This Is Not Oscars Coverage Pt. 4.

To be read as a direct continuation of Part 3; https://watchitdie.blogspot.com/2023/04/this-is-not-oscars-coverage-pt3.html

Although it is intended as a short epilogue. Dedicated to The Googly Eyes.

Those silly plastic stick-on eyes. Which Waymond insists on putting everywhere. Much to the annoyance of Evelyn. They are almost a character in their own right. Performing many different roles throughout the movie.

Initially they're a joke about the difficulties immigrants have in learning the language of their adopted homeland. Particularly if their first language is a complex, tonal one. Such as Mandarin. The; "Googly" is a mispronunciation of; "Google."

At the start of the movie there is a lot of debate over whether Evelyn needs Joy to come with her to the IRS audit in order to translate. Or whether she can make do with Google Translate on her phone. Slipping in her filial piety (孝) Joy unilaterally decides that she doesn't need to help her mother at the audit.

The Googly Eyes also seem to be an adoring reference to; "Fresh Off The Boat." A sitcom based on the memoir of Eddie Huang (黄颐铭), a Chinese-American chef. It ran on the US ABC network from 2015 through to 2020.

Technically Fresh Off The Boat was not the first sitcom centred around an Asian-American family to air on a major US network. That was; "All-American Girl" from 1994. 

Although I get the impression that even all the people involved would prefer it if we pretended that never happened. Midway through its 19 episode single season it started phasing out all of the Asian characters. Ending up as a sitcom about of group of White female friends along with one, token, Asian friend.

So Fresh Off The Boat was certainly the first successful sitcom centred around an Asian-American family to air on a major US network. A huge milestone for Asian-American visibility on TV.

I've only started watching the third season. A big part of Fresh Off The Boat's success though seems to be that it never lets a lecture get in the way of a good joke. However it is centred around a (Taiwanese) Chinese-American family. So aspects of Chinese culture do come up, along with aspects of American culture. How the two interact and sometimes clash.

For example the paternal grandmother, played by Lucille Soong (宋靜秀), lives with the family. An example of filial piety (孝). The; "Jenny" character very clearly does speak English, yet refuses to do so. When she speaks to other family members in Mandarin they often reply to her in Mandarin. Meaning the show has entire scenes in Mandarin, with English subtitles onscreen.

There are references to various; "Big Aunty" and; "Little Aunty." In Chinese culture when two people in the same social group have the same name. Then the older one is known as; "Big" while the younger one is known as; "Little." Within about five seconds of meeting him for the first time one Little Aunty is trying to matchmake one of the sons with the daughter of one of her friends. Due to Big Aunty five seconds was about as long as it took for her to get a word in.

The father; "Louis Haung," played by Randall Park runs a Wild West style ranch steakhouse restaurant. One of the big issues in opening the restaurant is having to hire a White man as its public face. As they don't think customers would trust seeing an Asian face at such a stereotypically White-American style of restaurant.

Louis always wears a Jade pendant to protect him from evil. I think we all now know why in Chinese culture Jade is thought to protect against malevolent forces.

In Season 2, Episode 13; "Phil's Phaves" the family buy a computer and get on the Internet for the first time. A big deal in 1995, when the show is set. They find an unfavourable online review of their restaurant which is particularly critical of its lack of a; "Fun" atmosphere.

So when they contact the reviewer and invite him back they put Googly Eyes on the tip jar in an effort to make the atmosphere more; "Fun." Given the episode deals primarily with the Internet I think that too was intended as a reference to Google.

In the earlier Season 2, Episode 11; "Year of the Rat" the family try celebrating Chinese New Year at a local Asian-American community organisation. None of the other members of the group are Asian. They have absolutely no idea about Chinese culture. The most Asian thing about the place is that it has a signed photograph of the kid who played; "Short Round" in; "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" (1984).

As I think we all know by now. The kid who played Short Round is Ke Huy Quan (关继威). Who plays Waymond in Everything Everywhere All At Once.

Eventually the Huangs throw their own Chinese New Year party at their restaurant with all the staff. It ends with the staff asking the; "Jessica" character, played by Constance Wu (吴恬敏) lots of questions about Chinese culture. Eventually she gets very tired of these questions. With it being first broadcast in 2016 you get the impression she's wishing she could tell them all to just Google it.

Everything Everywhere All At Once is a version of the legend of Jade Emperor (玉皇). How he became the Supreme Sovereign (至高無上的主權).

However the movie is most certainly not stealing the story. It's attempting to introduce it to an audience who have never heard it before.

Obviously Star Wars director George Lucas who would prefer it if his fans never got to hear about a director called; Aikra Kurosawa (黒澤 明). Let alone one his movies; "The Three Villains of the Hidden Fortress (隠し砦の三悪人)." 

However Everything Everywhere All At Once wants you to go and look up the actual legend of Jade Emperor on the Internet. The reverse psychology of Evelyn constantly wagging her finger and shouting; "No Googly!" surely only makes you want to Google it even more.

Incidentally the reviewer in the Phil's Phaves episode is; "Phillip Goldstein" a Chinese boy who has been adopted by a Jewish-American family. Attempting to highlight the similarities between Chinese and, particularly, Israeli culture. Phillip Goldstein is Jessica's ideal of the perfect child. Something she has no trouble telling own children.

Very much the Black Sheep of his Chinese-American family the; "Eddie Huang" character, played by Hudson Yang (杨升德) is obsessed with Black-American Hip-Hop music of that era. So far I've counted cameos by DMX and Busta Rhymes. Alongside many T-shirts and posters of the likes of Nas, Tupac Shakur and, particularly, The Wu-Tang Clan.

I find it hard to believe that the Mandarin speaking Chinese-American kid can't spot all of the obvious problems with The Wu-Tang Clan. Although there is one episode where Jessica accuses Eddie of hiding the fact that he has a girlfriend. Eddie responds by telling his mother that he did tell her. Using pretty much every Hip-Hop slang term for girlfriend.

To which Jessica responds to the effect of; "Eddie I just don't understand what you're saying to me anymore. Honestly it's just gibberish."

Despite it being based on his memoir and continuing as a producer Eddie Huang famously fell out with the show. Over its portrayal of his relationship with his father. Eddie Huang viewed his father to be distant and abusive. It being that abuse which led to his feelings of alienation and love of Hip-Hop music.

Obviously that sort of relationship doesn't work in a sitcom. However the show does seem to touch on it through Louis' relationship with his own distant father. Along with an episode in which its revealed that Louis tries to only spend two minutes with his children, each night before they go to bed. Due to him being terrified that he has no idea how to be a father.

Eddie Huang's entire objection was that the show didn't show his relationship with his father in the way he portrayed it in his memoir. I've not read his memoir. So I have no idea what his father was actually like. However it is one of the issues in Everything Everywhere All At Once. How the American-born Joy has become distanced from her traditional, immigrant family.

It is almost a quote from Fresh Off the Boat. That Chinese families don't say that they love each other. Instead they show that love by aggressively interfering in and attempting to micromanage their lives. Only being exposed to it at home while being fully immersed in Western, American culture everywhere else Joy doesn't really seem to understand this.

There is a key scene where, in the middle of an argument, Joy walks to her car to leave. Evelyn calls her back. You think this is the moment Evelyn will tell her daughter that she loves her. Instead Evelyn tells Joy that she needs to eat less as she's getting fat. Not feeling the love Joy then leaves in tears.

Evelyn's mastery of the power of the Multiverse is shown to be complete with her ability to join Jobu Tupaki in a universe where animal life never emerged. Meaning they both have to manifest as rocks. 

