20 comments:

1. Anonymous said... December 5, 2007 at 12:24 PM

   Watch the show before you go calling for a protest. The reference is to his character who does an intense "squint" whenever he uses his abilities.  

2. Anonymous said... December 5, 2007 at 3:18 PM

   Yes, that's actually what he does...he squints when he's about to teleport or travel through time.
   
   I agree with the other poster. Watch the show before calling for a protest. You can see old episodes on nbc.com.  

3. Marilla said... December 5, 2007 at 3:41 PM

   It's pretty funny how both "anonymous" readers don't note that David is a biweekly Heroes updater on Carmen Van Kerckhove's Racialicious blog, thus making it IMPOSSIBLE for him to miss the fact that Masi squints when he teleports.
   
   On the other hand, I never thought of Kristin's squinty comment that way. If I had actually watched her television update/scoop/whatever, it might help clarify whether her comment was actually a racial one or not. Nonetheless, I can't help feeling like she was intending for the description to serve as a double entendre, which would make her seem (cough) clever.  

4. Marilla said... December 5, 2007 at 3:52 PM

   Words for thought: If Masi weren't ethnically Japanese, would his "squinting" get pointed out?
   
   i.e. Matt Parkman might furrow his brow while reading minds as often as Hiro Nakamura squints while teleporting, but pointing these two things out would, I imagine, make for very different impacts on racial-stereotype-conscious-American-viewer-society.  

5. Anonymous said... December 5, 2007 at 4:51 PM
   This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
6. Calvin/soho said... December 5, 2007 at 5:13 PM
   This comment has been removed by the author.
7. Calvin/soho said... December 5, 2007 at 5:28 PM

   Hey anonymous (2) and whoever wrote that last comment,
   
   I like how you jump to conclusions with us without bothering to read into the context that members of the Blaaag do watch the show religiously. Whoops. Read our blog before you go calling us sensitive.
   
   Now I'm not going to jump to conclusions myself and call you "racist" because then I'll be demeaning myself to your level. However, I will take delight in acknowledging your short-sighted ignorance and your myopic denial to see that there's another side to this issue.
   
   Whatever her intentions were, try to understand that the comment made by Kristin has the capacity to hurt and offend. If you can wrap your head around that one, then I might be inclined to give you a cookie.
   
   So we watch the show, and we spoke our minds. You replied, but you made yourself look stupid in the process. Sadly, there's nothing much else we can do.
   
   thanks again for the entertainment. good night and don't let the door hit your ass on the way out, :-)
   C  

8. Anonymous said... December 5, 2007 at 5:29 PM

   I think if Kristin called Masi Oka a "slanty" hero i think that would be considered racist...but "squinty"? I would think that would refer to his trademark squint when he teleports.
   
   I could be wrong but that's just what I think. Who knows what Kristin's intent at the word "squinty" was.  

9. Calvin/soho said... December 5, 2007 at 5:37 PM
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10. Calvin/soho said... December 5, 2007 at 5:41 PM

    Dear latest anonymous,
    
    It could very well be that's what she meant; but her comment can still carries the potential to offend a good number of people.
    
    Look at it this way: her article might just have encouraged a good number of its reading populace to see it in a way where it's okay to publicly label Asians as "squinty." She might not have meant it that way, but that shit just happens. Is it okay if we just silently let that go?
    
    You don't have to answer that.
    
    Keep in mind that Masi is one of the few Asian Americans on TV, so he carries a lot of weight in terms of who he represents to the general public. We're just making sure this opportunity for our image doesn't degenerate into William Hung territory.  

11. Anonymous said... December 5, 2007 at 7:38 PM

    Hello Marilla and Soho,
    
    I'm the anonymous guy who posted the second comment. I admit I had no idea that David is a biweekly Heroes updater, nor do I read racialicious. I was thinking of maybe apologizing, but honestly I don't think that's general knowledge expected of most people.
    
