The Fairy Princess got her computer back, after a month – yes a MONTH – in the shop!
She is pretty excited.
Let’s get to talking about some stuff – first of all – since charity begins at home, TFP would like to bring to your awareness the #Ham4All campaign started by Lin Manuel Miranda. It is for the charity Immigrants We Get the Job Done, and the money raised goes to various charities to support civil rights as well as practical support.
You can also win tickets to the LA premier of HAMILTON, which include airfare and hotel!
So how would you like to see HAMILTON for $10?
Because that is what it is – a $10 donation. (Click here to get to started)
TFP did the challenge,
(Apologies she cannot seem to size it correctly it looks enormous)
and she ‘tagged’ her friends,
Donna Lynne Champlin (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend),
Telly Leung, (Broadway’s Aladdin):
As well as Jeff Yang (Journalist – CNN, Wall St. Journal, Jose Llana (National Tour – The King and I), and Raymond J. Lee (Broadway’s Groundhog Day).
The videos thus far are super cute and…they are going to lead to a whole lot more support and awareness – and in case you cannot tell – all these folks are children or grandchildren of immigrants!
So check them out on TWITTER!
Thanks for playing, y’all – WERK!
Also, this is the opening weekend of BABY DRIVER, which has TFP’s fav pal, Lanny Joons Kim – make sure you check it out!
Particularly because recent articles have reaffirmed TFP‘s long standing point – that diversity in casting makes the film have more appeal and thus more…
for everyone.
Speaking of which – seems like CBS’s Hawaii 5.0 is cleaning house – ethnically that is.
According to various articles, Grace Park and Daniel Dae Kim – series regulars who have been on the show since the pilot, and who have major character arcs and plot lines – have been paid 10-15% less than the two Caucasian leads – Scott Cann and Alex O’Loughlin – and well…
They out.
CBS would not get on board with equal pay, their cast members Cann and O’Loughlin did not ‘pull a Friends” thing with them – remember, they all held out until they all got the same money? So Park and Kim are no more.
They have gone on and will go on to bigger and better things, but that, as YOMYOMF points out – is not the point. They sold the show on their presence – which to a casual viewer meant that they were enjoying the same paycheck as Scott Caan.
After all, DDK was coming off a very impressive run of LOST, and Park off of BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA – two of the most famous televisions shows in history -which made them far more bankable than Scott Caan – who has somehow managed to parlay a famous Dad into a career, having really only done notable small parts in ensemble films.
No shade to Scott, but it is what it is. He’s better now than when he started – but did he deserve a bigger paycheck than Daniel Dae Kim or Grace Park?
Interestingly, Masi Oka also left earlier this year.
Now YOMYOMF has written an interesting take on what may have happened behind closed doors there, and since they have done such a great job, TFP is going to stay out of that portion. (But yes, it is totally suspicious that all the Asian/American actors have departed the show within a season)
However, since Masi is the one who, long ago, dragged TFP into the now defunct Asian Actors Sub Committee at SAG (where it became a huge sh*t show), she has a point to make, and it is a doozy.
(Remember please, all Masi’s fault TFP even knows this)
If Hawaii 5.0 and their Producers do not quickly replace these gaping holes in their show with Actors and Actresses of Asian/American or Pacific Islander or both (many people are combinations) – they are in violation of an important clause in the SAG/AFTRA Producers Agreement. Clause 59, page 147.
Back when TFP used to be on the SAG AAPI Committee – this was referred to as “Reflecting the American Scene”, and here is what it means.
When Producers agree to “reflect the American scene”, what is meant is – within the boundaries of the show – where it is set, which professions it reflects – that they will endeavor to look at the ethnic and gender breakdowns inherent in that profession/setting/city, and cast accordingly. Same with disability breakdowns within the profession.
Here is the actual language from the current SAG/AFTRA Television Contract:
Now, the language has changed somewhat – very small changed to – “the American scene shall be portrayed realistically“. It has the same meaning.
It should look like the America in which it is set. Not “Trump’s America”, not “Elitist Educated Coasts America’ – it needs to look like Hawaii.
The American scene of Hawaii – a land in which the 44th President was born, and which is a state.
Even if people don’t think so – and if they refuse to believe it their social studies teacher failed them.
In order for a show to be given the greenlight to use SAG/AFTRA Actors, Union Actors – they need to show that their show reflects the America in which the show is set. In this case – Hawaii.
Now this graph was done in 2013 – four years ago – by California State University. If you combine the Asian population, the mixed race population, and the Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander numbers – you get around….72.2 %.
That is a big chunk. HUGE chunk. Huge stinking chunk of people that reflect the American scene within Hawaii that are not Caucasian. It is not the Midwest. It is Hawaii.
SAG/AFTRA has a case, should they choose to ‘go for it’, and in this case, they should.
Because if we stand for nothing- what will we fall for?
That Producer’s Agreement was signed when half the series regulars – Park and Kim – were of Asian descent. Because they were of Asian descent, we saw their family members and their love interests, who also happened to be of Asian descent.
Which increased CBS’s very tentative grip on diversity – according to their very own Glenn Geller -as they are a show pretty much known for series starring white males.
Two shows that they had that ‘refuted’ those charges, as it were – their two aces, were ELEMENTARY, which stars Lucy Liu, and Hawaii 5.0.
That makes H50’s producers in violation of their original agreement – and SAG/AFTRA should take that opportunity – as we venture into pre-strike territory – to push for replacing Park and Kim with people who are of mixed race, or Asian heritage, or Pacific Islander heritage – or all three.
Because that is the scene in Hawaii. (Truly, the only place where she has felt like everyone is not asking her for an explanation for her face every time she left the hotel).
Which no one who has even a passing glance at the numbers, can dispute.
TFP really hopes CBS does the ‘right’ thing by Hawaii, and by it’s viewers – who have proved loyal over the years to that show. If they do not…
Otherwise she hopes that SAG/AFTRA has a bit more to say on these issues – and she thinks they may because running for the LA Local President is Clyde Kusatsu – who she is backing.
Not only is Clyde from Hawaii – he has been a long standing member of SAG, now SAG/AFTRA – he has worked every contract there is, and he has over 293 credits on IMDB, as well as being a solid committee member, repeatedly, through the years.
If anyone knows the importance of representation in the great state of Hawaii, it is Clyde. He is also someone I would want to advocate for a diverse and inclusive filming industry.
TFP hopes that Clyde will get your backing, because she can see that Producers are getting more parsimonious.
She does not doubt rich people’s ability to ignore the fact that Union members need benefits including health care and pension, because they want to line their own pockets.
After all, we are seeing that on a National level.
She has known Clyde for a long time – his dedication and his commitment – being a SAG/AFTRA member has fed his family – and thus while it is a professional commitment, it is also a personal one from someone who, like most of the rest of us – are in the trenches fighting for representation every damn day.
TFP out.
fairyprincessdiaries 
Great blog!