Author Archives: Anna Gracia

Let’s talk Jane Austen. It’s always tricky adapting her work, as each reader has a specific feeling or aesthetic they have already set in their mind. It’s the reason why, nearly 20 years after the latest “straight up” Pride & Prejudice adaptation, people still argue whether or not it’s better than the 1994 Colin FirthContinue reading “I’m Persuaded Not to Recommend This”

Let me start off by saying I love Shang-Chi. Any issues I have with the casting (hello Hollywood, the Asian community has more than one actress! Feel free to use them!) is overshadowed by the excellent choices of Tony Leung and Michelle Yeoh, who my kids take every opportunity to remind me that she onceContinue reading “The Accessories Can’t Hide This”

It is a rule of all Asian Americans (well, Asian North Americans) that you must commit to watching something of Sandra Oh’s each year. It’s why I sat through movies like Under the Tuscan Sun and Mulan II before finally getting to knock out a few years’ worth with Grey’s Anatomy (until, well, you know).Continue reading “The Chair-y on Top”

Dear Shonda, Breakups are hard. I get it. You have all this history with someone – remembering how you’d sit down together on Thursday nights to watch Grey’s Anatomy because DVRs didn’t exist yet (or maybe you were just too cheap to pay for one). You remember rolling your eyes at teased scenarios, thinking theyContinue reading “Put Us Out of Our Misery, Shonda”

Listen. I know there are real issues with Asians’ proximity to whiteness and toxic colorism within the community. I remember my mom constantly warning me to slather sunscreen on as a kid so my skin wouldn’t get darker. I’ve seen the skin-whitening creams that are sold all over Asia. I get it. What I’m talkingContinue reading “We Need to Talk About the Whiteface”

If you’re anything like me (American, consuming predominately US-centric media), you remember the abrupt emergence of Basilica Cumberbund as a leading man and somehow a sex symbol out of seemingly nowhere. Like, we were just supposed to accept his promotion to one of People Magazine‘s Sexiest Men Alive because he played the bad guy inContinue reading “The Curious Case of Benedict Cumberbatch”