It is in this universe that Evelyn tries to find the Joy hiding beneath the Jobu Tupaki persona. Finally talking to her daughter as two White-American adult female friends would. Evelyn's rock wears a pair of Googly Eyes. Finally sharing an American joke, rather than a Chinese criticism with her daughter.

Having mastered the power of the Multiverse Evelyn changes the way she uses that power. From taking skills from all the other Evelyns to giving everyone in all of the universes the gift of Felicity (幸福). The ability to properly express their thoughts and emotions.

This moment is marked by Evelyn picking up one of the Googly Eyes from the floor. Then placing it on her forehead, between her eyebrows just above her nose. She then sets out of solve everyone's problems. Including through the rapid and widespread onslaught of matchmaking.

That is a pretty clear depiction of; "The Third Eye." Sometimes referred to as; "The Inner Eye" or; "The Mind's Eye."

The legend of how Jade Emperor became the Supreme Sovereign is Taoist/Daoist. It sees him spend 960 million years trying to master the power of the Universe, the Tao/Dao (道). Strictly speaking in Taoism mastery of the Third Eye only gives people a foundation from which to reach a more advanced meditative state.

However in Buddhism the Third Eye is viewed more as The Eye of Enlightenment. The ultimate insight into and mastery of the power of the Universe. Along with the two human eyes it is often referred to as; "The Eyes of Buddha." Buddha being the first human to achieve complete mastery of the Universe.

The Third Eye however is probably most synonymous with Hinduism. In which it represents the Ajna Chakra which signifies the unconscious mind. The connection with, insight into Brahman, the ultimate reality.

Hindu women are rather famous for wearing a small red dot between their eyebrows, known as a; "Bindi." That is an everyday version of a; "Tilaka" worn during religious ceremonies and festivals as a depiction of the Third Eye. 

The Bindi is typically mistaken for a sign of marriage, like a wedding ring. That's because it is often seen as though the connection to the ultimate reality is achieved through marriage, the union between man and woman. A wedding ceremony is often the first religious ceremony in which a Tilaka will be applied.

I hate to be the one to break the news to either the Indian Army's Northern Command or the Chinese People's Liberation Army's Western Command. However India and China are right next to each other. So close they haven't actually been able to define exactly where the border is.

As with the weather cultures don't just stop at artifical, manmade borders. I think the most famous type of ink in the World is; "India Ink." Which is actually a Chinese invention. Made using ingredients imported from India along the old Silk Road. Within Tibetan Buddhism you have the concept of; "Shambala." A spiritual dimension in which the next avatar of Vishnu will emerge. Vishnu being a Hindu deity, the pervader, the protector of the World from chaos.

Everything Everywhere All At Once also touches on the close link between India and China through a movie playing on the big screen in the background at the laundromat. This isn't a full scene let alone a real movie. 

However it seems to be invoking the Indian; "Bollywood" style. In that it has an Indian Princess in a love affair with at White-British Colonial-era military officer. In true Bollywood style their love is expressed in a big dance routine.  The version of the dance routine in the universe where humans have evolved with hotdog sausages for fingers is another very funny moment.

Although they're often described as; "Sub-Asian" or; "Central-Asian." The people of Indian, Pakistan, Bangladesh and all the; "Stans" such as Afghanistan are all Asian. What most people think of as; "Asian" is, in fact only; "East-Asian." When you're talking about; "Asian" you're really talking about a full third of the planet.

Further driving home the point. That; "Asian Culture" really isn't something that can be reduced to a single Social Media hashtag or party political campaign.

The Third Eye is actually also referenced in Fresh Off The Boat. By an odd, ponytail wearing guidance counsellor. Who tells Eddie to use his third eye rather than fighting. Creating the uncomfortable spectacle of an incompetent White man lecturing the Chinese kid on Asian belief systems.

Mentioning Fresh Off The Boat also gives me an opportunity to offer something of an apology to Constance Wu. She starred alongside Jennifer Lopez in the 2019 movie; "Hustlers." With Jennifer Lopez performing at the Half-Time Show of the 2020 Super Bowl that movie was much talked about that year.

The plan seeming to be that the interest sparked at the Super Bowl would follow the movie to success at the Independent Spirit Awards, held the week before the Oscars. Raising the profile of those awards. Reminding people that there's a lot more to the world of movie and film-making than just the Oscars.

Arguably The Handmaiden (2018) is a better movie than Parasite (2019). However you'll notice that, like Hustlers, it didn't receive any Oscar nominations. It knows why.

At the time I did slightly mock Constance Wu for her attempts to get out of her Fresh Off The Boat contract. In order to go and make more big movies like Hustlers. Having now seen much more of her work. I think she's actually entitled to a little bit of an ego. Although, perhaps, not that much of an ego.

In one of the universes of Everything Everywhere All At Once the Quan-Wang family fail the IRS audit. Prompting Deirdre Beaubeirdre to turn up with the police to seize the laundromat. During the Chinese New Year party. In response Evelyn picks up a baseball bat, which Waymond had stuck Googly Eyes to, and smashes in her own windows. Leading to her getting arrested. 

This was a reference to The San Francisco Riot of 1877.

Starting in 1873 America experienced a prolonged economic downturn known as The Long Depression. This was particularly acute in California where it coincided with the end of The Gold Rush. In San Francisco this saw the Chinese immigrant population being scapegoated. Particularly for being seen as stealing "White Jobs" by branching out in to laundries.

On July 23rd 1877 (23/6/1877) this anti-Asian racism boiled over into several days of rioting. A pogrom intended to expel all Asians from the city. One of the first buildings attacked was a Chinese owned laundry on Leavenworth and Geary. The owners were beaten up and the building burned to the ground.

Many of San Francisco's residents actually rallied to protect their Chinese and Asian neighbours. Forming a militia known as the; "Pick-Handle Brigade." Armed with baseball bats; "clubs in the latest police pattern" they mobilised to protect Chinese owned businesses and, eventually, quell the riots.

However that unity did not last long. One of the key organisers of the Pick-Handle Brigade was Dennis Kearney who went on to form his own political organisation under the slogan; "The Chinamen Must Go!"

Kearney's political activism helped lead to the adoption of The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Which banned Chinese labourers for immigrating into the US. It was the first and only American law which criminalised an entire national/racial group.

All of which seems like a timely warning from history. One which is well worth Googling. Given the rise in anti-Asian, particularly anti-Chinese, racism which emerged during the Pandemic. 

Particularly as, building on the damage it did to itself during the Pandemic. America now seems to be really committed to giving itself another prolonged economic downturn. 

18:45 on 29/4/23 (UK date).

This Is Not Oscars Coverage Pt. 3.

To be read as a direct continuation of Part 2; https://watchitdie.blogspot.com/2023/04/this-is-not-oscars-coverage-pt-2.html

It is the central premise of Everything Everywhere All At Once. That the Evelyn in the self-described; "Alpha-Universe" is a highly accomplished scientist. She is the one who discovers that it is possible to jump between all the different universes.

Alpha-Evelyn then sets up a school teaching people how to universe jump. Her star pupil is her daughter, Alpha-Joy. However exactly like River Tam in Firefly/Serenity something goes wrong in Alpha-Joy's training. Her clay pot shatters, her mind splits. She becomes Jobu Tupaki.

Alpha-Evelyn is then killed in the war that Jobu Tupaki starts in the Alpha-Universe. Leaving the people of Alpha-Universe to search all of the other universes for their own Jade Emperor (玉皇). The Evelyn who is powerful enough to defeat Jobu Tupaki.

They find her in this universe, described in the movie as the; "Home Universe." They then watch as Evelyn masters the power of the Multiverse, the Tao/Dao (道). The 960 million years that Jade Emperor spent meditating in his cave before ascending to the level of god/demigod.

