BALANCE of CULTURE

Disney and Miniskirts in North Korea

Swiss-educated North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has clearly taken a very different approach towards his regime from the austere style of his late father--take a look at a recent gala performance that featured Disney characters, women playing guitars in miniskirts and heels, and tunes like Disney's "It's a Small World" as well as the Rocky film theme song. They even played Frank Sinatra's "My Way," perhaps fitting for the context. 

This bizarre image should clarify any doubts one may have about the significance of soft power. North Koreans have been brainwashed for decades about the aggressive and evil United States, their ultimate enemy. Now look at these same folks getting a (probably very desired) wide dose of American pop culture by their own government. Times are changing, that is for sure. 

Official Japanese Noodles: Rome to Honolulu

Surprised something like this hasn't happened already--just shows how I often tend to overestimate what has been done in this world. The Japanese dish known as "yakisoba," a popular pan-fried noodle dish, made its official debut in Rome, Italy this week. Usually considered the birthplace of modern pasta as we know it (though other variations from the Middle East and China also existed), the ancient city got a taste of yakisoba thanks to a recent push of Japanese noodles through the country's embassy. 

Coincidentally, Shirokiya (one of my favorite spots in Honolulu!) recently had an authentic "shoyu ramen" experience--for a couple of weeks only, one of the main ramen stalls near the department store's beer garden upstairs offered this special bowl via the president of the Japan Ramen Association. We caught it on the last day:

Perhaps since I'm not exactly the biggest ramen fan in general, the dish ended up being just ok for me. But it was just cool to taste what the official Japanese ramen organization wants you to taste when eating ramen, right? Culinary experiences like these two seem to be a growing trend from all cultures, lucky for all of us!

A Local's Letter to Mr. Lanai

The buying of land is the main shopping choice for billionaires--we all know that. So of course the big news this past week in Hawai'i is Oracle head Larry Ellison's purchase of Lanai, the state's 6th largest island. And it's not one of those little islands in the Caribbean that some A-list actors can afford to buy out--we're talking about a bit of land on a much larger scale. Ellison, one of the wealthiest men on the planet with a fervent passion for Asian culture, bought 98% of the island from another older, slightly less-wealthy American. 

Hawaiian residents are both excited and anxious for this transition. As we all wonder if Lanai will become the next travel destination for well-heeled geeks, one Lanai resident wrote a candid open letter on behalf of the islands locals to the new "Mr. Lanai":

Hey, Larry!

Welcome to the neighborhood — and your new home! Or one of them anyway.

The press keeps saying you already have one here, but I can’t find it and I’m pretty good at searching Maui County’s Property Tax website. Funny, they can find out your company owes $300,000 in back taxes to Hawaii, but we can’t find your house on Lanai?

But then the press got so much wrong over the past few days, I thought I would write a little note and straighten out a few things.

First, don’t be intimidated by all the angst over how it could even be possible for a single really, really rich guy to buy an entire island in the state of Hawaii, United States of America, from another rich guy, in this day and age.

You have to understand that since the 1850’s and Walter Murray Gibson and all those Mormons, this island has been owned and exploited by one really rich guy or another. There are generations here who don’t know any other way to live but under some sort of feudal-serf system. I know this is bizarre, that such a medieval lord-of-the-manor system of control could still be functioning in the Land of the Free, but there you have it. Of course the ILWU has been really helpful here, they’ve been terrific at scaring the hotel workers (the old timers tell me they are mostly recently arrived immigrants these days, but I’ll let the union work that out with you) into thinking the sky will fall any moment if the latest rich guy doesn’t get what he wants.

And don’t be fooled by all the kumbaya over the departure of your predecessor-in-interest, Uncle David. I have to disagree with all the what-a-wonderful-guy-he’s-been from Mayor Arakawa and all, since in many ways Murdock’s legacy is a lot more about what he didn’t do. Lessons to be learned here, Larry, so listen up.

Let’s start with all the press falling for Murdock’s whining about losing all that cash on Lanai operations? This is very old news, Larry. He’s actually been publicly telling us for years now that he has lost SO much money on Lanai that he would be selling us off if we did not settle down, be quiet, and let him build his turbines so he could FINALLY make some money. This chatter about “losing money” (the press never asks for verification) is nonsense: within a month of buying out Castle and Cooke shareholders in 2000 (the island was valued at $160 million back then, hotels and all) Murdock loaded the island with debt, to the tune of $300 million. This is a pretty nifty 30-day profit, don’t you think?

And because we know that the debt (money borrowed and spent elsewhere, for which Lanai is collateral) grew to $600 million in 2007, you can understand why so many of us have remained pretty skeptical about all this grumbling and complaining. Come to think of it, isn’t $600 million just about what the press is saying you are going to pay for us? Maybe they got that wrong as well ...

