DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

Two of three speakers at the engineering school’s ceremony disappeared abruptly from the school’s graduation website. A self-described “fourth-generation Trojan” from Pasadena, Ms. Blain, who has spent much of her life imagining her own U.S.C. Pro-Palestinian students tried to set up an encampment on campus days later, and university officials summoned the Los Angeles police. At the engineering school, where Ms. Tabassum, the valedictorian, will be graduating, professors were trying to resurrect her chance to speak. A university committee had picked Ms. Tabassum, who is Muslim and of South Asian ancestry, from about 100 undergraduates with near 4.0 grade point averages.

Persons: Kevin Feige, Liza Colón, Zayas, Tina, “, ”, Jaren Lewison, they’re, Ella Blain, Blain, Linda Thomas, Greenfield, Biden, U.S.C, Asna Tabassum, Jon M, Chu, Marcia McNutt, Blain’s, Annette Ricchiazzi, Carol Folt, Missives, Sean Penn, —, Goodwin Liu, Merrill Balassone, Phil Chan, Pam Zhang, Safiya Umoja Noble, Lewison, Jane Coaston, Tabassum, Yannis C, Folt, Kevin Crawford Knight, Didi Global, Zohreh, Khademi, Knight, ” Hossein Hashemi, Hashemi, Dustin Jeffords Organizations: University of Southern, Angeles, Marvel Studios, Hollywood, Netflix, Dornsife, of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Los Angeles Memorial, School of Dramatic Arts, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor , Indiana University, Bloomington, Northeastern University, United Nations, University, Vermont’s, Columbia University, National Academy of Sciences, Los Angeles police, Community, Dodger, California Supreme, MacArthur, Rossier School, Education, Jewish, commencements, New York Times, Microsoft, Media, “ Locations: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Coast, Aude, Pasadena, Gaza, Ann Arbor ,, Boston, U.S, Israel, U.S.C, California, San Bernardino County

☆ The First Chinese American Movie Star and the Cost of Glittering Fame
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Jennifer Szalai | More About Jennifer Szalai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Unlike “Daughter of the Dragon” the film, “Daughter of the Dragon” the book is clearly intended as a form of reclamation and subversion. “Anna May drew attention to or even exploded the stereotype by overacting these roles,” Huang writes, not entirely convincingly. “She has to take what is offered.” Especially when she is an Asian American woman at a time when Asian roles often went to white actors in adhesive tape and yellowface. The Production Code of 1930, which banned onscreen portrayals of miscegenation and interracial relationships, was a “virtual form of foot-binding for Anna May,” Huang writes. (The only film in which she was kissed by a white man was “Java Head,” a British production.)

Persons: Huang, ”, Anna May, ” Huang, Julian Barnes, ” Wong, Wong, — “ Dietrich, Anna, Mary, Mary despaired, Pearl Organizations: Java Locations: ”, Asian American, Hollywood, British, China, yellowface

☆ Can ‘Miss Saigon’ Be Saved? Two British Shows Disagree.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Houman Barekat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“Miss Saigon” is back and so, inevitably, is the surrounding discourse. Claude-Michel Schönberg’s musical melodrama about an ill-fated romance between a Vietnamese sex worker and an American G.I. So not everyone was pleased when the Crucible Theater in Sheffield, England, announced it would stage a new production of “Miss Saigon” this summer. Chris (a compellingly lugubrious Christian Maynard) meets Kim (Jessica Lee) in a brothel and they fall in love, but their affair ends abruptly when the Americans withdraw from Saigon. Three years later, Chris, now married to an American woman, learns that he has a young son by Kim.

Persons: Saigon ”, Claude, Michel Schönberg’s, Jonathan Pryce, yellowface, Robert Hastie, Anthony Lau, Cameron Mackintosh, Puccini’s, Christian Maynard, Kim, Jessica Lee, Chris, Kim . Kim Locations: Saigon, American, Vietnam, Sheffield, England, British East, Asian, United States

☆ A Writer Recognizes Herself in Another Writer’s Story
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Jean Hanff Korelitz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

