Unverified Accounts, the place for unchecked Asian American opinions on arts and culture, with a smattering of politics! Every week, the trio of Eliza, Chris, and Filip will discuss movies (or sometimes, a book) that are connected to a pertinent cultural/political issue going on right now, usually from online cultures. Follow us on Twitter at: Chris: @JesuInToast Eliza: @aesthdistance1 Filip: @filipgwriting
Episodes
Monday Dec 28, 2020
Monday Dec 28, 2020
The Unverifieds are joined by stand-up comedian Gerrie to give their predictions for the upcoming glorious year of 2021. Topics include Andrew Yang's potential mayoral run, the types of COVID-themed entertainment, AOC GOP version, inevitable vaccine wars, and more!
Follow us on Twitter at @unver1fiedaccts!
Intro Song: "Chairman Mao" by Bambu
TWITTER:
Gerrie: @gerrieyaki
Chris: @JesuInToast
Liza: @aesthdistance1
Filip: @filipgwriting
EMAIL:
Sunday Dec 20, 2020
Sunday Dec 20, 2020
The Unverifieds attack movies like Armando Iannucci's The Personal History of David Copperfield (the recent adaptation starring Dev Patel in "reverse racebent" casting) for acting as if it's the highest honor for non-white people to be included in white narratives. This wouldn't be so bad if it weren't part of a larger ideological trend that panders to culturally conservative white liberals and desperate-to-assimilate minorities, aka Hamilton Syndrome. The trio also give their thoughts on the Simu Liu/Mark Wahlberg Twitter deletion incident.
Follow us on Twitter at @unver1fiedaccts!
Intro Song: "Chairman Mao" by Bambu
TWITTER:
Chris: @JesuInToast
Liza: @aesthdistance1
Filip: @filipgwriting
REFERENCED RESOURCES:
Champagne Sharks: Why I Hate Hamilton
EMAIL:
Sunday Dec 13, 2020
Sunday Dec 13, 2020
The Unverified delve into the late David Graeber's book, Bullshit Jobs, which argues that the explosion of pointless mundane jobs is more about the upper classes maintaining a feudal system of control rather than some ruthless application of capitalism.
Follow us on Twitter at @unver1fiedaccts!
Intro Song: "Chairman Mao" by Bambu
TWITTER:
Chris: @JesuInToast
Liza: @aesthdistance1
Filip: @filipgwriting
REFERENCED RESOURCES:
Christopher Nolan on WB's decision to release movies on HBO Max
Filip's article on James Damore
EMAIL:
Monday Dec 07, 2020
Monday Dec 07, 2020
The Unverifieds cover a grab-bag of topics, starting with the Warner Bros. announcement of releasing its 2021 movies on HBO Max. What does this mean, if anything, for American soft power? And after a truly dumb week on Twitter, they analyze a YA Twitter blow-up about certain classic novels, the bodega incident, and round 2 of Candace Owens vs. Harry Styles. Lastly, they debate the politics of Long Shot, the 2019 romantic comedy starring Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen.
Follow us on Twitter at @unver1fiedaccts!
Intro Song: "Chairman Mao" by Bambu
TWITTER:
Chris: @JesuInToast
Liza: @aesthdistance1
Filip: @filipgwriting
EMAIL:
Sunday Nov 29, 2020
Sunday Nov 29, 2020
The Unverifieds, minus Liza for this episode, talk about the need to write and read more about despicable Asian American characters, and why a lot of Asian American writers seem to shy away from that. Holding up Tony Tulathimutte's novel Private Citizens as a refreshing break from that tendency, Chris and Filip delve deeper into Will and the toxic Asian American male archetype he represents.
Follow us on Twitter at @unver1fiedaccts!
