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kimyoonmiauthor · 4 months

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Media Imperialism and media fetishists

Over the years of translating dramas, relaying ideas to Korean, Japanese and Chinese writers, and interacting with the fanship, there's a segment of the population who watch these dramas and say they "love" them, but then insist they should be more like, usually US and UK dramas, but occasionally "Like home," and I don't understand these media imperialists.

For reference, I didn't make this idea up:

You want to call these dramas "Wrong" instead of say, brush up on your history, media literacy and actually, ya know, read some fucking classics from those countries.

OMG, you didn't use the 3-act story structure and MY Creative writing teacher said it was the ONLY WAY.

Sorry to break it to you, but your Creative Writing Teacher didn't read anything outside of White Male writing Guide books.

How about trying any of the books/movies/dramas cited here: https://kimyoonmiauthor.com/post/641948278831874048/worldwide-story-structures

Well, Korea/Japan/China is selling to the United States [aka the world], so they clearly have to bend to US rules.

Except they aren't–they sell to Korean people first. I know. This is a huge idea. You might go and look at the last debacle and say the JTBC drama, King the Land folded under international pressure, but they didn't. They folded under the Korean citizenry being disgusted with JTBC and being that tone deaf.

Sometimes, it's not all about you. I know. Huge concept for an imperialistic nation that per capita does not publicly put subtitled shows on TV from other nations like Korea.

BTW, Korea also imports more German books than you'd think, especially after WWII under the idea of "Know Your Enemy"

The US also exports a large number of media to all three countries as well, which you'd know if you actually went to or lived in Korea, Japan, etc. There is a whole English channel for you. In Hong Kong they play US shows. Does it sound like I physically went there? Yes I did.

Did JK Rowling, knowing her book sold to Japan, bother to ask a Japanese person for a decent name for a magic school or look into the Politics of the idea of centering a school in Japan for all of East Asia? Hell no. So this is totally about media imperialism, because it doesn't happen in the reverse.

Why the hell are you making this argument when you don't actually know anything about importation and exportation of media? This is one of my favorite subjects of all time. I can run you down through censorship and the differences, but usually these people don't want to really get into the numbers. They want to shout me down.

Genre definitions have to be exactly the same as the US.

They don't. There. I know, didn't you know that Xianxia ends SADLY always before about 2007-ish? It is the quintessential Romantasy before that was coined.

Did you fucking bother to read Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and it's labeled as *gasp* Romance.

Fuck, there are new subgenres that defy US expectations.

And that should make your extremities tingle in excitement instead of trying to discipline it.

Or are you going to argue Romance of the Three Kingdoms should be relabeled as, "Love Story of the Three Kingdom" just to make it fit your after 1950's US Romance definition. OMG, I actually fucking looked up the history of Romance and they didn't always have Happy endings until the 1950's, but you're bothering to discipline foreign media.

Why does fantasy have to be exactly like the US? Why does SF from Japan have to follow UK conventions? If you don't like it, then you have no obligation to watch it.

But, but the US RESCUED (Korea, Japan, China, insert here).

Your History teacher was lousy, but when facing other media, you need to get past a high school level for it? Perhaps even read Classic literature. If you are busy trying to justify your love of Korean media, etc with this, no. You can just like it without being a media imperialist.

You can enjoy the differences, and then investigate WHY it's different and see if you can politely ASK about those differences. I didn't get XYZ, would you mind answering some questions. Questions don't make you "weak" it means you're curious, and I celebrate curiosity. I usually invite people to ask questions that are genuine.

Beyond that, No, the US did not "rescue Korea"

youtube

Here... white guy's video going over it. It was already split prior.

In addition to that the US didn't quit imperializing after. There's rumors they helped install a dictator, they busted unions VIOLENTLY prior to the Korean War, During it and after.

And then there are the rape slavery camps.

which then these people try to downplay as "sex camps" because holding a whole country's security hostage after you destroyed most of its military isn't imperialism at all. Give us your women so our soldiers can "behave" themselves.

To be clear, I don't hate Sex workers, I hate the US for being assholes that are willing to rape women to get what they want while calling Japan evil for doing the same things (granted Japan used heroine and sometimes young as 12 year old girls, which the US military didn't do, but it doesn't make it better.)

The US has over and over again put their own economic interests over Korean lives.

Those "Made in Korea" shoes were made with US economic interest.

Should we cover Japan and the amount of cancer they struggle with?

Should we cover the "Opium" (really Tea) War?

Name a country I'll tell you how the US and/or Europe imperialized it. This makes the power imbalance higher, which is the core idea of Media Imperialism.

You aren't really Korean because you're not being submissive.

Fuck. lol Take it up with my Korean ancestors and 100% Korean blood. Also, stop believing Madame Butterfly and Memoirs of a Geisha for all of "How Asians should act."

I come from a history where Korean women threw rocks at generals and held rights longer than Europe did. We overthrew a president who was being overzealous about Korean textbooks. Where there are political protests all the time. Where we did resistance. Where we asked the US to be accountable. We had kickbutt men and women throughout history and you expect me to roll over while people want Korean media to be exactly like US media, when Korea faced mass genocide at the hands of Japanese? Oh really?

You want to fucking think about that? When did you hear about an ajumma just rolling over?

Nyahh, Korea has a LONG LONG history of resistance.

Conclusion

When I call out Koreaboo for not being willing to read such classics as Hong Gil Dong (Which got translated, though I dislike the translation, honestly), or Weeaboo for not being able to know who Natsume Soseki is, which is like not knowing Iunno, John Steinbeck in English Literature, it's not saying "You are wrong for liking these media." It's saying you are wrong for insisting it be exactly like home. Romance of the Three Kingdoms ends sadly. Fuck. And it's in the title. Chinese romances didn't have happy endings until a few years ago, and it was pressure of Chinese people, not foreign powers that did it. There is a whole thrust of Historical dramas where it focuses on Romance, and then ends effing sadly that still plays on Chinese TV. I mean, all you need to do is explore.

