Show SI C1 I i I I I I I V I Page 14 — The Herald Journal Logan Utah Saturday March 6 1999 ONE BIG HAPPY Ally McBeal’s new dragon lady breezes in with a roar By Annie Nakao San Francisco Examiner Asian America — and a lot of the country — is abuzz about Ling Woo and the scene-stealiChinese American actress Lucy Liu who plays her on p" prime-tim- CATHY XU e TV's hottest hit “Ally McBeal” Since joining the cast in September Liu's glower- ing portrayal of Ling has drawn raves from fans who relish her shockingly loutish one-line-rs and more recently onscreen sexual dabblings with her NEVER UNDER- STAND WIN INDIA LEFT boss THIN&S WERE SO PERFECT ! “We are thrilled at the way that character has off" said Fox Broadcasting Co spokesman Jonathan Hogan In fact Ling blends right into the multitude of quirky characters who populate creator David E Kelley’s tapestry of subversive gender humor But many Asian Americans who see all too few images of Asian Americans in popular media — are conflicted over Liu’s character even as they appreciate the context of the show Some see the Ling vanquishing stereotypes of Asian women as meek and submissive Others view her as perpetuating equally harmful stereotypes of Asian woman as exotic Dragon Ladies especially with her recent onscreen sexual forays "On the one hand she’s a stereotype breaker” said Jeff Yang founding publisher of A Magazine a New York-base- d publication on Asian American culture “She’s a strong Asian woman who's clearly potent clearly has control She's not a victim not somebody who lets anyone come even close to victimizing her" taken BEETLE BAILEY Indeed In the past three episodes Ling a lawyer snapped at a judge to “Hurry up!" as he read the verdict encouraged a little boy with cancer to sue God and blamed handicapped people for taking up “all the parking spaces” When displeased which is often she narrows her eyes and a growl is heard on the soundtrack Or she appears and the “Wizard of Oz” tune “Wicked Witch of the West" plays All of which makes her fans Asian Americans included yearn for more “I'm just so happy to finally see a Chinese chick on TV! Love that bitchy attitude of hers!!!" gushed one on the “Ally McBeal" message board “It's about time!” noted another “And she is beautiful!” But Asian Americans also have an “equal and opposite reaction" to Ling said Yang “She (also) veers very close to another stereotype of the Asian American as a bitch queen with a forked tongue and flashing eyes” he said Not that a villain can’t be attractive “Most of my students are Asian and they like her wholeheartedly” said Darrell Hamamoto University of Califomia-Davi- s professor of Asian American studies and visiting lecturer at New York UniVersi- like her becauieshe's so iilsertifej!' ‘ ’ ' 'That appeal is universal? “I know from talking to people who aren't Asian American that they enjoy that character because she's unapologelically abrasive” said Peter X Feng assistant professor of English and women's HAGAR THE HORRIBLE Ty-kl- studies at the University of Delaware "People find it fun They wish they could be like that That’s the race ' appeal of the character regardless of removed from be can’t contended But race Feng the discussion “She’s a Dragon Lady" Feng said “And from the point 6f view of Asian American audiences familiar with that stereotype it is painful even though it’s more fun to see a villain than a wimp" It was Anna Mae Wong who donned “diva head-geaand press-o- n nails to create the Dragon Lady image in the 1931 film “Daughter of the Dragon" noted “Eastern Standard Time” a guidebook to Asian America Other popular stereotypes of Asians notes EST: soldiers the suicidal geisha wife — imbued and prostitutes houseboys simpering with the sexual secrets of the Orient In fact it was Ling's sexual foreplay with Richard Fish who is Caucasian that heated up debate over Ling Yang said In that episode Ling is hired by Fish as an attorney in his firm in exchange for sexual favors “What she offered was not too far from an Oriental massage hair splayed across his chest his stricken face the whole interracial thing” said Yang “It’s clearly something that plays off so many deep-sealfantasies about Asian American women" The thirtysomething Liu was unavailable for comment But in a recent interview with the nation's TV critics die said she was “having such a blast” playing Ling “I'm kind of getting into a place where I can actually be — it sounds a little strange — sexual as a woman and as a minority" Liu said “And that's really unusual I think that's really kind of exciting for me" Noting the criticism she said “Some people have even been a little bit critical like ’Oh don't you think you're perpetuating a stereotype?' What stereotype am I perpetuating? I haven’t done anything that I feel is anything like that I think people think too PC about everything” However in a recent interview in Details Magazine Liu did share that she hates being objectified racially in bed Asked “What would make you run screaming from a man's bedroom?” Liu replied: “Anything indicating an Asian fetish I've seen guys who had a fan over the bed That would shoji screen and make me run screaming