"Crash" is a new film coming out (this weekend, I believe) about a random group of strangers in L.A. who get caught up with each other one night. It's played by a long list of big-name stars. I haven't seen it yet, but have read a few reviews. The story is about racism and how all the characters are both victims as well as perpetrators of it. That's a fine, solid premise cuz most race-related films seem too one-dimensional to me.

Now for my rant. The filmmakers seemed to have gone to great lengths to cover the general population of white, black, brown, etc characters. But considering how large of an Asian population there is in L.A. they didn't seem to try very hard to include yellow. Apparently, there are two Korean characters. From what I've read, they don't seem to have very significant roles in the film. Nor are they on the list of starring actors, so they probably have supporting roles at best. The absence of Asian faces is a widespread problem in U.S. cinema, unless you count the tired old portrayals of us as martial arts masters or illegal immigrants with fake-ass accents. I plan on seeing "Crash" and will post a more informed critique of it afterward. But I have my doubts at this point.