In Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello, the main character is a Moorish general of the Venetian army is portrayed as a well-respected, yet disparaged for his race and how he looks by the historical and cultural background during the playwright and the intended audience of the play. Similarly, Asian American in today’s society are expected to be in the technological and medical careers as they are usually known to be high advanced in academics, yet they are still get taunted for their appearance because today’s society believe having slanted eyes and small body parts is unnatural and gives a disadvantage for the Asian American. In Othello, the main Character Othello was able to grow in power within the city because his leadership in the Army and
Early film portrayals of Asian American women affect the Asian American community in a way that women are being hyper-sexualized. According to the film Slaying the Dragon, most if not all of the films that featured Asian women represented them as being submissive, sexual projects, and pleasure-giving. Other roles that they take on include being a victim that warrants saving, a dragon lady that constitutes power and is sexually provocative, or prostitutes/ sex workers that are always available for men. These stereotypes are not only seen in film, but in rap music videos as well such as Bed Rock, which was sang by Young Money and was released in 2010. The hyper-sexuality linked with Asian women were further supported in our book Asian America
Film, media and Hollywood have shaped over the years how society views as the norm. They have dictated the way certain races or minority groups are portrayed. If it weren’t for people speaking out about injustices there would have never been a change in the film and media industry. Over decades African Americans have been oppressed and misrepresented in film. It has not only been African American’s but also women.
How we see ourselves cannot be exactly how we are perceived by others. This is an ordinary situation for common people in daily lives because no one can know everything about another person and one’s impression is always depending on the background information on the particular occasion when judgment is made. If what we really are or what we see ourselves is an iceberg, only the small part above the sea is seen by the others but larger part below the sea is unseen. Sometimes, how people think of us is like a distorting mirror, which misrepresents the truth, makes funny exaggerations and misleads far away from who we are. The pictures of Laura Swanson are personal examples of the ‘iceberg’ views by others.
When viewing any form of western media, it becomes quite obvious that there is a lack of representation of Asian Americans. If there is representation, it usually a one dimensional stereotypical character. There has especially been a lack of representation of Asian Americans in comedy. Therefore, there is gap in the analysis of Asian American comedy in academic literature. ‘Fresh Off the Boat’ is the second sitcom involving an Asian cast in America.
Growing up, I was constantly reminded that for whatever reason, Asians had it easy in America. Like somehow, professions in medicine and law were handed to us on silver platters because everyone expected us to become doctors and lawyers anyway. Of course, the multitude of Asian-Americans who do end up in these fields must have worked tirelessly to get there. But I often look back at my childhood thinking, “What if everyone had supported me becoming an actor in the same way they support future doctors?” My dream of working in entertainment was taken as joke, and growing up, I understood that I would have to work twice as hard to become successful in this field because people like me did not receive support in pursuing the arts.
Asian Americans were the first minority to appear on films. Their image changed from how Americans viewed them. The characters were flat, they did not have many characteristics or traits, they had a label and stuck to it. Asian American women in films were hard to take serious because of their lack of complexity. Sometimes they were cast by white actresses.
The yellow fever is now occuring, the phenomenon in which a white man interested and sometimes obsessed with Asian women. According to Debbie Lum, a fourth-generation descendant of a Chinese-American from St Louis, Missouri, there are reasons why many men consider women Asia as the ideal wife. Touted as Asian women more submissive and obedient. In addition, they have a dream to live in more affluent western countries. Married to American men to be the way they are to obtain a green card.
A certain percentage of people have always asked, “Why are Asians treated poorly in the media if they are the model minority?” For the longest time, Asian Americans have been unable to achieve a voice or leave a trace in American pop culture since the popular media and consumer market undermines and negatively systematizes the racial group. As a matter of fact, there are plentiful Hollywood films nowadays that lack racial diversity in its casting members. Consequently, if the movie or television show did consist a diverse set of performers that consist of minorities, there is an abundance of racial mockery within the portrayal of the characters. Asian Americans are great examples of being undermined as they one of the few races in this country
Rationale In today’s multicultural society, the discrimination of Asian Americans has arisen in the form of comedic jokes, political matters, and more commonly, stereotyping. This has made me aware of how isolated Asian Americans actually are from their American communities. Being Asian-American myself, I’ve decided that the stereotypes surrounding my race are not only degrading to our culture, but even more dangerously, they have the potential to affect us internally. I’ve chosen to voice my opinion in the form of an online blog post, since the Internet is internationally used, and easily accessible to my audience.