Asian Americans in other Media
These stereotypes are also enforced in television. One example is the fairly new Disney show, Jessie. In this program, Demi Lovato plays a babysitter for a wealthy family that has adopted two children. One of the kids is from India, and they pretty much embrace every stereotype you can think of. The character’s name is Ravi, and he speaks in a forced Indian accent. He is always bringing up his ‘home country’ and making jokes on weird, made-up cultural differences they have. His best friend is a giant lizard and he only wears Indian clothes. Another example is in the hit sit-com The Big Bang Theory, in which one of the main characters is Raj, who is from India. Like Ravi, he speaks in a forced Indian accent. He holds no social skills with women, and is the only character in the show that doesn’t have a consistent romantic interest.
These stereotypes also hold true in journalism. The film Slaying the Dragon interviewed a woman that detailed her experiences with being an Asian woman newscaster. News stations began trying to add diversity to their shows, and generally hired Asian women for these roles because they were seen as ‘safe.’ However, these women had to fit a certain image, and their actual skills generally played no part in receiving their positions. This stereotype is referred to as the ‘Connie Chung’ who was actually a real news anchor in the nineties. The popular adult cartoon Family Guy makes fun of this stereotype in the Quahog news channel. The reporter for every skit is an Asian woman literally named Connie Chung. Because the actual Connie Chung was the first Asian woman to be an anchor on a national broadcast, many networks after that only wanted to hire Asian women that looked like her. As for Asian men, they don’t really have a place in broadcasting.
Asian Americans are even misrepresented in popular literature. The Harry Potter series that everyone loves, for example, only has one Asian character in the entire series: Cho Chang. This character is greatly generalized and reinforces certain stereotypes about Asian women. Here's a clip of a slam poetry performance that explains the flaws in this character.
Thankfully, some authors and screen writers have tried to create a fair representation of Asian Americans. For example, Judy Soo Hoo's play From Texas has three Asian American men as the main characters. The two main characters, Duke and Danny are dynamic and well-developed. They are survivors of the Vietnam War, and have witnessed much trauma throughout their childhood. The brothers are extremely masculine and rough around the edges, not a typical portrayal of Asian men. Soo Hoo didn't embrace stereotypes, and instead tried to create real, relatable characters.
Aside from being desexualized in the media, Asian men can also be portrayed as overly violent thugs. An example of this is in the FX show Sons of Anarchy. The only Asian men portrayed in the show are a gang of mobsters that are violent and perverted. This is also a common portrayal of Asian men in video games. One example in particular is the video game Sleeping Dogs. Although the main character of the video game is gang-affiliated, there is an author, Kevin Wong, who argues that it's portrayal of Asian Men is not entirely terrible. Here's an article that discusses the pros and cons of the video game in detail.
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While race issues in society have been getting better in recent times, this poor portrayal of a people in American media is still an issue that needs to be fixed. It creates this unrealistic expectation of Asian people in general, which can cause individuals to feel as if they need to fit into one of those roles. If they don’t quite fit in, they could feel isolated. Asian characters should embody true aspects of their cultures, but also their individuality. In Woman Warrior, Kingston tells the story of being a first generation Chinese American, who struggles to feel a sense of belonging. I bring this book up, because one of the major themes is giving an identity to Asian Americans rather than what people see on television or in movies.
American media can learn a lot from that book, in how they could portray Asians without casting them into one-dimensional roles. However, not all hope is lost. The Indian film industry is one of the leading movie producers in the world. Some Indian films have even become quite popular in the United States, like Slumdog Millionaire. Asian Americans have also found an outlet in independent films. Perhaps these are baby steps toward a better portrayal of Asian Americans in the media. Hopefully we can do away with these limiting stereotypes all together, and create a more cultured media in America.
American media can learn a lot from that book, in how they could portray Asians without casting them into one-dimensional roles. However, not all hope is lost. The Indian film industry is one of the leading movie producers in the world. Some Indian films have even become quite popular in the United States, like Slumdog Millionaire. Asian Americans have also found an outlet in independent films. Perhaps these are baby steps toward a better portrayal of Asian Americans in the media. Hopefully we can do away with these limiting stereotypes all together, and create a more cultured media in America.