Respose paper for an Asian-American studies - Essay Example

Asian American Actor/Actress in American Media and Asian American society Asian American Actor/Actress in American Media and Asian American society Introduction Asian Americans constitute an approximate four percent of the total population of people living in America. It is a fast growing minority group in USA. They however struggle to take prominent roles in the American media and their representation in the media does not represent the facts about the group. Stereotypes about this minority group in films and television programs are constantly distorted.

Their representation in films poses a great influence on Asian-American society. They are portrayed as weak, model citizens and invaders of business in America. Their women as portrayed as exotic, sexualised and hence viewed as sex objects. They are viewed as passive, submissive and eager for sex people who serve white men love interests. They are also seen as sidekicks who are incompatible with the Americans. There is Caucasian present in various roles played by Asians in films. This has an effect on their self-esteem, self-image and how other societies perceive them advancing rate of racism.

In the 2006, the film Slanted Screen, produced by Jeff Adachi, was about stereotypical depiction and absence of Asia American men in American films. It is not evident that Asian men are not present in films in a meaningful way. A certain Asian actor plays the role of an exotic lover who loses the girl at the end. Asian actors have also dominated the current pop culture in Hollywood. An interviewee Asian actor states that he was provided with options of playing a wimpy business man or a bad guy but he chose a bad guy because he wants kids who will grow watching his movies to know that Asian men are not weak characters, they got “guts”.

The stereotype on Asian women is that they are sexy, exotic, submissive and subservient to the men. Slaying the Dragon is a film produced in the year 1988 by Deborah Gee is in this line of Asian women stereotypes. The film portrays the hypersexualisation of the Asian women. It also represents stereotypes of exoticism and docile nature of Asian women. This has a negative impact on the women from the Asia America society as people from other societies perceive them to have attributes that are shown in the films that stereotypically represent Asian Women.

In cases where these women are not portrayed as sex objects in the movie, they are presented as tough warriors. This creates perceptions among individuals that Asian American women are tough and aggressive, characters that are often stereotypically associated with the men. Artistic freedom can liberalise and act in favour of Asian American performers in the media. The singing, chorus lines, magic shows and dancing at the Forbidden City created a chance for Asian Americans to display their talent and spread positive awareness of Asian American among the audiences.

This visibility act was important for the reflection of Asian Americans towards the non- Asian audience. Art can hence be used as a tool to eliminate stereotypes attached to Asian America society and enforce the right vices practised and supported by the group. They also obtain a platform to present their talent to the world without being manipulated by movie producers to play roles that bring out stereotypic aspects in the society. Asian American comedies are not as prevalent as the Asian American dramas, and moreover less prevalent as compared to blacks’ comedies.

The Asian mighty warriors of comedy present comedies that mostly lead people to make judgement about the comedy on basis of racism issues. The comedies are not viewed as funny because many issues in the comedy are basically on what is funny in the Asian American perspective (Yeung, 2007). The comedies often touch on sensitive subjects such as immigration, gang activity and racism that may be hilarious for Asian American and offensive to other people. People also view these comedies with the stereotypic motive that Asian Americans lack experiences in certain fields and they are generally “serious people” with particular matters in life.

This perception about Asians leads many people to fail appreciating comedies by Asian Americans. Black comedy are actually more prevalent in this case because black people are termed to be more experienced in many factors in comparison with the Asian Americans. ReferencesYeung B. (2007). The 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors are busy defining Asian American comedy. A pdf retrieved from http://www.metroactive.com/papers /metro/ 07.24.97/comedy-9730 comedy.html