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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Raya and the Last Dragon’s Many Cultural Influences Make for a Distinct World

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Raya and the Last Dragon‘s creation of a Southeast Asian-inspired fictional world 500 years since the presumed death of the last dragon isn’t without its issues, but, generally, it represents a bold new step for Disney animation when it comes to setting and authentic cultural inspiration. Most Disney Princesses have hailed from Eurocentric stories and origins, but, with Southeast Asian Raya and Polynesian “Princess” Moana before her, Disney finally seems to be recognizing the wide world of real-life cultures from which they can (responsibly) draw. While this can be and is a slippery slope as Disney has a history of cultural appropriation and misappropriation, it is a generally positive trajectory and good news both for kids and adults who have never before seen characters who look like them in the “Disney Princess” world and for anyone who is hungry for new kinds of stories.

Where Does Raya and the Last Dragon Take Place?

Officially, Raya and the Last Dragon takes place in Kumandra—if the dragons didn’t give it away, the setting is a fictional fantasy world. Of course, like How To Train Your Dragon (which has both Scottish and Norwegian influences), that doesn’t mean Kumandra isn’t based on a real place—or, in this case places. The filmmakers drew from the cultures of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar, and Malaysia in making the film. All of these countries are in a region of the world known as Southeast Asia, which has a population of over 670 million and makes up more than 8.5% of the global population. The United States has a notable Southeast Asian American population, many of whom emigrated to the U.S. in the 1970s as refugees escaping a war and humanitarian crisis that the United States played a major role in—the conflict we call the Vietnam War.

In bringing this region of the world into its storytelling, the creative forces behind Raya and the Last Dragon went for a pan-regional strategy, which means Kumandra is not based on a specific country in Southeast Asia but rather draws from many of the distinct cultures of the region to create a fictional world. Some people from the Southeast Asian and Southeast Asian American communities have understandable criticisms of this pan-Southeast Asian approach. Southeast Asia is a diverse region with many distinct cultures. While those cultures have and do influence one another, they are not the same and treating them as interchangeable in the creation of the fictional Kumandra perpetuates a reductive view of the region.

In responding to this critique of the pan-Southeast Asian depiction, Malyasian-born American scriptwriter Adele Lim (Crazy Rich Asians) told Polygon: “We have so many different people in this culture space. It’s very easy to view those differences as things that drive us apart. But when you look at everything that’s wonderful about our culture, and particularly our street food — which is the best in the world — it’s wonderful because of all these different elements. [Food] is also our language of love and our language of community.”

As you may notice from the screenwriter quotes above, Disney did make some vital efforts to ensure Southeast Asian American voices were in chief creative positions in making Raya. While neither of the film’s two directors have Southeast Asian heritage, both Lim and co-screenwriter Qui Nguyen, who is Vietnamese-American, are Southeast Asian American. Thai artist Fawn Veerasunthorn served as the Head of Story for the film; she was also part of the “Southeast Asia Story Trust” Disney put together, which gathered Southeast Asian choreographers, musicians, linguists, architects, cultural experts, martial artists and anthropologists to consult on the film. In preparation for the film, the Southeast Asia Story Trust went on a research tour across the region, which involved stops in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and Singapore.

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What Race and Ethnicity is Raya?

Race is a social construct, but it’s also one America still uses to define and discuss the many different communities and identities that make up this country and world. As Raya is from a fictional land, the concept of race and ethnicity doesn’t totally translate one-for-one, but, generally, she is Southeast Asian. Raya is voiced by Kelly Marie Tran, who is Vietnamese-American.

“It means a lot to me,” Tran told Den of Geek about her role in the film. “I think back to moments in my childhood where I didn’t get to see myself represented in anything. And to believe that we are hopefully broadening the narrative when it comes to what people think of when they think of the word “princess,” or what they think of when they think of the word hero, or what they think of when they think of the word warrior. And hopefully, reinforcing the idea that it doesn’t matter what you look like or where you come from, you can be any of these things. I think young me would have been really proud of where I am today and what I’m trying to do. And that means a lot to me.”

