controversial

Fandango’s Flashback Friday — January 27th

Fandango11 Comments

Wouldn’t you like to expose your newer readers to some of your earlier posts that they might never have seen? Or remind your long term followers of posts that they might not remember? Each Friday I will publish a post I wrote on this exact date in a previous year.

How about you? Why don’t you reach back into your own archives and highlight a post that you wrote on this very date in a previous year? You can repost your Friday Flashback post on your blog and pingback to this post. Or you can just write a comment below with a link to the post you selected.

If you’ve been blogging for less than a year, go ahead and choose a post that you previously published on this day (the 27th) of any month within the past year and link to that post in a comment.

This was originally posted on January 27, 2018.

The Inscrutable Charlie Chan

Whenever I hear the word “inscrutable,” which means not easily understood, mysterious, or unfathomable, it harkens me back to when I was a wee lad. My mother would sit me in front of the TV, turn on a random channel, and let me be entertained while she went about doing whatever motherly chores and deeds she set about doing.

And that was how I was introduced to the Asian detective, Charlie Chan. Charlie Chan was a fictional character created by author Earl Derr Biggers. Chan was loosely based on Honolulu detective Chang Apana. Chan was the hero of six detective novels by Biggers and 47 Hollywood movies between 1926 and 1949.

As a kid, I enjoyed watching Charlie Chan do his thing. I was fascinated at his ability to solve the most difficult of crimes with relative ease and plenty of aplomb. Of course, at the time, I had no idea what the word “aplomb” meant. Nor did I know the word “inscrutable.” But I did end up watching a number of Charlie Chan movies.

It turns out that the Charlie Chan character has been the subject of considerable controversy. Some find the character to be a positive role model, while others argue that Chan is an offensive stereotype.

To many Asian-Americans, Charlie Chan is another sort of Uncle Tom-like character. Chan was pudgy, slant-eyed, and inscrutable, and spoke in singsong, fortune-cookie-like English, saying things (or aphorisms) like, “If befriend donkey, expect to be kicked.” There’s a whole website dedicate to his hundreds of aphorisms.

Of course, the fact that the Charlie Chan character in the movies was played mostly by non-Asian actors may have contributed to the controversy.

Written for today’s one-word prompt, “inscrutable.”

Why Did You Leave Me?

Fandango50 Comments

FD8163BA-5CD1-4CD6-9849-7268D2218E12Last night, one of you stopped following my blog.

Yeah, that’s right. When I went to bed there were 2,440 of you. Now there are only 2,439 of you.

Did you think I wouldn’t notice? Of course I noticed. And I’m deeply hurt.

The least you could have done is said goodbye. And you could have told me why you left. That would have been the decent, courageous thing to do.

But no. You just quietly slipped away in the dead of night while I was sleeping.

Was it something I said? Have you simply grown tired of me?

Hey, I realize that I’m an acquired taste. I’m not for everyone. But seriously, who is?

And yes, I will occasionally say something controversial or provocative. Okay, perhaps more than occasionally. And sure, sometimes the views I express may be different from yours.

How boring would I be if I avoided controversial topics altogether?

I do understand that you can’t please all of the people all of the time. I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck, you know. I’ve been around the block a few times. Quite a few times, actually.

But whoever you are, you made a conscious decision to stop following this blog.

So now you’re gone and I’ll never know why.

You never call. You never write.

Weekend Writing Prompt — Headline

Fandango4 Comments

417A58FD-774F-4562-8F03-4EFD1AB68614“Did you see the headline in the paper this morning?” my wife asked me when I sat down at the kitchen table.

“You mean the one about….”

“Yeah, that one.”

“I saw it,” I said.

“Did you read the article?”

“No, I can’t read that crap anymore.”

“Why not? Aren’t you interested?”

“No, not really.”

(55 words, exactly)

Written for Sammi Cox’s Weekend Writing Prompt, “Headline.”F88F0CB2-DF71-47C4-8FF2-5646473E7880

The Inscrutable Charlie Chan

Fandango8 Comments

Whenever I hear the word “inscrutable,” which means not easily understood, mysterious, or unfathomable, it harkens me back to when I was a wee lad. My mother would sit me in front of the TV, turn on a random channel, and let me be entertained while she went about doing whatever motherly chores an deeds she set about doing.

And that was how I was introduced to the Asian detective, Charlie Chan. Charlie Chan was a fictional character created by author Earl Derr Biggers. Chan was loosely based on Honolulu detective Chang Apana. Chan was the hero of six detective novels by Biggers and 47 Hollywood movies between 1926 and 1949.

As a kid, I enjoyed watching Charlie Chan do his thing. I was fascinated at his ability to solve the most difficult of crimes with relative ease and plenty of aplomb. Of course, at the time, I had no idea what the word “aplomb” meant. Nor did I know the word “inscrutable.” But I did end up watching a number of Charlie Chan movies.

It turns out that the Charlie Chan has been the subject of considerable controversy. Some find the character to be a positive role model, while others argue that Chan is an offensive stereotype.

To many Asian-Americans, Charlie Chan is another sort of Uncle Tom-like character. Chan was pudgy, slant-eyed, and inscrutable, and spoke in singsong, fortune-cookie-like English, saying  things (or aphorisms) like, “If befriend donkey, expect to be kicked.” There’s a whole website dedicate to his hundreds of aphorisms.

Of course, the fact that the Charlie Chan character in the movies was played mostly by non-Asian actors may have contributed to the controversy.

Written for today’s one-word prompt, “inscrutable.”