If it should be "more like home" then you have a whole library and new TV shows in your language to consume that's "Just like home" because it is home. You need not tell a whole other country to bend to you because you don't want to bother learning the language, the history or the culture and up your enjoyment and the understanding. You can stay insulated in your bubble and instead of insisting it be all the same BE CURIOUS. INVESTIGATE.

Why did you deviate from your home country's media if you love it THAT much that you want to impose it on other fans that love to investigate those differences?

Also, I wouldn't chase after the person giving you media literacy on being mean about imperialism. Really, it's the kindest thing I can do for you is to tell you you live in a bubble reality. The rate of importation is low. You need to read world media before 2000. Why not ask me for books and classics to look up? Why not look for seminal favorites that haven't become TV shows? Why not expand your world so you aren't that awkward tourist that only thinks about "Oppa" and thinks K-dramas with office workers with 5,000,000 KRW phones, can afford them?

There's puns you didn't get? Ask about them.

Again, questions don't make you weak, and it will make you stronger to expand your media literacy outside of structuralist AH white men. I mean, have you read Audre Lorde? Did your effing teacher notice the influence of Griot?

Spend your time outside of dramas and I promise your enjoyment of them will go up as you understand more about them. BTW, I'm still impressed with the amount of people who want to preach about Confucius as non-East Asians, East Asian drama fans who have never read him. Not a single line of his Analects. They also confuse Neo-Confucianism with Confucianism. Damn. Some teachers are failing you. You can't preach about a text you never read.

#story theory #media literacy #critical thinking #Youtube

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lutawolf · 1 year

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Hi Luta 👋 👋 👋

😁😁

I hope you are having a good day. I don't remember if you said you watched Eternal Yesterday(I have a small memory of seeing a post but don't know if it's true). I held on for the first few episodes. But I sobbed throughout the last 3 episodes. I knew it was going to be sad, but still it hurt, especially with their goodbyes. I wish more people knew about the series because I think it is so beautifully made and the actors portrayed so well. I really like Japanese BL and their plots.

~g*21

Hi g*21!!!

I'm having a pretty good day. I'm bundled up and getting weird looks, but that's actually kind of fun. 🤣🤣🤣

I have watched Eternal Yesterday! I, too, sobbed. I knew it was going to be sad. All the coconuts made fun of me for being hopeful, and at last, they were right. It was fucking torture.

It's a fantastic show, but a lot of people don't like sad endings. I get it. BL for a lot of people are escapism from reality. Especially the older fanship. They've had enough shit in their life to last, well, a lifetime. So the only way they are watching a sad ending is for cathartic release.

I love Japanese BLs so much. Okay so honestly I love Japanese, Chines, Korean, and Thai for different reasons. They each do certain things better than others.

Hope you're having an amazing day! 💜💜💜

#luta question and answer

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timetominhyuk · 3 years

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201202 MX HOUSE Q&A PT. 2

Q: Favourite Japanese word

A: 自由 (freedom), to have intent

Q: Things you want to do with monbebes?

A: A tour. I want to do a nationwide tour soon.

Q: Do you get nervous before concerts?

A: I'm more of the kind who doesn't but sometimes I get nervous for no reason.

#201202 #minhyuk #monsta x #mx house #Japanese fanship #video #fair hair #hat #beige #trans

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sapphireblueevanesce · 3 years

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My Year in Kpop 2020

I think for most of us, 2020 started out with so much promise, with the Any Song challenge being everywhere and with the film Parasite winning an Oscar. Major kpop tours were being announced, and I, along with my friends, purchased tickets in preparation for another great year of great concerts.

Of course, almost none of the concerts turned out as we planned once the pandemic hit.

There is no wrong way to be a fan, but some of us have our preferences. Some of us collect every album, some round out entire photocard collections. Some of us collect plushies or enamel pins. Some of us make sure to buy all of the official merch. In my case, I always preferred to go to live concerts, even before becoming a kpop fan. At the risk of sounding corny, I find live music events to be transformative. Up until now, I have had to cross continents to see my kpop faves live, but this was supposed to be a banner year for US based kpop fans. So many tours were slated to come here and we were already planning logistics. I watched, warily, as the virus spread through Asia, wondering if and how Kpop would be affected. People in Seoul started to lockdown before us, and I felt bad as I watched Donghae complaining on one of his live streams from his own house where he said he hated this virus. Little did I know that all of us would come to hate the virus, with a passion.

Of course, so many more important things have been lost due to this virus. People’s lives, first and foremost, and overall health for some who contracted the virus and survived. Businesses and livelihoods were also lost. But I want to take some time to acknowledge what was lost in the realm of “less important” things, as well, especially since for so many people, kpop is a sanctuary that helps them emotionally and mentally.

But, due to this new reality, we still had a lot to be thankful for, especially for ELF.

Beyond Live

We were lucky that SM was planning to make online concerts well before this year in an effort to connect with fans located in places where full blown tours did not make financial sense for them. Due to this preparation, the virus had “good timing,” and SM was able to begin to roll out their artists’ concerts using the Beyond Live platform. You could sign up to be an “audience member” (basically part of a giant zoom call) through the Lysn app. I was lucky enough to win to be in the audience for the Super Junior Beyond Live: Beyond the Super Show. You can hear me talk about my experience on my youtube channel here (oh yeah, this year, I started a Kpop unboxing youtube channel!).

Can you see me? Lol.

Video Fan Sign Events:

I had always dreamed about attending a fan signing, but as far as I know, Super Junior had never done one in the States. When I was in Korea for Super Show 8, I considered trying to attend one. But while I was there, the ones that were going on would not have the full group in attendance. Instead, a few would be at one fansign in one place, and another few would be at another fansign in another place. It also seemed like such a gamble. You had to buy albums from participating stores to enter to win a spot at the fansign.

