O
ver
Thanksgiving
break, I went to see
the new coming-of-age
film, “The Edge of Seventeen,”
expecting
to
see
myself
in
Hailee
Steinfeld’s
awkward,
selfish,
yet entirely relatable
protagonist, Nadine.
And I did, doubling
over with laughter
at her over-the-top
antics
and
long-
winded wit that are
nothing but normal
for a teenage girl.
However,
I
found
my endearment unexpectedly
stolen by newcomer Hayden
Szeto, the lone face of color in
a nearly all-white cast (Hailee
Steinfeld and movie-brother
Blake Jenner have Filipino and
Cuban roots, respectively, but
they are portrayed as white in
the film).
Rarely do I get to see an
Asian face in Hollywood, and
when I do, they’re usually
typecast into some variation
of the goofy, geeky sidekick
who excels in school and
maybe takes up martial arts
as an extracurricular. Though
Szeto’s adorably nervous, boy-
next-door
character,
Erwin
Kim, could have easily become
the clichéd Hollywood Asian
male, the movie makes it
clear that Erwin is just “your
average
guy,”
even
poking
fun at such stereotypes when
Nadine tries to pigeonhole him
as a stereotypical Asian with
a mother who “owns a small
restaurant downtown” and a
“quiet, gruff father who never
says ‘I love you.’ ”
Despite that, Erwin spends
most of the film ignored by
the leading lady, who goes
for the cooler “bad boy” Nick,
potentially falling in line with
Hollywood’s
emasculation
of Asian men. So imagine
my
surprise
and
delight
when he takes his shirt off
to
reveal
a
swoon-worthy
physique that falls in line with
American standards of male
attractiveness
and
(spoiler
alert) wins the girl in the end.
Let’s face it: Hollywood
has not properly represented
my people and our stories.
Directors and producers claim
that there are no
big Asian stars to
feature in their films
as an explanation for
their whitewashing,
but the argument is
circular: How can
Asians ever establish
themselves as stars if
they are never even
given a chance?
Asian
Americans
have
long
seen
themselves
erased
or ridiculed in Western media.
Take, for example, “Breakfast
at Tiffany’s,” the movie I’d
watched the day prior for my
family’s
post-Thanksgiving
dinner tradition of watching
old Audrey Hepburn movies.
In all my times of watching
the film, this year was the first
year I realized just how racist
and offensive Mickey Rooney’s
portrayal of the Japanese Mr.
Yunioshi was. Not only did
Rooney tape his eyelids and
wear yellowface (because God
forbid an actual Asian person
play an Asian character), but he
also sported a ridiculous accent
and persona that established the
“Asian” Yunioshi as nothing but
a caricature, a joke.
But, Ashley!, one might cry out,
“Breakfast at Tiffany’s” came
out more than 50 years ago, long
before all this political correctness
nonsense came about! That may
be true, but how can the racist
ignorance of the ’60s really
be a defense when Hollywood
so recently disappointed the
Asian-American community by
casting the white Emma Stone
as a quarter-Chinese, quarter-
Native American fighter pilot in
Sony’s 2015 “Aloha” and Scarlett
Johansson
as
lead
Motoko
Kusanagi
in
the
upcoming
adaption of the Japanese manga
“Ghost in the Shell”?
So Szeto’s role in “The Edge
of Seventeen” may seem like a
small thing to most, but to me,
an Asian love interest in a big
box-office movie is the hope I
need that Hollywood is taking
a step in the right direction. Of
course, Szeto’s portrayal in the
film is not perfect. After all,
he’s a Chinese actor playing a
Korean character, a common
occurrence in this industry
that perpetuates the racist
sentiment that all Asians are the
same and that our ethnicities
are
interchangeable.
“Teen
Wolf” is guilty of that practice,
casting Korean Arden Cho as
the Japanese Kira Yukimura in
order to tap into Japanese lore,
as is “Once Upon a Time” for
casting Korean Jamie Chung as
the Chinese Mulan. However,
that’s a detail I can overlook for
the opportunity to see my race
represented on the big screen.