One much talked about sequence in the movie shows Evelyn jumping into a universe where humans have evolved with hotdog sausages for fingers. This is intended to show Evelyn's growing mastery of the power of the Multiverse. 

All those in the Alpha-Universe are only able to jump between human universes. Evelyn is able to jump into a universe before humans came into being. An evolutionary fork in the road. Where one Ape with hotdog sausages for fingers defeated an Ape with more human-like fingers. Changing the course of human evolution.

Evelyn's mastery of the power of the Multiverse is shown to be complete when she is able to jump even further. Joining Jobu Tupaki in a universe where animal life didn't begin. Let alone evolve into human life. There both Evelyn and Jobu Tupaki manifest as rocks. 

This highlights that core element of Animist, particularly Asian Animist belief systems. That all things in the universe are imbued with this elemental life force, a; "spirit." Regardless of what physical state that elemental force is manifesting as at any given time. Rocks are just as valid and valuable as Apes, even Humans. 

In Japanese Shinto (神道), the Way of the Gods, some rock formations are considered even more valuable than humans. Mount Fuji (富士山) is considered to be the manifestation of Kuni-no-Tokotachi (国之常立神). The first generation of the Kamiyo-nanayo (神世七代), the Seven Generations of the Age of the Gods.

The people of the Alpha-Universe select and train Evelyn in the hope that she will kill Jobu Tupaki. When Evelyn refuses to kill Jobu Tupaki they turn against her and set out to kill her.

However Evelyn's mastery of the power of the Multiverse has given her an insight that even the people of the Alpha-Universe do not possess. Evelyn can see that Jobu-Tupaki is not all powerful, her own mastery of the power of the Multiverse is not complete. 

In the universe where humans have hotdogs for fingers Evelyn is shown to be in a lesbian relationship with the IRS auditor. "Deirdre Beaubeirdre" played by Jamie Lee Curtis. It follows immediately from the sequence in which Jobu Tupaki forces Evelyn to look at her through Evelyn's fingers. A reference to that lesbian oral sex sequence in The Handmaiden (2018).

It is intended to show Joy's immaturity, Jobu Tupaki's incomplete mastery of the power of the Multiverse. Joy is gay while both Evelyn and Deirdre are just miserable middle-aged women. So in her immaturity, her inexperience Jobu Tupaki is projecting Joy's solution onto Evelyn and Deirdre's problems.

Having ascended to level where she can see the universal truth. That Everything, Everywhere, Everywhen is happening All At Once Jobu Tupaki interrupted her training. Slipping into a version of that 20th Century European philosophy of Nihilism. Concluding that with life having no meaning there is no point to it. So you may as well destroy it.

Knowing this Evelyn sets out to help Jobu Tupaki complete her mastery of the power of the Multiverse. Saving Alpha-Joy by killing her Nihilism, her Jobu Tupaki persona. Something which in modern Psychology would probably be diagnosed as; "Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)."

Essentially Evelyn sets out of kill Jobu Tupaki with kindness. Something which Greek Mythology explored through The Contest Between Poseidon and Athena.

Poseidon is the very male god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses. While Athena is the very female goddess of war, wisdom and handicraft. One day the humans living in a newly emerged Greek city decided they wanted a god or goddess as their patron. Prompting Poseidon and Athena to battle each other for the honour.

In his very male aggression Poseidon flung his trident into the rocks causing water to spring forth. A trick his horse Pegasus was also very good at. In her nurturing female wisdom Athena used this water spring to plant an olive tree. Which provided the residents of the city with food. Prompting them to choose Athena as their patron. 

In Greek mythology even the gods have to submit to the democratic process.

This is why the olive branch is seen as both a symbol of peace and victory. The peace which comes through victory. It is also why Greece's capital city is named; "Athens." Rather than; "Poseidonville."

At around 16:40 on 20/4/23 (UK date) it might take me more than chore day to order my thoughts. 

Edited at around 16:15 on 22/4/23 (UK date) to tidy all of the above and copy & paste;

Initially Evelyn uses her ability to jump between universes in the way the people from the Alpha-Universe have taught her to. To acquire skills needed to defeat Jobu Tupaki. So when she needs martial art fighting skills she jumps into the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon universe. Where that Evelyn has become a Wuxia (武俠) movie star.

You could almost say that Evelyn is stealing from the Evelyns in all the other universes. Something the people from the Alpha-Universe assures her she is entitled to do. Not that it's ever clear that she deprives the other Evelyns of their skills. With the exception of the Alpha-Universe you only ever see the other universes from Home-Evelyn's perspective.

However as her mastery of the power of the Multiverse grows Evelyn changes the way she uses her ability. Rather than taking from the people in the other universes she uses her ability to give them gifts. The gift of Felicity (幸福), the ability to properly express their thoughts and emotions to her. Exactly like Jade Emperor was sent by Taiyi (太一) and the Wushen (五神) to do.

In short Evelyn is suddenly able to see exactly what everyone's problem is. Then use her mastery of the power of the Multiverse to solve that problem for them.

So Evelyn is able to see that the police officer's anger comes from the fact he is suffering from back/neck pain. Which she uses her mastery of the power of the Multiverse to fix. A little reference to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). 

My Physiotherapist mother is also an NHS certified Acupuncturist. Modern medicine has scientifically proven that Acupuncture is very effective in managing chronic pain. Even if no-one really understands why.

It is also hard to tell if the police officer is a S.W.A.T officer or a riot control officer. A little reference to the Shanghai Municipal Police (上海公共租界工部局警務處). Which is widely acknowledged to have created the first, modern S.W.A.T police unit. To control often heavily armed rioters.

Evelyn is also able to see that when the old man, who is a regular customer at the laundromat, tells her he really likes the perfume she is wearing. He's not being creepy. He's really telling her that he misses his dead wife. Who used to wear the same perfume.

Loneliness and the lack of a romantic partner does seem to be the problem Evelyn encounters the most. She solves it through a rapid and widespread onslaught of matchmaking.

A reference to how matchmaking is a big part of Chinese culture. It's said that the Lantern Festival (元宵节) is one of the really big matchmaking days in China. However that could probably describe any day in China. It is the Chinese way of showing your family members that you love them. Aggressively interfering in and attempting to micromanage their lives.

Evelyn's change of approach is probably best shown in the Racacoony universe. Where she works in the Teppanyaki (鉄板焼き) restaurant. Alongside a male chef who is controlled by a Racoon hiding under his hat. That joke about Evelyn's inability to pronounce; "Ratatouille" is just so funny.

Initially Evelyn is jealous and angry about the male chef who is constantly outshining and overshadowing her. Thinking he is cheating. Taking credit for what are not his skills but the Racoon's. So she calls the animal police on them and has the Racoon taken away.

Evelyn then realises that it's not all about her. The Racoon and the male chef aren't partnering up to make her look bad. They're doing it because the Racoon is a brilliant chef. It's just that because his spirit is currently manifested in a Racoon state he's not allowed anywhere near a kitchen. While the male chef, like all husbands, is utterly useless. He can't even walk, let alone tie his own shoelaces, without the help of the Racoon.

So the union, the partnership, between the chef and Racoon makes them both better. It's also better for society. Seriously. The Chinese can't leave matchmaking alone, not even for five minutes.

Evelyn then sets out to solve the problem she has created. Chasing after the animal police to rescue the Racoon and reunite him with the chef. Initially this involves the chef carrying Evelyn on his shoulders. While Evelyn guides him like the Racoon used to do.

Then the chef gets tired. So in an absolutely huge moment Evelyn starts carrying the chef on her shoulders as they rescue the Racoon.

