The 8Asians Talk About: Hideaki Akaiwa, Badass of the Week

Our internal e-mail lists have us discussing all kinds of stuff: Asian American identity, representation in the media, the experiences of activism in an academia setting and its progression as we transition to the working, adult world. Sometimes we talk about people like Hideaki Akaiwa who was crowned Badass of the Week for his heroic actions during Japan’s tsunami disaster and his MacGyver like skills. You think Asian people are only good at math and appearing on America’s Best Dance Crew? Think again, world.

Moye: At first, I was like, this totally can’t be real but then I saw the source links to the LA times and I was like, whoa. This guy is totally bad-ass.

Mike: Thrilled! and Intrigued!

Jee: Okay, no joke. I teared up reading that. If Moye hadn’t checked to see it was real, I would have thought it was a short story based on the recent tragedies in Japan with a feel-good vibe. That man is unreal in his awesomeness.

Ernie: But how did he find the SCUBA gear? Did he… LOOT THE STORE?  dun dun dun!

Tim: Every good McGyver has just what he needs at his fingertips…I mean if it was your family wouldn’t you have done the same thing?

Ernie: If it meant surefire death? No, I wouldn’t. And no one here on this mailing list would, either.

Tim: I think I would have agreed with you before I had a child, but as they say, after you have one of your own, really there exists someone whose needs are more important than your own, and you’d do almost anything for for them.

Moye: I know Ernie would do almost anything for me.

Mike: I can see it now. Moye wanders out onto a busy highway. An 18-wheeler comes barreling towards her. Ernie sees this, leaps in front of the truck, and his muscles bulge out of his clothes. The truck smashes into Ernie and flips over the two of them. It crumples into a heap on the highway. Ernie smiles.

Ernie: Moye starts to cry. The rain starts to fall. “Hero” from Enrique Iglesias begins to play.

That’s as far as we got in this dorama version of 8Asians. What do you think would happen next?