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Raya and the Last Dragon has come under some criticism for its lack of Southeast Asian representation in its voice cast, many of whom are of East Asian descent, including Awkwafina as Sisu, Daniel Dae Kim as Chief Benja, Gemma Chan as Namaari, Sandra Oh as Virana, and Benedict Wong as Tong. Alan Tudyk also stars as Tuk Tuk. There are so few roles for Southeast Asian American actors that many from the community and beyond were disappointed to see so many of the starring voice roles in Raya go to actors of Chinese and Korean descent.

The Cultural Inspiration Behind Dragon Sisu

Dragons have different cultural significance in different parts of the world. In the West, dragons are linked to conquest; they are something to be tamed and/or conquered. In East Asia, dragons are not a monster to be conquered but rather a powerful and benevolent force in creation mythology; they are often seen as symbols of good luck, power, and strength. In creating dragon character Sisu, the creators of Raya and the Last Dragon drew from dragon mythology specific to Southeast Asia, specifically the Nāga. In folklore, Nāga are divine or semi-divine beings who are half-human and half-serpent.

“The difference between an Eastern or Chinese dragon versus the Nāga is that a Chinese dragon is based on luck and power,” screenwriter Qui Nguyen told Polygon. “And the Nāga, because it’s water, it’s life and hope. It’s just that slight little difference. We didn’t want a dragon that came in to empower [human protagonist] Raya to hit people more; we wanted one that would inspire her to open up and trust.”

Raya and the Last Dragon is in theaters and available via Disney+ Premier on Friday, March 5th.

What did you think of the setting and world created for Raya and the Last Dragon? Let us know in the comments below.

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miamibeerscene · 6 years

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Colorado Brewers Pour Over Heritage and History to Honor Cultural Traditions

Brewers pull from their culture and traditions to impact U.S. craft beer. (Credit: From the Hip Photo)

November 22, 2017

No sooner had humans erected the world’s first cities than they turned their attentions to fermenting beverages that could tame the stresses of their newfound urban lifestyles. Beer, one of several alcoholic elixirs developed along with permanent settlements, became an integral component of most of the world’s ancient and present civilizations. From a potion associated with divinity to a drink steeped in the folklore of blue-collar America, beer has since filled many important roles throughout human history.

However, today’s modern iteration of craft brews as a conduit to rant on social media about mouthfeel, nonics and “Vinnie nails” can make it seem like good beer has been entirely co-opted by beer literati, leaving the rest of us Joe Swiggers, who can’t tell a Brettanomyces from a brontosaurus, to twiddle our thumbs on the sidelines.

To bring back beer traditions and culture to “the people,” several innovative brewers in Colorado have taken it upon themselves to scour time and geography. Some are looking toward antiquity for inspiration while others are stepping no further than grandma’s pantry.

(READ: American Pale Ale is the Style that Changed Everything)

Brewer Borrows from His Mexican Heritage

Javier Pérez, founder of Cheluna Brewing, uses Mexican culture to influence his beers. (Credit: From the Hip Photo)

“I want to create beer that isn’t intimidating and to have Mexican cuisine and culture influence our beers,” says Javier Pérez, founder of Cheluna Brewing Company in Aurora, Colorado. “My wife and I want beer to be like food; before food becomes a gourmet, high-end dish served and priced to pay off someone’s culinary school loans, it’s first about common people creating amazing meals in grandma’s kitchen, and we want our beer to be about celebrating those common people coming together. I love that I can walk into our brewery and it feels like it’s my living room filled with friends.”

While Pérez revels in the Mexicanism of Cheluna, he also welcomes American sensibilities to play a role in how his beers are marketed, especially to Hispanic people. Despite Mexico’s cultural wealth, the country of 125 million inhabitants has at times struggled to craft inclusive messages in its pop culture. La India María, a famous indigenous television character whose buffoonery in Mexican slapstick comedies has been the topic of social justice grievances in many a collegiate theses, is just one example of mainstream disaffection toward ethnic minorities. Pérez says he wants to develop an IPA rendition paying tribute to Mexican indigenous women instead of mocking them.

