Producer Janet Yang (The Joy Luck Club, The People v. Larry Flynt) was among the Asian American professionals in Hollywood who sent a letter to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences protesting offensive jokes told at the Oscars. Touring LACMA'S Mapplethorpe exhibit and finding unexpected art. We meet a young African American filmmaker undeterred by Hollywood's diversity problem.
'Offensive’ Oscar jokes mobilize Asian Americans in Hollywood
Asian Americans in Hollywood want their voices to be heard. With all of the conversation surrounding #OscarsSoWhite leading up to the Academy Awards, the question was: Why would Chris Rock stoop to a joke that exploits stereotypes of Asian Americans? What’s more there was the gag about Asian males’ penis size from actor Sacha Baron Cohen.
Now, a group of Asian American members of the filmmaking community including director Ang Lee and actors Sandra Oh and George Takei have signed a protest letter asking the Academy how such “tasteless” and “offensive” skits made it into the ceremony. And it’s perfect timing, with the Academy’s board of governors meeting to look back at this year’s awards.
Janet Yang is a producer who’s worked on films such as the “Joy Luck Club” and “The People vs. Larry Flynt,” and she’s also an Academy member who signed the protest letter. She spoke with The Frame’s John Horn.
Why write this letter now?
Well, we — individually at first — and then we discovered collectively, all had an extremely strong reaction when we were watching the Oscars. I mean, I sat there with some friends and family and I was quite stunned and hurt and it took me a while to even digest what had just happened when we saw those two gags, both of which were really demeaning in different ways. But I think many of us had this reaction and then we just started talking to each other and I now see this as being a kind of unexpected gift because it has brought so many people together. I mean, there has been a lot of mobilization since a couple of weeks ago.
Historically, the first meeting of the Academy’s Board of Governors after the Oscars telecast includes a post-mortem on the show. And if you could be in the room, beyond the letter that you wrote, what would you say about the show itself?
I would say, number one, racial diversity should mean just that, diversity. That means it applies to all races and it did feel that it fell short of that. I do understand that there were a number of wonderful African American movies this year that did not get the recognition they perhaps deserved... And I loved Chris Rock’s opening monologue and I was feeling very optimistic after hearing that. I just didn’t understand the jabs that were made against Asians. It felt very pointed... We’d like to be part of the conversation.
You were an Executive Producer on “The Joy Luck Club” which was a milestone movie in terms of Asian Americans seeing themselves depicted on screen. How difficult was it then and is it now to get a movie like that made?
... The film seemed difficult to make back then because it didn’t have a typical narrative, it was practically an all Asian cast and we didn’t have movie stars and what not. But it was made by a studio. It was greenlit for a modest sum of money and it made its money back in droves... But strangely enough it makes me very sad that there hasn’t been another movie like that focusing on Asian characters and scenes and yet seeing a wide release. So the economics of the business have changed and it’s definitely gotten much harder.
Did you see any Asian American roles or filmmakers who should have gotten Academy recognition or were there really too few to choose from?
This year I would say there were probably too few to choose from. Ang Lee did not make a movie -- he’s always the one we’re counting on. There were no Asian films in the foreign film category, so it was hard. And that’s my point exactly is that we need to do more work on the one hand on the side of creation and encouraging people to think outside the box in terms of casting... And that’s partially the issue. We did not have something we could rally around and say “What about this movie?” Last year it was “Selma” this year it was those other movies. We did not have that. And that’s why our voice is probably quiet. But quiet no more.
5 pieces to look for at the LACMA Mapplethorpe exhibition
When the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation made a massive gift of art and archival pieces to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and The J. Paul Getty Museum in 2011, a retrospective seemed inevitable. Five years later it has arrived with exhibition space at both museums. It's the first time Mapplethorpe's work will receive a full museum show in Los Angeles, and it seems that the L.A. institutions are making up for lost time.
The collaborative exhibit, entitled "Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Medium," showcases his black and white portraits, Polaroids, still lifes of flowers, and, of course, the photos of gay male subculture which caused such controversy when they first toured the United States in 1989 and 1990. But at the LACMA show there are surprising elements from his life as an art student too like handmade necklaces, elements for an unmade stop-motion video, and 3-D sculptural works. These pieces are both archival and suggestive of work that Mapplethorpe might have continued had he lived longer.
The LACMA exhibit takes up five rooms. In advance of the opening, The Frame's John Horn took a tour with Britt Salvesen, the show's curator and head of the Wallis Annenberg Photography Department.
So if you're feeling overwhelmed navigating the show, we've highlighted fives pieces to look out for.
FIVE HIGHLIGHTS OF LACMA'S MAPPLETHORPE EXHIBIT
1. Philip Prioleau's belt buckle
This photograph, entitled just "Philip Prioleau," is of a model with whom Mapplethorpe worked extensively. Brit Salvesen was drawn to it because of his "hands around that belt buckle." She says that it was one of the only photographs that both she and her fellow curator at The Getty wanted in their shows. In the end, LACMA got it.
He's wearing an open shirt, denim jeans, and a belt buckle. I wanted this picture because of those items of clothing and the gesture with the belt, and the jeans — [they] fit in with this sculpture that Mapplethorpe made that consists of T-shirts. I had this idea of pictures of men conveying their identity with clothing.
2. Mapplethorpe's Necklaces
Mapplethorpe made necklaces out of found objects like beads, animal teeth, old coins, and dice. Britt Salvesen says that in an early portfolio he had polaroids and necklaces. But she first discovered this part of his past through Patti Smith's memoir, "Just Kids."
She describes how he would scavenge items from restaurants and thrift stores, and how he would model and wear the jewelry in an effort to generate interest in it. We have a few portraits in the exhibition of him wearing the jewelry. It was something he took very seriously.
3. Untitled Altar Piece
A small altar is made out of a bedside table, a lamp hanging from the ceiling, fur, a silk scarf, a hammer, and fabrics displays "a few different impulses in Mapplethorpe's early work."
The Catholic iconography is maybe the most obvious. It's an altar piece. There's also a masked picture of Jesus, a statuette of Jesus — but these are also domestic objects he's put together and probably scavenged.
4. The short film, "Lady"
This seven-minute short film is of Lisa Lyon, a bodybuilder, model, and performer. Made it 1982, it has "something of the feel of a music video" from that era. According to Salvesen:
[Lyon] was a successor-muse to Patti Smith. You can see how [Lyon] enjoyed wearing different kinds of costumes and guises, [and there are] different aspects of femininity that she played with. The video is in color, unlike the photographs. Mapplethorpe spoke a few times about his interest in directing.
5. Elements of an unrealized stop-motion film
Robert Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith collaborated on a lot of different kinds of projects. In one display case at LACMA, you can find elements of what's called "a tantric garden piece" with cut-out figures and paper shapes that Salvesen says were probably the makings for a stop-motion video.
This tantric garden piece depicts Mapplethorpe himself and Patti Smith. These are all loose pieces that can be moved around, almost like paper dolls — not just the figures, but a person in a priest's robe, some stars, triangle shapes, hearts. We're told that this was raw material for an unrealized stop motion animation.
"Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Medium" opens at LACMA on March 20.