Now, during the pandemic, with everyone forced to get creative, a new system was created. As a multifan, I noticed this with other groups, such as Stray Kids, Ateez, and KARD. Companies were setting up video fansign events. You just had to buy albums from participating websites to enter. So many people recorded their phone calls and the calls seemed to be so fun and cute, for the most part. Some fans entered the fansigns for multiple websites and won multiple times. I saw one KARD fan who got to talk to J. Seph three times, and each time, J. Seph remembered him from the time they had seen each other in real life!

After much consideration, I entered the SMTown & Store fansign for D&E, specifically for E oppa. Like the in-person fan signs, this was also, a huge gamble. But I gambled and won! You can read about my experience talking to Eunhyuk for the Video Fan Sign Event here

SJ Returns 4

The popular V Live series, Suju Returns, came back not a moment too soon with their fourth season, SJ Returns 4. For this season, the theme was SJ returns 4 ELF, meaning that they were going to episodes based on ELF’s suggestions. The Live Together episode, the Mr. Simple Trot episode, and the talk show episode featuring Michael Jackkyu are some of the more hilarious episodes that come to mind. I also loved the D&E Returns episodes and the special fanship episodes where the members discuss the discography. SJ really feeds their fans so well.

More members on TV!

This year, every SJ member was online more, thanks to the many live streams and updates to their extremely well produced Youtube channels, but they were constantly on Korean television, as well. Yesung and Leeteuk hosted a Japanese web variety show called Idol vs Idol. Our baby variety genius Donghae, along with Shindong, hosted the show, Another Class. Shindong became fully installed as one of the Knowing Brothers, alongside Heechul. Eunhyuk hosted Eun-official, his fashion web series for Naver and became the fulltime co-host for the iconic Weekly Idol, with ZE:A’s Kwanghee.

Kyuhyun stayed winning as one of the popular New Journey to the West cast members, and through his successful episodes of the Manger Show (Omniscient Interfering View), managed to get Shingdong and D&E on the show as well. Not to mention the low key fame that manager Yongsun gained from his hardwork on the show! Heechul’s mom is ever radiant on My Ugly Duckling (My Little Old Boy). It seemed like everywhere you turned this year, there was Super Junior.

It really took your mind off the virus for a bit (and off the canceled concerts and postponed comebacks) to see them all over the place this year. It seems that for at least part if not all of 2021, we will need to continue to meet our faves on TV and on the internet. My favorite way to fan girl, which is through concerts, will need to continue to be virtually for the time being. But at least I have memories while I wait. Hopefully next year will bring changes for the better!

Read about my first year in Kpop here!

Read about my year in Kpop 2019 Part 1

Read about my year in Kpop 2019 Part 2

Read about my year in Kpop 2019 Part 3

#my year in kpop #personal #super junior

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spiftynifty · 5 years

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How come it seems like lm and jds can talk more candidly about their intentions regarding other ships like allurance and even k/l but not sheith? I don't understand why they can clarify things like allurance and how it was there from the beginning or flat out state that they never intended for k/l to be a thing, but when it comes to the topic of shiro and keith they won't just clarify what they did or did not intend/want their relationship to be? I'm confused by it. :(

Ooof this is an excellent question and I suspect a complicated one.

First off, they can be candid about Allurance because 1) it’s a hetero couple (and therefore “acceptable” to executives and conservative parents) and 2) it was strongly implied and built up for almost the entirety of the series before they officially, canonically, became a couple. There’s no ambiguity there. They can be candid about kl because Allurance technically “kills” the ship by virtue of existing, but more importantly kl is the fanship that they have been directly asked about on more than one occasion and probably straight up badgered about it more times than we’re aware of. When your production studio gets blackmailed in the hopes of making k/l canon, that ship is being brought to your attention.

Also, Afterbuzz is run by kl fans who have anti-like tendencies. They angle kl questions in nearly every interview, and I was pretty miffed by the way in this interview they heavily, heavily implied that only Sheith fans hated s8 “because their ship didn’t become canon” and yet in the same breath talked about how Allurance wasn’t good and came out of nowhere (something JDS delightfully shut down). In the live chat for the recent interview, people from all ship alignments kept begging the hosts to ask about why SK’s friendship wasn’t included in the final season. In the saltiest tone you can imagine, one of the more vocal kl hosts decided to answer the question (”they helped each other grow and evolve and since they’ve done that, we don’t need to see their friendship anymore, it got lots of screentime in other seasons”) and never let the showrunners actually speak on it, instead moving swiftly to another topic that aligned more with the hosts’ own interests. It was almost like she was afraid of what the answer would be. Was she afraid they’d say “well actually, on the matter of that, Sheith was our intended endgame” or was she trying to save them from having to talk about something NDAs prevented them from talking about?

So why CAN’T they talk Sheith? I have a few theories. This gets long and a little rambly, so I’ve thrown it under a cut.

1) Don’t ask, don’t tell. Except for post-s7, the showrunners themselves have never been asked about Sheith’s relationship in an interview. I think most Sheiths were afraid of rocking the boat and potentially upending a SK endgame by drawing too much attention to it. We were/are definitely the quieter side of the primary vld ships and honestly most of us were not expecting our ship to be canon.

But vld ships and the ship wars are notorious across geekdom for vitriol and death threats, and the creators didn’t want to add any fodder to either side. In the middle of production it would have benefited no one for the EPs to say, “yeah sheith is meant to be viewed romantically” or “no, we can’t go back and change the story to make that true”. Either one would have resulted in an uptick of harassment from antis towards them, towards other fans. And nevermind the production side where DW/WEP weren’t ready for even a hint of m/m until right before s7 dropped. It was only AFTER they got the greenlight on gay Shiro that showrunners could finally be vague and say “some people will interpret [sk] as brothers, others will say it’s 100% confirmed they’re in a relationship”. Which is, in my opinion, a pretty interesting way to respond to that question. But again, if that interviewer hadn’t been brave enough to ask it, I highly doubt it’s something that the showrunners themselves would have ever brought up.

