entertainment
12 Film finally finds a new face Panther Prowler • Sept. 14, 2018
Emily Nagamoto Chief Photographer
Emily Augustine/Prowler
Around 60 percent of the global population lives in an Asian country, which accounts for approximately 4.4 billion people according to the United Nations. In the United States alone, the Census Bureau reported that in May of 2018 the Asian population totaled 21.4 million people. At Newbury Park High School, US News and World Report found that 12 percent of the student body was Asian. However, looking at the film industry, it seems like there are few Asians in the world at all. A study from the University of Southern California found that only 5 percent of 30,000 film characters from movies between 2007- 2014 were Asian. So few Asian characters cripples Asian equality and social development in Western society and on the world stage. When Asians first began integrating with the Western world, harmful stereotypes were assigned to them that persist to this day, including squinty eyes, silly names and abnormal food. If Asians had been properly integrated in film, perhaps these ignorant labels would finally be realized for what they are: rude
and derogatory. Instead the only time Asian actors used to see success in their careers was when they were casted to “increase diversity” with meager one-line roles, or even worse, when they have to act like the humiliating stereotypes mocking their culture. The list of characters born from such labels is long, Mr. Yunioshi in “Breakfast at Tiffani’s” and Long Duk Dong in “Sixteen Candles” being prolific examples. What is worse is that Hollywood found new labels to pin on Asians that primes new generations for discrimination: unattractive and non-masculine males and oversexualized and weak females. One Asian actor told the Washington Post that he receives humiliating comments on popular dating sites like, “Asians, ew gross.” Asian actors have been discriminated against by directors and casting agencies since they tried to enter the industry, resulting in the numerous cases of whitewashing, where white actors play characters of different races. Even when it is originally an Asian movie, American producers chose white characters; a noticeable example is the widely controversial white cast for the 2010 movie adaption of the Asian based cartoon “Avatar: the Last Airbender.” However, in the midst of America’s modern racial identity crisis, Asians are breaking through barriers never thought possible even by these actors themselves. The major movement for Asians in Hollywood all started with the production of “Joy Luck Club,” the first movie starring an all Asian cast, released 25 years ago. While this spurred the idea for more Asian characters to be casted, the dream never became a reality. In recent memory there has not been any movies featuring mostly Asian leads since the release, until now. Over the summer of 2018, “Crazy Rich Asians,” an Asian romcom based off of a book written by Kevin Kwan, was released, and it broke box office sales records. Featuring an all Asian cast, it brings humor, emotion and authentic Asian-American culture to the big screen, finally showcasing a side of Asians never seen before: the truth. No longer are Asians are just weird, weak or unattractive characters. They are shown as normal human beings, and
their unique culture is highlighted, not made fun of. Perhaps this film is not a cinematic masterpiece, but nonetheless it is groundbreaking, with a strong female Asian lead, attractive Asian characters and a story that makes Asian culture seem more relatable rather than foreign. Perhaps this will help change the way Westerners think of the Asians they so often mock. This film is already changing the course of the future. Before hitting the box office, the producers had turned down a huge deal with Netflix just to make sure that appeared on the big screen to a wider audience. In addition, more films and television shows are in the works starring Asian actors. There is another side to this story that should entice Hollywood to include more Asian actors, besides being culturally appropriate. Usually, Asians account for 6 percent of box office sales, but according to Market Watch, for “Crazy Rich Asians,” 38 percent of moviegoers in the US were Asian. An astronomical increase like this demonstrates the support Asian actors have, and how successful they may in the future. Of course, this extends beyond Asian representation as well, and the same USC study mentioned earlier reveals discouraging numbers for actors of color. They found that only 17 out of the 700 films they looked at had a non-white lead character, which is less than 3 percent. Hopefully with the debut of racially diverse films like “Crazy Rich Asians,” producers will realize the importance of casting a variety of characters, not just to appease audiences but also because of the genuine value and authenticity they add to films. 2018 is on the cusp of a new cinematic era, and the significance of race in film is still yet to be untapped. Asians,” producers will realize the importance of casting a variety of characters, not just to appease audiences but also because of the genuine value and authenticity they add to films. 2018 is on the cusp of a new cinematic era, and the significance of race in film is still yet to be untapped.
Beat Saber slices through the leaderboards
Marli Davis/Prowler
Christina Borisoff Staff Writer Hyperbolic Magnetism’s, a game studio, highly anticipated game Beat Saber sold fifty thousand copies within its first week of release. Now, it is currently on the top selling virtual reality games on Steam and has an overwhelmingly positive rating on virtual reality platforms, and it is easy to see why. Beat Saber’s concept is simple; as the player, you are given two different light sabers. During the game, a sequence of color-coded boxes are flying at you with a song (generally electro) playing in the background. The objective of the game is to hit the colored boxes with the corresponding saber. Its simplicity is what makes the game so popular among gamers, but its ultimate strength is its “game feel,” or in other words,
how the game feels to play. Slicing through the boxes triggers a sound effect as well as haptic feedback through the controllers, which makes the player feel like he is orchestrating the soundtrack. In addition, the lack of resistance players get from cutting the boxes in half gives the illusion of power and makes the player feel unstoppable. The light trail left behind when players move a saber adds to the “powerhouse feeling” that is a byproduct of playing the game. This gives Beat Saber that Star Wars vibe that players often praise it for. Players are given the option of playing three different modes: Standard, No Arrows and One Saber. Out of all the modes, One Saber is by far the most physically challenging because unlike the other modes, where your
swings have time in between them and give you momentum for the next swing. One Saber gives you neither of those luxuries, meaning the main obstacle for One Saber mode is speed. Because of how strenuous some modes and difficulties can be, people often view Beat Saber as an exercise game, even though that’s not how it’s marketed. Some fitness channels have even experimented with supplementing it for elements of their normal exercise routines. Some mods, or modifications, players add to the game actually allow them to see the average heart rate and calories that they can burn from a song. Mods in Beat Saber can add custom colors, custom sabers, custom avatars and multiplayer to the gameplay. But by far the most popular
mod is the custom songs. As the name suggests, this mod allows you to add virtually any song to your Beat Saber playlist. These songs are made by the beat saber community and are also choreographed to match the music. Want to play “Take on Me” by A-ha? You can do that, and in fact, it’s the most played custom song on Beat Saber. Do you want to play the entire audio of the Shrek movie? Probably not, but you can also do that if you’re feeling determined. Overall, Beat Saber is one of those games that would make you go out and buy a headset for. And if not play, then binge watch streamers play. A 10/10 game.
