This May, Asians across the globe will be celebrating Asian Heritage Month, more commonly known in the USA as AAPI heritage month. This felt like the right time to rehash one of my favourite essays that I had the opportunity to write while in university about the misrepresentation of Asian Americans (and Asians in Western societies) in media.
“There’s stuff out there that’s good, that’s not
stereotypes, you know?” Dev Shah, Aziz Ansari’s character from his show, Master of None, says about the representation of Indians on television. And Dev has a
point, there is good “stuff” out there, and while the representation of Asians
on television is on the rise – according to GLAAD’s 2015 report, “Where We are on
TV”, the percentage of regular Asian characters is up to 6%, a new high (WWAT,
2015) – there is still not enough representation of Asians on TV, and even more
importantly, not enough good quality representations.
Oftentimes, the shows that are out there and are casting
Asians in roles (big or small), use characteristics based on stereotypes. In their
study[1],
“Tokens on the Small Screen: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Prime Time
and Streaming Television,” several PhD students from California have identified
the most persistent AAPI (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders) stereotypes
found in media. For example, one of the most prominent – and arguably most commented
on – stereotype is the presence of whitewashing. For those unfamiliar with the
concept of whitewashing, it all boils down to the casting of a White actor/actress
in a role that was meant to be Asian. Think Scarlet Johansson in Ghost in
the Shell, a character of Japanese descent played by a White woman. A subsect
of this is the stereotype, “White Authorities on Asian culture/language,” which
is also prominent in media. Take Tilda Swinton’s character in Dr. Strange: a
character originally meant to be an Asian man played by a White woman who seems
to know more about Asian culture than actual Asians. Now, they defended this
choice by claiming they were trying to avoid
contributing to bad stereotypes, such as “The Dragon Lady”, but instead of
fighting to counteract said stereotype, they decided to take the easy way out
and cast a White woman. And don’t get me wrong, I love Tilda Swinton, but this
was bad.
And this obviously isn’t just something that happens in
movies. How I Met Your Mother’s episode, “Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment
in Slapmarra,” is a great example of this – maybe “great” isn’t the right word.
This episode centers around Marshall who travels around “Asia” trying to learn the “slap
of a million exploding suns” from supposed martial arts masters (who are really
just the main cast dressed in Asian attire using stereotyped Asian
characteristics). This episode. Wow. Not only was this episode featured in the last
season – which is definitely the worst season – but they really decided that yellowface
and Whitewashing was the way to go. The characters “donned
silk robes and spoke with stereotypical Asian accents framed between flute
music and wind chimes,” writes Ma[2],
really playing into the stereotype of the “wise Asian.” Ma points out that this
is also “one of the few Asian representations ever featured on the show” and
they chose to make it “humorous” by relying on negative stereotypes. The list
includes but is not limited to: usage of the “Fu Manchu” mustache, the “Asian”
accents, and the stereotypical “old [Asian] man wisdom”. These are all stereotypes
that people have seen in the past – think Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at
Tiffany’s, an inherently racist casting choice where a White man pretends
to be Japanese and does so in a way that is incredibly offensive and inappropriate
– and will recognize in the future. By using these codes, producers are continuing
to popularize and promote the past and how they represented Asians by using
them in the present.
Not to dive too deeply into the world of academia, but
television shows often strive for a sense of realism, or as Hoechsmann and Poyntz write, the “experience of reality.”[3]
Codes and conventions that the audience will find familiar is, writes Fiske, an
attempt to “homogenize this [variety of sociocultural experience] so that the
one program can reach as many different audiences as possible” and once realism translates into common
sense, it necessitates “the subordinate subcultures to make sense of the world,
of themselves, and of their social relations through the dominant, exnominated
discourse.”[4] Lots
of big words. So, what does that all mean? It means that when creators use negative
stereotypes of minority groups in an attempt to create a sense/experience of
realism, those suddenly become “true”; minority groups watching will begin to
identify with those who oppress them. By having characters take part in racist
or transphobic plotlines – as How I Met Your Mother often portrays –
this furthers the idea that this is the norm, that this is how we should be
acting and how we should be seeing others.
But thank God for Twitter. When this episode of HIMYM aired,
there was a massive backlash from audiences. #HowIMetYourRacism was born and trended
on Twitter. Stories coming out from audience members about how they have had to
deal with racism and their frustrations with this episode were all over social
media platforms.
And also thank God for shows trying to make a difference. Fresh
Off the Boat has its faults (as every show does), but this time we have a show
created by an Asian (Eddie Huang) about his life growing up with immigrant
parents. This show highlights some of the experiences that Asians face in
Western societies, including fitting in in a White-dominant area, pursuing the
American Dream, and dealing with racism. This show also attempts to beat down
the “Tiger Mom” stereotype: the “cold and unlikeable Asian American matriarch
who disciplines with an iron fist” with Jessica Huang who cares about her
children while also pushing them to do their best. Dr. Ken is another
example of good representation. It only aired for 2 seasons, but this show
managed to portray a family as Asian and as American; not one or the other, but
united. These two shows manage to portray a variety of experiences that Asians
go through – this is not to say they cover everything, that would be a very
difficult task to undertake – but it’s a start.
(And in addition, Kim’s Convenience should be on everyone’s
list of things to watch.)
The more exposure we have – Asians and non-Asians alike – to
good Asian roles, the more likely this will open the door for more characters
to be played by Asians as awareness of our multidimensionality grows. The work
to properly represent people needs to continue and when shows starring (and
created by) Asians are being nominated and winning awards, it proves that this
community is worth casting and hiring in Hollywood. Shout-out to my man, Bong
Joon-Ho who took over the Oscars with his movie, Parasite. Shout-out to
all the Asians doing creative work (hey Wong Fu, how’s it going? Still love you),
and shout-out to those trying to be allies.
Happy Asian Heritage Month. If you want to read my full (academic) essay
on this, the link’s below! Just keep in mind I was a second-year student, okay?
[1] Chin,
C., Deo, M., DuCros, F., Lee, J., Milman, N., Yuen, N. (2017). Tokens on the small screen: Asian americans
and pacific islanders in prime time and streaming television. Retrieved
from AAPIs on TV, http://www.aapisontv.com/uploads/3/8/1/3/38136681/aapisontv.2017.pdf
[2] Ma, K. (2014). Dear, ‘How I met your mother’: ‘Asian’ is not a costume. Retrieved from: http://time.com/1155/dear-how-i-met-your-mother-asian-is-not-a-costume/
[4] Fiske, J. (1987). Television culture (pp.17-28). New York: Routledge.
Comments
Post a Comment