I am Famous!

Written by Al Wong

August 18, 2000

Since I wrote my JLC rant over three years ago, it has caused more controversy than I could imagine. English and writing classes in high schools and colleges around the world are using my JLC rant in their teachings! It's strange but wonderful.

At first, I thought this was strange considering the JLC movie is a relatively minor movie and the book is far from fine literature. But I came to realize that because there are so few movies with an all Chinese American cast, the ones that do exist exert a much greater influence than they normally would!

Recently, I decided to keep more detailed metrics of the visitors that have viewed my JLC rant. It's interesting to see who is coming to my website, what search engine they used, the number of hits per day, etc. It's surprising the things you can find out.

It turns out my JLC rant is getting an average of almost 60 hits per day! The average was much higher before but I suspect a tapering off because of the summer holidays. Again, I did find this many hits/day amazing considering the JLC is a relatively minor movie. All these schools are pointing their students at my JLC rant.

Here is a sampling of the countries that have viewed my JLC rant:

Australia
Belgium
Canada
Corea
Hong Kong
Indonesia
Ireland
Japan
Malaysia
Mauritius
New Zealand
Singapore
Sweden
Thailand
Turkey
United States
US Military(!)

Reciprocal Links

Here are some websites that link to my JLC rant. Obviously, this is not an exhaustive list. A few websites had the grace to ask for my permission first before linking to my JLC rant. Most did not bother. As you can see below, I can still find you!

Actually asking permission to link is not necessary but it would be nice if you inform me you are linking to my JLC rant.

http://www.skunkworks.on.ca/moviefiles/joyluck.html
One of the few websites that actually asked permission to link. A professor in a Canadian college is teaching a movie class and is using my JLC rant as a contrasting view in his class.
http://www.asianamericanartistry.com/articles.html
http://www.asianamericanartistry.com/1993b.html
Another website that actually asked for permission to link. This site is one of several informative Asian American websites that have suddenly popped into existence in the last few years. After a few false starts, this website is now a pretty good resource.
http://www.click2asia.com/
Yet another website that actually asked for permission to link. This site is one of several informative Asian American websites that have suddenly popped into existence in the last few years. Although they asked for permission, they have not told me exactly where my JLC rant is linked. If anyone finds out, let me know.

Colleges That Link to my JLC Rant

http://www.lemoyne.edu/academic_affairs/departments/english/pbcnotes.htm
Appears to be a writing class.
http://xgi6.cshl.org/english/asia.html
Appears to be a list of Asian related links.
http://www.arts.ucsb.edu/faculty/~seaweed/links.html
Appears to be random links.
http://greal.binghamton.edu/girls/handouts/index.html
Looks like an Asian women's studies class. It appears the link is dead now.

Personal Webpages That Link to my JLC Rant
You don't like reading my webpages? Try reading theirs!

http://www.angelfire.com/indie/everyman/genesis/princess.html
Gives some personal background information on Amy Tan including how she is ashamed and unhappy about her Chinese background.
http://www.colorq.org/PetSins/Sep99/JoyLuckClub.htm
A short review of the JLC movie by a person living outside the USA.
http://www.asianguy.com/links.htm
http://angrywhiteguy.tripod.com/web-pages/LINKS.htm
http://greenspun.com/boohoo/related.tcl?page_id=modelminority
http://homes.acmecity.com/friends/ross/51/Page7.html
http://web.missouri.edu/~c539613/ncfrgrps.html
http://www.people.virginia.edu/~asr4c/jlc/links.html
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~cschwei/101_web/mathew.html
Gotta laugh at this one. The author says my website is "rather opinionated" but, in doing so, she just made her own opinionated statement! And what's wrong with having an opinion? My JLC rant obviously struck a chord with her.

Relevant Links But Not Linked to my JLC Rant
Hey look! I am actually doing your homework for you!

http://goldsea.com/Personalities/Nuyenfrance/nuyenfrance.html
France Nuyen starred in the JLC movie. Read about her bad experience with Amy Tan during the filming of the JLC movie. It seems Amy Tan was intimately involved with the movie's production!
Ms. Nuyen has been around for a long time as an actress. Do you remember her in one of the Star Trek: The Original Series episodes? She also starred in the movie South Pacific. (Something about washing men right out of her hair...)
http://goldsea.com/Features/Comments/joyless.html
An article about Asian American male sterotypes and how the JLC comes heavily into it.
http://goldsea.com/Features/Comments/nouvelle.html
Introduces the concept of Nouvelle Racism. An interesting read.
http://goldsea.com/Features/Comments/dream.html
Introduces the concept of the Second Class White Asian.

Why the Joy Luck Club Sucks My Writings