MASS MEDIATED POPULAR CULTURE
Sometimes these impressions can have a negative impact on how a particular ethnic group is thought of in reality. In movies and television different races and ethnicities always seem to have their own unique characterization so much that they are rarely seen as anything else - an example of this is the characterization of African Americans as loving to wear bling (a.k.a expensive, shiny forms of jewelry), or that nearly all of them are gang affiliated, love to fight, have tattoos and have their head shaved bald. In reality, this may not be necessarily true as evidenced by the current U.S. President who is an African American and does not fit the image portrayed by the popular media. Another ethnic group that is commonly portrayed in movies and television shows are Asians. Common connotations associated with them are an inability to be understood, lack of English language understanding, possessing strange accents and lastly a belief that a majority of Asians seen on the streets are of Chinese origin. Such discrepancies are common due to their portrayal in popular culture however a distinction should be made between the fiction that is being portrayed in movies, TV series etc., and actual facts on how these ethnic groups actually are in reality. This paper focuses on the difference between how Asians are portrayed in popular media through their characterizations, cultural connotations attributed to them and how they actually are in normal setting. This paper also seeks to prove that the portrayal of Asians in popular culture such as in movies and TV shows is geared towards entertainment and not as a portrayal of actual facts.
Different Characterizations of Asians in Popular Culture
One of the most popular portrayals of Asian Americans is their characterization as foreigners who cannot be assimilated due to the fact that they are culturally and racially different from what can be considered a normal American. There is an ongoing notion that people of Asian decent are unable to be incorporated into American society due to the fact that anything Asian is by its nature alien or different to America. This notion is shown in the media by the large number of unassimilated Asian characters in movies speaking with foreign accents or in a foreign language that is hard to be comprehended or understood. An example of this would be when the main character in a movie visits a Chinese run store, goes to Chinatown or barges into a Chinese restaurant. In nearly all of these cases, we find an old Chinese woman shouting in a high pitched tone at the main character and speaking in Chinese or if they do speak English it is usually broken English (a form of speaking English wherein a person abruptly stops a sentence without a flow of continuity to the next) which is heavily accented in a comedic way. This portrayal suggests that anything Asian must be considered distinctly separate from regular American society since it cannot be understood or interpreted. This notion is highly flawed since most of the descendents of Asian immigrants have acculturated themselves to such an extent that the way they talk, think and even interact with people is distinctly American with hardly any traces of their past culture, and most importantly of all, they can be understood rather easily in fact, at times they speak better English than some White Americans.
In some movies and television shows people of Asian descent are portrayed as being inherently predatory in a sense that they take from country without giving anything back or are from a criminal background and wish to gain more money and power through illegal means. An example of this would be in the movie Falling Down, wherein the white main character accuses a grocer of Asian descent (Korean) of using American resources without trying to fit into American society. This accusation justifies the action of the lead character when he destroys the grocery store. Another movie Rising Sun portrays another situation that discriminates Asians when Japanese businessmen attempt to take over American industry through murder and deceit. Several other movies and TV episodes ranging from Rush Hour 1, 2, 3 as well as The Shadow and L.A. Confidential have portrayed the numerous Chinatowns as breeding grounds of crime. Such portrayal maligns hard working Asian businessmen who strive to become pillars of their community and who pay their taxes on time, wherein most Chinatowns hardly have a criminal element similar to what is portrayed in popular culture.
An ongoing theme in movies involving Asian Americans is a certain restriction to clichd occupations that are again and again, such as the Chinese being restaurant workers, Koreans as grocers, the Japanese as business men, and other careers attached specifically to Asians martial artists, Buddhist monks, miracle healers, laundry workers and scantily clad prostitutes. While it may be true that at some point in Americas history when a lot of Asians immigrated to the U.S. those were the only sorts of jobs they could get at that time however what was true then is not true now since the current Asian workforce is rather diverse and consists of individuals of a plethora of different professional backgrounds not limited to what is portrayed in popular media.
Since Asian racial features, their names, accents, unique mannerisms and other distinctive Asian characteristics are less common in the United States, movies and TV shows often use them for quick and easy gags or just as a way to bring out a cheap laugh. An example of this would be the thick accent of the funny Chinese exchange student in Sixteen Candles--who is given the name Long Duk Dong which is used for cheap laughs at this expense, or the twins from the movie Austin Powers Goldmember who are named Fook Mi and Fook Yu the hidden connotations of their name are apparent when combined with the sexually liberated Austin Powers jokes.
In the realm of sexuality popularly portrayed by the mass media, the concept of Asian male sexuality is usually seen as negative, cold and non-existent while Asian women on the other hand are frequently portrayed as sensual and exotic partners for white men. Some examples of this would be in the movies Sayonara, and The World of Suzie Wong, to name a few. Unfortunately, though Asian men never seem to have a positive relationship when paired with women of any race, this is similar to what is also happening to African Americans when they are portrayed in popular media. In such cases, for both Asian and African American men, the relationships do not work out and end badly. A popular example would be the film Wax Museum starring Paris Hilton where she was portrayed as having a sexual relationship with an African American male and towards the end of the film would wound up dead. On the other hand, Asian men are shown as either corrupters of white women or as eunuchs lacking any sort of feeling whatsoever. An example of which would be the movie Showdown in Little Tokyo, wherein the Asian villain sexually forces himself on a white woman and kills her before threatening the Asian female love interest. When such cases are presented to the public, they at times carry the connotation that a bi-racial relationship would end badly, however most bi-racial relationships are exactly the same as any other whether the party involved is a male or female Asian.
