No more monsters, I can breathe again.

[rogueslayer452]

++ Kesha's new song, "Praying", is honestly the most beautiful and emotionally raw songs I have heard lately, the lyrics are so powerful and the imagery in the music video so poignant and deep. Considering the struggle she's been dealing with for years, I am happy that she is able to write and sing something from the heart and show her creativity and just demonstrate how utterly talented she is. I know that her battle isn't over yet, but I'm hoping that this is the first step towards her having more creative and personal freedom. I cannot wait for the release of her album, Rainbow. And, because it needs to be repeated, I have and will always stand by Kesha. ❤

++ You can now buy the official Buffy the Vampire Slayer fashion collection over at Hot Topic. Some of it is also available at Boxlunch, as well. I bought myself Faith leather jacket because, well, obviously. I'm just happy there is something Faith related in the new merchandising.

++ The whole Photobucket situation is beyond fucked up, and downright criminal. Now I haven't used that site in years, but I know many people still used it for their graphics and such. And it's not just graphic makers/anyone that uploads their moodthemes/layouts who are being affected by this, everywhere across the Internet anyone who used PB as a main hosting site their images are being broken, too. Places like Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and countless others. I know the site itself had become basically barely functional anyway over the years, but this is probably the stupidest thing they could've ever done. Nobody is going to pay a ridiculous amount of money for something that has been free since the beginning. I know that there are other free image hosting sites out there that are probably way better, but it still sucks that this had to happen and that so many people are being affected by it. If anyone knows of any other comparable hosting site, please let me know.

++ Grace Park and Daniel Dae Kim are leaving Hawaii 5-0 due to inequality pay.

This whole thing is outrageous, but unfortunately hardly surprising since this seems to be a common occurrence with CBS for not paying or treating their actors fairly. I haven't watched H50 in a long time, but considering that Grace and Daniel, who have been with the show since the beginning, were of the main ensemble cast and hardly were supporting characters at all they should have been paid pretty much the same as Alex and Scott. They even shared the same amount of episodes, too. So seeking equal pay isn't an unreasonable request at all. But of course, CBS tried to claim that they offered a "significant amount" to them, but not only was this amount not enough it also further proves that Grace and Daniel were being paid significantly less for years. It's a sad situation, but I'm glad that they aren't settling for the lesser deal than they want. So now a show that is based in Hawaii has lost all its Asian actors. This makes me wonder if the show is going to be ending soon, because I cannot foresee this lasting very long now anyway.

Comments

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

Because of this debacle, it's brought back the discussion of not just proper Asian representation but also the mistreatment of Asians in the media and the constant fight against racism within the industry. It seems like this topic gets recycled every so often when things like this happen, but rarely anything is done about it after the fact. Which sucks.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_profiterole_/]

Not sure what can be done about Asian American representation. I've noticed that people often seem to be quick to mix it up with Asian (from actual Asia) representation, which is not something I see with other minorities, though I don't doubt it must happen occasionally. And yet there are a lot of Asians in the US, who also deserve to be treated with respect and to see themselves on screen. It's all very frustrating.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

Not sure what can be done about Asian American representation.

For starters, I think the first step would be to actually have opportunities available for Asian Americans. As it's been said time and time again, how can one be hired when there are no roles being offered? And by roles I mean ones that aren't written like racist caricatures or the stereotypical token character, or roles that are whitewashed and/or given the "color blind" treatment. There are plenty of Asian American actors, but very few actually get chances like this where they are front and center, being written as complex characters with their own stories and personalities. Also, if their heritage is to be featured at all, it should be done respectfully and not as a throwaway punchline. For example, in Agents of Shield Daisy Johnson is half-Chinese because the actress, Chloe Bennet, is half-Chinese and they managed to work that into the show to focus on her finding out who her parents were and where she came from. Not many Asian American actors are that lucky to come across a job like that though, which is a very sad and unfortunate truth that needs to be rectified.

And yet there are a lot of Asians in the US, who also deserve to be treated with respect and to see themselves on screen. It's all very frustrating.

As half-Asian myself, I rarely see anyone like me on television or in movies, which is frustratingly both a blessing (not seeing my culture being butchered) and a curse (not having that proper representation). I'm always excited when I see any Asian representation done right and Asian actors getting work that isn't offensive, but it happens so rarely and the mistreatment many have to go through within the industry in order to get just an ounce of recognition is painful and it shouldn't be happening. This is a long, tired issue that needs to be corrected, along with other minority groups that are suffering the same lack of representation within the entertainment industry as a whole.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_profiterole_/]

Agents of SHIELD is not the best in terms of representation, but they did a good job with Daisy's backstory. And I forgot to mention Into the Badlands, which sometimes does a good job and sometimes doesn't, but it's definitely worth being mentioned.