2) Sheith was actually intended to be romantic, but was blocked. We know now that Adam being greenlit as Shiro’s boyfriend happened right before (like a week or less) before s7 dropped. This was a show that had been in production for almost 4 years by this point, and the showrunners stated they picked Shiro to be their rep early on in the process. When they planted that idea in executive’s heads is anyone’s guess, as is when the proper fight for it began. I suspect their immediate team of directors, writers, and in-house producers were well aware and supportive, but kicking that up the chain was another story. I also have a suspicion that it wasn’t until season 6 was complete that the matter was brought up because greenlighting everything we got in s6 knowing Shiro was gay the whole time puts a lot of eyes on Keith.

And really, it was Keith who was the problem all along.

In every version of Voltron, Keith is the main protagonist. He’s the leader of the team, the primary “image” of Voltron, and thus, certain things about him need to be maintained. I’m not sure if this is sheer coincidence or not, but he is the only person on the team who stayed visually the same to his OG counterpart. All of the other paladins have gone from white dudes (and a white lady) to POC, or have had a genderswap. There is much debate about Keith’s race with people creating their own headcanons but ultimately Keith can pass as white. While the handbook states Lance is Cuban, Hunk is half black-half Samoan, Shiro is Japanese and even Pidge gets “Italian”, Keith is just listed as... human. Which is a surefire way to not upset fans who have HC’d him as POC while also not-NOT saying he’s white. Everybody “wins”.

In addition I’m confident a major stipulation of the OG Voltron owners (the “gatekeepers”, as a few of the VAs and the showrunners themselves have darkly alluded to) was that Keith could not be LGBT. We know now he was meant to end up with Acxa, a fact that was already obvious to many of us from their Weblum meetcute. But that relationship was never scripted.

Setting aside the fact that the OG Voltron owners (WEP) didn’t want Keith to be LGBT, I’m sure executives at Dreamworks would have struggled with the idea as well. Shiro stans can come at me all they like about this but Keith was always meant to be the primary protagonist of the show, of every version of Voltron, and making the main, masculine hero of a well-trodden, oft-rebooted franchise gay/bi would have been an ENORMOUS move for animation. Making him end up with the other main, masculine hero would have honestly broken the internet and the minds of countless conservative executives, and been a major benchmark not just for cartoons, but ALL media. Animation often trails behind TV and movies in terms of social progress because something something “protect the chillllldrennn”. And right now I’m struggling to think of a popular live action TV show, or movie, with an older audience, where the main masculine hero is lgbt, and in a relationship with the other main masculine hero. Feel free to offer me examples in replies but the fact that I’m struggling to think of anything is pretty telling. In short, if this revolutionary move still isn’t happening for the live action 13+ audience, asking for it to happen on a cartoon with a 7-11yo boy demographic is like asking for the moon. Keith couldn’t be gay, because immediately it would have been obvious to anyone that he was already very much in love with the other LGBT character on the show. Hell, it’s already pretty obvious in canon that this is the case, and dodging the question about his sexuality is dodging the confirmation that he’s in love with Shiro.

I’d like to believe that one of the solutions to the Adam Problem that was proposed was that KEITH ends up with Shiro, but they were laughed out of the office. The pair’s incredibly close bond aside, it would have been the absolute easiest fix production-wise. They already have their shared history doing most of the legwork, all that’d have to be changed is:

-adding Shiro to the L/K scene in 8x01, just sitting there as Keith encouraged Lance.-Re-recording a couple of Shiro’s lines in 8x05 to make him seem at least somewhat upset that Keith was kidnapped-Showing Keith and Shiro hanging out in the video episode. You could just use the shot of Keith and Pidge but replace Pidge with Shiro.

And the best part is, you could change just one or two of these and then do the wedding epilogue you always intended (but write something that doesn’t insist Shiro retired) but with Keith instead of Rando. Not to mention, there is a slight, slight possibility there was a S/K scene (or two) cut along the way. I strongly disagree with the theories that have floated around about the “massive edits” done to s8, but I think there could be truth to the idea that a Sheith scene was cut to make room for Crew Member, or an effort made to downplay the Sheith friendship that comes off way more intimate than any interaction Shiro has with [man]. It’s more likely that SK scenes never existed at all in this season as the showrunners had to cave to pressures to “have more action”, had no idea what to do with Shiro besides relegate him to a stiff cardboard general, and perhaps had to follow strict instructions about the kind of friendliness an out & proud gay man could show to the men he’d enjoyed good interactions with before.

All this to say, the Sheith battle is messy. It’s fine for the showrunners to say “getting the greenlight for Shiro was a battle” because it’s a battle they won that makes everyone look pretty good. It makes Dreamworks look like they Learned Something and are going to be more open to LGBT content in future properties. It makes WEP look not-terrible because they can add “allowed a character who wasn’t really an OG Voltron character to be gay” to their list of “generous” things they allowed for this re-envisioning of their property. It’s self-congrats all around.

Blocking Sheith has the opposite effect. It reveals that WEP is homophobic because they could allow Pidge to be a girl and Allura to be black but making the hero a non-straight man? That’s TOO FAR. It reveals that Dreamworks higherups are homophobic because they weren’t ready for two LGBT protagonists, just one plus a background character with 3 lines who is literally never named. No one wins, and to be asked about Shiro and Keith and be honest about it could potentially be the showrunners saying, “god, we wanted to, but we were blocked at every single turn”. And thus DW and WEP are the outed villains of the story.