THE MYTHMAKERS, by Keziah WeirWhat navel-gazers we writers of fiction are! It’s an attribute few of us would deny, but while it most often evokes autobiography, even those of us who tend not to mine our “lived experience” are still drawn back ceaselessly into the great and fascinating murk that is … writing about writing fiction. Some of us — myself included (see: “The Plot”) — have an insatiable appetite for stories that grapple with these issues. I am happy to report that Keziah Weir’s assured first novel, “The Mythmakers,” is a laudable addition to a reading list that already includes such standouts as Meg Wolitzer’s “The Wife,” Karen Dukess’s “The Last Book Party,” Andrew Lipstein’s “Last Resort” and R.F. Kuang’s new novel, “Yellowface.” In “The Mythmakers,” most of the relevant offenses surround a recently deceased novelist named Martin Keller as a young journalist sets out to investigate a simple act of appropriation and finds something far more complex and — for any writer — infinitely more shameful.

Persons: Keziah Weir, Weir’s, Meg Wolitzer’s “, ” Karen Dukess’s “, ” Andrew Lipstein’s, Martin Keller

☆ Generative AI has a Digital Blackface problem
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Ryan Joe | Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Advertisers using generative AI to depict BIPOC human models are raising alarm bells among critics who say this use case is Digital Blackface. There are cost-savings from using generative AI, not just for not hiring models but also to replace sets and backgrounds. "It's not like AI models are only created by white folks who then are using this digital blackface, digital yellowface, et cetera. There are people of color who have created generative AI models." Despite the need for caution, some advertisers want to train generative AI engines to be more representative of diverse experiences.

Persons: Levi's, Renee Miller, It's, Michael Mente, Revolve's, Theory's Miller, Miller, Gram, Slack, Brian Yamada, Yamada, Alex Coles, Coles, Megan Thee, Cheyanne Moore Organizations: Apparel Locations: Instagram

☆ Her Novel Became a Best Seller. The Trouble: The Manuscript Was Stolen.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Amal El-Mohtar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

If this reads as a quite on-the-nose critique of contemporary conversations about race and appropriation, that’s because it is. It is in fact so obvious that it makes one wonder why Kuang uses the device of an unreliable narrator at all. Instead, June’s methodology is consistently to tell the reader her trespasses and offer flimsy justifications for them. These moments suggest the kinds of layers and intrigue the book could have maintained if it weren’t so committed to showing its hand. “Yellowface” is a kind of Art Monster story, but one that can’t allow room for ambiguity or revelation without rushing in to fill that space.

☆ She Wrote a Blistering Satire About Publishing. The Publishing Industry Loves It.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Alexandra Alter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

When Kuang sent the first 100 pages to Hannah Bowman, her literary agent, Bowman at first tried to dissuade her from pursuing the project, warning that nobody would want to publish it. “We did have a conversation where I said, ‘There are things in here that I am afraid could offend people you work with,’” Bowman recalled. After Kuang insisted, Bowman sent it out, and was pleasantly surprised by the enthusiastic responses. “For publishing insiders, it’s just catnip, it’s so dishy about the industry,” Bowman said. “We’re like ‘Wow, does she like us?’”For Kuang — who at 26 has built a devoted following for her deeply researched and thought provoking fantasy novels — publishing a scorched-earth satirical takedown of the publishing industry was creatively and professionally risky.

☆ Book Bans and What to Read in May
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“It is amazing to see both the upward trend in book bans but also the ways that the process of getting bans has evolved,” Alter says. And most of those were from concerned parents who had seen what their kid was reading in class or what their kid brought home from the public library. Now you have people standing up in school board meetings reading explicit passages aloud.”Also on this week’s episode, Joumana Khatib takes a look at some of the biggest new books to watch for this month. Here are the books discussed in this week’s episode:“Chain-Gang All-Stars,” by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah“King: A Life,” by Jonathan Eig“Quietly Hostile,” by Samantha Irby“Yellowface,” by R.F. KuangWe would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, and about the Book Review’s podcast in general.

☆ Why 94-year-old ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ star James Hong says he's not close to retiring
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Jennifer Liu | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Onstage, Hong reflected on the early days of his career, when he often played side characters to white leads in yellowface. Hong recalled that producers "said Asians were not good enough and they are not box office. After decades in the industry, Hong is getting greater public recognition for his work. Hong received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2022, making history as the oldest recipient to receive the honor. Hong says he's a better actor today than ever.

Search resuls for: "yellowface"

9 mentions found