Baby steps. With the success of
ABC’s “Fresh Off the Boat,” the
first television show about an
Asian-American family in 20
years, and Steven Yeun’s Glenn
Rhee being a fan favorite on
“The Walking Dead,” there is
hope that my children will be
able to turn on the TV and see
their lives and stories reflected
back to them.
And I don’t want just one
revolutionary show that counts
as our “representation.” I want
Asians — and all people of color
— integrated into mainstream
media not as token minorities,
but as normal people among
a
multicultural
cast
that
accurately
represents
the
diversity in America today. Let
us be the protagonist. Let us
be the love interest. Let us be
the hero, the antagonist and
the three-dimensional morally
ambiguous middleman.
What
Hollywood
needs
to understand is that we are
all human, and when we’re
stripped bare, we bleed red
just like the rest of the world.
Asians are not all special, super
geniuses or completely devoid
of sex appeal. No, we are just
normal people, and we, too,
fall in love, make mistakes and
have stories worth sharing. You
know, normal people things.
Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4 — Friday, December 2, 2016
The last registration
MICHAEL SUGERMAN | COLUMN
I
registered
for
the
final
classes of my undergraduate
career Wednesday morning,
and only as I wrote
this sentence did it hit
me how odd that is.
Class registration
is routine — a twice-
a-year activity that,
in
its
mechanical
regularity,
has
become
a
subtle
source of comfort.
Class
registration
means
that
I’m
returning
to
Ann
Arbor, and all that
doing so entails. After next
semester,
my
routine
will
change. That’s jarring.
It’s not just the courses I’ve
taken, the papers I’ve written or
the all-nighters I’ve pulled.
It’s the drive into Ann Arbor
from the airport, and the swell
of joy that comes with whizzing
down
Washtenaw,
past
the
Arborland sign and the Rock and
South U and the Hill en route to
finishing a 2,300-mile journey
from Los Angeles to Kerrytown.
It’s my house. The drafty
walls
and
creaky
radiators.
The old futon Casey brought
from Grand Rapids that has a
lovable, gaping hole on its right
side — which is actually really
comfortable if you know where
to put the pillows. The box of
175 York Peppermint Patties,
replenished each semester by
my grandmother, that sits on the
mantle in our living room. The
stacks of frozen burritos Matt
keeps in our freezer, occupying
at least 25 percent of the space.
The dirty coils on our gas stove,
and all the times we cooked
chicken breasts, green beans
and boxed mashed potatoes on
them. The porch swing where
I’ve been content to sit and sway
for hours.
It’s sangria at Dominick’s,
or a fishbowl at Charley’s. The
party that turns into a trip to
Rick’s (or as my buddy Joe calls
it, “the Café”) that turns into
a trip to Backroom
Pizza, where no one
ever knew a crappy
$1 slice could taste
so
good.
It’s
the
quiet evenings when
making a homemade
meal, playing a game
of
Scrabble
and
binge-watching
a
Netflix show with
good friends is more
satisfying than any
night out.
It’s the Big House. The sea of
maize. The disappointing losses
of freshman and sophomore
year. The electric revival of
junior and senior year. The
deafening voices screaming in
unison and echoing across the
field. Fire Hoke. Free Jabrill.
Let’s Go Harbaugh. You Suck.
Let’s Go Blue. The “bullshit”
chants
the
University
of
Michigan (and subsequently,
the band) doesn’t want national
television to hear. The wave, at
all speeds. The Blues Brothers
dance. Mumbling and making
up words to “Varsity” at the
end of a win because none of us
know them.
It’s walking through campus
and the city. Throwing a Frisbee
to a friend, or a gaze at the fall
foliage in the Arb. Making sure
to hop over the class of 1953’s
Block ‘M’ at the Diag’s core, and
staring down an emboldened, fat
squirrel in the process. Admiring
the Bell Tower, and wondering
why the hell a column with a
clock on it is so beautiful to
look at as the sun sets. Heading
downtown and strolling around
Main Street.
It’s the winter. The rain,
which turns to hail, which turns
to snow, which turns to slush,
which turns to ice. The wind
blowing impossibly in every
direction, so no matter which
way you look, your hood flies
off and the weather slaps you
in the face. The slightly-more-
aggressive-than-two-hand-
touch football game, because the
snow is thick and tackling makes
it more legitimate, somehow.
