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Asian stereotypes in US Hollywood films essay
Asian americans in hollywood film essay
Asian stereotypes in US Hollywood films essay
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Ellen Naruse
WRIT-016-303
Midterm Portfolio First Draft The standard role of Asian Americans within popular culture has historically been limited to stereotypes. However, a group of young Asian Americans have broken through this “bamboo ceiling” and achieved incredible success in a variety of media. In film, Kal Penn and John Cho star as second-generation Asian Americans in Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle. YouTube made the success stories of Kevin Wu and Michelle Phan possible, allowing their videos to reach a global audience consisting of millions of people. The world of pop music was then introduced to Bruno Mars and Far East Movement; both garnered incredible attention and support from a transnational fan base. This newfound success
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Notably, in Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, Harold and Kumar force viewers to reconsider the model minority stereotype. Harold is clearly meant to represent the effeminate model minority; he is a type-A man with a steady job and a boss who asserts his racial dominance by forcing Harold to do extra work for him. However, from the beginning, his marijuana use contradicts that “model” stereotype. As the movie progresses, he drifts further and further away from that generalization as he hits a police officer in the face, escapes from jail and steals a car. His masculinity is defined as he finally stands up to his Caucasian boss and makes out with a pretty girl on an elevator. Kumar also acts in opposition to expectations associated with his race. Ignoring his obvious talent in medicine, Kumar refuses to become a doctor and refuses the racial stereotype associated with that career choice. Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle reflects the destruction of the conventional beliefs about Asian American males in favor of a new, bold, cool Asian American masculinity. While Harold and Kumar are both highly intelligent, they do not let their intelligence box them in to stereotypical roles in life. They represent a generation of Asian Americans who have brought together nerd identity and cool identity, stereotypes once thought to be mutually exclusive (Eglash). The adoption of a cool nerd identity allows intelligence to be a prominent quality of Asian American
The movie White Man’s Burden, a 1995 drama, reverses the typical American cultural perspectives. In this movie John Travolta and Harry Belafonte create an emotional story highlighting the way people treat others. In a White Man’s Burden Harry Belafonte is a successful and wealthy black man, and John Travolta is a poor struggling white man. To me this movie showed me many things I was blind to. The reversal of traditional white and black roles emphasized the injustice that many minorities, in this scenario blacks, go through on a daily basis.
The culture and society of the American South can be categorized into a variety of groups through stereotypes from outsiders, politicians, music and among other things. To help depict the American South, literature and films that we have watched in class such as Mandingo, Gone with the Wind, To Kill a Mockingbird, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Color Purple, Gods Little Acre, Tomorrow, Jezebel, The Littlest Rebel and with special focus on O Brother Where Art Thou will help capture and reflect southern culture to those not accustomed to the ways of southern society.
Racial stereotypes, the automatic and mental pictures that people hold about members of a certain race. Stereotypes can be found for any race or ethnicity and are typically generalized to a whole group of people, rather than to one individual and their differences. Although racism itself is not as common in today’s world, racial stereotypes do exist and are very common. The popular sitcom, The Office, addresses the serious issue of racial stereotypes by Michael Scott to its audience with different races of characters.
...en in this film have any strong masculine qualities. They cannot take charge, they are easily intimidated, and they are never assertive with their beliefs and restrictions giving the impression to the movie viewers that Asian Americans are docile beings and Asian Americans are obstacles easily overcame.
The film being analysed is the Breakfast Club, directed by John Hughes. Trapped in Saturday detention are 5 stereotyped teens. Claire, the princess, Andrew, the jock, John, the criminal, Brian, the brain, and Allison, the basket case. At 7 am, they had nothing to say, but by 4 pm; they had uncovered everything to each other. The students bond together when faced with the their principal, and realise that they have more in common than they think, including a hatred for adult society. They begin to see each other as equal people and even though they were stereotyped they would always be The Breakfast Club. The Breakfast Club highlights a variety of pressures that are placed upon teenagers through out high school. One of the most challenging aspects of screenwriting is creating characters that an audience can identify with, relate to, and be entertained by.
