'Pachinko' Book to TV Adaptation Confronts Japan’s Colonization of Korea
And Awkwafina's on Twitter: ‘I apologize if I ever fell short’
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🏆 The Headlines
Soo Hugh's 'Pachinko' Adaptation Confronts Japan’s Colonization of Korea — Based on the best-selling 2017 novel, the new 8-part Apple TV+ series explores the trauma of history. For the show’s creators and actors, that meant confronting it head-on.
The 2017 novel by Korean American author Min Jin Lee tells the story of a Korean family over 80 years and four generations. Sunja, the novel’s protagonist and the family’s matriarch, is born in the 1910s in Japanese-colonized Busan, Korea, and migrates to Osaka, Japan. The family are Zainichi, Koreans living in Japan, who are subject to discrimination and bullying. Pachinko, which gets its name from the arcade-style gambling game (Sunja’s family ultimately ends up operating pachinko parlors in Osaka), was named one of the 10 best books of 2017 by The New York Times. It was a finalist for a National Book Award.
This spring, Apple TV+ will release Soo Hugh’s eight-episode adaptation of Pachinko, starring Jin Ha, Youn Yuh Jung, Lee Minho, and Minha Kim. In addition to co-writing the script, Hugh is an executive producer, along with series directors Justin Chon and Kogonada.
The cast for Pachinko includes Lee Min-ho (Boys Over Flowers, The Heirs), Jin Ha (Devs, Love Life), Anna Sawai (Fast & Furious 9, Giri/Haji), Minha Kim (Call, After Spring), Soji Arai (Cobra Kai, Legacies) and Kaho Minami (Angel Dust, Household X). Kogonada (Columbus) will direct four episodes, including the pilot, and serve as an executive producer of the series. Justin Chon (Ms. Purple) will also direct four episodes, exec producing the ones he helms.
‘I apologize if I ever fell short’: Awkwafina quits Twitter after statement on ‘blaccent’ controversy — Awkwafina recently quit Twitter after receiving backlash from social media users who criticized her post that addresses her use of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and a “blaccent”(Black accent) in the past.
On Saturday, the “Shang-Chi” star, whose real name is Nora Lum, shared a lengthy Twitter post acknowledging criticism of the way in which she spoke during previous roles. “There is a sociopolitical context to everything, especially the historical context of the African American community in this country,” the 33-year-old New York native wrote. “It is a group that is disproportionately affected by institutionalized policies and law enforcement policies — all the while having historically and routinely seen their culture stolen, exploited and appropriated by the *dominant* culture for monetary gain without acknowledgment nor respect for where those roots come from, the pioneers of its beginnings and the artists that perfected and mastered the craft.”
After Awkwafina posted her statement, it was bombarded with responses that called it a “non-apology.”
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