A massive part of Asian culture is Ancestor Veneration. The notion that you must respect and care for your elders. Both while they are alive and after their spirit transitions to a different state and dimension. Which some describe as; "death."

The Traditional Chinese Calendar is made of up a sexagenary cycle. Formed from 10 Heavenly Stems and 12 Earthly Branches. Making the current year Yin Water (癸), Rabbit (卯). Originally every family had 10 different Heavenly Stems, the days of the week. Each one was an ancestor you venerated on that particular day.

Ancestor Veneration or; "Filial Piety" is shown using the Chinese character; "Xiao (孝)." This is literally a picture of the Chinese character; "Old (老)" being carried by the Chinese character; "Son (子)." Showing that it is the duty of the son to carry their ancestor.

The character Xiao (孝) also highlights how deeply patriarchal Asian societies are. The family line is very much carried by the son, the men. There is actually a scene in the movie showing the moments after Evelyn's birth. The Doctor breaking the bad news to her father that she is a girl. A tragedy China's now defunct One Child Policy likened to having a dead or severely disabled son.

The Xiao (孝) character is actually wholly wrong. Across almost all cultures, throughout all of human history the burden of caring for the very young and the very old has always disproportionally fallen on women rather than men. It is men who go out to work while the women stay home and have babies. It is men who become high status Doctors while women become lower status Nurses.

So while it is the duty of every Asian son to take in their parents and look after them in their old age. It is the daughter-in-law that actually does the work of looking after them.

Meaning this act of Evelyn picking the male chef up and carrying him on her shoulders is A Huge Asian Feminist Statement. Effectively replacing Xiao (孝) with a new character. In which the Daughter (兒) is carrying the Old (老).

Of course if this was Oscars coverage. Then I might mention; "The Whale" (2023). Like in Everything Everywhere All At Once this sees a father's illness forcing the end of a long period of estrangement with his daughter. However the spoiled White American daughter is too selfish and too lazy to care for her own father. So she gets a Chinese woman to do it instead.

Everything Everywhere All At Once is primarily a response to the anti-Asian, particularly anti-Chinese, racism which arose in America during the ridiculously declared Pandemic. The main message is that it is time to abandon all the hate. Let love, kindness and understanding rule the day.

Rather like Evelyn in the Racacoony universe it thinks the hatred is driven by a lack of understanding. Caused by the barriers between cultures.  

A problem it sets out to solve by giving people insight into Asian culture. Through its rather zany tutorial about different Asian nations and cultures. 

At around 16:50 on 22/4/23. I'll try and pull my thought process back in by Monday. 

Edited at around 16:50 on 26/4/23 (UK date) to tidy all of the above and copy & paste;

After Evelyn has solved everyone else's problems. They all unite behind her in the effort to kill Jobu Tupaki with kindness. Pulling Joy back from her Nihilism and Jobu Tupaki persona.

Joy's homosexuality is the main way that she has pulled away from her family. Asian, particularly Chinese, culture is dominated by Filial Piety. The flipside of that is that it's very important you have babies, particularly sons. To look after you in your old age and to continue venerating your ancestors after you die.

Not typically producing offspring homosexual relationships present a huge challenge to that cornerstone of Asian culture. Lesbianism has got to be the greatest challenge. Being all girls, no babies.

Everything Everywhere All At Once is actually set in California's Simi Valley, a commuter suburb of Los Angeles. Although you'd have to be really paying attention to notice that detail. So the location could really be taken as any major city in the State of California.

The Californian city of San Francisco is largely seen as America's; "Gay Capital." With one of the highest proportion of gay residents anywhere in the country. San Francisco has also long had one of America's largest proportions of Asian, particularly Chinese, residents. Continuing to include many first generation immigrants. 

Immigrants from Europe traditionally head for New York City's famous Ellis Island on the East Coast. While immigrants for Asia traditionally head for San Francisco on the West Coast. Even if their stories are not as widely known and told in America's story of being a nation of immigrants.

With homosexuality being such a huge challenge to traditional Asian culture and identity. San Francisco's gay residents and its Asian residents must be two communities which spend much of their time being utterly baffled by each other.

So alongside Joy's homosexuality, the subtle references to lesbianism in Killing Eve and The Handmaiden (2018). Everything Everywhere All At Once also includes a lot of overt, in-your-face, references to male homosexuality. Really the very extreme side of male homosexuality.

So during various fight scenes things like police batons suddenly turn in to very large, but otherwise anatomically correct, penis-realistic dildos. These rapid changes of an object's physical state further underlining that idea central to Animist, particularly Asian, belief systems. That Everything, Everywhere and Everywhen all exist and have always existed, All At Once It is simply their state which changes.

The IRS staff are presented with a trophy in the shape of a giant buttplug. As reward whenever they've conducted a particularly invasive and painful audit. While one of the senior managers at the IRS has a secret BDSM sex dungeon hidden in his office. Evelyn finds him particularly difficult to matchmake for.

These very in-your-face references to the more extreme side of male homosexuality are all the sort of thing that first generation Chinese immigrants would be exposed to in San Francisco. Really on a daily basis, but particularly during Gay Pride Month and festival.

Having now done some really Not Suitable For Work (NSFW) research on the topic. The "Pet Play" BDSM fetish in which one or more gay male sexual partners pretend to be domestic animals must be really hard to explain to first generation Chinese immigrants. Almost as hard to explain as a man being in a relationship with a Racoon.

So Everything Everywhere All At Once's references to homosexuality stand as an issue in their own right. It is almost the climax of the movie when the very traditional Chinese, very homophobic Alpha-Gong Gong joins the effort to save Joy by killing Jobu Tupaki with kindness.

Unusually the movie is directed by a duo, known as; "The Daniels." Daniel Kwan (關家永), who is of Taiwanese and Hong Kong Chinese heritage and Daniel Scheinert, who is White.

As far as I can tell Daniel Scheinert is gay while Daniel Kwan is married to and has a son with a woman, Kirsten Lepore. However as I think a lot of people who watched the Oscars, myself included, would have done. It is easy to mistake them for a gay couple.

So this stark contrast between US gay culture and traditional Chinese culture is certainly something which must have come up through the course of their professional relationship. Daniel Scheinert does seem to be in danger of proving that it's creepy when a White man is a little bit too into Asian culture. Even when it's a gay White man. Although I think he might be able to use the; "Forced Learning" defence.

However the homosexuality issue also serves as something of a jumping off point. For all the culture clashes between generations. The universal feeling that as they grow children are pulling away from their parents and families.

So most of the scenes involving Home-Joy, rather than her Jobu Tupaki persona, seem to involve her car. Getting a driving license and first car being a rite-of-passage which most US teenagers go through at 16. The new found freedom it gives them and all the extra worry it causes their parents. 

Likewise Home-Joy's transition into Jobu Tupaki is shown to take place in a bar. Another rite-of-passage Americans go through at 21. While American teenagers view getting tattoos as another rite-of-passage. In Asia it's often seen as the mark of a criminal.

Jobu Tupaki's Nihilism, her desire to destroy everything as it has no meaning, is given a physical form. Although it's much talked about this black, Donut-shaped object is not actually revealed until mid-way through the movie.

This physical representation of Jobu Tupaki's Nihilism is a reference to claims that the Universe is Torus or Donut shaped. As with the Multiverse explanation this is a claim which has been made at various times in, more recent, history.

Very basically. The dominant theory is that the Universe came into being as the result of an explosion; The Big Bang. As this explosion rapidly expanded it cooled down from a temperature hot enough to create an almost infinite number of Suns.

Due to the very vast size of the Universe. Along with the, comparitively, slow Speed of Light. We are able to see back in time. Close to what we think was The Big Bang, the moment the Universe came it existence.