But back to take-aways:

Murdock’s lust to make money on luxury hotels/resort development has been pretty much a bust. In part this is because his timing was really, really bad, and in part because we have very little water on Lanai. I’m sure your due diligence uncovered that little factoid, yes? That Lanai is one of the least-endowed when it comes to water resources? We (who live here, this being our only home) don’t view this as a negative, it’s simply a limitation on uncontrolled growth, which we see as a good thing. Hope you do, too.

The importation of a lot of off-island labor to build the hotels briefly turned your new home into the methamphetamine “Ice Capital” of the world back in the late 1980s early ‘90s. All those single guys in tent cities! Nothing to do! Many here think the social repercussions are still evident in broken marriages, increased DV incidents, and tolerated Ice use to this day; our dirty little secret. Can we please not go there again?

One really good thing Murdock did was to start a lot of sustainable practices, macadamia nut, coffee, alfalfa, poultry growing, etc., all in an effort to make the island self-sufficient. Unfortunately the ROI wasn’t quick enough for his LA corporate types, and they pulled the plug(s). According to a recent study by Yale graduate students, today we import over 90 percent of our goods. So can you pass this note onto your people, Lar? Patience in everything?

Murdock was spectacularly successful in one area: he has almost completely dismantled any semblance of a middle class. Back in the plantation days (I admit, I am old enough to be pre-hotels) the community pretty much worked and lived in harmony: hard work, picking pine, but you could move up from the fields to Dole Administration, if you were of a mind to, and layoffs were pretty much unheard of. If the crops weren’t ripe, workers cleaned out the culverts, knocked down the kiawe, planted trees on Lanaihale. Now that our only focus is servicing our wealthy guests, no one has time for maintenance work, so our reefs are dying and strawberry guava is killing the watershed. And most of our children now find it impossible to stay.

You need to know that Uncle David was all about control: just ask the business owners who have tried for decades to purchase the buildings they are required to pay property taxes on, make capital improvements on, but cannot own. Think maybe you could consider letting go, Larry?

Finally, Larry, I have to tell you the State of Hawaii does not own the remaining 2 percent of Lanai that you don’t (or won’t) own, no matter how many times the press says it does. We do. That would be the over 1,000 private landowners, many of whom are just now succeeding to their grandparents’ and parents’ interests in the many solid, well-built (by master craftsman Kikuichi Honda in the 1920’s and 1930’s) plantation homes scattered about town. They are paradigms of perfect siting, construction, and natural use of sun and wind. I’ve read that you care about such things, Larry, so I’m hoping you visit some of the old places and see for yourself.

There’s more, but I know you have a lot on your plate right now, what with the unexplained need to transfer our utilities over to you in less than a week. Not sure what’s up with that (since some parties have been waiting months to hear from the PUC on various matters), but one other thing the press reported inaccurately: Lanai’s privately owned water system, not Maui County, feeds us all - not just the hotels. I’m sure you know that as a matter of state law you can’t own the water, right? Just the delivery system? I see you told the Consumer Advocate you will put $10 million into the water system over the next five years. I know this is a pittance of what is really needed, but did you give them a check to put into escrow? Uncle David made a lot of these sorts of promises that he didn’t keep. But we can talk about that another time.

Any questions? Give me a call, love to chat ...

Skateboarding in Afghanistan

 

The Skateistan project's new book. Good to see this organization grow so much in the past couple of years.

 

Cultural Cool Plateau

A very brief look at Japan's soft power based upon the "Cool Japan" concept has this writer arguing that the country's coolness was happening long before 2002, when the term "cool Japan" was apparently coined (as an offshoot of the UK's 1990s "Cool Brittania" concept). Whether we're talking "Nintendo games in the 1980s or Japanese art in the 1880s," he argues that Japan's coolness over the decades is not a new thing. 

Sure, that's all true. But don't tell me that the sharp rise in Japan's cultural relevance during the 1980s was anything remotely close to its obscure--yet just as awesome--art from a century before. Just ask a Japanese person if they feel safer, better, or "cooler" walking around the US now as opposed to fifty years ago. I'm pretty sure that we know the answer to that question. While the past certainly paved the way for what we see coming out of that country today, Japan's "it" factor--whether you think it's "over" or not-- has everything to do with its more recent cultural accomplishments during the past few decades. 

The one thing that doesn't change is that every "cultural cool" eventually plateaus. Look at the UK compared to a few decades ago. Japan is still interesting and "cool," of course, but it now shares the global cultural spotlight with other significant sensibilities such as South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. None of this is "over," yet Japan's near-monopoly on Asian cultural cool pretty much is. And there's certainly nothing wrong with that, unless inevitable change isn't something you welcome. 

