From what I’ve gathered through a series of Asian American blogs, the majority of people feel that; 1. The Hmong American characters lack depth and complexity (while giving other characters depth and complexity is important, the fact that the majority of the Hmong leads and supporting actors were all first time might explain that); 2. Eastwood’s film is just another “white savior” doctrine; and 3. The racial slurs might have been a little too much however for the purpose of the film.

However, the heavy usage was not as much of a concern as was the audience reaction across America. There is concern among our community that people were laughing too often, too loudly and for too long. That people would laugh at such inappropriate areas can be for several reasons; people either is laughing because others are laughing, laughing because their inherently uncomfortable hearing such terms, laughing because they think racist people like Walt are ridiculous or as I imagine, some actually think it’s funny.

While the majority of the bloggers I read shared similar reactions and thoughts, one Asian American blogger felt almost hurt that so much of the Asian American community disliked the movie. They list some points that as Asian Americans we should; 1. Feel proud to have the Hmong American community brought to mainstream attention, 2. See that it’s the Hmong family that actually “saves” Walt, 3. The over usage of racial slurs only brings to light language that many people might and probably do engage in. All of which are valid points, worth looking at. It’s important to note that the blogs I visited were all Asian American run, with the exception of one that was a minority and racism blog; and of those only one blogger is identified as a Korean American blogger.

Within the Hmong community there are also equally mixed feelings. I had a chance to meet with Doua Moua, who is Spider (cousin to the lead Hmong gang member in the film) and find out how he felt about the movie. His reaction was a positive one and he felt by portraying the gang aspect of Hmong life in America was quite true to life. As an actor within the film, he felt proud to have a role.

Others who also had roles in the film held particularly high views of the direction and production by Eastwood, seeing the film as mainly positive. Worth praising is the use of only Hmong/American actors and not using other ethnicities to pretend to be Hmong. Within the general community it appears that many feel that the movie is a positive step for the Hmong American community to gain attention. This is particularly so to take away from the stigma that the Hmong community might be viewed as a violent community, due to the shooting incident of the Hmong hunter who had killed six white hunters in Wisconsin a few years back. As the Hmong entertainer, Tou Ger Xiong, said in a short interview with Minnesota Public Radio station, “First things first, let’s get our foot in the door. Complain later.”