Here’s more on our boy Mangal.

You gotta love a little google image and high school french skills. Thanks Amit. Am I ignant for not knowing Mangal?

The guy I was thinking of is Soy Panday. Not sure if/how much desi he is though. Hopefully a descendant of our boy Mangal.

There is a hyper-rad French skateboarder that is South Asian and quite famous in the scene there. Can’t remember the name though.

i have yet to see crash (in my netflix queue), and i have a lot of hate towards it already. probably not the best view to have regarding a film that is supposed to teach or role model tolerance. i think the fact that the movie takes place in la and the lack of asian roles really irks me. but, will hold my tongue until i see it.

IMO, it’s the least subtle stuff that goes over the best, like Chapelle’s black crackhead character. Like, “hey, they’re saying it, acknowledging it…so it must be true and it’s ok for me to make that assumption.” Like the many many times in ‘Crash’ that one character or another casually tossed out some line about Black men fucking up so much and that’s why they’re in jail.

As if harsher sentencing, institutionalized racism, lack of connections, of affleuence, of name-dropping backgrounds, etc. didn’t contribute a single thing…

eh..I dunno. I’m not against this cartoon, per se. Just rethinking my sense of what people believe and think, shuddering in shock that so many people thought Crash was a good movie that contributed something to a discussion on race. Feeling rather alarmed/alarmist.

don’t think anybody is actually going to think that all Chinese men are in buff guys in wheelchairs with gargantuan heads any more than they’re going to think that I’m actually bulletproof and ride a magic carpet (at least I hope not).

yeah..well, I was in the “I hope not” camp, which meant to me “of course they wouldn’t.” Now I’m in the “I hope not” camp, which means “I’m keeping my fingers crossed and watch what I say.” We’re both secure in believing that no one’s going to think you’re bulletproof. But much like the Apu in the Simpson’s universe (and that’s a cartoon that always gets it right) I wonder if people think that, to Indian convenience store owners getting shot is not big deal since they’re used to it.