Blog Post 2: “Beyond Finishing the Game”
- In Justin Fong’s article, “Beyond finishing the Game: A Look at Asian American Grassroots Outreach”, the author attributes some of the major successes of Asian-American films in the box office to some of the strong, community-based grassroots techniques that are utilized in order to spread the word about new movies and releases of Asian-American content creators.
- The main sources of evidence that the author uses are directly from real-life films that have debuted and utilized the grassroots technique in order to reach out to specific audiences. For example, the author mentions the movie, The Debut, and explained that one of the ways their team reached out to their audience was through “massive email lists…and street teams roamed Daly City and other locales with postcards and T-shirts and the film’s stars were present and available to meet audiences” (Fong 5). Explanations similar to this one help the audience to understand how the grassroots technique works and some examples of it within the community, in order to show that it is real and present. Additionally, the author provides some numbers in order to quantify and back up the success of the movies, showing how movies such as Better Luck Tomorrow grossed over “$3.5 million in the box office and over $15 million in DVD sales” (Fong 6).
- One of the major terms that the author presents is “grassroots, community-focused marketing”. The author does not formally define this, but in summary it is where people utilize and target their own communities as a way of creating movements. In this case, it is the advertising of different Asian-American films. It is an intimate and unique way for creators to reach out and connect with their audiences, while also spreading the word about their films.
- At the end of the article, the author mentions how “traditional marketing methods done in tandem with grassroots efforts can result in something even more effective” (Fong 9). I can relate this to how some of the latest Asian-American films or films featuring Asian-American leads, such as in Crazy Rich Asians and/or To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, are advertising their films. In both examples, they utilize the traditional teaser and trailer releases in order to spread the word. Additionally, Asian-American groups and individuals have been supporting the movie and mobilizing within the community through their respective organizations. They share the sentiment and common goal of increasing Asian-American representation in the media and understanding/accepting their own personal identity.
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