How Film in US Influence the Perception of People of Chinese Culture - Research Proposal Example

Research Proposal: How Film in United States influence the perception of people, in regard to the culture of the Chinese. This research will critically analyze the influence that media has on the perceptions people in the United States of America (USA) have of the Chinese culture by how it portrays or shows the culture (Szeto, 3). Asian stereotypes have been greatly propagated by mass media especially in the United States of America (USA), this has been proved by a content analysis carried out about the Asian minorities and how they are portrayed by mass media (Linge, 11). Xie’s (5) books are some of the available documentations that vividly and clearly show how Chinese stereotyping is taking place in visual art and media. Xie (9) has carried out a number of research projects on the influence of media on Asian stereotyping giving particular focus and emphasis on how the Chinese culture is portrayed in films in the United States of America (USA). In the research projects conducted, various issues were pointed out and they included; discrimination and racism. The goal of this research as the ones conducted byXie (7) is to identify how a majority of films in the United States of America (USA) miss represent the chines culture. The research shall focus on how Chinese men are represented by films in the USA, how Chinese women are represented by films in the USA, the level of violence associated to them as well as the morals and ethics about the Chinese culture that are miss represented or represented accordingly in the films. For example, a majority of the female chines characters are portrayed in many of the films in USA as being highly sexually seductive individuals and they are trained from a tender age to use this seductive technique to kill men. A majority of the films portray Chinese people as highly trained in elements of martial arts, these is evident in films where Chinese actors Jackie Chan and Jet Li are anchored, this exhibits fraudulent behavior (Chan, 3). Other films portray the Chinese as highly intelligent individuals, mostly appearing in films as computer wizards and sharp when it comes to solving puzzles and mathematical queries (Chan51)Not forgetting about the ethics and morals, some films portray chines girls as immoral, being used for sexual activities especially in the USA as illegal immigrants, other films portray the Chinese people as good and calm with high consideration of the four elements of nature i.e. land, water, and air (Stein, 7). With critical analysis of data intended to be collected, this research will help give a clear picture of what the Chinese culture is really about and whether what we see in the films is truly what the culture is all about (Rawnsley, 17). The researchshall combine a set of good skills from both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Quantitative methods shall include the use of questionnaires, questioners shall have short structured questions, and this shall allow the respondents to respond in brief and in precision to the questions set. Additionally, quantitative methods shall include the use of survey, a small portion of the population shall be subjected to the survey on the perceptions they have about Chinese culture and the data received from that survey shall be represented to the vast population, this process is referred to as representation. Some of the methods to be employed from quantitative methods of research include the use of focused group discussions. These groups will help get an in depth description of the Chinese culture. The other method to be used is participant observation;this will employ living with the Chinese for a period time, eating, and singing, dancing and drinking with them so as to get firsthand experience about the Chinese culture. Qualitative methods are usually employed in research to give in depth information about a field of study and participant observation is usually the most preferred and from a sociological and Anthropological scope is usually referred to as ethnography (Taylor, 53). Another qualitative method that shall be used to retrieve information shall include interviews, in interviews; open ended questions shall be employed and not close ended questions. Open ended questions allow the respondent to further expound on what they know about the Chines culture, what they think has been miss-represented or perfectly represented (Taylor, 31). Other secondary sources of data shall be used, these may include journals, periodicals, books, and ethnographies carried on the Chinese people both living in and outside China (Taylor, 22). The research intends to critically show how films in the USA influence people perceptions about the Chinese culture by addressing the following questions; 1. Why a lot of media representations especially in films showlittle about other aspects of the Chinese culture, for example, music, food, dance, marriage as an institution, and religion? 2. Since a majority of films in USA depict Chinese as having a high participation in martial arts, does this mean that all the Chinese people fraudulent in behavior? 3. The culture depicted in films in the USA, does it generally reflect how people behave in China or how the Chinese behave even in other countries? 4. Are elements of enculturation and cultural diffusion to blame for how the media, especially films in the USA depict the Chinese culture? 5. Are the morals and ethics of the Chinese people they way they are as depicted in films, for example, Chinese women are seductive or are they different? The research shall have focus on only a particular genre of films. These are action films and will use them to get a reflection of what perceptions these films give to people about the Chines culture. According to Chinese specialists, this is genre of movies that shows the Chinese people or generally speaking the Chinese culture as being Wixua, a Chines word meaning fraudulent of full of violence in the form of martial arts (Chan, 44). The most common story in the storyline of these films usually shows the upper class rulers as being hostile and exploitative and the common peasant has to struggle to defend his or he honor through physical combat in martial arts (Chan, 36). Similarly, those filmed in the contemporary world films, the Chinese are depicted as being highly violent and skilled when it comes to ways of physical combat and killing and this include both genders. The research shall critically analyze secondary data on action films also referred to as Wixua, what elements of the Chinese culture are shown in these films, which are emphasized on and which are neglected or given little or no attention (Chan, 27). Elements of the Chinese culture that are not highly reflected upon in the US films shall be identified in the research. These include music, the family as an institution, marriage as an institution and any more. It is important to explain that under the Chinese culture, music is one of the major unifying factors in the country. The people of China normally appreciate and love their music. The family is also an important institution in China, with emphasis laid on the traditional roles of a man and a woman, within the marriage set up (Chan, 33). However, most films emanating from the Western media normally fail to depict these elements of the family, and they concentrate on violence and witch craft, in depicting the Chinese culture. This shall help challenge the forms of miss representation by US films on the Chinese culture. By challenging these films, suggestions on how more the culture or cultures can be represented by media shall be brought forth. This shall spear head perfect proper media representation of cultures by the media and especially films. Works Cited Chan, Kenneth. Remade In Hollywood. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2009. Print. Linge, Olle. 'Wuxia, A Key To Chinese Language And Culture'. Hacking Chinese. N.p., 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2015. Rawnsley, Ming Yeh. 'Book Review: Chinese Martial Arts Cinema: The Wuxia Tradition (2011)'. Academia.edu. Web. 24 Apr. 2015. Top of Form Taylor, George R. Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Methods in Research. Lanham, Md: University Press of America, 2005. Print. Bottom of Form Stein, Friedrich. 'U.S. Media Impact On Asian Cultures'. Sites.google.com. N.p., 2006. Web. 16 Apr. 2015. Szeto, Kin-Yan. The Martial Arts Cinema of The Chinese Diaspora. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2011. Print. Xie, Tianshi. "Asian Stereotypes In The Mass Media: A content analysis of Asian minority portrayals in the U.S. Films." Michigan State University.Dept. of Communications. 2007. Print. Read More