3) Shiro and Keith were never meant to be read as romantic. The showrunners don’t say anything because there’s simply nothing to say. Sometimes the most incredible ships are happy accidents. Sometimes people genuinely don’t realize what they’re doing. I felt a little disheartened watching the AB interview because the way they talked about wanting to include more [man], or how they “hoped viewers would read between the lines” re:Shiro/Curtains, was so casual and flippant it was like they genuinely thought most people would be fine with Shirando if only there had been more scenes between them, as though completely severing Shiro’s relationship with Keith and instead only showing scenes of Shiro bonding with a new character would come off as a good move rather than a baffling (and somewhat hurtful) one.

I do believe that certain directors were absolutely fans of the pair and angled in what they could. Chris Palmer is behind the famous “shiro loves you baby” art and responsible for the eps that include Shiro’s gay panic, the Sheith hug, “As many times as it takes”, Shiro falling into Keith’s arms, and “We have to stop, Shiro’s out there!!” among others. Steve Ahn was the director behind 2x01, 3x01 with heavily grieving Keith, Blade of Marmora, and the episode where Keith screams Shiro’s name so loud he astral projects and then Shiro holds his hands over the controls. He also got really soft when he talked about the pair in an episode of Form Podcast (before JDS kinda hastily shut him down). And even Eugene Lee, he directed The Black Paladins which is an episode so Sheith I still can’t believe it’s real, and 7x01, the other episode so Sheith I can’t believe it’s real. All three of these guys were the original series directors, which is pretty inchresting.

But that doesn’t mean the showrunners were necessarily onboard. Maybe it was really important to them to show a positive male friendship since that never happens in media, just as they felt having Allura sacrifice herself was a powerful feminist move. However the thing I keep circling back to is JDS’ early interview about The Winter Soldier and how if he ever got the chance to do that, he hoped it would be in the future when things could be more progressive, hinting that he wanted to throw more overt romantic undertones if he himself ever got a fight like that to write or direct. It’s pretty interesting that he wrote the Black Paladins, which mirrors the Stucky fight in Winter Soldier so much that it actually rotoscopes one of Bucky’s moves. I’d also point out that JDS’ favorite characters are Shiro and Keith, and I find it impossible to be a fan of both and not also be a fan of how much they love each other, and how much that love straddles the line between romantic love and friendship.

This got long, but I hope it was helpful. The likely final-ever showrunner interview will be on Let’s Voltron sometime this month, and I do hope that now that the series is over someone is brave enough to ask them, “so... what was going on between Shiro and Keith? In a perfect world, what would have happened there?”. In a way it doesn’t matter though. There is always the risk of them saying “nothing was going on there” and us agonizing over whether that was a lie to protect their careers or bald-faced honesty in the face of an NDA or fucks-given that might have expired with their contracts.

But I think the best we can hope for is the same situation that happened with the Avatar creators and that live action movie: 3 years from now when the NDAs are well and truly expired, JDS & LM may come out and say, “SO, on the matter of Shiro and Keith, it’s time to come clean.”

#sheith #vld meta #voltron #askspifty #it's still wild to me that people say they're brothers #like really i have questions about your siblings if that's the case #Anonymous

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diggerhome64-blog · 5 years

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Beau du Bois Does the Truffle Shuffle at Corner Door

Since its opening on a quiet stretch of Washington Boulevard in June 2012, The Corner Door has become a neighborhood favorite and a destination for cocktail enthusiasts, who make the pilgrimage to Culver City for the inventive, classically driven drinks offered by Beau du Bois. The accolades for du Bois have been a constant from Day One, including being named to the Zagat 30 Under 30 in 2013, and Eater LA’s Bartender of the Year in 2014.

During a lively brunch service at Eveleigh, du Bois talked about his favorite L.A. bartenders, an unforgettable trip to Oaxaca, and his latest Corner Door menu, which was inspired by a beloved 80s summer blockbuster. “Obviously there’s always going to be a need to do seasonal, refreshing menus. From an administrative standpoint, with the popularity of cocktail programs and seasonal menus in Los Angeles, I wanted to make [the current menu] seasonally driven but also kind of put some talking points on it, so I decided to choose something that would really inspire me and also inspire people to be at tables and start chatting about it.”

“The memories of The Goonies – I think 95% of people have some sense of nostalgia towards [it] and it’s a timeless classic,” du Bois continues. “It’s such a beautiful ensemble of cast and characters and events, and it’s a great adventure story – there was plenty to pull from to build a well-balanced, versatile cocktail menu. But also have some spring, seasonal and summer influences as well, so that people can feel a transition from L.A. ‘winter’ to L.A. spring and summer.”

Truffle Shuffle at The Corner Door | Photo courtesy of Beau du Bois

Du Bois is pleasantly surprised that the breakout drink from the Goonies menu is the Truffle Shuffle, made with Nikka Coffey Grain Whisky, house-made hazelnut liqueur and cacao nib bitters, served with house-made trail mix. “What’s really interesting this time around is the standout cocktail is the one ultra-premium cocktail that I put on the menu,” says du Bois. “I knew it was a great cocktail [with a] beautiful presentation, but at $18 I was like, ‘We’ll see how this does,’ you know? I think it’ll sell here and there, but only for groups that are looking to celebrate or really cap out their night together and share it. It’s really encouraging and incredible to see at $18 apiece, nobody’s batting their eye.”

The hazelnut liqueur is made from a Laird’s base with some hazelnuts. “Then I make a hazelnut cordial, a few different spices that elevate the hazelnut flavor. And then I did an infused cacao nib bitters, which is a combination of some aromatic bitters that I let sit with a bunch of cocoa nibs.”

“Just stir that together, so it’s basically a Japanese whisky Old Fashioned. Japanese whisky is so delicate and subtle in itself that it even boils down to how many times the bartender can stir it, which is significantly less than an Old Fashioned.”

The Truffle Shuffle is served with a hedge of house-made trail mix that’s made exclusively for the cocktail. “I bake hazelnuts and pistachios in honey, butter, cinnamon, garlic, brown sugar and salt. It’s served with dark chocolate bits and dried mandarins. Delicious, very smooth, very approachable. The whole presentation comes out very beautiful – you have your drink and your snacks.”

