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).