ANNIE LUNDGREN WRITES – “Marco Polo” is Netflix’s newest warfare-meets-orgy saga. Despite failing with critics, the historical melodrama was greenlit for a second season in January. Since Netflix does not release ratings data, it is safe to assume that the show is doing well among viewers. Marco Polo showcases Asian…
Full Article TELEVISION REVIEW: Orgies + War = Marco Polo
ANNIE LUNDGREN WRITES – ABC’s newest primetime show, Fresh Off the Boat, reminds us that America’s complicated race relations can be funny, too. Set in 1995, the sitcom follows a Taiwanese-American family’s move from D.C.’s Chinatown to a white middle-class suburb in Orlando, Florida, where they learn how to fit in…
Full Article TELEVISION: Fresh Off the Boat is a Fresh Look at the Asian-American Experience
ANNIE LUNDGREN WRITES- Throngs of urbanites wearing face masks remind the world that Beijing still has not successfully dealt with its pollution problem. Its poor air quality has been under international scrutiny since the 2008 summer Olympics. Smog masks and full-face gas masks made headlines in October when thousands of…
Full Article CHINA: Wearing a Face Mask to Breathe #pollutionproblems
Annie Lundgren Writes: TV viewers in China are using social media to criticize the government’s censorship of cleavage in the new show, “The Empress of China.” After a brief, four-day suspension of the original broadcast, an edited version of the show returned with close-up shots – but only above the…
Full Article CHINA: Cleavage – The New Great Divide?
ANNIE LUNDGREN WRITES – Forty never looked so cute. Last month, 25,000 people celebrated Hello Kitty’s birthday at the first-ever “Hello Kitty Con” held in downtown Los Angeles. The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Little Tokyo was transformed into a wonderland of cartoon structures, giant tea-cups, and rainbows. Pink-dressed attendees…
Full Article Move Over Comic Con, Make Room for Hello Kitty Con
ANNIE LUNDGREN WRITES – The recent pro-democracy uprising in Hong Kong has highlighted Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s growing unpopularity among protesters and their supporters. Since the uprising began in September, the CE has become no fan of electoral reform in Hong Kong. Currently, chief executive candidates are nominated by a…
Full Article HONG KONG: Thumbs Down for Leung Chun-ying
ANNIE LUNDGREN WRITES – A Chinese production company recently launched the 3D cartoon series “Princess Fragrant,” which follows a Uyghur girl’s adventures along the Silk Road. The character, who sports a traditional Uyghur hat and long braids, was inspired by the ancient Chinese legend of “Fragrant Concubine,” the Uyghur consort…
Full Article CHINA: Cartoon Character Calls for Cooperation