Du Bois adds, “The trail mix is addictive. Oh my God. Right now… it’s only for the cocktail, that’s it. People are like, ‘Let me just buy a plate of it, PLEASE!'”

During a recent trip to Oaxaca, du Bois’ feed started blowing up. “Who is this ‘Jeff Cohen‘? I realized, that’s the actor that played Chunk. He was tweeting about the Truffle Shuffle at Corner Door! That’s all I could hope for. He’s been a very outspoken, big supporter of the fanship around Goonies. He’s a retired actor and is now a lawyer representing child actors, but he always seems like he’s had a warm spot for Goonies and the fanship around it, which is great.”

Mama Fratelli at The Corner Door | Photo courtesy of Beau du Bois

“The other stirred cocktail is a rye-based cocktail called the Mama Fratelli, which I think is one of my favorite cocktails I’ve ever done. It’s Rittenhouse Rye with espresso infused Carpano Antica, a little coconut liqueur, and salt. Not really an archetype there, you can kind of say it’s a Manhattan variation, but there’s so little vermouth in it – and also the coconut liqueur and the salt. It’s very rye driven but I’ve never tasted anything like it, and honestly without the salt it would be half the cocktail it is now.”

Data Plan at The Corner Door | Photo courtesy of Beau du Bois

Some of the shaken cocktails are doing really well, says du Bois. The Data Plan is made with strawberry infused Altos Tequila, falernum, Miracle Mile Bergamot Bitters, lime juice and Dolin Bianco Vermouth. “Light, bright, lush, jammy, refreshing, beautiful presentation. That’s a big standout for sure as well.”

Astoria Country Club at The Corner Door: green tea-infused Pisco Porton, Chareau, honey, cantaloupe, lime, prosecco | Photo courtesy of Beau du Bois

Rich Stuff at The Corner Door: saffron-infused bourbon, Cynar, Creme de Peche, lemon, egg white, orange bitters | Photo courtesy of Beau du Bois

Du Bois says, “Whenever you can do a seasonal menu like this and put a theme around it, it also demonstrates to your guests: here’s the rest of our cocktail menu, here are some of our house classics – the French 75, the Mezcallin, the Taco Truck – but this little subsection down here, this is really where we cut the cord to the brakes and get nerdy and creative without alienating anybody at the same time.”

Taco Truck at The Corner Door | Photo courtesy of Beau du Bois

Speaking of the Taco Truck, it remains a favorite of imbibers near and far and has continued to win new fans since its debut at Art Beyond the Glass II in 2013. “Such a great story with that cocktail,” says du Bois. “I was told that I was going to be doing a mezcal sponsor, La Niña del Mezcal. I came up with this really, really overly contrived cocktail during the week leading up to Art Beyond the Glass. I was doing all my mise en place, getting my prep together and batching the cocktail. And literally the night before, I’m like, ‘I hate this cocktail.’ I hate this drink, it’s way too heavy on the mixology, it’s way too contrived, and it’s dumb. I’m showing off way too much. So I decided, I’m just going to do a Negroni variation. I’ll infuse the Campari with flavors that complement and elevate mezcal. And that’s it.”

Du Bois continues, “It’s an event that is bartender driven, bartender attended and friends of bartenders. Such a great event. Everybody’s doing X, Y and Z, and I’m just making this Negroni, which was super easy. People were loving it, and regulars at Corner Door were there – ‘You gotta put this on the menu.’ I put it on the menu at Corner Door, took it off the menu, and there were riots in the streets. I put it back on the menu and I’ve never taken it off. gaz regan reached out to me and said it was one of the best cocktails in the world, a few other people [said it was] the best Negroni variation in the U.S., Imbibe has featured it a bunch. It’s just a perfect example of how the simple stuff, the stuff that doesn’t get overthought, sometimes tend to be the best.”

Du Bois is also rolling out the latest iteration of The Other List, his “secret” menu designed especially for regulars and cocktail enthusiasts. “This one is going to be a hyper-focused vermouth edition of The Other List. We’re going to do some vermouth based cocktails – Vermouth Panaché, Fifty-Fifties. I’m really going to try – easier said than done – to make L.A.’s best Manhattan. I want to do a nice, beautiful proprietary vermouth blend, maybe with a few infusions here and there. Have a lovely menu [with a] Fifty-Fifty, Manhattan, Vermouth Panaché and a dry vermouth Daiquiri. Feature some of the house vermouths.”

“If you hang out on the Westside and talk to any bartenders on the Westside, they will always tell you – with a smirk on their face – if I’m walking into your bar, you have to get your dry vermouth out. [laughs] That’s all I drink, is dry vermouth.”

Asked if he’s been to Moruno at The Original Farmer’s Market, du Bois enthusiastically answers, “The second I saw [info] about their vermouth program, I went straight there. Had some breakfast at [The French Crepe Co] – which is always delicious – and I tried their vermouth.”

“I had expectations as an old, bitter, cynical bartender that I was going to taste something that was really good but not great – ‘I see what you’re trying to do and I think that that’s fantastic.’ WOW, I could not have been more wrong. It was amazing. It was seamless and it was beautiful.”

“Putting it on tap is one of the most genius things you could do from an administrative standpoint,” he continues. “And as I’m drinking it, geeking out over this dry vermouth on the rocks, served with a orange wedge and olives, I look around and I’m like, ‘I’m probably the only one drinking this.’ Not the case. Once again, wrong. I look around and everybody is finishing their meals with dry vermouth or sweet vermouth. And I was like, ‘OK, so this is what heaven looks like.’ The balance of the dry vermouth was way beyond what I expected. Amazing. I can’t recommend it enough.”

