#creating a “golden child” takes both parents. she is equally responsible for the neglect and troubles that Zane and Vylad went through

[i-hate-garte-romeave]

Actually I hate Zianna too

[thevanitychariot]

The Chariot: Issue V

Original Publication: 16 March 2018

MC-Wylde Soars Despite Miranda Cosgrove Resigning By: Aramis Giordano

Earlier in the year, Davis Wylde and Miranda Cosgrove announced the MC-Wylde, a fusion of the MC Company and Wylde Studios, to continue providing platform for the underrepresented groups of people. As the current entertainment industry is becoming more prolific, coupled with the birth of Donovan and Mallory, Miranda Cosgrove decides to step down from her position as co-president. She cites her resignation as to focus on taking care of her two children, away from the spotlight and the attention from the current Asian Age. The announcement followed after the end of the production of While You Were Sleeping, and Miranda notes that even though it had been a worthwhile experience, both Donovan and Mallory should not be growing up without their parents most of the day, or having the production stages be their playground. “It robs them the life that children should be having, and I don’t want them to grow up in the industry and society with a silver spoon already feeding them”.

With this conundrum facing the MC-Wylde, Davis ends the production of the Asian Saga, claiming that they have “reached an absolute milestone with the first generation” and expresses his excitement on the future of the second generation, presumably after the promotion of a new co-president or vice president. “The nine movies we have finished for the Asian Saga have been nothing but progression and excitement, and I am looking forward to working with the new vice president in producing a record-breaking second generation of Asian Saga movies”.

The announcement of another set of Asian Saga films came alongside the declaration of MC-Wylde’s new vice president, Miyurina Hamasaki. As MC-Wylde’s former Chief of Staff, Miyurina was responsible for team meetings, staffing, casting, and coordination of events and film productions. Davis idolizes Miyurina’s hard work and her dedication on further improving the studio’s public image and equal and fair treatment within the workplace, that making the decision of who to fill up Miranda’s position was “a no-brainer”. Miyurina was responsible on pitching ideas on the creation of what is now known the Asian Saga, and continued to pursue better and more complex storylines as the saga continued until the final movie, Jang Minho’s While You Were Sleeping, who also helmed the box office hit W. As an Asian-American, Miyurina hopes to address more issues regarding historical and current maltreatment against Asian-Americans and more representation of Asian histories and cultures, providing more platforms for other Asian populations, instead of Japanese and Korean. She has currently proposed another set of 6-10 movies for the second generation of the Asian Saga, in which she currently refers to as the Tales from the East. “Even though it is called the Asian Saga, I still believed that we underrepresented the other Asian minorities; my responsibility as the new vice president of the company leading the forefront for progression is to make sure other Asian cultures and histories are valued and represented. The heroes and heroines who non-East Asians look up to will find a place in the spotlight with the Tales from the East, a spotlight that was robbed from them in our current history books and cinematic works”.

A Surveillance: Reel 3 is due to air this December for non-Korean and non-Japanese candidates to participate in. “This is not a form of discrimination against the Koreans or the Japanese”, Miyurina promotes. “I want the Thais, and the Pakistanis, and the Indonesians to star in the same blockbuster films that the Koreans and the Japanese are raking glory in. She promises to take part on the casting process for the third reel to make sure that the positions are open for everybody and not just biased towards one race. “I can’t promise the results of who fills in the positions, but be assured that the spotlight can shine at everyone”. Miyurina closes her speech wishing the Ross Award nominees much luck and looks forward to working with Davis and Lawrence closely for the next years to come.

Ross and Racism: How River Johnson is the Catalyst for Something Greater By: Aramis Giordano Original Publication Date: 12 December 2017

This year's Ross Awards is the most anticipated show in the entire history of the industry, mostly because of the interest in the movies nominated from the Asian Age and the drive to witness an historical awards ceremony. The Ross Awards did not disappoint and awarded the first Muslim and Asian winners that day. Sophia Osman won the title Best Supporting Actress for her role as Sughra "Leafa" Daher in ALFheim Online and Park Jungmin was awarded Best Actor for his breakout role as Arima Kousei in Your Lie in April. The most anticipated award of the season, Best Actress, did not fail to create conversations even days after the Ross Awards. Retrospectively, the Best Actress Award has always been the most talked about award with the viewers and has created the most controversial moments in the industry. This year's contenders were nothing but diverse: Keira Kuyama (Your Lie in April), Joanna Park (W), Caterina Sultana (Boys Over Flowers), Vanessa Harding (1872), and River Johnson (Omelas). Three of the five candidates are newcomers and are racial minorities, which sets the expectation that one of them would go home with the award.

Unfortunately, that was not the case. The award was given to River Johnson for her role as Ursula Le Guin, who willfully saved a child being emotionally and physically neglected in exchange for eternal happiness of the entire city of Omelas. Recent polls from various news sites and channels showed that Keira Kuyama and Vanessa Harding were supposed to be head-to-head for the award, and all of the polls have chosen River Johnson as the least likely winner. This begs the question: is this an award for the art of film or just another method to maintain white dominance in the industry? Since compared to Vanessa and Keira's performances, River's was clearly subpar. Which leads to the conclusion that this is not an award for performances. So, what happened? How did River Johnson win?

White. She is white. That's the case for Vanessa Harding also, although her role as the first woman to run for president in an era where women did not have the rights to vote yet, warranted the recognition of being the best actress. Her role as Victoria Woodhull was arguably one of her best and most memorable role as it showcased the drive to achieve an impossible goal. Another big award, Best Director, was handed to Mercer Leigh Stanley for her work in Boys Over Flowers. Together with River Johnson, two of the trifecta awards (Director, Actress, and Actor) were awarded to white artists. Another discussion whether or not Mercer deserved the award continues claiming it was her weakest movie with only two acting nominees.

The Vanity Chariot asked for a statement from the chairman of Hollywood Studios who is also responsible for the Ross Awards, Omar Vanderkoff, but none was given. Looking at the history with how Omar Vanderkoff handled the race issue from X Factor Season 8, an internal investigation should be warranted to prove that Omar had no influence in depriving the Asian nominees of the biggest award at the height of the Asian Age.

Not only River Johnson winning spurred conversations after the awards show, the talk about 1872 and W being snubbed from receiving any awards also flourished. The two movies were considered the golden movies of the year, displaying plotlines and themes that the industry has never experimented with before. 1872 was nominated for all categories yet came home with no awards; that has also been the case with the first Ross Awards which saw an historical seven nominations for Vanessa Harding's The Regnancy, but the movie fell short with no awards won. Although being her fourth Best Actress nomination, the most anybody has ever had, she never had the chance to go up the stage for a victory speech yet. A controversial win in 2015 with Chrystia Allwright put into the spotlight Vanessa's drive to have her movies recognized, and even though she released another historical movie, A Woman's Crusade, the following year, the Ross still did not hand the award to her.

River expected all of this to happen. The moment Taelyn Robins announced her name as the winner, the auditorium echoed with sounds of disapproval, followed by a unified chant with Keira's name prior to River starting her speech. She mentioned how the media "loves to pit women against each other for entertainment" and the viewers everywhere should realize they're falling into their trap. After the show, a rally outside the Stanley Auditorium ensued calling for a boycott for the future Ross Awards and calling out Hollywood Studios for the continuous unacceptance of other races into the industry. River acted as the ignition for the racial protests that will continue throughout 2018 and will be amplified by Tokyo Ghoul in April 14.

Next year's Ross Awards will also be an historical one, since it will include all of the Asian Saga movies. It will also be the fifth awards ceremony and the Chariot will be doing a segment on all the winners from the past five shows. In addition, the Ross Awards also announced Crew Matthew Barton as the permanent host of the ceremony.

Despite the chaos, Davis Wylde remains victorious for taking home all the awards, but Best Actress – an amazing feat for this year’s Ross Awards being his first. It is an exciting year ahead in diversity and history, and we just hope the president of Hollywood Studios, Lawrence Harland, will do everything to clear the studio's image following River's win and Tokyo Ghoul's release.

Asian Age Strengthens in the Face of a Crumbling Harland Empire By: Aramis Giordano Original Publication Date: 16 March 2018

Three months have passed since the most controversial Ross Awards Ceremony that saw cultural and racial minorities as nominees and winners. An anti-racism propaganda also emerged following River Johnson’s win as Best Actress against first-time nominees Keira Kuyama for her work in Your Lie in April and Joanna Park for her role in the blockbuster hit, W. Despite the chaos that ensued three months ago, the tension within the entertainment industry remained. An internal investigation is being conducted in Hollywood Studios with its chairman, Omar Vanderkoff, for possible influence with the Best Actress win. Hollywood Studios president, Lawrence Harland, declined to have an interview while the investigation is taking place.

Unlike Hollywood Studios, which had remained stagnant since last year’s Ross Awards, releasing no movies as of March, MC-Wylde’s The Asian Saga is in full-swing, with a release of one movie every weekend. Its most recent released film, The Pinocchio Syndrome, saw unprecedented success, almost on par with its predecessors, W and Descendants of the Sun. MC-Wylde’s Vice President, Miyurina Hamasaki also updates The Vanity Chariot about the Tales from the East being a very strong contender for a diverse and solid pathway for the future generations of racial minorities to follow. Miyurina mentioned movies, such as Fight My Way, Suspicious Partner, and Missing Nine, having main cast of non-Japanese or non-Korean descents. She acknowledges the talents brought in by the new cast members, such as Samar Chopra, Rio Tran, Kiet Aromdee, Aishah Khan, and Anika Sunisa. She also follows up that most of the movies in the Tales from the East are directed by Hadian Kusuma, an Indonesian-American female director. “I pride on diversity, and not just a homogenous form of diversity away from the typical White European standards that the industry thrived on before MC-Wylde. South and Southeast Asians will both thrive alongside the East Asians who carried The Asian Saga”.

Following Miyurina’s updates on the Tales from the East, she also announces MC-Wylde’s new Chief of Staff, taking her previous position before Davis Wylde promoted her as vice president. Dr. McCormick Hawthorne, an adjunct film history professor at Lawrence Harland University, steps in as Chief of Staff after a three-month discussion with Davis and Miyurina. “Davis and I think that with his knowledge on film backing him, Dr. Hawthorne will deliver new and raw ideas into the table that will mold the film industry that we want – an industry that shares our values and represents us a nation. We are very glad to have him on board”.

As the year progresses, the Asian Saga and Tales from the East will continue to take over the film industry, setting aside the movies released by Hollywood Studios; and with the upcoming release of its most controversial whitewashed film, Tokyo Ghoul, consisting of an all-white cast set in Tokyo, Japan, it is only a matter of time until Lawrence Harland’s empire crumbles down. The industry is changing rapidly, and anybody who does not accept this change will be left behind.