Aren't you thankful?
Aug. 2nd, 2008 08:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sciencegeekSo minorities on TV/Movies and how I should be 'thankful' that I'm being 'represented'. This is a post that has been brewing for a while, because I feel like I can't complain about representation on a show, if that show has at least one token minority. It has probably been done to death, and I'm just adding to it, but deal. This post deals with mostly Asian representation on television, with some commentary on minorities in general on TV.
I admit that I don't watch a lot of TV, and I can't speak for every minority group (let alone everyone that is mixed) out there, or assume that every other POC has the same experiences that I do about this subject. What I can speak about is how I feel, and that I find it tiring and enraging to have people patronize me and tell me, in not so many words, that I should be grateful that there are minorities on TV. Nevermind that they are shoved into stereotypical roles, or killed off. Nevermind that the handful of characters may not represent my racial background - those characters represent every minority in North America. I suppose I should be doubly grateful that there are Asians on TV.
The vast majority of Asians on TV or in movies are the defined, and limited by how western society defines being Asian, and as a result they are often playing clichés. When people tell me that "Hey there's that Asian Chick on Grey's Anatomy", it doesn't all of a sudden make things ok. All I feel is that a) Asian woman apparently all look alike, which is another rant altogether, and b) Cristine is there to represent every Asian in North America. As much as I love Sandra Oh (which I do, a lot), and as much as I love her character, and love seeing an Asian woman on TV, she is playing a stereotype - she is your typical overachiever!Asian doctor, who tends not to open up and talk about those mythical "feelings" that we Asians do not have, and it bothers me. While I'm happy that she has a significant role on the show, I'm not thankful that her character has many stereotypically Asian attributes.
The same could be said about Naoko Mori - I loved her character, Tosh, adored her really, but she was the stereotypical quiet, computer geek!Asian, and had very little character development over during her course in the series before she was killed off. But, of course, not to worry, that POC didn't die in vain, next year, she might be replaced by two POC! Yeah. Not thankful at all. Not thankful that she was a stereotype, not thankful she was killed, not thankful that her character along with Burn Gorman's might be replaced by two POC. Not thankful that the white asshole had to be redeemed before his death, and Tosh got...well, she got the episode with the alien girlfriend, the one with the alien boyfriend who manipulated people's memories, and the one with the frozen soldier dude, all of whom were killed. Oh, and she got to have this really touching moment with Owen before they both died. If Mori's character is replaced by a POC, it doesn't change the fact that she was killed. It doesn't change the fact that she had little character development. It doesn't change the fact that she was a stereotype in a supporting role.
Of course, if we aren’t stereotyped as overachievers, and supergeeks, Asians are cast in roles that are uniquely Asian, in that it would be difficult to have a person of another race play the role – take Pat Morita, playing the Asian sensei, in The Karate Kid, or Daniel Dae Kim and Yunjin Kim in Lost, while there is no doubt that the actors have talent, the roles they play/played rely on their race.
Another irk of mine is the casting of romantic interests for Asian characters. As a western society, we seem to be more accepting of Asian women being in interracial relationships than the man – how many Asian men ever get the girl if the girl isn’t Asian? And yet, we will see, on occasion, Asian women pairing up with men that aren’t Asian. I suspect this has to do with the fetishing of Asian women, and how ‘exotic’ we are to (white) men. When I think to movies I’ve seen, Asian males are oppressive, sexist, geeks, martial arts experts, gangsters or some combination thereof. It's sad, and frustrating because I don't think it accurately represents Asian men.
With shows without Asian actors, I still feel like I can't say anything because hey, at least the cast is diverse, right? Sure they may be a stereotype, a minor character, or killed off, but at least they’re on the show, right? I feel sad that I am always so happy to see minority actors in larger roles, because I shouldn't explode with happy goodness because I'm so surprised that it actually happened. I'll hazard a guess and say most people when watching the TV/movies, do not explode with happy goodness that "OMG THERE'S A WOMAN IN THIS SHOW WITH A LEADING ROLE!", and yet I do with minorities, because it feels like a step forward, even if they are playing stereotypes, even if it’s not a leading role, but a larger supporting role, and I hate that. Because people, consciously or not, form opinions about minorities based on what they see on TV. Asians and other minorities being put into stereotyped characters help perpetuate the model minority myth.
The movie Better Luck Tomorrow has an Asian cast, who are overachievers, but what differs about it is that it isn’t a movie about “being Asian” – the cast could be all white, all black, all Indian, or a mix – it wasn’t written in such a way that the cast had to be Asian, and that’s one of the reasons I like it, interestingly it may be the reason why some people don’t like it – that the movie isn’t about being Asian American. To give credit to Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, John Cho’s role was not one of your stereotypical Asians, and nor was Sandra Oh’s in Last Night, or Sideways (though for at the time of Sideways she was married to the director of the movie, if I recall correctly), and I think those involved with the casting deserve kudos for it.
This also hits close to home – my aunt is an actor, and it is/was difficult for her to get roles because she’s Asian, and often, unless a script (yes, this includes some commercials) calls for an Asian woman, it’s difficult for her to find work in her field. Much of her income stems from temp work and running acting workshops with her husband in the summer. Now it’s doubly difficult because of her age. At the same time, I am glad she’s out there trying, and helping to break that barrier.
