January 11th, 2017: Kicking off the New Year!

© Webb Chappel

It is rare that a high school student gets to have the chance to hear a Pulitzer prize-winning author speak to them, especially in a group as small as I got to experience in the Garland theater. It was just surreal to have the opportunity to hear Viet Thanh Nguyen speak to our small school. Viet shared a lot on the stereotyping of Asian culture. It was really impactful what Viet was saying although I couldn't connect to it personally. The part of his speech that was most poignant to me was his discussion of Hollywood and the way Asians, especially Vietnamese, are portrayed in cinema. It was truly exciting to see my appreciation for film and this great lecture overlap. In my film history class, we talked a lot about the misrepresentation of various cultures and I loved the opportunity to hear a professional's side of how Hollywood twists people's culture around to use it for their own benefit. Viet talked about the movie Apocalypse Now and how the director never showed the culture of the Vietnamese people or even let them say a word when it was a war on their own soil. I absolutely loved this experience and can't wait to attend more great events this year!