Chinese Americans seen in negative light.

[yittz]

John Cho is awesome - Harold and Kumar was one of the funniest movies I've seen, and he was great in Ugly Betty and Star Trek (well, not so much Star Trek).

White castle burger. I really want one.

I thought he was good in Star Trek, not much of a huge role, be he had his subtle humor down pretty well. Fencing was lol.

[jiang bao]

But that's the point. Asian are a minority so you won't see much of them in american media.

I'm more talking about asian american culture (like the import scene for example) and i think you're more concerned with white-washed asians. lot of white and black people know of the import scene. it's pretty popular in the united states and canada. so that's popular culture for you.

Please read the earlier posts in this thread. Again, you are missing the point and debating against an argument that you imagined in your head.

The gripe is not that there are no media portrayals of Asians or Asian Americans…

[Ghaleon]

My point is that there are rarely any portrayals of Asian Americans living as normal Americans.

- "Joy Luck Club"

- Francoise Yip and her little brother in "Rumble in the Bronx" were portrayed as normal americans

- "Snow Falling on Cedar". That Japanese chick is a normal american.

- Jin the Chinese Rapper in "2 Fast 2 Furious". He was portrayed as a normal american.

- "Harold and Kumar" (as someone mentioned already)

- "Ping Pong Playa". Almost all the chinese americans were portrayed as normal americans


You haven't heard the term ABC or CBC? American born chinese and canadian born chinese. ABCs and CBCs are extremely americanized. They follow NBA and listen to hip hop and R n B. Isn't that a normal american?

[Candide]

So Ghaleon, what do you think about the NY Chinatown incident I posted earlier? Do you want me to dig up examples from other grand cities you mentioned too?

Excuse me but did you just bring up Joy Luck Club as a shining example of how Asian Americans are portrayed as normal Americans?

Now I've seen everything from Asian Americans.

[Ghaleon]

So Ghaleon, what do you think about the NY Chinatown incident I posted earlier? Do you want me to dig up examples from other grand cities you mentioned too?

Excuse me but did you just bring up Joy Luck Club as a shining example of how Asian Americans are portrayed as normal Americans?

Now I've seen everything from Asian Americans.

Yeah dig it up again. What's wrong with Joy Luck Club?

Critic Gene Siskel, who singled out the script and performances, praised the film for presenting images of Asian-Americans outside the narrow range of childhood violinists and spelling bee winners, opining that its main accomplishments were its depiction of how the brutal lives of women in China could continue to influence the lives of their American daughters, and its ability to allow audiences to relate to a large group of Chinese-Americans as individuals.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Joy_Luck_Club_(film)

[Candide]

Why don't you go read the two reviews below?

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.a...55e65126606190

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&...k8894oVEx3aDhg

[Ghaleon]

Why don't you go read the two reviews below?

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.a...55e65126606190

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&...k8894oVEx3aDhg

the first review is hilarious. ok I haven't watched this film long time so i forgot about some of the stuff mentioned. agreed that the film does put male asians in a negative light. But you gotta remember that its based on a novel written by Amy Tan. So all this is coming from an american asian and not some white dude.

[Candide]

Yeah that's called self-hating. Much worst than being discriminated against. I'd rather have all other ethnic groups (including whiteys) hating our guts than our own people hating who they are.

You don't know how harmful that book by Aunty Tan is. For example, I know a lot of white lefties down here, who normally are compassionate, kind folks, believe the bullsh!t in the book and think that's representative of our culture. Tan and her ilks are frauds and should be exposed as such.

So how is that a good example for a positive portrayal of Asian Americans?

I know you're trying to see the positive side of things, but it's getting into head in the sand territory, mate.

###

Leaving this movie thing aside, have you got any comment on the NY Chinatown beating?

[Ghaleon]

They were beaten by a bunch of racist thugs. Trust me, that isn't the norm in north america. You're way too pessimistic.

You're like one of those guys constantly screaming,"OMG.. everybody hates us!!!"

And you also seem to think that most asians are weak and wimpy.

Let me ask you, do you think Jin is weak and wimpy? Jin is a popular asian american so he's fair game. He's the king of rap battles. There's the whole other side of asian american culture that you're neglecting, mate.

[ChuckC]

I understand how easy it is to be negative about your own image as an Asian - Chinese or whatever. I'm in the acting industry and Asian males have plenty of uphill battles to fight, but if I give in to my pessimism I would never have gotten the roles that I have in theatre or short films. I have a few friends and relatives (all of us Asian) that are also in the acting industry and we do our best to take up roles that represent Asians well.

[Guo Xiang]

I understand how easy it is to be negative about your own image as an Asian - Chinese or whatever. I'm in the acting industry and Asian males have plenty of uphill battles to fight, but if I give in to my pessimism I would never have gotten the roles that I have in theatre or short films. I have a few friends and relatives (all of us Asian) that are also in the acting industry and we do our best to take up roles that represent Asians well.

It's very difficult if you don't play roles that happen to be stereotypical, isn't it? That's like, nearly the only type of role Asians get to play.

[ChuckC]

It's very difficult if you don't play roles that happen to be stereotypical, isn't it? That's like, nearly the only type of role Asians get to play.

It's extremely difficult. The roles Asian males typically get are:

• Kung Fu guy/Stunt Double
• FOB shop owner
• Grumpy dad obsessed with Honor
• Greedy Businessman
• Scientist/Doctor/Nerd

Asian females have it better, but they are still often the girlfriend of the white guy, dragonladies, or annoying moms with bad accents. But at least they are sexy.