“I want to make an IPA that’s really, really hoppy and call it La India Pale Ale, but our logo for it would be a Zapotec tribal woman, maybe with a rifle or something, so we don’t think of La India as an ignorant, barefoot person, but as a warrior who is intelligent and strong.”

(READ: Advice for Your Next Bottle Share)

Some of the many nods to Mexican culture and cuisine served up at Cheluna include a mezcal barrel-aged blackberry imperial stout, a German-style witbier with habanero and chile (reminiscent of a popular street food treat in Mexico), a tamarind gose, and a porter infused with cacao, vanilla and toasted coconut. The Rozha hibiscus lager, the brewery’s most visually striking beverage, is Cheluna’s take on agua de Jamaica, a refreshing hibiscus tea sold in street stalls throughout all of Mexico.

If you visit this colorful taproom in Aurora, you can also expect to be served complimentary peanuts with lime and chile, Mexican style. Prepackaged bags of these delicious snacks are also available for purchase, in case you want to continue the fiesta at home.

Cheluna Brewing brews a gose with tamarind. (Credit: From the Hip Photo)

Another brewery dabbling with Mexican ingredients is the Epic Brewing Company. In August, Epic and Mexico City’s Casa Cervecera Cru Cru brewed a beer together as part of an 18-brewery binational endeavor spearheaded by the Brewers Association (publishers of CraftBeer.com), ACERMEX (Mexican Craft Beer Association), and the USDA office in Mexico City.

“It was a really good experience,” says Matthew Allred, communications director at Epic. “The head brewers from Cru Cru and Epic got together stateside to make Chapuline Gose, a gose seasoned with crickets and an interesting critter called an agave worm.”

(VISIT: Find a U.S. Brewery)

Although the ingredients might sound exotic, the flavor profile of the beer keeps with how a more conventional gose would taste.

“The crickets mostly contribute in color and add a bit of earthiness and smokiness,” Allred says. “The agave worm salt does add a bit of a spicy punch, but overall, it tastes like a gose.”

The beer goes on sale at the end of November.

Recreating Ancient Beer Recipes

Not many breweries can boast about having an in-house “beer archeologist,” so Avery Brewing’s Travis Rupp takes his title seriously. He says the position came about as a fusion of his two professions: researching and developing beer for Avery and teaching archaeology and ancient history at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

“When I was working in the taproom as a bartender, a bunch of employees asked if they could come to one of my lectures to listen in,” Rupp recalls. “Once a month, I would go buy a selection of beer that was BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) true-to-style, then I would give a lecture about the beer style and history. Once I moved into production, I started to put together more formal presentations at the production meetings.”

In his research, Rupp discovered there were large gaps in the documentation of certain beers in history, so he set out to find out everything he could about those beers. Not satisfied with knowledge unapplied, he decided to recreate the beers as best he could in the modern age, which led to the production of his line of beers, Ales of Antiquity.

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(READ: Women’s Evolving Contributions to Beer)

The series focuses primarily on what common people drank, not royalty. It includes an ancient Mycenaean-inspired beer from 1600-1100 BC brewed with 6-row barley, einkorn wheat, acorn flour, figs, and elderberries. There’s also a ninth-century Viking beer brewed with Scandinavian malt, juniper berries, juniper branches, and baker’s yeast.

The painstaking process for creating these beers has had some significant and at times hilarious missteps. Pachamama, a corn beer intended to replicate ancient Peruvian chicha had to be adapted to contemporary times after a bout with historical accuracy proved that sometimes the past is best left in the past.

In the original Chancay culture of the 1000-1400 A.D. period, chicha was produced by chewing a combination of corn, quinoa and beans and spitting the pulp into a mash so the saliva enzymes could stimulate natural fermentation. When Rupp enlisted the staff of Avery to chomp and spit corn into mash, the whole process took so long that the whole mixture solidified into a rock-hard mass that jammed the system. Rupp now uses an extract to simulate the effects of saliva.