El Silencio Master Mezcalier, Pedro Hernández and Beau du Bois | Photo courtesy of Beau du Bois

During the second year of The Corner Door, du Bois began a fruitful relationship with Mezcal El Silencio. “Marcos [Tello] and I have known each other for a long time,” says du Bois. “He’s always been such a great resource. We just got to talking. I don’t know how long they had been doing their Espadin. I tasted it, it was a great product for what we were looking for. It just made a lot of sense to fit into a place like Corner Door. I think the Corner Door brand and the Silencio brand just seem to work really well with each other. I’ve always loved the flavor of the mezcal, so the rest is history.”

“They’ve been nothing but great – it’s such a supportive, family driven, bar community based mezcal. They never cease to meet my standards by any means when it comes to my needs for support for events or anything like that.”

Mezcallins and Taco Trucks at the “Get Lost in L.A.” launch | Photo courtesy of Beau du Bois

In March 2016, El Silencio helped sponsor a media event in New York to promote the launch of the “Get Lost in L.A.” campaign for L.A. Tourism. [Full disclosure: I’m the Content Manager for Discover Los Angeles.] The event featured cocktails by du Bois, tacos by Guerrilla Tacos and a live art installation by street artist Colette Miller. “We made the Mezcallin and the Taco Truck and featured El Silencio. I think they had just activated in New York so it was perfect for them as well. The event was such a smash hit. It raised awareness for Corner Door and obviously for Los Angeles, but definitely for Silencio as well.”

“So [El Silencio] approached me, ‘Hey, we’re taking 80 people to Oaxaca to visit our palenque, see Oaxaca as a city, do a little cocktail competition and all that. We would love to have you.’ It was one of the few times where my schedule opened up and I could actually go on a trip, which was nice.”

Du Bois was talking to Alex Day two days before leaving for the event. “I really thought it was going to be a nice, relaxing trip to Oaxaca – get some sunshine, stay under the radar, sip some mezcal, lay by the pool, have some amazing Oaxacan cuisine. And then I found out Zach Patterson was going.” [laughs]

“Silencio absolutely smashed this trip out of the park,” says du Bois. “There wasn’t a minute of this trip that wasn’t planned, orchestrated and beyond fun, enriching and educational. There was a parade for us in the streets in Oaxaca. Just to go to dinner, there were 80 people in the streets with bottles of Silencio, and floats, dancers and mariachi. We’re walking in the streets and I don’t even know where we’re going. I think I’m eight shots of Silencio in. We go to dinner in this huge what feels like an army bunker of some kind. There’s fire, live music and all this stuff, great food.”

Beau du Bois and Josh Goldman at the El Silencio palenque in San Baltazar Guelavila | Photo courtesy of Mezcal El Silencio

“We painted the town red and the next day we visited the palenque and got to meet the master distiller, Pedro Hernandez, who is a ninth generation mezcal maker. And finally, the owner of Silencio, Fausto Zapata – such a lovely, charming, lively individual that it’s hard not to have a really incredible time anywhere, let alone Oaxaca, if you’re hanging out with Fausto.”

Du Bois continues, “Just getting ready to learn about the brand and the story behind it, seeing the agave fields – very family driven production behind Silencio. I think the best part of my night was after things kind of winded down, getting to meet the rest of Pedro’s family, all his daughters and his sisters. Introducing me to I think his second oldest daughter, ‘This is the next generation of mezcal makers.’ Lovely, very charming young lady who probably at this point in her very young life knows way more about mezcal than maybe all the bartenders in this room combined.”

“Getting to meet her and dance the night away with Fausto and Pedro’s family underneath the tents in the agave fields. There’s a worse way to spend your Saturday night in Mexico!”

The agave fields of Oaxaca are a long way from Ball State in Indiana, where du Bois was finishing his sophomore year in 2004. “My birthday is late in the year – May 2nd – that’s finals week, all that stuff. I was celebrating my 21st birthday that week. The Martini lounge in my college town was the fancy place. So my professors were like, ‘After you’re done with your friends, meet us at Motini’s and you’ll have a proper cocktail with us,’ which ended up being a gin Martini with Boodles. At 21 years old, I can say with great confidence I did not have the palate for it.”

“I overheard the owner talking to one of the professors, ‘If you know of any students staying over, I need bartenders.’ I had no bartending experience, so I’m useless. I’m waiting in line for the bathroom, and there are three beautiful blonde girls waiting in line as well. And I was that right amount of drunk to be that right amount of charming for that five-minute window. Apparently I made a joke that got them all laughing and giggling right as the owner walked by. He thought the girls were with me. Here’s this guy, he’s got three girls with him, we gotta hire him. So he’s like, ‘Are you staying over the summer?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Do you have any bartending experience?’

‘No, not at all.’

‘OK you start tomorrow.’ [laughs]

“Started the next day, learned everything – making Cosmos, gin Martinis, even Colorado Bulldogs if you’re old enough to remember what those were. It’s a White Russian with a splash of Coke on it. Actually, pretty good.”

“Fast forward, consulted on a few bars back in Indiana because I found this rich, American heritage to cocktail making. Just really started to get into it. Was gonna move to Chicago, decided to come to L.A. because the weather is … the weather. The L.A. cocktail scene was just starting to get the engine going. Took the better part of a year to find a job. [I was] the last bartender hired at the Hyatt in West Hollywood, which was the infamous ‘Riot Hyatt,’ just as they were getting ready to be renovated to the Andaz. Just kept studying, working, building my knowledge of classic and modern cocktail making.”

“I was reading a lot of Dale DeGroff, which was a perfect blend of approachable cocktail making, real serious classic standards and presentation focused as well. Try to imagine, nobody teaching you how to flame an orange peel, and trying to figure it out from a book. ‘I’m supposed to snap the orange wedge in half?’ Because he doesn’t look like he’s breaking it in the picture, you know? I was at home burning the shit out of my fingertips.”