    I found this blog through angryasianman.com at this link:
    
    http://www.angryasianman.com/2007/12/our-favorite-squinty-teleporter.html
    
    He agrees with me, which means that if I'm "short-sighted" and "myopic" and looking "stupid," then he must be too. Since his blog is more widely read than racialicious, and since his opinion affects Asian Americans probably more than most blogs, you should e-mail him and let him know your opinion.
    
    In any case, while I appreciate your comments, I think you are both overreacting. Hiro makes a very unique face when he uses his powers; Parkman doesn't. I don't know what else you would call the face that Hiro makes--"squinting" is the only word that really describes what he does.
    
    I don't know what else to say other than I think you guys are in the minority in condemning this poor woman. Sheesh, angryasianman is usually the first to jump the gun at any sign of racism, and even he thinks you're overreacting. I don't know what else to tell you, other than that maybe you could write to Masi himself and ask him to stop squinting. I guess/hope that that would solve everything, but I wonder if you would only find something else wrong with the show.  

12. David said... December 5, 2007 at 8:38 PM

    Anonymous 2, before you say that we overreact, I'd like you to read the ways that 1. this comment, even if nothing more than poor word choice, is more serious than it seems, and 2. given that this mention should be noted, why a (racist) label is truly as damaging as we make it out to be. I think it's pretty clear.
    
    http://theblaaag.blogspot.com/2007/12/poor-word-choice-or-insensitive-remark.html  

13. Yumyumcha said... December 5, 2007 at 9:22 PM

    Is it really racist? Maybe a little ignorant but to imply that Kristen made a racist statement may be a over reactionary (yes I said it).
    
    Yes, I understand it has the ability to hurt but I'm curious if you were actually hurt by it or just is it upsetting that someone else may have been hurt by words.
    
    Personally, I thought it was pretty funny using that word an adjective.  

14. Anonymous said... December 6, 2007 at 1:57 AM

    I agree that was an unfortunate choice of words. Truth be told, Masi goes beyond squinting to straight-up face scrunching. How about calling him scrunchie-faced instead? Would that make everyone happy?  

15. Unknown said... December 6, 2007 at 2:50 AM

    While i think its great that we have organizations like Blaaag keeping people in check and raising awareness of asian american issues, I think this one might be a misunderstanding.
    
    Although you could use the argument she was trying to get the double meaning, in all honesty, you just dont know. I think dwelling on this endangers all of the legitimate protests to racial stereotyping of Asians less meaningful to Joe Blow.
    
    Good intentions, but wrong battle.  

16. Anonymous said... December 7, 2007 at 8:46 PM

    I wrote one of the anonymous postings earlier. I agree that there is a lot of racist imagery/choice of words out there (i.e. Hot Pockets Dojo Man) but as an Asian American, I wasn't particular offended by the word "squinty" as being referred to Masa Oki.
    
    I think because the character makes a particular "squint" action when he teleports. Now if he didn't do that course of action in "Heroes" then maybe I would be more offended by the word because it would have no merit or explanation.
    
    I do admit it is a poor choice of wording and it may turn off a lot of asian-americans but I don't really see the need to really flame Kristen but rather maybe we should find out what her intention behind her using the word "squinty".
    
    It is good that there are those who fight racism in the media towards Asian-Americans and other minorities. I just question when we draw the line sometimes...  

17. Anonymous said... December 9, 2007 at 10:01 PM

    While I can see how the "squinty" comment could offend, I REALLY do not think Kristen meant it in any kind of offensive way. I read Kristen's comments a lot, and she absolutely loves Hiro and Masi himself. I am certain she meant "squinty" to refer to the face he makes when using his powers. I could see it being a poor choice of words only because it could sound racist to anyone who doesn't watch the show - but I think most people reading the column would be familiar with the character and know that he makes a squinty face frequently. All I'm saying is, pick your battles, people. This is not worth getting upset over.  

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