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Asian stereotypes in US Hollywood films essay
Asian americans in hollywood films essay
Asian stereotypes in US Hollywood films essay
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1. There is a very homoerotic/masculine feel from the opening scene of Rambo III. We are introduced to a ripped and glistening character that looks like he has been bathing in baby oil/tanning oil for the past 48 hours. There is nothing that seems to hurt Rambo as he takes every blow delivered to him in the opening scene. He is also willing to kill countless amounts of Russians in order to save the American general. The game that Rambo learns to play? It is only a physical game played with goat carcass. Rambo is made out to be un-stoppable and even God-like. When Trautman reveals that Rambo is coming to resue him, Zaysen asks Trautman who he thinks Rambo is…God? Trautman replies, “No, God would have mercy…he won’t.” Rambo would rather die than not fight for what he believes in. Even at the end, when all seems lost, he refuses to go down without a fight. His determination to fight is the greatest testament to his masculine identity. The Afghanis respect this and in this sense, Rambo almost becomes a martyr to them. By the end, it almost seems like they aren’t fighting for themselves, but for Rambo! In relation to Jeffords, the “hard-body” physique is clearly present with Stallone’s character as are the narratives of heroism, toughness, strength, etc… in the film which helps to clearly demonstrate the mastery over foreign enemies.
2. Orientalism is the way that the Middle East is depicted by its’ friendly acquaintances over in the West. In other terms, it is a “racist discourse which constructs the orient for Western aggrandizement.” The way that the Afghans are depicted in the film alongside Rambo makes the audience sympathize with them. The little boy also looks up to Rambo. He looks up to him a masculine father-figure. Using th...
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...ew what we know now. If only they knew about how 9/11 and the actions the Bush administration took because of it. Furthermore, I wouldn't be surprised if the same question asked of Rambo “Where’s the honor here?” is asked today by Afghans/Pakistanis wondering where the “honor” is in unmanned drones? It was hard to figure out who to root for in the film…especially with historical bias…because the Taliban and entire nation of Afghanistan are made out to be heroes in the film. Back then, it may have been acceptable to insinuate that anyone fighting Russia was practically Christ. They are even referred to as “freedom fighters” in the film (President Reagan would use this term as well). Today though, we have to watch this film while knowing about the death and destruction caused by terrorists on September 11. Back then, our present “enemies” were our former “comrades.”
Critics have already begun a heated debate over the success of the book that has addressed both its strengths and weaknesses. The debate may rage for a few years but it will eventually fizzle out as the success of the novel sustains. The characters, plot, emotional appeal, and easily relatable situations are too strong for this book to crumble. The internal characteristics have provided a strong base to withstand the petty attacks on underdeveloped metaphors and transparent descriptions. The novel does not need confrontations with the Middle East to remain a staple in modern reading, it can hold its own based on its life lessons that anyone can use.
John Rambo and Jack Ryan are two amazing men. They are honest, trustworthy, heroic, never crack under pressure, and stand for truth, justice, and the American way. Sylvester Stallone and Harrison Ford do their best attempting to make the audience believe that men such as Rambo and Ryan actually exist. Try as they might, not even Stallone or Ford can convince me that men of this caliber actually live. Rambo is able to not only foil his corrupt, superior American officer trying to sabotage his mission, but eliminate an entire army of Vietnamese and Russian soldiers, and save a handful of POWs. Jack Ryan defies the entire government and the largest Colombian drug cartel because he stands for the “truth.” Sorry, but I am not buying it.
Movies, one can argue, are one of America’s greatest pastimes. Unfortunately, after 9/11, films have become increasingly prejudiced against American Muslims. In movies Muslims are frequently portrayed negatively. According to James Emery, a professor of Anthropology, Hollywood profits off of “casting individuals associated with specific negative stereotypes”. This is due to the fact that viewers automatically link characters with their clichéd images (Emery). For Muslims, the clichéd image is of the violent fundamentalist, who carried out the terroristic attacks on 9/11. As a result, the main stereotypes involved in movies display Muslims as extremists, villains, thieves, and desert nomads. An example of a movie that has such a negative character role for Muslims in film is Disney’s cartoon Aladdin, depict...
It is evident that Western Cultural values are diffused worldwide through the movie industry. The films are controlled by western funding and reflect Western perspectives vividly. Between the lines in the scripts, filmgoers are urged to link the Western culture and “whiteness” with positive-hence legitimate-values and accept whites dominant position. Film is a powerful medium, thus movies were created with emotional designs on the individual audience in order to control his or her mind hence Hollywood serve as the functional means for establishing the concept of white supremacy. Hollywood movies are therefore the main instruments for establishing the whit supremacy mind-set that automatically triggers the message that whites are far superior than any other race. Ideological hegemony theorizes the way in which relationships of domination and exploitation are embedded in the dominant ideas of society. To the extent that dominant ideas are internalized, they induce consent to these relationships on the part of the dominated and exploited. Blood Diamond and In the Heat of the Night are two distinct movies where the movie makers present us with two different ideological concepts, Both films portrayed the white and non white consciousness. Blood Diamond they attacked their own race as In the Heat of the Night the whites attacked the non whites . Blood Diamond showed this in a more violent way then In the Heat of the Night did. The conscious of both films were power and authority. The blacks in each of these films are seen as secondary characters which is usually a way of promoting the supremacy of whites . The movie Blood Diamond discusses the complexity of conflicts with bringing western group intt Sierra Leone. This concept also trie...
