...moments in regard to representation of Asian and Asian Americans are handled with little attempt at creating authentic, three-dimensional characters and the humor surrounding Asians are written in poor taste. In this essay I argue that through the depiction of North Korean civilians, Sook, and Kim Jung Un, the film promotes fear of North Korean culture, “othering” of Asians, and strengthens prominent stereotypes of hyper sexualized Asian women and emasculated Asian men. In the opening scene, a Korean girl dressed in traditional Korean clothing is seen singing a song about wanting the United States to “explode in a ball of fiery hell”. Though North Korea is known for songs promoting their support of Kim Jung Un and hatred of Western capitalism, this opening scene seems to project xenophobic fears of American audiences rather than add to the plot. Attempting to find humor in songs about rape and killing almost comes across as a political message about North Korea rather than a comedic portrayal of the nation’s propaganda. The lyrics dismiss any common humanity of the North Korean civilians and the masses gathering around in support make it seem as though the topics being discussed are condoned or at least widely accepted. Throughout the film the common theme of “othering” Asians from Americans and portraying North Koreans as unobtainable, foreign and distant to American viewers is carried without the afterthought of what it might mean for representations of Asians in general. Though...
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...present predominant press, there exists an unmistakable absence of Asian American portrayal. When they are given parts in film and TV, those parts regularly keep up the cliché belief system which has been predominant for quite a long time. Asian American generalizations in these media go from dedicated and servile to the bosses of the hand to hand fighting and regularly set forth a confused or misrepresented impression of what Asian Americans resemble as a gathering. I contend that these cliché portrayals of Asian Americans show themselves in watchers' psyches and influence the way they see the minority gather far after controlling the television. These generalizations are tested when a singular Asian American develops and don't fit...
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...Asians in the American entertainment industry have been discriminated against since the silent era of film. With rare exceptions, the basic caricatures of Asians are the same today as they were in the early years of film. The lack of evolution in roles available to Asians in American entertainment perpetuates the perception that Asians are alien, foreign, and “other.” Their absence from film and television demonstrates how underrepresented Asians are in American entertainment. The scarce representations that do depict Asians, are predominantly worn-out stereotypes, yellowface, and whitewashing of roles originally intended for Asian characters. Historically, Asians have been represented as a single group of “Orientals” instead of seen as individual...
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...It very often that a person turns on a television to watch programmes without really analysing the characters they see in the shows. As viewers, we mostly ingest what we see as pure entertainment. So is not always obvious to us about how certain groups of people are being portrayed in the media, what sort of messages are being implied, or the ramifications that arise from the various representations we see. To conclude how important media representation is to viewers, we have to first understand what media representation is, what is being represented, and how it impacts society and how we perceive what or whom that is represented. In this essay I will focus primarily on the media representation in television and its examples. According to Long and Wall (2009), a definition of media representation is “to describe, or depict something; to call it up in the mind by description, portrayal or imagination. To represent also means to symbolise, to stand for, to be a specimen of or to substitute for” (p.79). In my opinion, television is one of the more impactful media form in representation. Television shows are capable of describing and depicting sceneries and people visually, and special emphasis on sound effects and such help make the scenes more vivid. So it is probably the media format that which communicates to us most straightforwardly. And by doing so, the television easily offers a sneak peak into the lives of various people living across the world, or the beautiful landscapes...
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...Asian American men and women are some of the least represented ethnic groups in film and television. In a 2014 study, it was found that out of 30,000 Hollywood characters only 5.3% of the characters were Asian. This is an insanely small number of roles. When you do the math, this equals to only 1,590 out of 30,000 roles. Most Asian Americans, when asked if they know any famous Asian actors in film, have a hard time even thinking of anyone. The only names that really come up that are very well known are the likes of Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee. These two are some of the pioneers when it comes to Asian people in American Cinema. Other than these two no one else really seems to stick out when it comes to very well-known actors. Even when it comes...
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...From the Beginning of the film industry there has always been some form of prejudice. Where the plot thickened in the past with new and interesting set of cast is no longer the norm, today the plot today weakens. The main protagonists in action movies of today all the same; a strong Caucasian heterosexual male. In drama, it is a weak Caucasian female that cry. Today we expect to see the same set of cast in every movie and in each and every television show. They are white, male, or heterosexual. That is the problem we face and something needs to be changed. We need ethnic diversity we need bringing in more than just a cast of white people. Ethnic diversity does not mean having your entire cast being Black, or have your entire cast being Asian....
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...Whether depicted in Japanese Horror, Japanese Noodle Western, or Asian American Musicals, the importance of complex characterization with regard to the main female protagonist figure is vital to a successful plot development. In various genres relating to Asian film, particularly the ones mentioned above, the female figure is portrayed as somewhat of a troubled or helpless woman who is in need of rescue and assistance from a male counterpart. The larger theme of finding a strong sense of self-identity while battling internal conflicts, as well as the fears and anxieties that arise within Japanese culture, are universal elements of characterization and mise-en-scene directly portrayed in various types of Chinese and Japanese films. Further,...
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...Affects The Asian Community Just last month ABC premiered their new show Fresh Off The Boat, which happens to be one of the few shows ever to be centered around an Asian-American family on American television. Growing up in America with first generation immigrant parents has not been easy, and growing up in a culture where you can’t even see yourself in everyday media makes it even harder to adjust. I remember watching T.V. as a kid and rarely did I see any Asian Americans on the screen; and if I did, the characters were portrayed in a way I was not familiar with. Finally getting a show like Fresh Off The Boat makes it seem like Asian Americans are breaking through barriers and making their way into mainstream media. As an Asian American myself, I happen to see this as a huge deal; finally, there is something I can relate to on T.V. Even though the Asian-American community has been excited and supportive of the series, it apparently does not appeal to the majority, and there have already been rumors of the show’s cancellation. But why is a show as innovative as Fresh Off the Boat being cancelled? The show has so many fans and is considered ground braking in the Asian-American community, but that is not enough to keep the show on air apparently. -As a minority in America, Asian Americans deserve to have their culture portrayed accurately in mainstream media. However, whenever there are Asian characters on television or films, the roles do not reflect the Asian culture, but...
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...Western portrayals of Asian Americans have repeatedly been misrepresented as feminine and inferior, obscured in the mystery of Asian exoticism. Through the Orientalist stereotypes, perpetuated by the gendered binaries, was reinforced by creative art forms such as novels, art, operas, radio programs, musicals, plays, film, and television shows. The relationship between Western and Eastern cultures is often distinguished as the masculine and the feminine, the superior and the inferior, the aggressive and the submissive. This polarized relationship is exemplified in John Luther Long’s Madame Butterfly through Cho-Cho-San and Benjamin Pikkerton, perpetuating an Orientalist and gendered representation of “Asian” and “western” identities. David Henry...
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...Asian males are marginalized and their images distorted in the media. They are usually if not always portrayed as nerdy, effeminate, quiet, hard-working, overly-shy. Hollywood constantly perpetuate these jokes that Asian guys are undesirable and undateable and when trying to think of the last few known Asian roles in Hollywood, there's not much representation to go off of which is a problem that needs a positive change. The media has been around for quite some time now but when asked to name an Asian male lead in the media, many can't think of more than just a few to none. Especially when asked about a tv show or a movie where an Asian male is the romantic lead or someone who has a kiss scene with a non-Asian female, there is almost none in this country and that is because Asian males are being heavily desexualized in the media....
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...Native American Indian. Using Native Americans names or symbols by non-native people is a form of controlling images and the three pillars of white supremacy in particular colonialism (Erickson, 2017). The Washington’s team logo/mascot could be considered harmful due to the nature of the image. For instance, the word “redskin” can be perceived derogatory. It is believed that it came from early American settlers that referenced the skin color of Native Americans thus creating “redskin”. This logo and mascot are being appropriated from the Native American Culture, and the “redskin” term should be a legitimately...
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...sagepub.com/content/13/3/287.refs.html >> Version of Record - Nov 18, 2013 OnlineFirst Version of Record - Aug 30, 2013 What is This? Downloaded from tou.sagepub.com at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University on January 5, 2014 498164 2013 TOU13310.1177/1468797613498164Tourist StudiesDung and Reijnders ts Article Paris offscreen: Chinese tourists in cinematic Paris Yun-An Olivia Dung Stijn Reijnders Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands Tourist Studies 13(3) 287–303 © The Author(s) 2013 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1468797613498164 tou.sagepub.com Leiden University, The Netherlands Abstract This article examines from a European-Asian perspective the relationship between media representations and the tourist’s imagination. We use the case of Chinese tourists in Paris to investigate how these non-European tourists imagine Europe and how these imaginations are being realized, challenged and modified during concrete tourist experiences. Drawing on semistructured interviews with tourists and field observations, this article shows how the Chinese tourist imagination of Europe is strongly influenced by popular...
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...* * * * * * * * * Representation Of Race In Media * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Much of our perceptions of the world are based on narratives and the images that we see in film, television, radio, music, and other media. These are some of the outlets that construct how individuals see their social identities, as well as learn and understand about what it is to be black, white, Native American, Asian, South American, etc. (Dow, Wood, 2006, p. 297). You will get a better understanding of this once you understand the concept of ideologies. Ideologies are what create our perception of the world around us, whether it is political, social, economic, etc. Ideologies are not the product of individual intention or conscious, rather we create our intentions within ideology (Marris, Thornham, 2000, p. 267). These ideologies exist before we are even born; they form the social constructions and conditions that we are born into. But, ideologies are just a practice, and it is produced and reproduced in apparatus of ideological production. The media is a great example of an apparatus of ideological production (Marris, Thornham, 2000, p. 273). It produces social meanings and distributes them throughout society. However, as long as ideologies continue so will social struggles such as racism, which we will discuss in this essay. Media elites represent different races through media based on...
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...Orientalism in Films There have been many uses and abuses in Western view of the Eastern cultural and social concept of orientalism. This paper discusses how orientalism relates to the three films namely M. Butterfly, Madame Butterfly, and Lost in Translation. Like the title, "M. Butterfly" basically was playing about transformation. This is the first of the Giacomo Puccini opera metamorphosis that was famous, in which "Madame Butterfly" became the modern geopolitical argument to understand the culture. In this film, through love relations that really did not make sense between a French diplomat and the Chinese opera singer he believed the man became the woman, how could the failure for the wish to be separated from reality result in the deception and the tragedy. Gallimard changed Sole from "only humankind" in the "Perfect Woman". Due to his insecurity about his own masculinity, Gallimard needs to create Song in the image of the perfect Asian woman, which is exotic, sensual, and acquiescent, in order to feel wholly male. Although he seeks to confine Sole within the context of his fantasy, Gallimard poster vulnerability and need actually free Sole by providing her with an outlet to flee the Orientalist representation of Asian people. Gallimard transforms Sole into a butterfly, boots instead of transforming him into one of the butterfly. Whereas Gallimard, is actually the one who eventually ends up trapped by his own fantasy. Through an analysis of Gallimard practice cultural...
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...Blackface Chic: High Fashion, Racechange and Cultural Tourism Race, Identity, and Public Culture Popular cultural representations, in particular those in the fashion industry, have recently reinvented a historically loaded image in their performances: blackface.1 In the past several years, blackface and other images of physical transformations of race have appeared in a number of high and popular fashion contexts including a “yellowface” fashion show in Shanghai sponsored by Karl Lagerfeld, supermodel Heidi Klum photographed wearing only chocolate syrup, an issue of French Vogue featuring a white model in black body paint and elaborate “African-inspired” costuming, a photograph in V Magazine of two models, one in blackface and one white, wrestling, two episodes of America’s Next Top Model involving racial and biracial transformation, and an editorial naming American Apparel and showing a woman in blackface. Blackface, though in a contemporary form more accurately described by the term “racechange,” or the performance of one race by another (Gubar 2000), far from being taboo have become an aesthetic in the fashion industry. Though popular magazines and newspapers such as Essence and a number of fashion blogs have responded to particular instances of racial transformation, there is relatively little scholarly work on the rise of racechange in contemporary fashion. This essay attempts to fill that gap in scholarship by examining racial transformation through...
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