Asian (Korean) American Queer Representation

Andrew Ahn is a Korean American filmmaker who has delved into the representation of the queer Asian (Korean) American experience through his short film, "Dol" (2011), and full-length feature, Spa Night (2016).  Spa Night recently won the 2017 John Cassavetes Award in the Film Independent Spirit Awards.  In his acceptance speech, Ahn emphasized the importance of telling the stories of marginalized communities because "we can't be pushed aside, labeled as 'Other.' We are a part of this great country."

link if broken can be found here

This speech helped me reflect on our course as a whole to think about which stories are continually mis/unrepresented in the greater theme of US (Gay) History.  I also reflected on the media's increase towards self-determined representation of marginalized (queer) communities through films like Moonlight and how important it is for these communities to (re)claim their identity and representation in mainstream media.  When Ahn visited the Claremont Colleges he mentioned how Korean Americans would comment on and feel comforted by small details such as the way the mother peeled an apple in the film that was reminiscent of their own familial life, and representational of what the Korean American identity entails.

LINKS FOR FURTHER EXPLORATION
SPA NIGHT IS CURRENTLY STREAMING ON NETFLIX!! :)
Link to Spa Night Trailer here
Link to short film "Dol" here
Link to another blog post about Spa Night here

Author's Note: I wrote "Asian (Korean) American" with "Korean" in parenthesis to represent the Korean-American identity as falling under the umbrella term Asian-American.