Miscommunications: Avatar and Twilight

I didn't realize until just now that the Avatar that's out in theatres right now is different than the M Night Shyamalan's adaptation of Avatar, The Last Airbender, where there was some uproar from the Asian American community about it (that I heard about from Emily in the first place) and was about to boycott it on principle, no matter how many people said it was good. Thankfully, I can go enjoy Avatar now, guilt-free. Sarah and I had a 5 minute conversation about this before we realized we were talking about different movies.

And this isn't the first time something like this has happened. Last semester, I was on the phone with Dawen, and we were talking about "Twilight." I must have been going on and on about how how it reinforces the dominant hegemonic framework or something, and he responded with something else, and off we went merrily on our conversation, until I mentioned something about "vampires". I then hear a pause on the line, and Dawen goes, "...Vampires...?!" It turns out that he was talking about Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 by Anna Deavere Smith, a book about the LA Riots after the Rodney King incident. Because of this incident, though, we both ended up reading the Stephanie Meyers Twilight as a dare/bet.

This is good though - a little part of me used to die a little every time another person said how amazingly incredible "Avatar" is. I think the new one is being called "Airbender." As for Airbender, Emily gives four points on why she was so angered at the casting decisions:

1) i love the show 2) very rarely does a show portray asian culture in a beautiful and nonstereotypical light 3) very rarely do you see a show about asian ppl at all 4) and now all of what makes avatar special is taken away -- might as well just be like any other action movie

I feel kinda stupid. And really uninformed right now. What happens when one gets so bogged down in everything else in life.

Why is my font weird in this post?!

Lost friend found

Remember over the summer I wanted to start a digital/Internet experiment to find my friend Wesley? The project got quickly dropped as life and grad school and other work got in the way. But it was always in the back of my mind. I never did end up emailing Wesley's old piano teacher, nor did I follow up any of the other avenues of contact I came into of late. I mentioned this "project" to my interpersonal communication professor, Dr. Susan Fox, who is somewhat of an expert in finding people online. A few weeks ago, before I guest lectured in her class, we looked up "Wesley Bender" in a few people-search-engines she frequents, and got some hits. Unfortunately, to pursue those leads would take money and more time than we had just at that moment. But that boosted my confidence that I would eventually succeed.

I just got back to LA, and naturally, being home (with a neurotic puppy no less) creates a relaxing environment to splooch (completely made-up word that I've never used before, but what I do often feels like splooching) online while I research my final paper for my paper class. Social LIFE of paper. Since Facebook changed its privacy policies, I realize that the default setting for the new privacy stuff was more open. I hide my searches from people who aren't my friends, and because I'm a privacy nut (at least on Facebook), I made sure I combed through my privacy settings as soon as the new one came. But not all people are like that. So, on a whim, I searched for Wesley again. And found someone who might be her.

Last night, I messaged this person, and lo and behold, it was Wesley. So, long story short, it really didn't take me that much effort to find my friend, but, it did take a long time.

Best Christmas gift ever. We have a lot of catching up to do.