However, I do have to wholeheartedly agree with the final sentiment of the piece: "Japan didn't just start being cool. It didn't stop being cool, either. But governmental programs and trade organizations? Those were never cool." In my opinion, this is precisely the main difficulty of using the official government context and means to facilitate cultural influence. Governments haven't figured out how to really tap into the "cool factor" yet. 

Hawaiian Soft Power via Hollywood

Music to my ears...Hawai'i has been pretty busy hosting Hollywood sets for filming the past few years (Lost, Tropic Thunder, The Descendants, etc.). The Aloha State is making a smart move by recognizing the inevitable influence of projecting its soft power through cinema, evidenced by both short- and long-term tourism and economic boosts for the islands. 

The Cultural Controversy of "King of the Sands"

It's hard not to notice how more and more communities are embracing the power and influence of filmmaking in order to raise their status in an increasingly globalized and connected world, and King of the Sands is a perfect example of a movie depicting certain cultural relations in a fascinatingly strategic and highly controversial cinematic cultural power move. The film, an unauthorized biopic on the life of Saudi Arabia's first monarch Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd al-Rahman Al Saud (or "Ibn Saud"), is a bold project by Syrian television producer Najdat Anzour, the son of the "pioneer of Arab cinema," Ismail Anzour.

Clearly the stakes are visible here--Najdat Anzour has a reputation for embracing the controversial, and with King of the Sands, the director has already received lawsuit threats from third parties desperate to prevent the movie from being released. The dichotomous plot, which reveals both Ibn Saud's impoverished struggle to reconquer his homeland as well as his brutal ways in achieving such goals, has angered many in Saudi Arabia--where the film will of course not be shown (apparently the country lacks movie theaters anyway). 

Western- and Hollywood-style appeasement is quite evident in the trailer, which tries to depict an epic historical plot rather than anything remotely controversial or so culturally-brazen. And of course, there is the requisite Western actor in the film, Bill Fellows, to connect with viewers familiar with Downton Abbey (though, interestingly, his IMDB doesn't seem to have any information on his role in this dicey film just yet).  

The filmmakers recently took out a big visual ad in Variety for King of the Sands without any information on the movie--no website, no names, etc., which is unique, to say the least.  Should be quite a story--both this movie as well as how Syrian and Saudi Arabian audiences interpret the project. 

China Conglomerate Buys AMC--So What About Freedom of Expression?

AMC Entertainment's failure to go public last year apparently eventually led Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group to purchase the American theater operator for $2.6 billion yesterday. The deal, controlled by billionaire Wang Jianlin, includes about $1.9 billion of net debt (when was the last time you went to the movie theater?).

The agreement also potentially reveals warming relations between the US and Chinese film industries--just in February, China agreed to finally open more of its movie theaters to show American films. Chinese investment in its soft power has clearly been on the rise along with its economy, but we won't necessarily be seeing Chinese films through AMC until their cinematic content organically finds a place in the global film market (in other words, they're not going to force Chinese films that are subpar only because they now own AMC). 

I find this deal to be especially exciting for Chinese filmmakers who have long endured a lack of total freedom of expression in their work. Perhaps now, with this very global move in the international film market, freedom of speech and artistic expression issues will be better addressed and served. The thing is, a burgeoning economy is usually on a trajectory towards democratic values, no matter how gradual the process may seem….hopefully this is the case for China now, too. 

Territory Dispute: China Suspends Organized Tours to Philippines

Border disputes between two countries can absolutely affect your travel plans: the US isn't the only country to have drama-filled circumstances with China lately--the Philippines and the mainland giant are at odds over Scarborough Shoal, a disputed territory in the West Philippine Sea, or South China Sea. While border disputes are nothing new for regional powers, China has actually taken some initiative in the matter by suspending organized Chinese travel tours from headed for the Philippines last Friday. 

This is a pretty big blow to the Filipino travel industry since China is their 4th largest market for tourists. However, the Philippines has taken matters into their own hands by aggressively reaching out to their even larger client bases in Korea and the US in order to offset the impact of less Chinese tourists this year. 

Despite these concerted efforts to fix the financial side of things, the territory dispute has caused high tensions between the Philippines and China lately. We'll see how the numbers pan out later in the year, along with the social and cultural implications of this confrontation. 

India to Streamline Movie Market Strategy

India is strategizing its soft power growth with plans to set up a national film commission in the coming months. This simplified clearance system will simplify the permit-obtaining process for both domestic and international filmmakers, usually an arduous task that many complain about. 

The decision is obviously a smart move, encouraged by the growing number of foreign film crew requests to operate in India. Even though only 10 foreign film crews requested permits in 2009-10, the I & B ministry granted permission "on 80 occasions to foreign feature film and TV reality shows to shoot in India" between 2008 and 2011.

We all know Bollywood is already huge, but this kind of organization and strategizing may serve as a significant gateway for a new cultural growth spurt for India.