What you would expect to see then is areas of the Universe which, being further back in time, are much hotter than the area we all live in. However you don't see that. Casting doubt on the credibility of The Big Bang Theory.

An explanation for that inconsistency is that we're not actually able to see that much of the Universe. 

We know that the Earth is definitely round. Through manned space flight we've been able to look down on all of planet Earth and see that it is round. With the International Space Station (ISS) and China's Heavenly Palace (天宫) Space Station we have humans up there constantly. Confirming that the Earth is still, very much, round. 

However here on Earth it appears to us that the Earth is flat. An illusion caused by our flawed perspective. The fact that we can't actually see enough of the Earth to see that it is round.

Similarly although we currently view that Universe as flat that might only be because we cannot see all of the Universe. It might be a completely different shape. It might be in these unseen parts of the Universe that you get these much hotter areas.

Over the years various shapes of the Universe have been suggested. Within Geometry you have this particularly interesting shape; The Torus. 

A Torus has one circle which is horizontal, like a donut. Rotating within the tube of that circle you have another circle which is vertical. As the inner circle rotates it causes the outer circle to expand, as the Big Bang Theory dictates that the Universe must do. Eventually this causes the outer circle to appear as a sphere or globe. Not that you'd be able to see that from within the Torus.

Basically some maths nerds have spent their entire lives working on this really elegant mathematical model. Now they just want to be included in the conversation, any conversation. A situation which is, arguably, similar to the decision to declare the Pandemic.

Fortunately. You don't need to understand any of that to get the joke. You just need to know that some people believe that the Universe is donut shaped. Amongst all the other nerds (gay men) those people (lesbians) are considered weird and silly.

So when Jobu Tupaki finally pulls back her curtains to expose her 'donut' to Evelyn and invites her to eat it. That's yet another reference to lesbian oral sex. Something, which to a gay man like Daniel Scheinert, must seem like a fate worse than death. It's another example of Jobu Tupaki's incomplete mastery of the power of the Multiverse. Attempting to project Joy's solution onto Evelyn misery.

Jobu Tupaki actually describes the physical representation of her Nihilism as a; "Bagel." A baked, rather than fried, good which is the same shape as a donut. Specifically it is an; "Everything Bagel." An American food trend in which the indecisive put every available topping on the same (bread) bagel.

Discovering that Everything, Everywhere, Everywhen is happening All At Once Jobu Tupaki concluded that nothing has any meaning. So she got bored and decided to put everything in all of the universes onto a bagel. The concentration of everything on this Torus seems likely to cause the cooling and implosion of the Multiverse. Although that's not a formal scientific theory I've ever come across.

Jobu Tupaki's "Everything Bagel" is really representative of the vapid Social-Media hashtag culture. Which seems to see a new food trend every week. Things like; "Cronuts," "Cruffins" and "Pumpkin Spice Lattes."

It is particularly a reference to; "Bubble Tea." Invented in Taiwan in the 1980's Bubble Tea is milk tea served with tapioca balls. The inclusion of various shades of sugar syrups and toppings has seen it grow into a very "Instagramable" food trend. One which is very representative of Asian-American culture.

Sometimes known simply as; "Boba," rather like the; "Boba Fett" character in the Star Wars franchise. Bubble Tea has also given rise to the insult; "Boba Liberal." The sort of person who signals their virtue and support for Asian-Americans through their love of Bubble Tea.

These days the hashtag; "#BubbleTea," "#BobaTea" or; "#Boba" is normally seen alongside the hashtag; "#StopAAPIHate" (Asian-American, Pacific-Islander Hate). Typically beneath a picture of a vapid Social-Media influencer flashing a Peace Sign whilst wearing a Biden/Harris facemask.

Given that it is an attempt to tackle the anti-Asian, particularly anti-Chinese, racism and violence that arose in America during the Pandemic. You might think that Everything Everywhere All At Once is supportive of the US Democrats Stop AAPI astroturf campaign.

However the movie takes viewers, particularly American ones, on a zany tour through many different Asian countries and cultures. Often highlighting the vast differences between them. This also shows that Asians are a really vast and diverse group. Which cannot be lumped together in one hashtag or party political campaign.

To me that really underlines that US Democrats care no more about Asian-Americans than the Benihana Corportation does. Lumping Japanese, Chinese, Korean and even New Zealand Maori together in a bloc on an electoral map to be coloured in crayon. Nothing more than a theatrical trick to separate idiots from their money.

There is a key shot in which Jobu Tupaki slips under some police tape. That is pure Black Lives Matter. The physicality of her performance also shows why Stephanie Hsu (许玮伦) was Oscar nominated.  

In the scene where everyone joins with Evelyn to pull Joy back from her Nihilism and Jobu Tupaki persona. Many of the clothes and general visual palate are in that Day-Glo and Neon associated with Rave culture. While the black Everything Bagel spins, record-like, in the background.

At this point, along with various other points in the movie. The pill-like disc of the Everything Bagel is a reference to recreational drugs. Particularly Opioids.

This is another, almost universal area of tension between generations, parents and their children. 

Islam famously forbids the use of alcohol as it impairs the ability to communicate with God, pray. However Islam only explicitly forbids the use of alcohol. Meaning there is an almost constant argument between Muslim parents and children the World over. About whether the ban also extends to recreational drugs which are comparable to alcohol, such as Marijuana. 

America's current Opioid Epidemic seems to be an example of a nation collectively embracing Nihilism as its ideology. With a great many people seeming to conclude that life has no meaning. So they may as well just destroy themselves.

Although no-one seems to understand why. That aspect of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Acupuncture, is very effective at managing chronic pain. 

Certainly much more effective that than overprescribing of Opioids. Even if it's not as profitable. 

 

 

 

To be continued in Part 4.

17:30 on 26/4/23 (UK date). 

Edited at around 13:20 on 28/4/23 (UK date) to do one final tidy up. I'd like to confess to being very hungover.

This Is Not Oscars Coverage Pt. 2.

To be read as a direct continuation of Part 1; https://watchitdie.blogspot.com/2023/03/this-is-not-oscars-coverage.html

The 2018 Winter Olympics/Para-Olympics were held in PyeongChang in the Republic of Korea (RoK/South). This triggered something of a Western interest in Asian, particularly Korean, culture. 

The South Korean language movie; "Parasite" won four Oscars in 2020, including the much coveted; "Best Picture." While that story of Korean immigrants to the US; "Minari" was nominated for six Oscars in 2021, winning one.

So Everything Everywhere All At Once also looked at Korean culture.

The movie centres around a Chinese-American family so primarily looks at Chinese culture. However through the Star Wars franchise and computer games it also looks at how Westerners, particularly Americans, might have been introduced to Japanese culture. Which is very different from Chinese culture.

Korea has had a long, shared history with both China and Japan.

China was first united as a single country under its first Imperial Dynasty, the Qin Dynasty (秦朝), at the end of its Warring States Period (戰國時代). However Emperor Qin Shi Huang (始皇) was only able to extend his new empire as far East as the modern Chinese Province/municipality of Beijing (北京).

The entire Korean Peninsula, along with the modern Chinese Provinces of Liaoning (辽宁), Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (内蒙古自治区), Jilin(吉林省) and Heilongjiang (黑龙江). They were all part of Korea. The disunited; "Three Kingdoms of Korea (삼국시대)."

Under the fifth of China's Imperial Dynasties, the Tang Dynasty (唐朝), China helped unite the Three Kingdoms of Korea. United Korea then rebelled against the Tang Dynasty and divided North and South. 

Even then the Northern "Balhae (발해)" part of Korea extended into what is considered the North-Eastern provinces of modern China. It was only the Southern; "Silla (신라)" part of Korea that lay on the Korean Peninsula.

