyle of partying to have something to do with their time in the center of a tedious, and boring suburban existence. Ben (the overachiever) as well as his cohort aspires to a future in higher education while, conversely, seeking security in a life of crime. Until they meet Steve, this core group's routine was somewhat predictable. Not to give anything away in the story the whole narrative takes a very different turn from there. Juxtaposing this movie alongside the more benign The Debut is a bit ironic, I think. While The Debut is really about Asian-Americans (in this particular case the Filipino-American community) Better Luck Tomorrow is not about a particular community but speaks to a universal theme of growing up in America. To call it an Asian American movie is, I think a bit of a misnomer. It succeeds as a dark, sassy film, but it fails when it tries to be unconventional. That this breakout movie by Justin Lin is Asian American because of its director and its characters I will grant it. The theme though it is not uniquely Asian - taking for granted that such can be describes as a state. Anyway, this does not take away from the sensitivity with which Lin treats the characters and the angst that they experience - for that this movie, I feel, deserves it accolades. The sad truth is that it is not a movie of what can happen but what is happening. In this case I would have to defer to the viewer to make heads or tails of the excess of the movie.
	American Adobo DVD ~ Christopher De Leon: Habitus, according to Pierre Bourdieu, is the system of "durable, transposable dispositions, structured structures predisposed to function as structuring structures, that is, as principles which generate and organize practices and representations that can be objectively adapted to their outcomes without presupposing a conscious aiming at ends or an express mastery of the operations necessary in order to attain them. Objectively `regulated' and `regular' without being in any way the product of the organizing action of a conductor." (Bourdieu, 1993) In other words, we are not in control of our own cultural production, but I would like to add, we can be self reflective and articulate our productions. Food, by it very nature forms an integral part of the creation of a Habitus - in a way, despite its controlling characteristics, a Habitus also provides one with a sense of being "home." Sounds, sights and smells are all linked together to give one a sense of identity. American Adobo does nothing less than articulate it to us, the Filipinos and to others for their cultural consumption and hopefully illumination. True to its name, American Adobo tries to pack too many ingredients into one small pan. As a Filipino, I find the film to be a warm, good-natured ethnic comedy and like many others it is deeper than then what you would expect after the initial salvo. What is really nice about American Adobo is that it does not exoticize the Filipino culture, which a film like The Debut can at time be seen to do. The film is very entertaining, but it begins to lose itself as the melodrama takes over from its original comedic track. Inundated with clichés and stilted dialogue, American Adobo does offer a formulaic collection of cinematic issues surround movies of this genre at it explores issued surrounding marital status, sexual orientation, and ethnicity. The real highlight of the film is the insight into a cultural milieu heretofore ignored in mainstream cinema - even mainstream Filipino cinema. If there is a clear cut reason to buy, watch and keep this movie that would be one of them. For those in the cross cultural arena and area of interest, I recommend this movie highly. It is a keeper in every collection.
	The Debut DVD ~ Dante Basco: A wicked first feature for director Gene Cajayon, The Debut is sincere albeit predictable. However, having said that, it is predictable only because the theme of the movie is so universal one cannot help but approach it this way. That even the language seems borrowed from similar films is a mark of universality of the cross-cultural experience it deals with. The casting, I think, works really well in the film. Everyone seems to be in sync and keyed subtext of the storyline. Trust me, despite the almost stilted dialogue the film does not betray or is not tacky about exploring subtleties. Don't be fooled, The Debut may seem simple on the surface, is extremely complex underneath its at times cheesy exterior. You will not be disappointed; The Debut is a illuminating as it is fun. It is simple, The Debut is a coming-of-age movie - such movies are universal. OK so it is amateurish in its acting but I think that is one of the reasons it is so appealing - it does not try to be anything it is not. The Debut has drama, music, dance, romance and humor - something for everybody. I guess my only bone to pick is that ends with a pat resolution but once again it is not trying to be Boyz in the Hood or West Side Story. Building a cast around friends and family and then infusing the film with a ton of old school looks a bit like trying to build a Los Angeles Lakers team with Shaq and Kobi at the middle and surrounding them with Malone and Payton - the thing is, like the current Lakers, it works. The Debut works on many levels but it hits home because of its enthusiasm. The Debut is definitely a likeable film but I am certain it will fall off the radar of hard core film buffs. Think of it as a sincere attempt at dealing with coming of age in the Filipino community. We need more of these types of movies to augment our current Hollywood offerings as it gives us a glimpse into cultures. So yes, it is familiar in its theme but it does give us a glimpse into the Filipino American community. Perhaps other communities can take stock and give us glimpse into theirs as well.
