From "An Artist Who Makes Irreverent, and Pocket-Size, Sculptures/Ron Nagle helped pave the way for clay artists to be taken seriously — but he still has a sense of humor. Ahead of a new solo show, he discusses his work, his dog and his TV habits" (NYT Style Magazine). Nagle's new exhibit is called "Getting to No." The NYT describes his sculptures as "otherworldly... pastel stucco planes... glossy half-moon shapes, suggesting animal tails, chewed-up wads of gum, bare tree limbs, erect genitalia or excrement...." We're also told "he’s credited for writing iconic songs on albums by Jefferson Airplane, Sammy Hagar and Barbra Streisand."
What Jefferson Airplane song is by Ron Nagle? I looked it up. It's "Please Come Back" (on the album "Flight Log"). I couldn't find "Please Come Back" on YouTube. Sorry. Not to be confused with "Coming Back to Me" (one of the very best Jefferson Airplane songs).
Anyway, it's funny for a man of today, in the warm spotlight of a NYT style piece, to freely and unnecessarily associate himself with Charlie Chan, the 1930s/40s fictional character who is "the subject of controversy," as Wikipedia puts it:
[Some critics] argue that Chan, while portrayed positively in some ways, is not on a par with white characters, but a "benevolent Other" who is "one-dimensional." The films' use of white actors to portray East Asian characters indicates the character's "absolute Oriental Otherness;" the films were only successful as "the domain of white actors who impersonated heavily-accented masters of murder mysteries as well as purveyors of cryptic proverbs. Chan's character "embodies the stereotypes of Chinese Americans, particularly of males: smart, subservient, effeminate." Chan is representative of a model minority, the good stereotype that counters a bad stereotype: "Each stereotypical image is filled with contradictions: the bloodthirsty Indian is tempered with the image of the noble savage; the bandido exists along with the loyal sidekick; and Fu Manchu is offset by Charlie Chan." However, Fu Manchu's evil qualities are presented as inherently Chinese, while Charlie Chan's good qualities are exceptional; "Fu represents his race; his counterpart stands away from the other Asian Hawaiians."...Here's a good collection of Charlie Chan clips. Judge for yourself:
In June 2003, the Fox Movie Channel cancelled a planned Charlie Chan Festival, soon after beginning restoration for cablecasting, after a special-interest group protested. Fox reversed its decision two months later, and on 13 September 2003, the first film in the festival was aired on Fox. The films, when broadcast on the Fox Movie Channel, were followed by round-table discussions by prominent East Asians in the American entertainment industry, led by George Takei, most of whom were against the films....
Some modern critics, particularly East Asian-Americans, dismiss the Charlie Chan character as "bovine" and "asexual", allowing "white America … [to be] securely indifferent about us as men." Charlie Chan's good qualities are the product of what Frank Chin and Jeffery Chan call "racist love", arguing that Chan is a model minority and "kissass".... Yunte Huang manifests an ambivalent attitude, stating that in the USA, Chan "epitomizes the racist heritage and the creative genius of this nation’s culture."...
Chan's character has also come under fire for "nuggets of fortune cookie Confucius" and the "counterfeit proverbs" which became so widespread in popular culture. The Biggers novels did not introduce the "Confucius say" proverbs, which were added in the films, but one novel features Chan remarking: "As all those who know me have learned to their distress, Chinese have proverbs to fit every possible situation." Huang Yunte gives as examples "Tongue often hang man quicker than rope," "Mind, like parachute, only function when open," and "Man who flirt with dynamite sometime fly with angels." He argues, however, that these "colorful aphorisms" display "amazing linguistic acrobatic skills." Like the African American "signifying monkey," Huang continues, Chan "imparts as much insult as wisdom."
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I just love being raked over the coals for racist stereotypes by ethnics from east Asian countries that are among the most racist cultures on the planet. The Koreans, the Chinese (especially the Han) & the Japanese are so racist that they don't even realize what it would be to not be racist.
The east Asian activists like Takei play on the ignorance of modern Americans, who don't know how profoundly racist these cultures are. All that modern America knows is that we have a history of racism, so when someone chews on out asses about it, well, they must be right.
But to Asian Lefties like Takei & Margaret Cho, I say: clean up your own communities. Start in LA's Korea & Japan-towns, & then try & work back to the mother country. Let me also add -- Good Fucking Luck! You've got quite a job ahead of you.
Effeminate?
I doubt George Takei's panelists watched any of the movies excerpted in that video.
Besides, since when have the usual suspects ever considered effeminacy to be anything other than a praiseworthy characteristic?
The only thing I find tiresome about "Charlie Chan" is his absolute expurgation of articles. Just for variety, you'd think he'd break stride occasionally with a throwaway indefinite here and there. On the other hand, it could be argued (and is now by someone with an evidently superior grasp of detective fiction than any of those "East Asians") that Charlie Chan is a very typical Sherlockian character, virtually all of whom are profoundly unrealistic. Detective stories are for the most part plot-driven and the detectives are merely devices intended by the writer to sort the wheat from the chaff. Charlie Chan's mannerisms are like Columbo's dirty raincoat and well-chewed cigar — affectations which allow the villainous characters to underestimate their adversary. The fictional detective is almost always a buffoon or a dilettante, or more precisely appears to be. The examples are legion —
Sherlock Holmes: a drug-addled cataloger of facts who doesn't know whether the Earth orbits the Sun or the other way around, which is absurd given his all-consuming curiosity.