It was China's seventh Imperial Dynasty, the Liao Dynasty (大遼), which conquered Balhae Korea in 927 A.D. Establishing the modern Chinese Provinces of Liaoning (辽宁), Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (内蒙古自治区), Jilin (吉林省) and Heilongjiang (黑龙江) as part of China.

Limited only to the Korean Peninsula Korea then entered into its own dynastical period. Most notably the Joseon Dynasty (대조선국) which is still considered Korea's Golden Age.

Despite being Korea's Golden Age the Joseon Era still saw the Korean Peninsula invaded and occupied on numerous occasions. By both China and Japan.

Having been significantly weakened through conflict with China, Japan and European Colonialists. By the 19th Century Joseon Korea existed as a Chinese Tributary State. Not quite a Chinese Colony but very close to it.

In the mid-19th Century Japan had emerged from its Locked State (Sakoku/鎖国) period. During the subsequent Meiji Restoration (明治維新) period Japan once again looked to expand its Empire. Seeing Imperial China being weakened by European Colonialists Japan set its sights on the Korean Peninsula. To make it a Japanese Colony before it became a European Colony.

When the Korean Peninsula was a Chinese Tributary State Koreans described the relationship as; "Sadaejuyi (사대주의)." Literally; "Following the great."

The Ancient Greek polymath Aristotle was one of the first people to write down his attempts to study Physics. Observing that there are inanimate objects, those which are unable to move themselves. Along with animate objects, those which are able to move themselves. He also observed that animate objects are able to move inanimate objects.

Aristotle described the inanimate objects as; "Objects" and the animate objects as; "Subjects." Subjects being able to affect Objects while Objects can only be effected by Subjects.

British Physicist Isaac Newton expanded on this concept with his Laws of Motion. Further observing how Objects are affected by Subjects.

By the time Aristotle, let alone Newton, was doing his work. Asian Animist belief systems were already much more advanced in this area. Looking at not just the properties of physical objects on Earth. Also the elemental forces of the Universe.

Taoism/Daoism is probably most widely known for its quest for balance between Yin and Yang. Even if many Western tattoo wearers don't know that the Yin/Yang symbol at the centre of the South Korean national flag comes from Taoism/Daoism.

Yin is the reactive, Objective force. While Yang is the active, Subjective force. When Chinese Dragons (Lung/龙) take the form of winged snakes they have only 36 scales made up of the Yin force but 81 scales made up of the Yang force. Showing their power.

So in a soft-power attempt to increase Japanese influence over the Korean Peninsula. Japanese intellectuals invented the concept of "Shutai (主体)." The Subject which is capable of acting on the Object. Translating it into the Korean word; "Juche (주체)." As an attractive counterpoint to; "Sadaejuyi." The following of China's greatness.

This helped Japan establish diplomatic relations with the Korean Peninsula as a Chinese Tributary State. Then establishing it as a Japanese Tributary State before, finally, invading it as a Japanese Colony in 1910.

So while Korea has a culture all of its own, unique from both Chinese and Japanese culture. Korean culture has, at various points, both influenced and been influenced by both Chinese and Japanese culture.

One of the main achievements of Joseon Korea was the introduction of its Hangul (한글) written language. Which introduced widespread literacy amongst the Korean population for the first time. Prior to that the small proportion of Koreans who could read and write did so in Chinese.

Korea continues to use some Chinese characters alongside Hangul. Which must get confusing. With written Chinese being a pictographic language. While Hangul is an alphabetic language, with an alphabet of letters being used to make up words and sentences.

It is one of the great contradictions of Korean society. That it has the very conservative, very polite, very deferential, very rigid culture which is common to Japan. Alongside this very mischievous, cheeky, rebellious sense of humour. A real fondness for what, these days, is known as; "Trolling."

A big figure in Korean mythology are; "Dokkaebi (도깨비)." Literal goblins or trolls who appear from bloodstains in a puff of blue smoke. Dokkaebi love playing pranks on mortals. One of their favourites is blocking the path of travellers in the forest. Forcing them to win a wrestling match in order to pass. 

Players of the computer game; "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege" might be familiar with the word; "Dokkaebi." Even if they don't know its origins in Korean folklore.

So Everything Everywhere All At Once looks at Korean culture by absolutely roasting the Korean-Canadian/American actress Sandra Oh. Although given China and Korea's long, shared history I'm sure Sandra Oh is familiar with the Chinese way of saying; "We love you!"

Jobu Tupaki is portrayed as a very fashion-forward Sociopath. A young woman who is always dressed in the finest haute-couture as she goes about her murderous rampages. That is very much a reference to Jodie Comer's "Villanelle/Oksana Astankova" character from the US/UK TV show; "Killing Eve." In which Sandra Oh plays the titular MI5 officer; "Eve Polastri."

Killing Eve has a very clear lesbian subtext. The all consuming obsession between the Eve and Villanelle characters. Particularly in the world of movies the recent Western interest in Asian and Korean culture was driven not only by the 2018 Winter Olympics/Para-Olympics. Also the 2018 South Korean movie; "The Handmaiden."

The Handmaiden is an adaptation of the novel "Fingersmith" by British (Welsh) writer Sarah Waters. Which is an almost iconic piece of modern literature in global lesbian circles. It tells the story of a conwoman who is sent to befriend and rob a noblewoman. Only for the two women to fall in love.

As a romantic, sexual, love story the lesbian sex scenes are essential to the plot. Sex, nudity and particularly homosexuality are still all considered taboo within modern South Korean society. A social conservatism they share with Japan.

So I watched The Handmaiden interested to see how the movie would respond to the challenge of telling a lesbian love story. While avoiding nudity or any real reference to homosexuality. Which does make it sound as though I was watching it just for the sex scenes. When I was actually watching in the expectation that there wouldn't be sex scenes.

The Handmaiden is really a film in two parts. First telling the story from the perspective of the conwoman; "Nam Sook-hee" played by Kim Tae-ri (김태리). Then from the perspective of the noblewoman; "Lady Izumi Hideko" played by Kim Min-hee (김민희).

The dividing point between the two stories/perspectives is really a sex scene between Nam Sook-hee and Lady Hideko. 

Shown first from the perspective of Nam Sook-hee it is what you would expect from a movie attempting to gently push the boundaries of a culture where nudity and homosexuality is still widely considered taboo. So a brief shot of a female nipple, some brief same-sex kissing and a bit of rolling and moaning about on a bed.

Shown second from the perspective of Lady Hideko it is so much more graphic. For a start it lasts for about 10 minutes. Which must of have been 10 really uncomfortable minutes if you were watching it in a cinema packed with strangers.

It shows Nam Sook-hee and Lady Hideko performing pretty much every lesbian sex act imaginable on each other. One particular sequence shows Nam Sook-hee performing oral sex on Lady Hideko. A sequence shot from the perspective of Lady Hideko's vagina.

It really shows off the very cheeky, mischievous Korean sense of human. Sort of turning round to any Western viewers who may have been wandering through the forest thinking the movie would avoid sex scenes and going; "Ha-Ha! Gotcha!" While displaying the rebellious attitude of; "Oh well, we're in trouble anyway. We may as well get in all the trouble!"

In Everything Everywhere All At Once there is a sequence where Jobu Tupaki forces Evelyn to look at her through Evelyn's fingers. It is a reference to that oral sex sequence from The Handmaiden.

During that sequence, as she is for quite a lot of the movie, Jobu Tupaki is dressed in a golfing outfit. Including a tight shirt and short skirt. 

This allows Everything Everywhere All At Once to touch on that rather creepy Asian sex fetish. In which some, particularly White Western, men find all Asian women attractive. Simply because they are Asian. Reducing their entire identity and worth to just their ethnicity.

