[Weekly Update] August 30th, 2020

A quick reminder that you can now pledge per year instead of per month. Patrons who choose to pledge an entire year at once gets 15% off, basically 2 month off.

You can also now change your pledge currency to British Pound or Euro. If you intent to change, remember to unpledge by tomorrow, and come back after the 1st, that way you don't get double charged.

Anyway, onto the update:

ABOUT THE CHANNEL

• Hope you enjoyed our video on Train to Busan. If not, go check it out, I'm proud of it, and viewers all seem to enjoy the video.
• It's a long time coming. I hinted at this film back when this channel first started and I was talking about J-horror. But as this channel goes on, I became more aware of my limitation.
• One such limitation is my knowledge on Korean cinema. Korean TV and movies didn't take over Asia until I already moved to Canada for a few years. I know nothing about K-pop and did not grew up with any of the Korean media. So I was never too comfortable about covering South Korean movies.
• It's only recently that I started to feel confident in doing research for each films. But even then, I can only cover single movies at a time, instead of covering a wider topic like I can do with Chinese and Japanese cinema. It's good to realize that I'm getting better at this, though. So eventually I should be able to talk more about Korean cinema as a whole.
• We are also currently making a conscious effort in expending the content of our channel. If you haven't realized, Accented Cinema now organized each videos into playlists. And I realized so far, we only talked about 2 Korean films (Parasite, Train to Busan). So expect a bit more Korean films, as well as other non-Chinese films in the near future.
• And finally, we'll take a break from horror in our next episode. There's a high profile release coming, and I think a lot of people might be interested in hearing my perspective.
• So yeah, it's 35 bucks but... At least I can file it under business expense.

ABOUT MEDIA

• I love Black Panther.
• Not because it's good. I don't think it is a great movie, certainly not Oscar Nomination Worthy, (Although competition that year was weak).
• But Black Panther is one film that managed to convince me on why representation is so powerful. And I'm not even black.
• There is this one scene, where Killmonger is in a British Museum, where he points at an African artifact, and said: "How do you think your ancestor got these?"
• It is a sentiment shared across the world, but rarely discussed among western society. Indeed, for many of us, you have to apply for an UK visa to see your own national treasure. And I was born in Chinese. China was better off than most African nations. I can't imagine just how much that single scene speaks to actual African Americans.
• It is at that moment, I realize how powerful Black Panther is going to be. It is not technically well filmed, and its budget certainly limits the quality of its VFX. But it is written by a Black writer, directed by a black director, the film presents things in an angle that comes from and speaks to black audience in US.
• We all want to live in a world without race, to be able to not see race. But that reality is still far off. Fundamentally, we still live in a world, where color minorities experience society in ways not shared by the majority.
• It is why Black Panther is so important, being a mainstream film speaks primarily from Black people to Black people, but enjoyed by everyone regardless of ethnicity. 
• It is a similar experience I had when I watched Wandering Earth. It's a film speaks to a Chinese audience, but can be enjoyed by everyone. It's also similarly not very well made, although I'd say Wandering Earth is worse. Uncontroversial opinion, I believe.
• So, if you are like me, who are Asian, and you don't really understand why Black Panther was such a big deal, Think of the last time you feel like a movie spoke to you: The Farewell; the Big Sick; Searching; Saving Face. That feeling, is what Black folks felt, when they watch Black Panther.
• Black Panther is not a great film technically. But it is a great film, culturally.

Anyway, that is today's update. Sorry to bring politics into this, but Chadwick Boseman's death really felt like the straw the broke my back, and I need to vent. 2020 has been tough, I hope you all are doing well. Stay safe!

 Patreon bonus video will be update later tonight. Hope you'll enjoy me gushing over another superhero film. This time, 1989's Batman.