finale TATTOO

The finale of “The Tattoo” was pretty intense. Just when I thought this is going to be the part of the book that leads to the fairy tale ending, I was wrong. Koa and Kahala were back in Claude and Ken’s life. Their story about marital abuse and violence is a sad but common one. Rothenberg writes that physical abuse within and intimate relationship is between 16%-52% Rothenberg pg.280). This is a high number especially when it is also said that this number increasing. It’s sad to think that some women believe that they deserve these types of beatings whether it’s in a modern or third world country. Koa tried to drown Kahala and even explained to Ken that he would’ve killed the kids too if it wasn’t for his child screaming for him to stop. It’s possible for Koa to have been feeling the tension of conflict due to the fact that he lost his job and the constant bickering that his wife was doing (Rothenberg pg. 286) but with Kahala not having any money and two young children, it was difficult for her to leave. He succeeded with the psychological and mental abuse by undermining her (Rothenberg pg. 281). That’s probably why she first described herself as hideous and unrecognizable to Ken when they spoke after a five year stint. When it came to the night of their child’s birthday party, Koa threatened to kill Kahala if she left with the kids. Tragically Kahala was shot along with Koa’s dead body in the car.
Although there were many racist gestures in the beginning of the book, towards the ending, there were a lot of conflict between Claudia and Ken’s father. From Ken’s father calling Claudia a “yobo” to her retaliating back calling him a “jap;” every time Claudia did something wrong like burning her food or not tightening a faucet enough, Ken’s father would pull the Korean card. When things were messy such as newspaper being scattered, he would flip it and then use the Haole card (McKinney pg. 196). Ken’s father even brought up ethnic and class consciousness by telling Claudia how much more superior Japan is then Korea (McKinney pg. 198, Parillo pg. 59). The history between Korea and Japan was eminent in this chapter (Parillo pg. 159). Japanese and Koreans did not get along with each other and that tension was well showcased between Claudia and Ken’s father. There was also an issue of stereotype and racism when Ken, Claudia, Kahala, and Cheryl went to dinner (Parillo pg. 94). When Claudia mentioned that she went to Punahou School, “Snob, and rich haole central,”Cheryl replied back“poor child (McKinney pg. 186-187). That stereotype of Punahou still exists today.
It was easy to see that even after many years has passed and no matter how long or far away Ken was to his father, his father remained the same man. He was still a “hard ass” and still had a lot of hate in him. In the beginning of Claudia and Ken’s move to his house, he seemed somewhat decent and welcomed Claudia with open arms. But his true self surely turned up and it was getting hard for Claudia to stay in his presence. Ken’s father was harsh ever since Ken was little. But when Claudia and him got into an argument and Ken followed her to the room, his father yelled, “I neva teach you fo b one whipped boy (McKinney 198).” It’s very well known that in Asian countries, men were and maybe still is more superior to women. Gender roles still exist. When Ken’s father hurt Claudia towards the end of the book, it could be because he felt powerless and the traditional gender role was being downsized (Rothenberg pg. 286). But Ken didn’t want to be like his father and defended Claudia and their unborn child.
The book finishes with the last visit between Ken, Claudia, and their son Christian. Although Ken was in prison for man slaughter and should’ve been freed awhile ago, it seems like he decided to stay in there for his sake. Claudia mentioned that instead of hiring a lawyer he stuck with a public defendant and when Claudia mentioned that he shouldn’t be in jail, he replied back “…he should (McKinney pg. 225). Claudia was finally fulfilling her dream of going to the mainland and continuing her education in art studies. Ken mentioned that he didn’t want his son to know about him but Claudia wasn’t having that. Ken showed a new tattoo that read “The Book of the Void (McKinney pg. 224). This tattoo meant that the “lineage” of the Hideyoshi family ended with Ken. He didn’t want his son to grow up with hate and pride like the past generations did. Ken was being unselfish by letting go of Claudia and their son; he wanted Christian to have a better life. Ken might have done this unconsciously but he helped decide his son’s fate.
I enjoyed this book very much. It really did show the side of Hawaii that is rarely seen or even known. “God’s Country” is still used to describe Hawaii now. Race is still used to describe and differentiate people in Hawaii now. Koreamoku still exists and the stereotypes still live on. Although to outsiders Hawaii seems like paradise, but just like any other place we have our share of problems. Many people say we live in a time capsule because things change so slowly here. But, I have a special place for Hawaii because this is my home.

magazines and pop culture

Celebrities have been around forever but only recently we’ve been acknowledging reality stars as “celebrities” as well. Every channel you flip through will have at least one type of reality show that appeals to certain categories of viewers. I can’t even remember when reality shows didn’t exist, but now days it seems like reality is more popular than fictional.
My guilty pleasures are about watching these shows. If that wasn’t bad enough, I’m hooked on magazines such as US Weekly, Life and Style, and the not so tabloid Cosmpolitan and Glamour.
Us Weekly magazine will have to be my favorite. It comes with everything. The newest gossip, fashion trends, advertisement of products, reviews on upcoming movies, etc… I will literally read the whole magazine front to back. There’s pictures of celebrities just being their normal selves doing things that are “just like us.” There’s just something so appealing to me about living vicariously through these people.
The tabloid’s intent could be to promote these celebrities whether it is in a positive or negative way. For example, as soon as the Chris Brown and Rhianna abuse broke out, it was all over the tabloids. The positive aspect of covering this story was educating consumers about relationship abuse, physical or verbal, could happen to anyone and it is never acceptable (http://m.usmag.com/?redirurl=/healthylifestyle/new/rihanna-on-chris-brown-i-needed-that-wake-up-call-20102610). This incident headlined on the magazine for weeks but the mood was serious and even frightening. Other celebrities came out and gave their opinions or even their own experience with such trauma.
But when the cover story is about how a celebrity, such as Janet Jackson, lost a good amount of weight from dieting, it promotes what the physical standard of beauty should be. This issue covered how she lost weight, what her diet approach was, and what she’s doing to “not fall off the wagon” again. Janet Jackson suppositely gained a lot of weight for a role in a movie that she was going to portray but the movie fell through and she was stuck with the weight. She blew up, the pictures of her were hideous. So when Us Weekly came out with an issue about her transformation, it became one of their best selling issues and even came with a follow up issue on how she kept the weight off ( http://www.health-emark.com/janet-jackson-diet.html , http://justjared.buzznet.com/2007/05/23/janet-jackson-weight-loss/).
Magazines are a huge contribution to popular culture. One magazine could have different types of issues around the world. Cosmopolitan Japan, Vogue China, even tabloids about American celebrities are being translated in different languages. Celebrities are a international market. Whatever they promote, people want it. Whether they’re your favorite actor or musician, these people survive on their fans. Businesses are smart to know this supply and demand factor and thrive on them. If a celebrity is going green, then people will try to go green. If there’s a charity telethon, people will call and donate. Celebrities seem to have some sort of power to do good for the world but vice versa, these people aren’t “real leaders” yet we listen to them as if they were. Popular culture is the BOOM in our modern world. From UFC going international to American celebrities doing international commercials, marketing which nation is more popular is what keeps all eyes on that area.