Jenny Slate has a small role as a character known only as; "Debbie The Dog Mom." A Jewish customer at the laundromat. An attempt to touch on the similarities between Chinese and Israeli culture. Neither Mandarin nor Hebrew seem to have any word or phrase equivalent to; "Thank You." 

Apparently the character was originally named; "Big Nose" before that was deemed as going too far for a Western, American audience. "Too far!" being another phrase that seems not to exist in either Mandarin or Hebrew.

Jenny Slate is probably best known for playing the "Mona-Lisa Saperstein" character in the US TV show; "Parks & Recreation." Another recurring character in Parks & Recreation is "Councilman Jeremy Jamm" played by Jon Glaser. Councilman Jamm's sleaziness is underlined by the fact he has that creepy Asian sex fetish.

In one episode they visit Councilman Jamm's apartment and find it full of Japanese art and furniture. On his walls he has these large posters of young Asian female golfers and tennis players in their tight shirts and short skirts. It is made very clear that his interest is not in their sporting prowess.

Having said all that. I really feel I should point out.

That while there is absolutely nothing wrong with finding some Asian women attractive. I can provide you with a list. This seeming obsession of mine with Asian culture is really the result of forced learning.

When someone attacks your childhood Church with Samurai swords. It does rather force you to pay attention to Japanese culture. 

Particularly when it triggers something of a wider Western interest in Japanese culture. Sarah Michelle Gellar being invited to remake the Japanese horror movie; "The Grudge" (2002). All BBC channels switching to; "Learning Zone" Japanese language lessons at 'Ma (麻) O'clock' in the morning.

I knew absolutely nothing about Jade Emperor (玉皇) or Lung (龙). Until the 2022 Beijing Games forced me to learn about it. So I could attempt to explain it to you.

At around 19:15 on 13/4/23 (UK date) I'll try and pick this up on Saturday.

Edited at around 15:55 on 15/4/23 (UK date) to tidy the above and copy & paste;

Of course having been forced to learn about it. I have to say, I'm impressed.

Over the course of Killing Eve Sandra Oh's character quits MI5. Ending up working in the kitchen of a Korean restaurant somewhere in Britain.  

So in one of the universes of Everything Everywhere All At Once Evelyn finds herself working as a chef in a Japanese Teppanyaki (鉄板焼き) restaurant. 

There Evelyn is constantly being overshadowed by a male chef. Whose talent comes from a Racoon hiding under his hat which controls his body. Allowing the movie to really get its money's worth from that joke about Evelyn not being able to pronounce; "Ratatouille."

I should point out though that Killing Eve shows a Korean person working in a Korean restaurant. While Everything Everywhere All At Once shows a Chinese person working in a Japanese restaurant. Which, to an Asian person, makes about as much cultural sense as a White man or a Black woman working there.

Not that Teppanyaki restaurants are particularly Japanese. The name translates as; "Cooked on (yaki/焼き) a metal plate (teppan/鉄板)." Which has got to be one of the most widely used forms of cooking across the entire world. Every cafe/diner, every fast-food, burger restaurant. Even the concession stands in sports arenas and concert venues.

In 1945, when Japan was under US military occupation, the chef Shigeji Fujioka (重次 藤岡) had the idea of cooking Japanese inspired versions of Western food on these newly invented gas-fired metal grills. Not really for the benefit of Japanese people. For all the US troops and tourists.

In 1964 Japanese-American wrestler Hiroaki Aoki (青木 廣彰) - father of DJ Steve Aoki - opened the first Benihana Restaurant in New York City, US. Where the teppan was used to theatrically prepare meals in front of customers.

So, arguably, Teppanyaki restaurants are more American than Japanese. In the same way that famous 'Indian' dishes like Tikka Masala and Balti aren't Indian at all. They were invented in Britain by Indian immigrants in the 1960's and 1970's.

I've never been in a Benihana restaurant. So I'm only familiar with them from how they've been portrayed in TV shows and movies. However they seem to be more generically Asian than particularly Japanese in their style. More influenced by Polynesian, Hawaiian, Pacific-Island culture than anything. They're famous for their; "Tiki" mugs which are loosely based on the Tiki carvings of New Zealand's indigenous Maori.

The Benihana restaurant chain actually plays rather a large role in the 2013 movie; "The Wolf of Wall Street." An investigation into the restaurant chain leads to an investigation into and eventual downfall of Jordan Belfort's investment scam. Ironically part of the investment for the movie came from funds embezeled from 1 Malaysia Development Berhard (1MDB). Asia's largest investment scam.

The iconic scene from The Wolf of Wall Street is when Leonardo DiCaprio's Jordan Brewster does his triumphant "Pimp Walk" into the office. Where he is cheered by all of his employees.

I once likened that to how I walked back into school for the first time following that Samurai sword attack. Very much in the style of;

"That thing that everyone's been talking about, that's been on all the news channels?! Oh yes. I was in the middle of it!"

"Would you like my autograph now?!"

Sandra Oh actually has a role in a movie nominated at the 2023 Oscars. As a voice actor in the Disney-Pixar animated movie; "Turning Red." A movie which I've not seen but am very interested in seeing. With Jane Levy being a redhead I think I might be in for a fun ride.

At the risk of spoiling it for myself. Turning Red centres around a 13 year old Chinese-Canadian girl, Meilin "Mei" Lee, growing up in Toronto, Canada. She discovers that in unspecified ancient times the gods granted the women in her family to power to turn into giant Red Pandas. In order to protect themselves and their villages during times of war. The first Mei learns about this is when she turns into a giant Red Panda.

This transformation into a Red Panda serves as an allegory for all the tribulations and tumultuous emotions of growing from a child into a teenager. So moving onto High School, trying to make friends and avoid the bullies. Boybands, first crushes and being embarrassed by your parents.

With it being the story of a girl as she grows into a teenager one of the big transitions is, obviously, menstruation. Something which, apparently, the nearly 31 year old Miley Cyrus still finds more mysterious than turning into a giant Red Panda.

The only clip of the movie I've seen is of when Mei has changed into a Red Panda for the first time. 

Her mother Ming Lee, played by Sandra Oh, knocks on her bedroom door. Deeply embarrassed Mei refuses to let her in. Telling her something strange has happened in the night. Her mother assumes she's got her period for the first time. When most other people in the family's first thought would, probably, have been the Red Panda thing.

It is intended as a comedy.

At around 16:20 on 15/4/23 (UK date) I'll have to pick this up after I've done some more forced learning. 

Edited at around 18:30 on 19/4/23 (UK date) to tidy all of the above and copy & paste;

Everything Everywhere All At Once also looks at another way Westerners, particularly Americans, might have been introduced to Asian culture. Martial Arts Movies.

Strictly speaking a Martial Arts Movie is any movie featuring martial arts. A definition so broad it includes "Bad Day At Black Rock" (1955). 

However Asian and particularly Chinese Martial Arts Movies are typically in the; "Wuxia (武俠)" Genre. Which is compound of "Wu (武)" which in this context translates "Martial," "Armed" or; "Soldier" and; "Xia (俠)." Which in this context translates as; "Chivalry" or; ""Honour." So a; "Wuxia" is a; "Soldier of Honour." 

As Everything Everywhere All At Once touched upon. Chinese is a complex tonal language. In which each word has, at least, four different meanings. Making written Chinese almost impossible to translate without context.

Wuxia stories first emerged long before the birth of movies. Way back China's "Spring and Autumn (时代)" period. Between the 7th Century B.C and the 4th Century B.C. They are inspired by Japanese culture. Particularly Samurai (侍) warriors with their "Bushido (武士道)" or; "Way of the Warrior" moral and lifestyle code.

However Wuxia differ from Samurai in a number of key areas. Rather like Knights in European culture Samurai are totally devoted to, almost the property of, their feudal lord. The Shogun (征夷大将軍). Whereas Wuxia are free to do as they please. Making them more like Japanese Ronin (浪人). Samurai who no longer serve a specific Shogun.

Also like Western Knights Samurai are high status individuals. Whereas Wuxia are the lowest of the low. What the Chinese philosopher Han Fei (韓非) described as; "The Maggot Classes." So Wuxia stories tend to involve a hero standing up for the common people against the criminal upper classes.

With the birth of movies the Wuxia genre then seemed get exported back to Japan. Inspiring the Jidaigeki (時代劇) or "Period Drama" genre. Including Akira Kurosawa's "The Three Villains of the Hidden Fortress (隠し砦の三悪人)." Which George Lucas been successfully passing off as his own original work in the Star Wars franchise for nearly 40 years.

Americans are probably most familiar with the Wuxia movies of the Shaw Brothers Studio (邵氏片場). Starting the world of Opera the three Shaw brothers; Runje, Runme and Runde established their movie studio in 1925 in that was then the Shanghai International Settlement (上海公共租界). Making the first Mandarin "Talkie" movie, "Spring on Stage (歌場春色)" in 1931. Along with the first Cantonese talkie; "White Golden Dragon (白金龍)" in 1932.

Following their victory in the Chinese Civil War (1927-1949) China's Communist Party starting cracking down on both the Cantonese language and the Wuxia genre. So the Shaw brothers relocated their studio from Shanghai to Hong Kong (香港). At the time a British Colony.

In the 1970's Shaw Brothers Studio started dubbing their huge catalogue of Wuxia movies into English. Then did distribution deals with US TV networks. Allowing them to be shown to a wide new audience. Programming which became known as; "Kung Fu Theater" or; "Black Belt Theater." 

Shaw Brothers Studio distribution deal with US TV networks proved so profitable that the rival Orange Sky Golden Harvest Studio (橙天嘉禾娱乐集团有限公司) was established to compete. Golden Harvest launched the careers of Bruce Lee (李小龍) and Jackie Chan (陈港生). 

It's long been debated whether Golden Harvest movies are true Wuxia movies as they are set in the (then) present day. Although arguably Wuxia stories were originally set in the (then) present day. It is the Solider of Honour element which is the defining feature. Not that the Kung Fu Theater of US TV networks ever bothered with that level of nuance.

The US TV networks Black Belt Theater seems to have had a particular influence on the Wu-Tang Clan. A much acclaimed 1990's Hip-Hop act from the Staten Island suburb of New York City. 

The Wu-Tang Clan's name seems to be an attempt at; "Wudang Sect (武当派)." An entirely fictional martial arts school from Wuxia literature. Although with each Chinese word having at least four different meanings. When you start randomly chucking Chinese words together the lack of context quickly results in gibberish. 

The fictional Wudang Sect school of Martial Arts uses Taoism/Daoism as its honour code. While the very real Shaolin school of Martial Arts (少林武術) uses Buddhism as its honour code. The Hip-Hop act, the Wu-Tang Clan use as their moral code the teachings of the Nation of Islam (NoI) Cult. 

The Heaven Gates or Sauwastika (卍) is very important in all Chinese belief systems, both Daoism and Buddhism. The perceived movement of the Chariot constellation (Plough/Big Dipper) around the celestial North Pole it is the portal between this dimension and the dimension of Heaven.

The stars are only visible at night. So in the day time the portal is the reverse, the Swastika (卐). Which these days is most widely known as the emblem of Nazism. Due to Nazism's roots in the occult.

Central to the ideology of Nazism is Theozoology. That there is an alien master race, the Theozoa, which has supernatural powers. However here on Earth they have lost those superpowers due to the oppression of and forced interbreeding with the Ape-Man race, the Anthropoza.

The only way that the Theozoa can recover their superior knowledge, their; "Gnosis" is by studying the ancient Germanic Runic Alphabet. This; "F-U-T-H-A-R-K" Alphabet is a magical cipher. In which each letter or rune is imbued with magical powers.

A key architect of Nazi ideology was Karl Maria Wiligut. A diagnosed but untreated Schizophrenic.

Central to the Nation of Islam ideology is that the Black Race are an alien master race which has supernatural powers. Here on Earth they have lost their superpowers due to oppression by the Jews.

In order to recover their superior knowledge and defeat the Jews the Black Master must study the; "Supreme Alphabet." In which each letter in the Latin Alphabet is imbued with magical powers.

Which, obviously, is totally, completely different from Nazism(!)

The Nation of Islam has about as much to do with Islam as Nazism has to do with Hinduism.

The Wu-Tang Clan seem to have been particularly influenced by Shaw Brothers Studio's; "The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (少林三十六房)." Which is widely regarded as being the first Wuxia movie to properly breakthrough in the Western market.

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin tells the story of a young man who witnesses the brutal oppression by a totalitarian government. Seeking vengeance he goes to study Wushu (武術)/Kung Fu (功夫) at a Shaolin Temple. The training involves passing through 36 chambers in which specific skills are taught. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are not fans of the Wuxia genre.

One of the members of the Wu-Tang Clan goes by the name; "Masta Killa" which is an alternative name for the movie. The group's debut album is; "Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)." It uses the journey through the Shaolin Temple as a coded metaphor for the Nation of Islam's "Supreme Mathematics."

Like the Supreme Alphabet the Nation of Islam's Supreme Mathematics is a supposedly magical cipher for hidden knowledge. In which the numbers 1-9 are imbued with magical powers. 

1 being; "Knowledge." 2 being; "Wisdom." 3 being; "Understanding" (1+2=3). 9 being; "The Completion of Knowledge." Beyond 9 you have 0. The cipher itself. The completion of self. 360° of; "Peace." Made up of 120° of  Knowledge, 120° of Wisdom and 120° of Understanding.

Honestly. I've had many discussions with Delusional Schizophrenics over the years. Including one who was convinced I was a Jedi. They've all made a lot more sense than followers of the Nation of Islam.

Although I don't remember Everything Everywhere All At Once referencing it directly. It's not a huge jump to discuss "The Matrix" trilogy of movies. Their exploration of the nature of existence along with outlandish, supernatural fighting abilities are all key elements of the Wuxia genre.

Probably the most globally famous Wuxia movie continues to be; "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (卧虎藏龙)." Which starred Michelle Yeoh (杨紫琼).

Filmed partly in China's New Frontier Province (Xinjiang/西域新疆) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon revolves around this much fabled Wuxia or Samurai sword called; "Green, Destiny." Upon its release in 2000 the movie became a surprise global hit. Receiving 10 nominations at the 2001 Oscars. In that gap just between the fourth season of; "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and; "Firefly."

Michelle Yeoh came to the movie already being well known to Western audiences. Due to her role as the Chinese spy "Wai Lin (林慧)" in the James Bond movie; "Tomorrow Never Dies." Released in 1997, the year Britain's lease ran out, Hong Kong stopped being a British Colony and returned to being part of China.

Everything Everywhere All At Once explores the Wuxia genre though a universe in which Evelyn didn't marry Waymond. After being mugged she learns and masters Wushu/Kung Fu. Becoming a star of Wuxia movies of the sort made by Shaw Brothers Studios and Golden Harvest in Hong Kong.

During these scenes the movie just uses library footage of Michelle Yeoh attending all the premieres and award shows she did for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Which I thought made for quite a nice little in-joke. 

 

 

To be continued in Part 3. 

19:20 on 19/4/23 (UK date).