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Response from Toronto Screening, by KWOI
Dear Friends,
Dragon Boys, the two part mini-series is airing this coming Sunday and Monday, Jan 7 and 8 at 8 pm to 10 pm.
Working closely with the Asian Community, Writer/Exec Producer Ian Weir did a great job keeping it real, working with material outside his own culture. It stars some of my TO friends Jean Yoon and Simon Wong. Simon's character was especially real for me personally as I had started a youth gang upon my early arrival in TO. We even called ourselves "Nine Dragons" as there were initially nine of us from the same hood in Kowloon (translates 9 Dragons). I started the gang as a means of survival. I was constantly getting beat up after school by trailer trash bullies. The same trailer trash that were portray in Dragon Boys. My gang involvement strained my relationship with my dad who's Baldwin St. eatery was struggling with extortion threats from the triad at the time. Watching the preview on Tuesday night was like having my childhood flash me by.
The cast worked hard at keeping it real. The character of Chavy Pahn was changed from Chinese to Cambodian to reflect current immigration patterns, Stephanie Song, who had already been cast in the role, had to learn to deliver her lines in Khmer. Byron also objected to his character’s wife being changed to Chinese because he saw his character as a banana who “grew up thinking he’s a white man … a guy who has never dated Asian women.” Unlike most Hollywood depictions of Asian males as desexualized monk-like beings, it was refreshing to see the brothers hooking up with White Woman on the big screen. Thanks Byron, Lawrence and the Dragon Boys for “getting some” on behalf of the brothers.
It could have easily been another Asian exploitation flick like Year Of The Dragon, with the dominant culture's set of assumptions about power relationships and power structures which is completely skewed towards the White perspective, but keeping it real with all the family and human stories really made the piece into a Chinese Canadian "Sopranos" if you will. Excellent performance from the cast including the amazing Eric Tsang (East Asia's De Niro) who my friend Jean Yoon got to slap around for real.
The Canucks have been known to follow their American counterparts, politically as well as culturally. The Americans pass the Head Tax Law, they follow. The Americans pass the Exclusion Act, they follow. The Americans started the Japanese Internment, they follow. Finally, they've initiated something positive for their American counterparts to envy. The American networks are in envy and amazement how an all-Asian cast without any White stars can be made possible. This would not have been a reality in the States. Now if we can only get our own writers, producers and directors in there.
Dragon Boys is a dark and gritty right-between-the-eyes crime story. Please check it out and forward this to anyone you think might enjoy it. Oh heck, on second thought, forward it to them even if you think they might not enjoy it! Cheers!
Banana Kowboy.