May 25, 2016 The Skanner Page 7
Arts & Entertainment
Fresh cont’d from pg 6
Nahnatchka Khan
The writer-producer
marvels at TV’s sudden
burst of inclusiveness,
including Aziz Ansa-
ri in “Master of None”
and Priyanka Chopra in
“Quantico.”
“The difference in the
past year has been enor-
mous. The fact we were
right in the middle of
this kind of change is in-
credible, and we’re real-
ly grateful for it,” Khan
said. “The more, the
merrier. Let’s just keep
going.”
Randall Park
“I get stopped on street
all the time, with people
telling me how much
the show means to them
and that they watch it
with their families,” he
said. And it’s not just
Asian-Americans,
but
“everyone,” Park said.
“It’s easy for us to buy
into the myths out there
that people don’t want to
watch a family that’s dif-
ferent from them on TV,
that it’s going to be too
foreign for people,” he
said.
“Fresh Off the Boat” is
disproving that. But Park
recalls his own early
concerns about how his
character would be por-
trayed.
“Even though in the
grand scheme of sitcom
history there’s a tradition
of the goofy dad, to me it
was a point of concern
because there weren’t a
lot Asian sitcom dads to
balance that out, or even
Asian characters in gen-
eral,” he said.
“He is a character, for
sure, but the writers
have done such a great
job of humanizing him. ...
For all the silliness to this
character, there’s a lov-
ing side, a serious side.”
Louis has shown “what
a father could be, an im-
migrant could be — or
just a man could be,” Park
said.
Constance Wu
Wu also felt the weight
of high expectations for
the series.
“Some people wanted it
to tackle race issues, and
there’s some people who
think the more progres-
sive thing is to not look at
race issues and just have
them (the family) tackle
normal issues such as
puberty or cooking,” she
said. But the writers have
managed to do both.
WELLS FARGO PRESENTS:
Good in the Hood
Music & Food Festival 2016
FRIDAY-SUNDAY, JUNE 24-26
Lillis Albina Park
North Flint St. & Russell St., Portland
PHOTO COURTESY OF MAGNOLIA PICTURES
mary job, to be funny, the
ABC shows make the case
that there is — cynics and
malcontents aside — a
suburban-law n-sized
patch of common ground
to be found. The shows’
ratings are proof that
viewers are responding,
with both “Fresh Off the
Boat” and “black-ish” se-
cure on ABC’s schedule
and “Dr. Ken” returning
for its second year.
As “Fresh Off the Boat”
wrapped taping for the
season, stars Randall
Park and Constance Wu,
who star as parents Lou-
is and Jessica Huang,
took a set break to reflect
on its impact. Executive
producer
Nahnatchka
Khan and Chelsey Crisp,
who plays neighbor Hon-
ey, weighed in later by
phone.
FILM REVIEW: ‘Presenting Princess Shaw’
Chronicles the Inspirational Ascension of
YouTube Singing Sensation
Samantha Montgomery is the subject of ‘Presenting Princess Shaw,’ an uplifting documentary about the
struggles of a YouTube singing sensation.
By Kam Williams
For The Skanner News
B
y day, Samantha
Montgomery
cared for the el-
derly as an order-
ly in a New Orleans old
folks home. After hours,
however, the aspiring
singer/songwriter spent
most of her free time
pursuing her elusive
dream of superstardom.
As Princess Shaw, she
would perform solo in
local clubs on open mic
nights, mostly in front
of inattentive, unappre-
ciative audiences. She
also posted heartfelt
renditions of her orig-
inal tunes on Youtube
where she failed to gen-
erate much of a follow-
ing.
But lucky for Princess,
among her handful of
fans was Ophir “Kuti-
man” Kutiel, a pioneer-
ing composer/musician/
video artist living half a
world away on a kibbutz
in Israel. Without her
knowledge, he began
producing her tunes in
the studio, augmenting
her haunting a cappella
vocals with an orchestra
that included keyboards,
bass, cello, viola, drums,
guitars, percussion, vi-
olins, saxophones and a
brass section.
Miraculously,
this
promising diamond in
the rough was suddenly
blessed with a very pro-
fessional sound evoca-
tive of Amy Winehouse.
And when Kutiman
subsequently released
his polished version of
Princess’ “Give It Up” on
Youtube, it soon went vi-
ral, generating millions
of hits.
Next thing you know,
the new internet sen-
sation not only had a
following, but found
herself being mentioned
in everything from the
New York Times to Peo-
ple Magazine, all thanks
to a generous stranger
she’d never even spoken
to. Eventually, the two
do finally meet when
Princess flies to Tel Aviv
to do a show booked by
Kutiman.
So unfolds Presenting
Princess Shaw, a moving
documentary directed
by Ido Haar. The inspi-
rational picture devotes
as much time to details
of Princess’ traumatic
personal life as to her
magical music.
Along the way, we
learn that she was left
traumatized by the
physical and sexual
abuse she experienced
at the hands of her moth-
er’s boyfriend while
growing up in Chicago.
Today, she continues to
encounter a host of chal-
lenges, being Black, gay
and struggling finan-
cially.
Let’s just hope that
Princess Shaw is able
to turn the corner with
the help of this uplifting
biopic and Kutiman’s
mashups of her soulful
ballads.
Excellent HHHH
Unrated
Running time: 83 min.
Distributor: Magnolia
Pictures
View the movie trailer and a
video of Princess Shaw singing
at TheSkanner.com
Kam Williams
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LIVE MUSIC! Jazz • Blues • R&B • Latin • Pop
Conscious Hip/Hop • NEO-Soul • DJ intermission.
Multicultural Food • Market Place
Informational Village • Parade
Plus a kid friendly event:
Good in the Hood Kids Space
Saturday, June 25 & Sunday, June 26 from 12-6pm
Exciting Games • Face Painting • Puppet Shows
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$6 discounted bicycle helmet sale
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health screenings on Saturday from 12-4pm
FESTIVAL HOURS: Good in the Hood Mixer Music by DJ Pryce and
Hosted by Seezinin and Good in the Hood staff Friday June 24th Lillis
Albina Park 6-10pm, Saturday June 25th. PARADE (NE MLK) Lillis-Al-
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12noon to 9:30pm.
To volunteer or find out how you can participate
in this year’s event contact the GITH Hotline
971-302-6380 or visit: goodnthehood.org.
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