Du Bois continues, “Hyatt closed and I used the in-between time – I went to New York for a little bit, and all I was doing was looking at books, memorizing how to make for instance a Vieux Carré, a Manhattan and a Gimlet. And then going and sitting in front of bartenders that I knew were established: Eric Alperin, Marcos Tello, Damian Windsor, Jason Bran. I don’t think they knew it at the time, but I would order a Vieux Carré from Eric and I would just watch him make it. I would study his technique and take notes. I would watch Marcos shake a Gimlet, watch Damian interact with guests and navigate Bartender’s Choices.”

“So there’s a handful of bartenders in this city – I don’t even know if they’re aware of this, but they’ve actually secretly sort of mentored me. I used that to become the head bartender at the Andaz and – aside from Eveleigh – doing one of the first farm-to-table cocktail programs in the city. I was way underqualified and I had to work really hard to make that work.” RH at the Andaz was du Bois’ breakthrough in the L.A. cocktail community and a harbinger of drinks to come.

After RH, du Bois helped David LeFevre open MB Post and consulted on a few other programs behind the scenes in L.A. “Then four years ago, the owners of Corner Door found me. ‘We like what you do, we just want more of it. We want it to be neighborhood driven, we want to have the same caliber of cocktails as some of the best places in the city, but we still want it to be approachable.’ The owners just wanted a place [with a] good burger, good beers and great cocktails. And that’s what we set out to do and it’s definitely been that and then some.”

Du Bois recalls meeting Julian Cox for the first time, which surprisingly didn’t happen until last fall. “Julian is one of the people that – for myself, my situation is a little different than some bartenders, not having had a mentor. And having to study these people, like Eric Alperin, Marcos Tello, Damian Windsor and Julian Cox. Reading about them as they’re building this revolution and cocktail awareness in Los Angeles.”

“One of the most heartbreaking things to me was learning that Julian was leaving the city, and he and I had never really been introduced. I went to one of his opening nights at Fiscal Agent and that was the first time we had ever met, which was incredible. He came around the bar and sat down and talked to me a little bit about his approach. I’m obviously a little buzzed, just spouting sonnets about what he was doing at Fiscal Agent – it felt like a total secret bartender paradise. Just watching somebody like him making the cocktails and explaining his creative process behind it was like fast forwarding four years of educational expertise.”

The L.A. bar community came out in force at a going away party for Cox and Kristina Howald at Petty Cash. “He was so charming at Fiscal Agent, I’m definitely going to [Petty Cash] and at least shake the dude’s hand and say ‘thank you’ for everything you’ve given to this city from a cocktail standpoint. I’ve interviewed countless bartenders who [said] ‘I took Julian Cox’s class.’ I’ve seen the difference in these people versus other candidates. You always see some kind of thematic throughline with each of the bartenders that Julian has trained, and it’s all very positive.”

“So being at Julian’s going away party, I think one of the most humbling moments for me was seeing Julian across a very packed room of some of the greatest bartenders in the city, and bar enthusiasts, writers and cocktail lovers in general. Julian makes a point to cross the room, shake my hand, and the first thing he says, ‘I can’t wait to be in Chicago and read about all the great stuff you’re going to be doing here in L.A.’ It was like a bear hug / punch right in the feels. Gave me a hug, shook my hand, we chatted a little bit. I got to meet his son, talked to Kristina and hear about all the great plans for Chicago, which is formidable. Getting to say goodbye to somebody like that, even though I know it’s not forever obviously, was probably one of my favorite Los Angeles bartending moments of my career.”

Yael Vengroff at The Spare Room | Photo by Eugene Lee, courtesy of Yael Vengroff

On the rare occasion when du Bois has a night off or has some time to go out and have cocktails (“I try to as much as I can”), who are the bartenders that he visits? “I’ve said it a thousand times, but it never loses its potency with me, sitting in front [of] or even just watching Yael Vengroff bartend is one of the most impressive things you can witness from an industry standpoint, or even a consumer standpoint. Yael is the real deal in the sense of where creativity, pedigree, speed and hospitality, all intersect.”

“Now that we’ve glamorized bartending – as it should be – we’re celebritizing the people behind these great programs, as many of those people deserve. It’s also attracted a saturated market of bartenders who are what I like to call ‘skipping steps.’ Racing, racing, racing for that title without paying their dues and learning from people like Yael.”

“Yael is a person that is – if you were to hold her hand out, it wouldn’t be a hammer, a nail, a screwdriver, a knife and a bottle opener. It would just be all knives. If each finger represented all of her skillsets, something she’s dipped her toe in at some point in her career, it’s all there. Witnessing that is obviously impressive, but it’s beyond humbling. Even for someone like myself who’s been bartending for over a decade, I still have so much to learn.”

“Ryan Wainwright is one of the hardest working bartenders in the city,” says du Bois. “He’s constantly posting cocktails from a number of the places that fall under the banner of his beverage director position. He’s just a cool guy, he’s a cocktail lover – which is great – to see somebody who actually enjoys the perspective of the consumer as they’re crafting and designing the architecture of their cocktail recipes, and seeing that is unbelievable. It’s like knowing that, whether I have $20 to spare for a cocktail – I know it’s well spent – or it’s my last one on the planet, I’m gonna have a great cocktail made by somebody who is obsessed with cocktails. And that’s Ryan Wainwright.”

“I’ve always been a fan of Gaby [Gabriella Mlynarczyk], when she was at ink, Cadet and now Birch. She’s unbelievably talented, very straightforward. All of her recipes are very academic and extremely well executed. I think that’s the short list. Obviously if I can sit down in front of Damian Windsor or Eric Alperin and have cocktails, I know that they’re going to be fantastic. But Yael, Ryan and Gaby are incredibly impressive to me.”

The Corner Door 12477 W. Washington Blvd. Culver City, CA 90066 310.313.5810 www.thecornerdoorla.com

Photo of Beau du Bois courtesy of Acuna-Hansen.

Source: http://thirstyinla.com/2016/05/31/beau-du-bois-goonies-cocktail-menu/

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