ASIAN Stereotypes Part One

One night Kathryne challenged me to find an Asian in popular American media that isn't portrayed as goofy, irreverent, and mostly harmless. So I set out to prove her wrong. Not that I though she didn't have a valid point, in fact, once she said this, I became aware that I was surrounded by examples of what she was describing.

The foreign exchange student featured in the movie "Sixteen Candles".

I provided an image from "Full Metal Jacket" because it is so iconic. A Vietnamese prostitute approaches the main character and proclaims "I love you long time" in broken English. The depiction remains in popular culture. I have to give Stanley Kubrick props for also providing us with the very serious and not harmless character of the female Viet Cong sniper later in the movie.

 

Kathryne also gave me a time period to observe this phenomena. “Since Bruce Lee died” she said “you rarely see an Asian-American depicted as powerful and earnest” (More on Bruce Lee in part two). Has the stereotyped image improved in the internet age? 

Not so sure. Here is a picture of a recent sitcom of the “Friends” variety. 

 

Yea, I know we've all had to wear doughnuts on our heads at some point, so why should I care? Even Kathryne asked me this (she is Korean). Well because it bugged me and most of all it bugged me that I was unaware of the media stereotype. I was aware of the objectification of native Americans, Hispanics and other cultures but not this. Perhaps I am idealistic and envision America as modern and pluralistic. Perhaps I share Quentin Tarantino's excitement when it comes to Asian cinema and don't limit myself to American media. Either way hearing Bill O'reilly's generalizations, the UCLA youtube rant, or the “make me asian” app just makes me cringe. Part three of this series is my ongoing list of influential Asians. Feel free to comment however you see fit.