Lionel Higgins (Tyler James Williams) portrays an African American male that is outcasted by his fellow peers. At a prestigious university such as Winchester University you would think the Black Student Union would bring together all African Americans but sadly Lionel is not included. Lionel is an undeclared past philosophy major who is still trying to find his niche. What sets Lionel Higgins apart from other peers and classmates is his sexuality. He is a homosexual that has not found his voice and has not figured out what he stands for. That is, until a blackface Halloween party erupts on campus and he walks in on the party first hand. The party portrayed stereotypical black people personas such as ratchet females with long nails, males
As an Asian American, I have several points to discuss in terms of stereotypes. Through a variety of media, Asian Americans are portrayed by socially constructed stereotypes that are either positive or negative to our community. By explaining the definition of a stereotype and listing three specific ones identified, these points reflect our cultural values. These stereotypes include the concept of model minority, the insinuation that Asians are highly skilled at mathematics, and assumptions of our food ways. In each stereotype, I integrate my own experiences to provide a deeper depth of meaning that will allow one to evaluate whether these stereotypes do mirror our society’s customs.
Lee, Josephine D.. Performing Asian America race and ethnicity on the contemporary stage. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1997. Print.
equality to be able to vote, and today women are still battling for equality in political
I gave several examples where Asian Americans were used to play very simple characters. These roles were defined by stereotypes that exist in America. I also researched instances on counter actions taken by Asian Americans to protest against these negative images. My research also has examples of Asians that have succeeded in breaking through the racial barriers in the media.
helping. Television is making the shows out to seem like one race is better than another. For
Throughout the history of history of television, the creators of the show are trying to always portray certain people a certain way. In television show “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne” Curtis Payne, the father, and Ella Payne, the mother are portrayed based on their negative racial stereotypes of African Americans, the traditional gender roles, as well as the time period when the show takes place.
In conclusion, I have learned that the use of mass communication that accurately depicts cultural and political issues can ultimately raise awareness. During my mission here on earth, I hope that my productions can to be different and somehow help the development of society as Lee has. Using the skills that Lee has obtained, he has accurately showed modern society that life is not all picture perfect. Despite all of the controversy and his downplay of stereotypical Hollywood setting and characters, Lee still stands strong toward the movement of cultures as a whole to a better understanding of life itself. This understanding can influence others to move toward change and innovative ways of promoting equality.
When you think about the culture in the United States (U.S.), it is considered to be very diverse. There are many different cultures and religions in the country, which increases the diversity. Asians are a significant part of U.S. culture as they have been around for years. However when compared to how other U.S. citizens are treated, Asian Americans are treated significantly worse. “Asian Americans, like other people of color, continually find themselves set apart, excluded and stigmatized-whether during the 19th century anti-Chinese campaign in California, after the 1922 Supreme Court decision (Ozawa v. United States) that declared Asians ineligible for U.S. citizenship, or by a YouTube video that went viral on the Internet in 2011 in which a UCLA student complained bitterly about Asians in the library” (Healey, p.330). Many Asian Americans have been treated poorly because of how they are perceived within the society. It may be because of a jealousy against their strong academic achievement or because of the many jobs that they have “taken away” from the American population. In Wu Franks Article, Yellow, he claims that when someone refers to someone as an American, it is automatically assumed that they are White, however when someone is thought of as a minority they are thought of as Black. Asian Americans neither fit into the Black or White category, therefore feel as if there is no place within society for them to fall into. Wu’s article in comparison to the documentary Vincent Who?, explains how Asian Americans have been treated in America in the past, and how those stigmas have not changed as much. The documentary Vincent Who?, goes to describing murder of Vincent Chin, who was brutally attacked and murdered outside of a ...
The term “hillbilly” is a stereotype for people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas in the USA. Because a stereotypical expression, “hillbilly” includes images of being violent and backward, many Americans feel offensive when they hear the word.