Intro Song: "Chairman Mao" by Bambu
TWITTER:
Chris: @JesuInToast
Filip: @filipgwriting
REFERENCED RESOURCES:
Tin House interview with Tony Tulathimutte (on writing Asian characters)
EMAIL:
Wednesday Nov 25, 2020
Wednesday Nov 25, 2020
The Unverifieds try to cut through the hysterical hoopla surrounding the new movie adaptation of Hillbilly Elegy and assess it on purely cinematic grounds, but they can't help but notice the vast cultural divide between the mostly harsh critics and the subjects of the film. They also look at Three Billboards, around which there was a similar controversy a few years ago. Other discussions include whether Obama was a pick-up artist, the predictable backlash against Hasan Minhaj after his Vanity Fair lie detector interview went viral, and the attempt to cancel Sia for not cast an autistic actress in her new movie.
Follow us on Twitter at @unver1fiedaccts!
Intro Song: "Chairman Mao" by Bambu
TWITTER:
Chris: @JesuInToast
Eliza: @aesthdistance1
Filip: @filipgwriting
REFERENCED RESOURCES:
Liza's review of Three Billboards
Article calling out Hasan Minhaj for toxic work environment
EMAIL:
Sunday Nov 15, 2020
Sunday Nov 15, 2020
The Unverifieds express their hopes and fears on what a post-Trump American pop culture landscape will look like, and what the meta-narratives around movies like Joker and The Last Jedi said about the state of that landscape in the last four years.
Follow us on Twitter at @unver1fiedaccts!
Intro Song: "Chairman Mao" by Bambu
TWITTER:
Chris: @JesuInToast
Eliza: @aesthdistance1
Filip: @filipgwriting
REFERENCED RESOURCES:
The New Yorker's review of Joker by Richard Brody
TIME's review of Joker by Stephanie Zacharek
EMAIL:
Sunday Nov 08, 2020
Sunday Nov 08, 2020
The Unverifieds are joined by our long-time friend Jess (from Plan A) to talk about our reactions to the public celebrations to Biden's victory and the god-awful reactions on social media. And how is identity politics being used to gloss over a bleak present and future?
Follow us on Twitter at @unver1fiedaccts!
Intro Song: "Chairman Mao" by Bambu
TWITTER:
Chris: @JesuInToast
Eliza: @aesthdistance1
Filip: @filipgwriting
REFERENCED RESOURCES:
Vox: How Joe Biden, The Ultimate Insider, Defeated Donald Trump, The Ultimate Outsider by Ezra Klein
Exiting The Vampire Castle by Mark Fisher
A Biden Win Is Not A Win For Democracy by Aesthetic Distance
EMAIL:
Thursday Nov 05, 2020
Thursday Nov 05, 2020
The Unverifieds come with their hottest of hot takes of Election 2020 as it's still baking in the oven. Biden looks poised to win after a scary night that was eerily reminiscent of 2016. But it feels more like a Pyrrhic victory, with a Democratic Party with no vision for the future and the Republicans ready to run the Trump playbook without Trump's personal liabilities in 2024. And with signs that the Democratic identity politics ideology is starting to crumble, where will Asian Americans go since they never fit into that model in the first place?
Follow us on Twitter at @unver1fiedaccts!
Intro Song: "Chairman Mao" by Bambu
TWITTER:
Chris: @JesuInToast
Eliza: @aesthdistance1
Filip: @filipgwriting
EMAIL:
Wednesday Oct 28, 2020
Wednesday Oct 28, 2020
The Unverifieds are coming at you a little earlier than usual, right before Halloween and Election 2020. Before talking about some horror movies they've seen recently (The Vanishing, Hereditary, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Babadook, #Alive, Peemak), they give their thoughts on the dreary binary outcome that awaits us after election night 2020, as well as recall what they were doing on Election Night 2016.
Follow us on Twitter at @unver1fiedaccts!
Intro Song: "Chairman Mao" by Bambu
TWITTER:
Chris: @JesuInToast
Eliza: @aesthdistance1
Filip: @filipgwriting
EMAIL: