Gender Stereotypes : No Joy, No Luck By Jessica Hagedorn

Who is really responsible for stereotyping among the ethnic characters in films? According to Jessica Hagedorn in her article “Asian Women in Film: No Joy, No Luck” she explains the stereotypes that are happening in the movie industry since then. In fact, this issue was very popular in Hollywood films. There always have been this racial issue about the roles that they give to Asian actors and actresses that were always limited. Another problem is about the racial options of the casting of the films even though the original roles was made to be Asian (“Yellow Faces”). Hollywood writers and directors have a social responsibility to avoid stereotyping ethnic characters because they have the power to choose the characters, to interpret the movies, and to influence people.

To begin with, the first reason why movie directors have a responsibility regarding this issue is because they have the power to choose the castings and characters. They are responsible for the stereotyping of the Asian people and other race or ethnicities. In fact, the casting directors are the one who chooses the characters that were suitable for the movies. While the writers will be accountable for the roles that the characters are doing in the movie. For example, Hagedorn asserts one example of the film that was written which portrays Asian stereotypes, like The World of Suzie Wong where an Asian woman plays to be a prostitute in this film (344). This film clearly shows that the roles that are played by Asian are always not so great.

On the other hand, some people might say that the producers are only choosing the best characters for the roles. To illustrate, in the documentary “Yellow Faces” some people claims that the casting of the movie The Last Airbe...

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...the power to influence people are the main reasons why the Hollywood writers and directors have a social responsibility to avoid stereotyping ethnic characters. The film producers should have done better in making films with Asian actors or Asian themes when they produce it using the right characters for it or better roles. Clearly, it shows a bad image for the Asian people and it degrades them to think that they are less than another ethnicity. Even though today it was gradually changing, it was still there and the people should be aware of that. Movie is a huge part of every people’s lives, so the movies can influence people in many ways. Thus, the roles and plot should be appropriate, fair and equal. In that way, the racism in the film industry can be lessened and people will start recognizing all ethnicities with the same capabilities in movies and in real life.