	Closer to Home ~ Ann M. Achacoso: What started out with some promise with movies like Gil M. Portes' Mga Munting Tinig (Small Voices) - depending for sure on one's expectation level - juxtaposed against other Filipino made or themed movies - Closer to Home seems a little, well, [viewer can fill in the blank]. If, however, Closer to Home comes to presence for you without a jaded perspective and you allow the film to be what it is - then it could be a very illuminating experience. Closer to Home is a series of broken dreams. Caught between a rock and hard place, Dalisay (Madeline Ortaliz) who needs to get her sister a much needed operation is forced to 'sacrifice' herself and is eventually picked up by Dean (John Michael Bolger) who is, in ignorant 'Orientalist' caricature seeking marriage or permanent happiness with a 'Filipino' wife. The two are matched together and the movie is an exploration of what seems like a conspiracy to keep the two apart. The problem is - the two never really seem to have ever been together at all - so we can stop pretending it is a romance. Therein lies one of several issues I see as problematic. First, I found it very difficult to empathize with the characters on any level because they seemed to be inhabiting two very different worlds - or that may have been purposeful by Director and Producer Joseph Nobile - I was never really sure. Second, it has been posited that the movie is a metaphor for a sort of east/west - Philippine/America dichotomy - I doubt THAT was purposeful. I will say this much for Closer to Home - it is unique in that it inhabits a limiinal space: neither Hollywood sappy with a happy ending nor does it situate itself in that sordid realm of Philippine cinema - the ever popular melodramatic or 'bombaa' (that ambiguous exploitation/misogynistic soft core that is so popular with Filipino viewers). For that, if anything, Closer to Home has to be recognized and celebrated. Without a doubt, Closer to Home is a cut above the sigawan-sampalan (screaming and slapping) or even bomba (soft core) that all too often - without waxing moralistic here - liters Filipino cinema. Now, we need to keep in mind that this is not a homegrown movie - it is an American offering. This would explain why it is not 'Filipino' but does it live up to the potential of a gritty film festival level movie? That is another question entirely. If you take Closer to Home purely as text - the read is simple and linear. Does Closer to Home falls within the realm of risky art house? Perhaps not. Despite straying from both a Filipino or a Hollywood formula Closer to Home took no real art house risks. Closer to Home, as mentioned previously, is linear and thats alright. Closer to Home is illuminating in that it aims at a sense of realism and does not pull any punches. In Closer to Home Nobile does not try to window dress the risks embedded or subsumed in mail-order bride situations. Closer to Home had much to offer by way of demystification or de-Ornamentalism (and yes, even de-Orientalism). In Closer to Home there were no clear lines drawn between good and bad. Everyone was both good and bad. It has sort of sunk into common sense understanding that unions of this kind are often one sided and riddled with male centered exploitation, and often end up tragic. Closer to Home is a reification of that notion. So before we start running to embrace Dalisay and paint her as victim, we really need to squarely face that the exploitation is mutual. It was really difficult to feel with or for Dalisay because she showed neither warmth nor possibility towards Dean. Her broken dream was that Dean refused to let her work - not that of a promised romance that failed. It seemed like Dalisay came into this scenario planning for the 'relationship' to fail - so she never allowed it to get started. Granted that this whole scenario is dysfunctional to begin with, it seemed really difficult, despite the personality demise of Dean to paint him as the sole villain and 'poor' defenseless Dalisay as the sole victim. In Closer to Home, everyone is both villain and victim.