and then I'd probably come back and bum his house down” But critics argue Liu's character is doing just that Ling like “Ally McBeal" itself walks a fine line said Ken Burke professor of communications at Mills College in Oakland Calif whose media criticism class recently analyzed the program “The show is intended to be satirical but when you have all these attractive women with their tight clothes and short skirts it’s hard to distinguish between the satirical look at a society obsessed with sex and a program that seems to be very successful r bypsndcring to that very desire Bprke said is he said Ling similarly ambiguous “It’s really consciously unclear whether this is intended to deconstruct the Dragon Lady stereotype or simply playing it for laughs” Burke said “Just like everything on 'Ally McBeal'” r” ed Exploring Michael Jordan’s world By Deepti Hajeita Associated Press Writer MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM Book review Throughout David Halberslam's latest book his respect and admiration for Michael Jordan are obvious and go far toward making the story a compelling one “Playing for Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World He Made” (Random House $2293) is 400-plpages of exhaustive information chronicling Jordan's rise to super-supetardom and how his talent and skills helped foster changes in professional basketball Readers follow Jordan's path guided by friends coaches and others who traveled any part of the way with him There are glimpses of all the major characters from Dean Smith to Phil Jackson to Spike Lee Halberstam shows how one man in the right place at the right lime and with the right tools capitalized on his opportunities to become one of the us rs FOX TROT world's biggest icons We see what set Jordan apart — his discipline his hard work his extreme competitiveness Sometimes too extreme Halberstam describes instances of Jordan’s cruel remarks and actions toward other players times when he was a loser even in something as simple as a game of pool It’s a fascinating look at another side of the man with one of the most controlled images in pop culture What mars the telling somewhat is Halberslam’s organization He jumps chronologically and pauses the story flow to deliver biographical sketches of seemingly everyone even people the reader might not want to know about It's a distraction from the main story — you know the one about Jordan Overall though Halberstam has created a worthy read Names in the news Coolio changes plea TORRANCE Calif (AP) — The rap star known as Coolio changed his plea to no contest REAL LIFE ADVENTURES and faces sentencing April 9 on a charge of carrying a concealed weapon in his car Coolio 33 whose real name is CLOSE TO HOME i-- t 8 Win Artis Leon Ivey Jr entered the side of a street in suburban plea Wednesday in Superior Court the day of a pretrial hear- Lawndale The rapper told the deputy that he had a gun in a door pouch ing He originally pleaded innocent Coolio was in his military-styl- e Hummer when a sheriff's deputy stopped him in September for allegedly driving on the wrong West cannot beat dummy's top spade declarer ruffs (or There is one more signal: ce However I wish to delay looking at that until next week The final deal of the week is something that highlights the necessity for thought Although you think you can see the killing defense don't forget to follow the advice of Blaise Pascal a French scientist and philosopher He pointed out: “We run carelessly to the precipice after we have put something before us to prevent ourselves from seeing it" Ask yourself both what might go wrong and Bad things happen to people who don't take the “Please Rewind" sticker seriously — aoarTQMOMftewwuagvr com Afirr “Headquarters this Is unit 29 at 390 Maplel We've got a man down! Repeat MAN DOWN! Requesting Immediate backup!1 1 allegedly seized a 9mm semiautomatic pistol Coolio was convicted of a similar offense in 1994 at bridge By Phillip Alder -- prosecutors said The deputy if an alternative defense might do better How should the defense proceed against four spades? It looks so obvious for East to play three rounds of hearts Surely partner can niff higher than the dummy Yet if East plays that third heart he ends up a loser As over-ruff'- diamond to defeat the contract 01999 by NEA Inc s) in dummy draws trumps overtakes the club queen with dummy’s king and discards two diamond losers on the ace-jac-k of clubs He gets no overtrick but who cares when there were four top losers? East should have asked himself this question: “What if partner cannot beat dummy’s top spade?" Then the best chance for the defense is to try to cash two diamond tricks At trick three East should introduce an intermezzo: He should cash the diamond ace and look closely at his partner's signal North 7 6 4 2 v Q J Q A K West 5 J 9 East I VIS K 10 1 1 V A 3 K 10 7 5 4 10 141 I 0 A 3 711 South A K Q 7 S 4 0 J 0 I Q J 10 0 Vulnerable: Both Dealer North If West can overruff the dummy he will drop his lowest card to discourage a diamond continuation But here he will signal enthusiastically with the 10 Now East will lead another Opening lead: v 9 POOR COPY |