I re-watched Chan is Missing last Thursday. The first time I'd seen it was this summer, after someone mentioned it to me, saying it was all about being Chinese American. I watched it that night on YouTube and was appalled that my parents hadn't shown it to me before, because the main character/narrator guy is "Uncle" Woody. One of those people who you see at large family gatherings and never quite know how you're related to them, but know that you are somehow, and feel slightly guilty about that, but never really put in effort to figure out who they are. Well I found Uncle Woody in Chan is Missing, and am really excited to be looking at it more deeply for this project.
Here are some notes from watching it this second time (things in bold are things I'm considering directly -- visually? -- using for the project):
- too much pride
- Manilatown
- dancing to music in Spanish
- You're looking for Chan, right? Why don't you look in a puddle?
- People for the Republic of China (PRC)
- Chinese people like to fight
- Chinatown owned by Taiwan
- you have to relate to those on the mainland before you can be a real Chinese-American
- people consider you as a foreigner
- if they don't recognize us, they won't (or something like that)
- Chan has to achieve something in America before he can go back to China
- paradises and fairylands are only a dream -- where lies my home? *song*
- "I don't like Chinese"
- tangerines = good luck
- "he's too Chinese" , he wanted to continue to be Chinese, others want to assimilate -- both of these things are problems
- how to be Chinese American -- like an apple pie...Chinese spices, pie is pretty American, that's what we have to do everyday
- politicians, walk in middle of the street
- wise guy, Chinese guy
- that identity shit's been done for 10 years, he's playing a game, there ain't nothing more to it
- we all have our identity
- it's just a fucking car accident. . .why are you tripping so hard?
- to solve it, you have to think in Chinese
- this mystery is strictly Chinese -- must use the negative to emphasize the positive
- nothing is what it seems to be
- "can't accept it without a resolution, guess I'm not Chinese enough"
- ending song compared to opening song
Here are some notes from watching it this second time (things in bold are things I'm considering directly -- visually? -- using for the project):
- too much pride
- Manilatown
- dancing to music in Spanish
- You're looking for Chan, right? Why don't you look in a puddle?
- People for the Republic of China (PRC)
- Chinese people like to fight
- Chinatown owned by Taiwan
- you have to relate to those on the mainland before you can be a real Chinese-American
- people consider you as a foreigner
- if they don't recognize us, they won't (or something like that)
- Chan has to achieve something in America before he can go back to China
- paradises and fairylands are only a dream -- where lies my home? *song*
- "I don't like Chinese"
- tangerines = good luck
- "he's too Chinese" , he wanted to continue to be Chinese, others want to assimilate -- both of these things are problems
- how to be Chinese American -- like an apple pie...Chinese spices, pie is pretty American, that's what we have to do everyday
- politicians, walk in middle of the street
- wise guy, Chinese guy
- that identity shit's been done for 10 years, he's playing a game, there ain't nothing more to it
- we all have our identity
- it's just a fucking car accident. . .why are you tripping so hard?
- to solve it, you have to think in Chinese
- this mystery is strictly Chinese -- must use the negative to emphasize the positive
- nothing is what it seems to be
- "can't accept it without a resolution, guess I'm not Chinese enough"
- ending song compared to opening song