Event
"Judo Silence": Narrating Asian American Masculinity Visually in Eric Byler's Charlotte Sometimes
Filmmaker Eric Byler refers to the effective use of silence by Asian American men as "judo silence." In his 2002 film, Charlotte Sometimes, the pacing of the narrative, the use of props, and other strategies of demonstration and visualization, together, could be considered elements of an emerging Asian American film aesthetic. A narrative element--the "true" relationship between two sisters, Darcy and Lori--remains unresolved by the end of the film. The judo silence of characters and of the film itself--that is, seeing and showing versus telling through dialogue--hints at the crucial relationship of the sisters and the knowledge about care, sexuality, romance, and identity only they can know.
Kent A. Ono, Professor and Chair, Department of Communication, University of Utah. Research: rhetoric and discourse, media and film, and race, ethnic, and cultural studies. Publications: Contemporary Media Culture and the Remnants of a Colonial Past (Peter Lang, 2009); Asian Americans and the Media with Vincent Pham (Polity, 2009); Shifting Borders: Rhetoric, Immigration, and California's Proposition 187 with John Sloop (Temple University Press, 2002); Asian American Studies after Critical Mass (ed., Blackwell, 2005); A Companion to Asian American Studies (ed., Blackwell, 2005); Critical Rhetorics of Race with Michael Lacy (ed., New York University Press, 2011); Enterprise Zones: Critical Positions on Star Trek with Taylor Harrison, Sarah Projansky, and Elyce Helford (ed., Westview Press, 1996). Interim Journal Editor: Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies.