Last class, while discussing representation of certain groups in the media, I brought up the ways in which Asians are stereotyped in American media. As an American-born Chinese, I don’t necessarily find these stereotypes offensive but I am intrigued as to why more creators of media choose to reuse and recycle the same caricatures over and over again. The major roles for Asian actors are the kung-fu master, the gang member, and the nerd. While I don’t think that these stereotypes are particularly harmful in the short-term, they have drastic implications on cultural relations in the long-term. Studying the media of a particular culture is a method that cross-cultural scholars of Martin and Nakayama’s critical approach use.
The typecasting of an Asian as the martial arts master has been prominent across several decades of cinema. Actors like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li popularized this genre, while the influx of “wuxia” films in the 21st century like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, and House of Flying Daggers furthered it. Some argue that the “wuxia” genre did more good than bad, since it got Americans interested in Asian culture. While I appreciate the fact that a foreign film such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was able to become popular in the States, I do feel that nowadays Americans will only think of Asian culture as “flying people kung-fu fighting” while there remain so many unexplored cultural aspects. The gang member can be seen in films such as Gran Torino and the Rush Hour films. Mostly, Asian gang members are portrayed as moronic and incompetent; they are rarely portrayed as the more sophisticated, refined gangsters played by white and black actors. The Long Duk Dong character in Sixteen Candles is a representative of the nerdiness that has now become associated with Asians. In fact, other current freshmen have said that they pictured me as a nerd after looking at my Facebook profile, simply because I was Asian and wear glasses. I have also been asked numerous times, both jokingly and seriously, if I know karate or tae kwan do or some other sort of martial arts. These stereotypes aren’t particularly damaging to my well-being, but they definitely affect others’ perceptions of me and other Asian people.
The above examples are very limited to Asian men; for Asian women, the number of roles is even lower. Going back to “wuxia”, some have applauded the genre for introducing strong Asian women to the American consciousness, but it doesn’t really do much when Americans can only see them as a martial arts warrior, a geisha, an exotic love interest, etc. It’s interesting how Asian men are mostly portrayed for their intelligence/ability whereas Asian women are only notable for their beauty.
The United States has a long-standing history of exploiting its minority groups in the media, reinforcing stereotypes and prejudices, and putting them into the media of the next generation. It’s a vicious circle. We need more people like John Cho, who along with Kal Penn, created one of the first mainstream films set in contemporary society that featured relatable main characters who happen to be Asians. We need more films like Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, that features characters who are Asian (as well as gay) who aren’t the butt of jokes. Overall, I feel we need a more fair and accurate representation of minorities in the media. We live in a global community. If our media continues to perpetuate distorted images of different groups of people, how will be able to know the truth?
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Very interesting post, I like that you use personal experience to analyze another set of ethnic stereotypes in film. However, I would like to note that this problem is not endemic to the United States alone. In fact, the image of the high-flying Asian kung-fu master was popularized in Asia long before Bruce Lee managed to bring it stateside. In the 1970s, Hong Kong and Taiwan produced a whole host of generic martial arts films, with recognizable recurring stars like Carter Wong. Even today, directors such as Chan-wook Park and Takashi Miike produce films with normal lead characters who "just happen" to be kung-fu masters.
ReplyDeleteBut of course, there is a flipside, that being directors who portray Asian society for what it actually is. At first, it was Japan's Yasujiro Ozu, and today, the preeminent director of Asian realist cinema is China's Zhang Yimou. I'd say that the vision of these directors is the closest one can come to actually capturing Asian society on film, but it's useful to note that the United States is not the only market capitalizing on stereotypical images.