So no, I'm not thankful at all, because I feel marginalised, and I feel like what is being shown about Asian-Americans/Canadians/Britons is that we are really, really smart, don't talk about our emotions, or don't speak english very well. Oh, and we're also martial arts masters, and may own a convenience store.
I admit that I don't watch a lot of TV, and I can't speak for every minority group (let alone everyone that is mixed) out there, or assume that every other POC has the same experiences that I do about this subject. What I can speak about is how I feel, and that I find it tiring and enraging to have people patronize me and tell me, in not so many words, that I should be grateful that there are minorities on TV. Nevermind that they are shoved into stereotypical roles, or killed off. Nevermind that the handful of characters may not represent my racial background - those characters represent every minority in North America. I suppose I should be doubly grateful that there are Asians on TV.
The vast majority of Asians on TV or in movies are the defined, and limited by how western society defines being Asian, and as a result they are often playing clichés. When people tell me that "Hey there's that Asian Chick on Grey's Anatomy", it doesn't all of a sudden make things ok. All I feel is that a) Asian woman apparently all look alike, which is another rant altogether, and b) Cristine is there to represent every Asian in North America. As much as I love Sandra Oh (which I do, a lot), and as much as I love her character, and love seeing an Asian woman on TV, she is playing a stereotype - she is your typical overachiever!Asian doctor, who tends not to open up and talk about those mythical "feelings" that we Asians do not have, and it bothers me. While I'm happy that she has a significant role on the show, I'm not thankful that her character has many stereotypically Asian attributes.
The same could be said about Naoko Mori - I loved her character, Tosh, adored her really, but she was the stereotypical quiet, computer geek!Asian, and had very little character development over during her course in the series before she was killed off. But, of course, not to worry, that POC didn't die in vain, next year, she might be replaced by two POC! Yeah. Not thankful at all. Not thankful that she was a stereotype, not thankful she was killed, not thankful that her character along with Burn Gorman's might be replaced by two POC. Not thankful that the white asshole had to be redeemed before his death, and Tosh got...well, she got the episode with the alien girlfriend, the one with the alien boyfriend who manipulated people's memories, and the one with the frozen soldier dude, all of whom were killed. Oh, and she got to have this really touching moment with Owen before they both died. If Mori's character is replaced by a POC, it doesn't change the fact that she was killed. It doesn't change the fact that she had little character development. It doesn't change the fact that she was a stereotype in a supporting role.
Of course, if we aren’t stereotyped as overachievers, and supergeeks, Asians are cast in roles that are uniquely Asian, in that it would be difficult to have a person of another race play the role – take Pat Morita, playing the Asian sensei, in The Karate Kid, or Daniel Dae Kim and Yunjin Kim in Lost, while there is no doubt that the actors have talent, the roles they play/played rely on their race.
Another irk of mine is the casting of romantic interests for Asian characters. As a western society, we seem to be more accepting of Asian women being in interracial relationships than the man – how many Asian men ever get the girl if the girl isn’t Asian? And yet, we will see, on occasion, Asian women pairing up with men that aren’t Asian. I suspect this has to do with the fetishing of Asian women, and how ‘exotic’ we are to (white) men. When I think to movies I’ve seen, Asian males are oppressive, sexist, geeks, martial arts experts, gangsters or some combination thereof. It's sad, and frustrating because I don't think it accurately represents Asian men.
With shows without Asian actors, I still feel like I can't say anything because hey, at least the cast is diverse, right? Sure they may be a stereotype, a minor character, or killed off, but at least they’re on the show, right? I feel sad that I am always so happy to see minority actors in larger roles, because I shouldn't explode with happy goodness because I'm so surprised that it actually happened. I'll hazard a guess and say most people when watching the TV/movies, do not explode with happy goodness that "OMG THERE'S A WOMAN IN THIS SHOW WITH A LEADING ROLE!", and yet I do with minorities, because it feels like a step forward, even if they are playing stereotypes, even if it’s not a leading role, but a larger supporting role, and I hate that. Because people, consciously or not, form opinions about minorities based on what they see on TV. Asians and other minorities being put into stereotyped characters help perpetuate the model minority myth.
The movie Better Luck Tomorrow has an Asian cast, who are overachievers, but what differs about it is that it isn’t a movie about “being Asian” – the cast could be all white, all black, all Indian, or a mix – it wasn’t written in such a way that the cast had to be Asian, and that’s one of the reasons I like it, interestingly it may be the reason why some people don’t like it – that the movie isn’t about being Asian American. To give credit to Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, John Cho’s role was not one of your stereotypical Asians, and nor was Sandra Oh’s in Last Night, or Sideways (though for at the time of Sideways she was married to the director of the movie, if I recall correctly), and I think those involved with the casting deserve kudos for it.
This also hits close to home – my aunt is an actor, and it is/was difficult for her to get roles because she’s Asian, and often, unless a script (yes, this includes some commercials) calls for an Asian woman, it’s difficult for her to find work in her field. Much of her income stems from temp work and running acting workshops with her husband in the summer. Now it’s doubly difficult because of her age. At the same time, I am glad she’s out there trying, and helping to break that barrier.
So no, I'm not thankful at all, because I feel marginalised, and I feel like what is being shown about Asian-Americans/Canadians/Britons is that we are really, really smart, don't talk about our emotions, or don't speak english very well. Oh, and we're also martial arts masters, and may own a convenience store.
white people as the main characters
on 2008-08-10 08:50 pm (UTC)