We're starting to see more Asians getting casted into lead roles. I do know that in theatre I'm getting more and more edgy lead, boyfriend, rockstar, sexier type roles. My friend who is Chinese was casted as a quartet member in a very tough musical that requires solid singing in classic American style. That's also a very respectable lead role in live theatre.

I've got a few auditions coming up, including one for Elvis at a local theatre and one for Count Dracula with Universal Studios. Who knows, maybe I'll get cast and you can see my show .

[jiang bao]

Hey best of luck to ya man. We need some more positive representations in the media.

[KChill]

If you are interested to know, I'm a racist not because I was brought up that way, but because of racism from the other side of the world. Yes, I know how ironic that is. But it's hard not to loathe them when they keep giving Asians the middle finger and 'kiss-my-***-you-low-class-human-beings' attitude, and the way they keep trying to lord it over us as if we are still in the colonial era.

I'm coming in late to this thread, but I don't think that having a negative reservation towards a particular group of people makes you a racist. It just makes you human. So few of us actually get to mingle with other people of different races on a constant basis....sadly, all we have to go from are the stereotypes promoted by the media...

[xJadedx]

I'm coming in late to this thread, but I don't think that having a negative reservation towards a particular group of people makes you a racist. It just makes you human. So few of us actually get to mingle with other people of different races on a constant basis....sadly, all we have to go from are the stereotypes promoted by the media...

That makes no sense.
So basically, if you don't know enough about another race or culture, the best way is to just accept some random media stereotype of that race or culture? How about actually trying to take the time and effort to learn about these different cultures for yourself?

I get that not everyone lives in a large city where they get to interact with people of different cultures every day, so it's hard to learn about them. But in that case, I find it better to just withhold any form of judgment or opinion about a group until I can find out more for myself, and not just go from media representations, which much of the time are untrue and biased anyway.

[ChuckC]

Hehe.. You're a perfectionist-idealist, Jaded. No one is truly color blind.

I have a song link for you, a broadway song from Avenue Q titled "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9CSnlb-ymA

It even contains a stereotypical Asian.

[xJadedx]

I wasn't saying that no one is truly colour-blind, I was saying that if you don't know much about a race or culture, instead of mindlessly going by media stereotypes, you should try to find out and learn more about them on your own (and it would be a wiser choice to withhold judgment if you don't know much about them). At least, that's how I approach groups of people I know little about.

As for no one is truly colour-blind - that is true in many cases. Most people do hold certain negative stereotypes against other groups. However, there have been studies indicating that a very small percetange of people truly do hold no prejudice or negative stereotypes against other groups. These people, even when trained to hold negative stereotypes against another group, cannot do so. The way they process information allows it for them to have more difficulty picking up negative stereotypes against another group. But, these people account for a very small percentage of the general population (unfortunately).

In the end, it comes down to this: although most people hold certain stereotypes for another group, instead of just going by the stereotypes, why not reflect on them and perhaps alter them to obtain a more accurate view of that group?

[Trien Chieu]

I wasn't saying that no one is truly colour-blind, I was saying that if you don't know much about a race or culture, instead of mindlessly going by media stereotypes, you should try to find out and learn more about them on your own (and it would be a wiser choice to withhold judgment if you don't know much about them). At least, that's how I approach groups of people I know little about.

As for no one is truly colour-blind - that is true in many cases. Most people do hold certain negative stereotypes against other groups. However, there have been studies indicating that a very small percetange of people truly do hold no prejudice or negative stereotypes against other groups. These people, even when trained to hold negative stereotypes against another group, cannot do so. The way they process information allows it for them to have more difficulty picking up negative stereotypes against another group. But, these people account for a very small percentage of the general population (unfortunately).

In the end, it comes down to this: although most people hold certain stereotypes for another group, instead of just going by the stereotypes, why not reflect on them and perhaps alter them to obtain a more accurate view of that group?

Do you have any data to back up your claim?
I thought majority of North Americans (Canadians/Americans) belong to that category, not a very small percentage.

[xJadedx]

Do you have any data to back up your claim?
I thought majority of North Americans (Canadians/Americans) belong to that category, not a very small percentage.

Look up the most recent paper by Dr. Robert Livingston at Northwestern University.
The people you are talking about are those who have implicit stereotypes, but they catch themselves and try to do something about it so that they do not actually become prejudiced themselves. In a sense, they need to exert active control over their stereotypes. This applies to most people.

The kinds of people Dr. Linvingston researched are those who just do not even have implicit stereotypes and have trouble picking up negative stereotypes. These people are very few.

[KChill]

That makes no sense.
So basically, if you don't know enough about another race or culture, the best way is to just accept some random media stereotype of that race or culture? How about actually trying to take the time and effort to learn about these different cultures for yourself?

I get that not everyone lives in a large city where they get to interact with people of different cultures every day, so it's hard to learn about them. But in that case, I find it better to just withhold any form of judgment or opinion about a group until I can find out more for myself, and not just go from media representations, which much of the time are untrue and biased anyway.

I didn't say you SHOULD base your opinions on stereotypes, I said unfortunately thats all some have to go on....a couple of extra seconds of actually ATTEMPTING to comprehend what people are saying works wonders sometimes, ya know?