Faith of My Fathers - Offensive to Asian Americans

> To be equitable to both sides, let me add the
> following:
>
> To the Asian actors who took these roles after
> reading the scripts that portrayed Asians in such a
> one-dimension, demonizing way, I can only conclud
> that you have no self-respect and/or diginity in
> yourselves and in your own people.
>
> How many more roles will all of you take - just for a
> paycheck (a small one at that probably) - that serve
> only to perpetuate the lingering stereotypes that
> negatively affect all Americans - not just Asian
> Americans?
>
>

As an Amerasian (i'm half Thai on my mom's side) and the son of a USAF pilot/officer who served with HONOR in Vietnam, I feel I need to speak out against this narrow and inane race baiting post.

I did NOT think this movie was at all demonizing and stereotyping Asian Americans. You want to talk about offensive? I would dare say that the communists that reigned in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia were probably some of the most sadistic and heartless individuals that have reigned the earth. That is OFFENSIVE. My mother and late Thai grandfather saw what "good" (laying the heavy sarcasm thick here) communism did for their beloved region of SE Asia. Both of them bore witness to the tragic results of a failed economic and political policy philosophy in the Thai refugee camps in Northern Thailand. THAT IS OFFENSIVE!!! How about executing 3 million of your own countrymen like Pol Pot did from 1975-77 so that you can conduct your own sick utopian, primitive vision of an agrarian society. That is not only OFFENSIVE, it is down right sick. And yet, the Vietcong and the Khmer Rouge still go unprosecuted for their war crimes. You want to be offended? Go ask yourself why these sickos were never brought to justice for their crimes yet there are "liberal" minded people who want to be the first to jump on the bandwagon when we hear about cruelty in the realms of Abu Ghrab and Guantanamo Bay.

And yet, we have college professors that laud the achievements of Ho Chi Minh yet deny that there were human rights violations committed against the Vietnamese people. We have so called liberal minded people like Noam Chomsky who deny to this day that Cambodia under Khmer Rouge control did anything wrong. And to add insult to injury, we have Jane Fonda doing a promotional book tour saying that she is "sorry" for what she did in Vietnam by denying that there were atrocities committed against our servicemen who were doing their duty with honor.

Finally, I will state this to the original poster: DO NOT CLAIM TO SPEAK FOR ME!!! I am not a some helpless Asian American who needs your help and I think you did more to offend Asian Americans with your race baiting post than you did to help. Maybe you are the one with no self respect who feels the need to fight a battle so you can feel good about yourself.

If you want to speak to me in an intelligent manner about race and REAL Asian American concerns, feel free to email me @ mmirmak12@netzero.com. I would be more than happy to pick your brain.

On a happier note, I did enjoy the film and was deeply moved. We are finally giving our Vietnam vets their well deserved and long overdue tribute for their service. I am extremely proud of my father's service to his country and I hope I can pass on the lessons I learned about duty and honor to my 3 year old daughter rather than teach her to be a self hating person with no self esteem.

Thank God for TiVo. I have watched it thirce.

Koup Khun Krap (That's "Thank You" in Thai)

Matt Mirmak

Maybe Japan was told America had weapons of mass destruction and that is why they bombed us and why they hated us.

I don't think ALL the Asians portrayed in the movie are negatively stereotypical. Check your own prejudices; some WERE very negative, but that's the way they WERE in real live (esp from the author's perspective). DUH!!!