The late-night sledding with
trays smuggled out of dining
halls on Palmer Field and
outside the Medical Center
Plaza. The reprieve of spring,
when the ubiquitous white melts
away to reveal the green below.
The first afternoon when it’s
warm enough to sunbathe, even
though it’s just 50 degrees. The
next week where it paradoxically
snows again, just as a small
middle finger from the Mitten.
Choosing
my
last
set
of
classes
was
stressful.
Inherently, there existed the
pressure to balance picks that
satisfy the pesky, remaining
distribution requirements and
others that stimulate fledgling
academic interests I’ll only
have time to explore in depth
as a college student.
Registration
is
always
important, but if we’re being
honest, it’s usually a mundane
task in which our options are all-
but-determined by the context
of our majors.
This time was different. The
choices felt more consequential,
because it was the last time I’d
be making them — and “lasts”
carry the weight of everything
that has prefaced them. It’s easy
to feel paralyzed by the gravity
of moments like these, but I’ve
found it’s healthier to consider
that the reason they feel so
heavy is because the “preface”
was so meaningful.
All things considered, then,
I’m happy. And I’m not just
talking about classes.
LAURA SCHINAGLE
Managing Editor
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
tothedaily@michigandaily.com
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890.
SHOHAM GEVA
Editor in Chief
CLAIRE BRYAN
and REGAN DETWILER
Editorial Page Editors
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s Editorial Board.
All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
Carolyn Ayaub
Claire Bryan
Regan Detwiler
Brett Graham
Caitlin Heenan
Jeremy Kaplan
Ben Keller
Minsoo Kim
Madeline Nowicki
Anna Polumbo-Levy
Jason Rowland
Ali Safawi
Kevin Sweitzer
Rebecca Tarnopol
Ashley Tjhung
Stephanie Trierweiler
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
Michael Sugerman can be reached
at mrsugs@umich.edu.
Ashley Zhang can be reached at
azhang@umich.edu.
Just normal people
ASHLEY ZHANG | COLUMN
ASHLEY
ZHANG
FROM THE DAILY
Stop construction of the DAPL
O
ver the past several months, protests over construction of
the Dakota Access Pipeline have grown from a whisper to a
feverous roar, both on campus and across the nation. Celebrities,
concerned citizens and many University of Michigan students have
joined the #NoDAPL movement, which supports the Standing Rock
Sioux Tribe of North Dakota who have led the movement. Protesters
have been challenging the pipeline’s path, slated to pass under the
Standing Rock Sioux’s main source of water, the Missouri River, and
through significant spiritual land. Adding to the controversy, growing
protest camps in Standing Rock have been met with water hoses and
tear gas from police forces. Because of the unacceptable environmental
hazards of oil pipelines, the threat the DAPL poses to water sources for
the Sioux and the persistent violation of the Sioux’s sovereign rights,
we oppose any further construction of the DAPL.
The
pipeline
is
being
built in what is now an era
of dangerously rising global
temperatures
and
contempt
for
the
reality
of
climate
change at the highest levels
of government, most recently
manifested in President-elect
Donald Trump’s appointment
of a climate change denier
to lead the transition at the
Environmental
Protection
Agency.
Oil
pipelines,
in
general, present environmental
risks,
and
the
DAPL
specifically presents deeply
unnecessary risks to both
local ecologies and a vital
water source that runs from
North
Dakota
to
Illinois.
The
International
Energy
Agency has found that oil
pipelines nationwide spilled
three
times
the
volume
of oil as trains — another
method of transporting oil
which carries it’s own risks
to local communities and the
environment — between 2004
and 2012. A major stakeholder
of the DAPL, Enbridge Inc.,
built the disastrous Line 6B,
which
dumped
1.2
million
gallons of crude oil into the
Kalamazoo River, and crude oil
spills from pipelines have been
shown to harm the environment
for
years
after
the
initial
spill. The DAPL threatens the
viability of the Sioux tribe’s
water intake for 70 miles down
the Missouri River.
The proven dangers of oil
transport pipelines call into
question the Army Corps of
Engineers’
environmental
impact
assessment
of
the
pipeline that the federal agency
released before building began.
