Posted on May 4 2003, 10:52 AM

Well I finally got to see BLT last night. They've been cancelling shows for X2...that certainly pissed me off. I've read through a lot of the posts and I do see a pattern occuring. There are two basic camps: <those who feel US culture should get a rude wake-up call> & <those who feel BLT negatively portrayed AAPI's>.

<those who feel US culture should get a rude wake-up call>

I agree with this perspective, because it serves as a reality check for all young people in this society. There are several universal messages that target all groups of young people, particularly high school students. It shows that the education system has inherent discriminations that compel students to take their own measures to succeed in life. I don't see BLT as being a movie about Asian American angst and rebellion; it was more about innovation for reaching ones goals. Ben and Derrick were both aiming to get into the best schools and they were willing to do whatever was necessary. By forming their clique, they sought to collectively do what was necessary to be #1 (legitmately or illegimately).

If you replace Ben, Derrick, Virgil, and Han with non-Asians, how does that change our perspective about academic success/stress?

I did not sense that rebellion played a major role in this movie, because they had never forsaken the dream of going to college and leaving their homes. Perhaps the angst comes in when they realize that success is harder to achieve based on their own shortcomings.

I'll continue my perspective about the opposing view in another post...

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