Hercule Poirot: a fat little francophone obsessed by moustache wax and perfectly round fried eggs.
Lord Peter Whimsey: a ruling class collector of incunabula.
Miss Marple: a lifelong inhabitant of a small, ivy-covered East Anglian village with a murder rate higher than Baltimore's.
Jessica Fletcher: an elderly widow with hundreds of murder-inclined relatives.
McCloud: an all-hat-and-no-cattle deputy sheriff somehow permanently on temporary assignment to the NYPD who actually carries a single action Colt.
etc. etc.
And yet Keye Luke, born in Canton, played Number Two Son as completely Americanized.
Good Fucking Luck! You've got quite a job ahead of you.
That's Good Fucking Ruck, roundeye.
I thought the "bovine" crack was pretty good.
Can we agree that some stereotypes are, if clearly not all-inclusive, not inaccurate? And just let it go at that?
This guy don't need no drawings and probably could not change channel on the tv but makes clay animals like a god.
Alonzo Clemens, Idio Savant
Sorry, I was reading about Charlie Chan and "racism" and fell asleep. Anyway, Is this guy any good? 80% of anyone praised by the NYT is usually shit.
I don't know Nagle's art, but he did an excellent album circa 1970 called "Bad Rice," produced by Jack Nitzsche. I bought it because the song "Marijuana Hell" was included on one of the Warner Brothers Loss Leaders (2 record sets they sold for 2 bucks, including postage!). The album had already been remaindered by the time I went looking for it and I found it in the 49 cent bin at Korvettes.
I haven't seen a Charlie Chan movie for decades, but a few years back I blew through all the Mr. Moto movies starring Peter Lorre and it turned out one of them (Mr. Moto's Gamble) had been originally intended as a Charlie Chan movie. Then Warner Oland got sick and they re-jiggered the script to make it a Mr. Moto story. They didn't re-jigger it too much, tho. Keye Luke is on board as Charlie Chan's Number One Son, assisting Mr. Moto. It's very odd.
[Some critics] argue that Chan, while portrayed positively in some ways, is not on a par with white characters, but a "benevolent Other" who is "one-dimensional."
Trivial gruel. Finding a fictional detective that isn't is a job for a real detective.
Being lectured about Hollywood's "racist" past by the leftwing which bludgeoned us with Iron Eyes Cody PSAs has grown quite tiresome.
It's very odd.
One assumes Mr. Moto raped Number One Son before beheading him.
Mr. Moto's Gamble is available on Youtube.
I found it surprisingly enjoyable, and it's worth a look for the famous faces lurking in bit parts.
Bagging on Charlie Chan now? What a surprise. You ask someone if they would like to explain their victimhood and they get right on it. The Chan character was always the smartest guy in the room, the most confident, the most honorable, and simply right in the end every time. How the hell is that insulting? Effeminate? Really? Coming from Suzie Sulu of the USS Menopause, that's rich.
"[Some critics] argue that Chan, while portrayed positively in some ways, is not on a par with white characters, but a "benevolent Other" who is "one-dimensional."
That is complete crap. It sounds like it comes from someone who never saw the stuff, but describes what he imagines it would be like. Chan always ran circles around the white characters. You could make a good case that the Whites were being insulted and portrayed as lesser, but not Chan or his son. Probably one of the most positive portrayals of another race ever created anywhere in the world, and this was back when white people actually dragged our knuckles across the ground, so I'm told.
Like Jeff Gee I'm clueless about Ron Nagle the ceramist, tho enjoy not only his solo lp "Bad Rice", but the 1979 Durocs lp with fellow Bay Arean Scott Matthews. Nice punchy power-pop.
Their dorky Saving It All Up For Larry video remastered & posted by Scott himself.
And though the Jefferson Airplane version of Nagle's "Please Come Back" isn't posted anywhere I could find either, the Sammy Hagar version Confession (Please Come Back) is.
Charlie Chan is pretty awesome, I think. Not the books, they suck. But the movies are fun. Especially Warner Oland's version of the character. My favorites...
Charlie Chan on Broadway
Charlie Chan in Monte Carlo
Charlie Chan at the Opera
Charlie Chan's Secret
Not as amazing as After the Thin Man or The Scarlet Claw. But pretty damn cool. A lot of humor and likable characters. People who complain about Charlie Chan are the same people who complain about fortune cookies. Get a life.
They're actually up at Youtube!
Charlie Chan on Broadway
Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo
Charlie Chan at the Opera
Charlie Chan's Secret
Charlie Chan would not have survived the Cultural Revolution. The people making these critiques are the types who would have joined the Red Guard and tormented him to death. George Takei's relatives, acting from the tolerance within the Nippon culture that George manifests, demonstrated the proper way to treat the Chinese they encountered in their attempts to bring the benefits of prosperity to their benighted land.
I don't even remember the album "Flight Log," let alone the song "Please Come Back."
I did love "Coming Back To Me" in my folksinging days, and thought I was Hipper-Than-Thou whenever I pulled it out to sing in coffee houses. No one recognised it then - it's no good when the girls aren't up on the really cool music, sorry I never met you then - but even more, I now see that it has that but-it-rhymes quality later taken to extremes by Neil Young.
As to the sculptor, I think the point of much art since 1950 has been the conversation about the artist, rather than the art itself. Which interests me not at all.
I saw a presentation of a paper at the univ of Chicago on Charlie Chan as the reconciliation of Asians with America. True but bullshit in nature.
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