I'm drawing a line in the sand. I will not listen to DVD commentaries of white people doing commentaries on Asian films unless I know who they are, and trust they have something intelligent to say. Case in point: Executive Producer/co-screenplay writer James Schamus co-commenting with Ang Lee for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". Ang Lee's commentary is insightful and explains things we in the West might not get. In that shadow, Schamus has very little to offer and resorts to cute, flippant, unfunny remarks that at least aren't racist. They just reveal his ignorance. To me, he comes across as an idiot. And he's not an idiot. When he talks about the writing or the script, he's interesting.

Not quite the same, and not quite so offensive is the commentary by Hong Kong film expert Ric Meyers on the Jet Li film, "Once Upon a Time in China". His only problem was the most inexplicable inability to pronounce Chinese names and words. He's an "expert" on Hong Kong films, and yet he butchers the most common and simple words in Chinese. He can't even pronounce accepted English mispronunciations of Chinese words. He would probably mispronounce "Sesame Chicken" in a Chinese restaurant! OK, it wasn't that bad, but it was pretty appalling. I have to go check if he successfully pronounces "Jet Li".

In contrast, I recall that Roger Ebert was asked to record commentary for a classic Japanese film. That, I would listen to. It has nothing to do with what I think about Roger Ebert, but I trust his expertise and genuine appreciation for the international film medium that what he has to say would be intelligent and interesting. I may not like or agree with what he says, but I'll listen to it. Also Quentin Tarantino, whose appreciation for Asian films easily crosses the border into freakishness, if he were to provide commentary for an Asian film, I would also listen to it, even though listening to Tarantino is not the easiest thing for me to do. That guy is one scary nerd!

I got the latest alumni magazine from college, and there is an interview with a Buddhist monk, and there are examples (since I can't quote any of the Schamus offenses) of how some Americans try to be cute and flippant when they are out of their element (NB: both interviewer and monk are white (and Oberlin grads)):

Q: Are there ever days when it's difficult to drag yourself out of bed?
A: There are times when I say, "I think I'll do some lying-down meditation."
Q: I'd be great at that. (wtf?)

Q: You get one meal a day. Are you getting enough fiber? (wtf?)

A: We clean up, and everyone goes back to his hut. We meet again at about 5 P.M.
Q: Is that for Happy Hour? (wtf?)

Mind you, for most part the interview was quite good with respectful questions. There were questions made with a flippant spin, which is alright as long as the question is the focus or the flippancy is easily sidestepped. But if the flippancy says, "look at me, I'm funny", you just come across as an idiot (to the reader, not necessarily the interviewee in this case). Also NB, I notice now that the interviewer is a playwright, and I suppose their minds are hard-wired to always try to be clever and witty. You never know when you're gonna hit on something that's gold. So alright.