this movie sucked, nothing to do with stereotypes

This film was so inconsistent in so many ways that so many people on this board have failed to point out, that have little to do with Asian American representation, which I didn't find very real either.

1) The receipt scam at the beginning. This is a very, very old trick and no longer works because of the implementation of in-line receipts.

2) Daric invites Ben in on a scam after writing a *beep* report about him in the paper. This is really one of the biggest holes in the film, as no matter what nationality you are, you dont INVITE strangers in on a scam, unless you're just begging to get caught. It never ever worked that way in high school, as it never will, and its a flaw that ought shouldn't overlooked.

3) The fight at the party. The first thing here is that I come from Orange County, and here Asians are the majority, and many different ethnicities, while not all, love to rep their pride whenever they get the chance. Roger Ebert cites that it makes no difference if they are Filipino, Chinese, whatever because they're 2nd generation Asian-Americans that have a less defined identity. Having attended 2 very different high schools in my life that were all Asian, I can attest that while there are plenty of Asians that associate n race is a non-issue, alot, especially the academically inclined, do associate with their own ethnicities. Just because most students had parents from different parts of Asia, didn't mean they were automatically family, alot were still very divided (anyone seen any Korean/Vietnamese scuffles knows exactly what I'm talking about). I find it real hard to believe they'd be the 'other' group getting ragged on for no reason other than that they're Asian. Where I came from people were hyper, hyper touchy about their cultures and more often than not, you had to be real careful about what you said when bringing up things about various Asian cultures, coz they were the majority, you weren't (example: if you and an Asian friend are cracking racial jokes on each other just for harmless fun, if u werent Asian, it was hella unlikely you could say something back w/o getting the entire class turning their heads n glaring at you) . And everyone sees a guy get pistol whipped, but no one calls the police. Puuuullleeeeeeeeeeaaaaazzze.

4) Offers for scams start to pour in, and they meet people outside of hs for it. The scene shot here is so blatantly cliche (the typical "no matter what ur idea is I'm gonna talk *beep* about it and confer with my friends"), and does not go in depth to how the guys steal the stuff, or even why they can do it, but no one else can (cmon make them unique!)

5) In one cut, they go from scamming to using and selling cocaine. This part of the script is obviously a afterthought, as their descent into drugs is never fully explained. Like scams, no one invites you in to sell drugs unless you're already a user yourself and are familiar with how it runs. The serious effects of the drugs are never shown either, minus one nosebleed. And no one is gonna buy them off of you just coz of a reputation either, especially not one that involves guns.

6) The whole Stephanie Vandergosh thing. I highly doubt a bf would fix his girl with someone else to take her places, especially a stranger. Popular, hot chicks don't spit cheesy lines like "too much testerone here" either. And it doesn't take straight A's or $$ to know that you don't hire strangers to rob your house, that's just *beep* retarded. I know plenty of guys who were supported by their parents and lived on their own during their teens, and they LOVED it. If they wanted to show that the guy was lonely, there probably should have been more a focus on his character.

I respect the director and the cast & crew because the film does represent something big (the first all Asian cast picked up by a major studio), and some real great ideas which made me go see it, middle-class Asians being involved in crimes n other things but I just dont think it was executed very realistically. I also respect how they went out on a limb to make it, financing it on their own and all. If they really wanted to break stereotypes, they could have shown the Asians, or at least some, NOT getting straight A's (meshing the gangster and overachiever thing doesn't really seem plausible), as I saw plenty that were less than perfect but had time to be scandalous. But I think that's about it, anyone agree or disagree, I'd love to hear comments