Live and learn!

Brewers Pull Inspiration from Their Culture

There are other newcomers to Colorado’s beer scene hoping to focus on heritage ingredients and processes. Judd Belstock, one of the founders of Denver’s upcoming Dos Luces Brewery, says his brewery will be about reimagining beer.

Chapulin Gose is a collaboration from Epic Brewing and Mexico’s Casa Cervecera Cru Cru. (Credit: Epic Brewing)

“The core idea of what we’re trying to do is to create a world where what we think of beer isn’t limited to barley, hops, yeast and water,” Belstock says. The brewery, slated to open in the spring of 2018, will specialize in chicha and pulque, the traditional Mexican drink made from the sap of the maguey plant (an agave variety).

Like Rupp, Belstock will use purchased enzymes to ferment the chicha as opposed to trying to do it with saliva.

“I have no interest in doing 500-pound batches through chewing corn,” Belstock chuckles.

(LEARN: Beer 101 Online Course)

Although he is adapting the recipe a bit for the modern age, he stresses that the ingredients will be sourced either from their indigenous origins or from local suppliers.

“I want to honor the cultures from which I’m borrowing,” he says. “But also, if you think about what inspires craft brewers in general, if you look back five- or six-thousand years ago, it’s making use of the local ingredients and technologies at hand.”

His pulque offerings will be hybridized with corn.

“Sour beer junkies will immediately recognize pulque’s flavor profile as familiar,” says Belstock. “Pulque is pretty easy to explain to people, I just say it’s basically a beer made out of mezcal.”

Sean Guerrero and his family lived in China, and his brewery, Jade Mountain, explores Chinese culture. (Credit: Jade Mountain Facebook Page)

Also opening in Denver in the spring of 2018 is Jade Mountain (current proposed site is on 1925 South Rosemary St., Suite D), a brewery that originated in Asia when Sean Guerrero and his wife, Jojo, moved their family from Denver to Huzhou, China.

“Surprisingly, there’s not much to opening up a brewery in China,” Guerrero says. “There is no licensing required, so I rented a small tea house, remodeled it and turned it into a small brewhouse.”

(READ: Brewery Accepting Your Old T-Shirts from Former Craft Breweries)

Guerrero, who was born and raised in Denver, says he is proud to share part of his adopted culture with his fellow American beer drinkers.

“I felt a little bit lost with my own culture because I’m Hispanic but my parents and grandparents never spoke Spanish,” Guerrero says. “So when I met my wife and traveled throughout China, I got assimilated into what they were doing. Now I’m fluent in Chinese, my kids are half Chinese and the whole experience gave me more of an identity than I had before, so I hope to share some of that through beer.”

Many of the ingredients will be imported directly from China with some guidance from Guerrero’s wife.

“My wife helps me understand each ingredient,” Guerrero says. “She’s a scientist at the University of Denver so she is good with helping with different yeasts and she’s also great with pairing various flavors.”

Some of the more exotic elements found in the beers served at Jade Mountain will include bamboo leaves and shoots, hawthorn berries, jasmine, osmanthus flowers and other herbs and sweet woods Guerrero says he cannot name in English.

So what is next stage in the evolution of beer?

“The future has yet to be written,” says Steve Kurowski, director of operation at the Colorado’s Brewers Guild. “It’s impossible to predict how these creative minds are going to innovate this classic historic liquid.”

Efraín VillaAuthor Website

Efraín is a photographer, actor, writer and global wanderer whose endless quest for randomness has taken him to more than 50 countries in five continents. His writing has appeared on NPR’s Weekend Edition, the Good Men Project, TravelWorld International Magazine, Zymurgy, as well as Spanish language publications. While not running his consulting firm in Albuquerque, he is busy devouring exotic foods in faraway countries and avoiding adulthood while wearing the least amount of clothes possible. His travel stories dealing with the messiness, humor and beauty of cultural collisions can be found on his website: Aimless Vagabond. Read more by this author

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