Orientalism, which became famous as a term after Edward Said’s book written in 1978, explains a power relation between the Orient and the Occident inspiring from the Foucault’s The Archeology of Knowledge and
Since September 11, 2001, the Western world’s view of the Middle East, specifically countries like Iraq or Afghanistan, has shifted drastically. Whenever the media portrays the Middle East, they manage to spin a story negatively or violently. Due to these extrinsic influences, the youngest generation of Americans has never known an America that did not express at least some hatred toward certain parts of the Eastern world. Novels like The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini strive to encourage a healthy interest in Afghanistan and the Middle East while breaking the stereotypes that westerners have come to accept as fact about the culture and religion of Afghanistan. Hosseini manages to conjure a universal story line with relatable characters that introduce the world to the everyday people of postcolonial Afghanistan. On a grander scale, in The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini utilizes his own life experiences alongside his firsthand account of the contemporary history of Afghanistan to craft a novel that breaks down these negative stereotypes and offers a significant contribution to Afghan American literature.
In recent years, the debate over the merits versus the racial shortcomings of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness has raged hot. Many, notably David Denby and Chinua Achebe, have come down on one side or another of the issue. I contend, with the help of the written opinions of Denby and Achebe, that Heart of Darkness, while racist in its views, is nonetheless a valuable and commendable work of art.
“Aladdin” demonstrates how social class and power can affect the lives of different individuals. The 1992 film is an Arabian-style folktale, based in the time period of high poverty. Aladin is more than just a kids story, it has more meaning to it. It is a story that represents the struggle for lower classes in Islamic and worldwide society. In this story Aladdin struggled with poverty, he was a master thief who had a dream to make higher class. He was given his opportunity to take on his dream when he came across a genie who could grant his wish, which allowed him to become prince and marry the princess, but he was not satisfied with his success. In fact throughout the story of “Aladdin”, social class had made a huge impact on each individual character in the story,
In the first scene we observe a Muslim man inside a firearm store, attempting to buy a gun. The owner is a white Caucasian male that presents a negative attitude towards the customer because of his Muslim background. This feeling triggers in the owner, negative attitudes based on the assimilation and stereotypes with the Muslim race. Being immediately associated with the Al Qaeda terrorist group, which was responsible for suicidal bombers that have killed thousand of Americans.
Norris, H.T. "The Arabian Nights: A Companion." Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 58 (1995):148-149.
...ous and being there can raise concern. These political concerns relate closely with issues addressed in the film particularly with the war in Afghanistan and the threat of terrorism. The senior Taliban leader Ahamd Shah depicts an accurate image of what members of the Taliban are like, which means killing any American who comes into their country.
There are billions of movies around the world whether it involves comedy, horror, drama, action etc. There are also many movies that include different races and cultures such as Italians, Greeks, Britain’s, Africans Americans, Arabs and so many more. What I will be focusing on is how Arabs are portrayed in movies. Many movies that are encountered around the world which include Arabs are very informative, interesting and rich in history. What I will be writing in this paper is how Arabs are portrayed in “You Don’t Mess With The Zohan” and analyzing is as well. A famous actor named Adam Sandler was the main character in this movie in which he also produced this comedy genre movie. Even though this movie didn’t get the best ratings, reviews and it was stereotypical in a way, however, I liked it because of the fact that it involves Israel’s and Palestinians and since I am a Palestinian, I was interested in watching this movie, even if it upset me because it reminded of what is currently going in Palestine now and the fact that they tried to make Zohan look like an angel in this movie. However, Palestine and Israeli has been an issue for thousands of years and this movie touches some base on it. So I will be giving a description of this film, my opinion on it and some history that involves this film about the Palestinians and Israel’s.
The importance of cultural context within any type of text is essential in order to elucidate a distinct argument. In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, a novella starring the experiences of an ivory trader in Central Africa named Charles Marlow, various themes of racism and human cruelty are discussed in relation to its contextual features. The film “Apocalypse Now” by Francis Ford Coppola adapts this idea of implementing a correlation between its central ideas to a specific cultural context as well. The central research question this extended essay focuses on is how do different features used in Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and the film version of "Apocalypse Now" by Francis Ford Coppola help criticize imperialism? In Heart of Darkness and “Apocalypse Now,” the struggle between the barbaric nature of the natives and the oppressive nature of Imperialism is questioned through the use of characterization of various factors.
When in 1978 Edward W. Said published his book Orientalism, it presented a turning point in post-colonial criticism. He introduced the term Orientalism, and talked about 2 of its aspects: the way the West sees the Orient and the way the West controls the Orient. Said gave three definitions of Orientalism, and it is through these definitions that I will try to demonstrate how A Passage to India by E. M. Forster is an Orientalist text. First, Said defined Orientalism as an academic discipline, which flourished in 18th and 19th century.
The two boys George and Bassam were best friends as children, but that quickly changed as they grew older, and were exposed to the violence occurring with Lebanon’s Civil War. The two boys whom seem to be different and choose different paths are distinctively almost identical. Although George goes into the life of crime and violence, Bassam, the narrator, tries to tell us that he wants something different. I feel that this novel truly demonstrates the saying “you reap what you sow”. It demonstrates just how strongly the influence in which the world you live in deeply molds you and who you become. What I got from this novel is that it basically depicts what is more commonly known as “survival of the fittest”. The boys had to become the violent men they turned into or flee. I felt that George was cruel and pitiless. Bassam, although committing a crime of theft, still felt bad about it. Both Bassam and George end up murdering people. That demonstrated to me that although we are in two different countries, with completely different cultures, there are still similarities in ways that shows that violence is basically contagious. In the City of Los Angeles, there is a lot of violence. There are many gangs that roam the streets of Los Angeles. Although this comparison isn’t exactly correct, it is what gave me the connection to understand De Niro’s Game.