In the movie Daughter of the Dragon, the daughter of Fu Manchu sees a British detective and falls in love with him at first sight, the movies The Bounty and Come See the Paradise also have scenes where an Asian woman falls in love with a white man at first sight. It is rather obvious what the recurring theme in these movies is and what they are trying to portray, namely that Asian women are romantically attracted to white men because the men are white. This insinuates that the whiteness of a persons skin is inherently more important than any other romantic quality and also more appealing than any other skin color. This sends the wrong message about Americanized Asians, since a lot of Asian women marry Caucasians partially because the likelihood of meeting one is greater due to the sheer number present, most of the time most ethnicities, if given a choice, tend to stick to their own kind so to speak.
Another concept portrayed by popular media is that Asian women are China dolls in that they are often shown as being exotic, subservient, industrious, compliant, and above all eager to please their male partners. While this may be somewhat true in original Asian countries where most Asians come from, this is often not case of Americanized Asians since they normally possess the strong sense of independence and liberation associated with American women. Cultural attitude is the source of how most people tend to act and since a lot of Americanized Asians were born and grew up in the U.S., they adopted the traits inherent in the population of the country itself.
A rather interesting concept of Asian women is that they are dragon ladies in that Asian women are inherently violent, scheming, untrustworthy, and would back stab you should the chance come up. The nickname dragon lady came from the Asian villainess in the vintage comic strip Terry and the Pirates. Some examples of this particular stereotype are the daughter of Fu Manchu and the gangsters molls in The Year of the Dragon as well as other numerous Chinese women in some Bruce Lee movies.
One rather unique and ill-conceived notion of Asian Americans is that they are a model minority. This particular portrayal occurred when the Asian American communitys concerns over media images which portrayed them in a bad light caused some producers to make good-faith effort to create more positive portrayals. What happened was that some of these portrayals went too far in other direction and depicted Asians so flawless that they practically lost their humanity. One particular image that has proliferated itself due to popular culture is that Asian Americans are over-achievers with little emotional life, an example of it is the Asian American classmate in the canceled TV sitcom Pearl. In such a situation, it can be just as bad as a negative portrayal since the expectations set upon by virtue of their supposed ability can be just as daunting.
In most movies involving mysticism, magic or fantasy origin of a certain unique power or gift from Asia is often used as a quick and convenient reason for a person or an object to have a certain magical or supernatural element to it. In the movie The Shadow, the titular character Lamont Cranston supposedly acquired his mental powers of invisibility from the mysterious East. Due to popular media, there is a growing assumption that Asian cultures are based on mysticism and strange magic such that they can defy the physical reality of the world. While it may be true that in some instances of fiction Asian magic shows itself to be force to be reckoned with, most Asians if not all have hardly a drop of magic in them, the concept of Asian cultures being based on magic is just that concept with no real basis on reality which has been exaggerated by the mass media and entertainment industry to ridiculous heights.
Experiences with Unmediated Asians Mall Visit
When going out with four Asian friends to the nearby mall to get out of the repressive heat you would not think from the sound of their voices that they were Asian at all. They did not have the shrilly high pitched voices of an angry Chinese woman that you get to see in movies nor did they have broken English but rather spoke it clearly and easily. Further evidence of this would be the types of clothes they wore. The two female friends of mine wore spaghetti strap shirts from Gap along with shorts made out of Denim from Banana Republic and wore Hawaiians slippers while the two guys in our group wore Levis jeans, brand name shoes and DG shirts. In other words, they had the same American obsession over brand name goods as the rest of the population and were living up to the American culture. We dropped by a family owned McDonalds that one of my friends family members owned and had a snack there while she talked to her father who was the owner manager of the store.
This particular situation showed the Asians within the U.S. are not limited to certain job stereotypes as shown in movies and on TV. Rather, they have a very diverse career portfolio. Not only that but two of my friends were actually in a relationship with Native American and another Asian, so the supposed love at first sight connotation due to the skin color of the person in some movies was far from the truth. Another concept to address is the supposed China doll connotation attributed to Asian women. In this case, it is far from truth since my Asian friends who were girls were actually into kick boxing and also somewhat tomboyish, so that concept really does not seem to apply to the common stereotypes. In the sitcom Pearl we can see a situation wherein Asians are shown as being overachievers. Unfortunately though, the case with my friends it not like that at all. This also goes to prove that what is shown by popular culture is not always the case in reality.
Conclusion
What is portrayed by popular culture and in the movies is not always true. In fact, the reality of how things really are would make anyone to realize that what is being shown is nothing more than satire aimed at trying to make people laugh or entertained with little connection to how reality is actually like. In this essay about how Asians have been portrayed by the media, you can come to realize, especially if you have Asian friends who have been raised in the U.S. that they are no different from you or me. The preconceived notions that have been developed about Asians are nothing more than fabrications of the entertainment industry and everything you see on TV and in the movies is not how the world actually is like.
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