Both the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, the federal agency
responsible for issuing permits
for
construction
projects
on and near waterways, and
Dakota
Access
LLC,
the
branch of Energy Transfer
Partners building the pipeline,
conducted
risk
assessments
and reported that no significant
environmental
or
cultural
impact was found. However,
the pipeline assessment relied
on an outdated 1985 survey
of the land that the pipeline
would run through, which the
Sioux claim omits important
burial sites and sacred land,
meaning their risk assessments
may be largely invalid. In
addition,
the
Army
Corps
classified the pipeline in such
a way that allowed it to issue a
special Nationwide Permit 12.
This permit process allowed the
pipeline to only be assessed in
areas where it crossed federally
protected lands, bypassing laws
intended to preserve culturally
significant lands and letting
it be built with little federal
authorization
and
oversight
from the Army Corps.
In addition to the damage oil
spills inflict on local ecologies,
the DAPL represents a step
backward in the shift toward
renewable energy the United
States should continue to make.
In 2016, job creation in the
solar energy field grew 12 times
as fast as overall jobs in the
United States and surpassed oil
and coal jobs. Though Trump
has said he would support the
pipeline under the premise
it will promote the creation
of new jobs and stimulate
the economy, furthering the
development of fossil fuels
is the wrong way to go about
those goals. The DAPL will
produce hundreds of temporary
construction jobs, but will only
offer a handful of jobs in the
long run. If Trump truly cares
about infrastructure and job
growth, he will encourage
renewables
instead
of the
economically
deteriorating
and
environmentally
dangerous
energy
sources
like the oil that would be
transported by the DAPL.
Building the DAPL would not
only be environmentally costly,
but also continues to perpetuate
the U.S. government’s historic
and systematic mistreatment
of
Native
Americans.
The
Advisory Council on Historic
Preservation
states
federal
agencies must consult with
Indian tribes if construction
projects
take
place
on
or
affect religiously or culturally
significant land. Yet the Sioux
assert that the Army Corps
rushed the surveying process
with the Nationwide Permit
12 and didn’t make significant
efforts to include the tribe’s
input in construction plans. The
pipeline’s path over significant
tribal archaeological finds, and
the threat it poses to the tribe’s
water
intake,
demonstrate
disregard for tribal sovereignty
and echo the long history of
questionable land grabs from
native peoples in U.S. history.
The Army Corps must cease
authorization for the pipeline
if it intends to reconcile with
a people long abused by the
federal government.
Moving the pipeline away
from North Dakota’s capital
of Bismarck and to its current
path because of concerns over
the city’s water supply further
shows disregard for the Sioux
nation. Though this was likely
seen as a simply utilitarian
decision, the shifted plans
echo government disregard for
people of color, which we’ve
seen more locally in Flint,
Mich. According to the Sioux,
the reroute may violate the
Clean Water Act and National
Environmental
Policy
Act
through the dangers it poses
to the Sioux water intake.
The government should shut
down the DAPL and condemn
environmental racism.
Recent
clashes
between
protesters and law enforcement
officials
in
Standing
Rock
further
necessitate
the
cessation
of
DAPL
construction.
The
Standing
Rock Medic and Healer Council
has condemned health dangers
posed
by
police
brutality,
including police forces’ use
of tear gas and water hoses in
freezing
temperatures,
and
has filed a lawsuit alleging
excessive force. This violence
stands in stark contrast to the
non-violent
police
response
during the occupation of the
Malheur
National
Wildlife
Refuge in Oregon by armed
white men. The response to
the DAPL protests contributes
to the problem of excessive
police
aggression
toward
marginalized communities.
Stopping construction of
the Dakota Access Pipeline is
vital to the preservation our
environment and to the well-
being of the Standing Rock
Sioux. Student activism on
this issue is more important
than ever, especially in the
face of inadequate coverage
of the silencing of the protests.
We call on the Army Corps of
Engineers and Dakota Access
LLC to cease construction of
the project. For the safety of the
local ecology and the dignity of
the Sioux community, we ask
for a halt to the construction of
the DAPL.
MICHAEL
SUGERMAN
Stopping
construction of
the Dakota Access
Pipeline is vital to
the preservation
of our
environment and
to the well-being
of the Standing
Rock Sioux.