In “One Step Towards Equality…”, Chau critiques movies like Crazy Rich Asians and TV shows like Fresh Off the Boat for reinforcing Asian stereotypes, but Constance Wu (or Jessica Huang), the “tiger mom” on Fresh Off the Boat states that people should celebrate how historic it is that there are movies and TV shows with all-Asian casts. Do you feel like sometimes arguments over identity and representation can be too much or overblown? In other words, are the arguments contextualized well enough and does being highly critical sometimes detract from the progress that has been made in regard to representation of different ethnic groups/races in American media? Your response should be at least four sentences long.
26 thoughts on “Blog Post #8: The Representation Argument”
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I feel that the debates around identity and representation may be exhausting. The issue is that many people belong to a culture or race yet were born someplace else, in a different nation. Those people are typically caught between two identities and don’t know enough about race, ethnicity, and culture so when it comes to expressing the race and culture, it gets a bit muddy and people don’t really enjoy stuff like that.
I’m not sure that I completely follow what you have said here, Johir, but I do agree that sometimes the debates can be exhausting. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean we shouldn’t have them. It just means that sometimes they can be a bit much.
I think that sometimes there may be too many disputes about identity and representation, because American citizens have been complaining that Chinese immigrants have been competing with them for jobs, resulting in massive unemployment of American citizens. This is a text based on the unfair treatment of Chinese immigrants mentioned in the article. The wages are low and the working hours are long. The Chinese think that as long as they have a job, it doesn’t matter how much they can get. Moreover, the Chinese take their work very seriously. In any case, they must complete the work as quickly as possible. This led to large-scale loss of jobs for American citizens, and American citizens discriminated against Chinese people very much. I think that Chinese people in an unfamiliar environment will arouse a desire to survive because they will look for a job in an unfamiliar environment that allows them to have a comfortable environment, no matter how much salary, as long as there is a place to live.According to the American media, Asians are basically not recognized by Americans in terms of art, film and music due to ethnic reasons. But I think Asians have high expectations for these aspects, because in my memory, there are movies starring stars, hundreds of millions of views, and even music.
Guidian, you are a making a number of different points here, and each are worthy of discussion. For now, I will comment on the point(s) that you made in relation to the questions that I asked. It seems that you feel that there are too many disputes on this topic and that Asians are adequately represented in the media. Please correct me if I am wrong, though.
I feel like sometimes representation over identity can be too much. Stereotypes of different ethnic groups/races already exist. Movies and TV shows casting all-Asian characters, tend to highlight the qualities that non-Asian people expect Asians to have. These qualities and characteristics are often highlighted or exaggerated. In an episode of Fresh Off the Boat, the grandma was at the bank, and she took the pen in the bank, saying in Chinese she likes the bank because there is free stuff she can take from the bank. This depicts Asians as being cheap because instead of spending money on a pen, the grandma took the pen from the bank.
I’m not sure exactly what you you meant in the first sentence that you shared, Sandi, but it seems that you feel that some depictions of Asians are based on not only stereotypes but exaggerated stereotypes. I appreciate the fact that you shared such a strong example of an exaggerated stereotype. This sort of representation can surely lead to the reinforcement of stereotypes.
I think sometimes arguments over identity and representation can be too much because there are too many opinions. What people identify with changes from person to person, therefore, there are many different sides of perspectives and these perspectives are based around one individual experiences. Being highly critical does sometimes detract from the progress that has been made in regard to the representation of different ethnic groups/races in American media. When being overly critical, people tend to miss out on the bigger picture and are stereotyped.
I am not sure I follow all of the points you made here, Janie, but you did include two very simple yet profound statements. The first is that there are “too many opinions”. In the age of social media, everyone seems to have something to say, and everyone can broadcast their opinion. The second is that we sometimes miss the bigger picture when we are overly critical.
I feel like the argument over identities is pointless or unarguable. Everyone has different identity and belief. Some might argue that groups from the same ethnicity background have the same identity, but I would say these ethnicity groups share characteristics of the culture rather than all being the “same”. Therefore, you can’t never judge or stereotype someone just because of their race, color, or gender. With that being said, it is also not okay for producers to include stereotypes for target group in a show or any source of media. You can definitely and only represent yourself and no one else. Let’s use the show Fresh Off the Boat as a way to clarify my point. It is okay and accurate if the show only talk about the Huang’s family and without reinforcing Huang’s family identify to Asian community.
You make some very profound points here, Pin Yuan. Just referring to anyone with any sort of Asian heritage as “Asian” reduces who they are in a way. There are cultures within cultures, and then there are families and people within those cultures and there are different levels of identity at each of these levels
I believe that the identity argument will never be resolved because everyone is unique. It’s difficult for immigrants who have been discriminated against because of their race or culture. People were often unable to respond to this type of query because it was too complicated due to discrimination. These issues of ethnicity and culture are broadcast on television, and they are a big problem that will never be remedied.
I find it interesting that you think they will “never be remedied”. In a way, I agree. Given that humans are fallible and biased, it’s hard to ever completely erase any form of discrimination. At the same time, though, we can appreciate that maybe there is less discrimination, at least as far as representation on TV goes, in America in 2021.
In the arguments over identity and representation, it tends to bring too much of a misconception of stereotyping. The perspective of an individual grows from their surroundings, just as how America is considered a hot pot of diversity, would change or reinforce stereotyping views on others. Chau critiques movies and TV shows such as Crazy Rich Asians or Fresh Off the Boat because of it reinforcing Asian stereotypes. Though it is considered an historic moment that allows TV shows and movies with an all-Asian cast, identity and representation is given misconception through the characters. Viewers gain their perspectives from the producers that are simply wanting to grab attention through entertainment. An example like Fresh Off the Boat, where even if the story does not accurately describe a realistic portrayal of a Chinese immigrant family, the show is not meant to represent all Chinese families and gives an inaccurate depiction of Asian-Americans. The arguments being highly critical also detracts from the progress that has been made to representation of different ethnic groups/races in American media. Stereotyping of Mexicans through American media is when Mexican men cut grass, and Mexican women are either maids or nannies. This being highly critical portrays itself in movies such as “Mr.Deeds” where Emilio Lopez, who is Latino, is actually the heir to the wealthy company because the man who was the head of the company had developed a relationship with his mother who was a maid. The representation of different ethnic groups/races is greatly divided by many perspectives from the arguments over identity and representation because of misconceptions given by American media.
Daniel, you brought up a very important point that some students in my other class mentioned, and that is that these shows are created primarily for entertainment purposes. With that said, even when something is created for such a purpose, it still has the potential to reinforce stereotypes, just as you mentioned with the move Mr. Deeds.
I think sometimes arguments over identity and representation can be too exaggerated. It is different for every person, with their experience and knowledge.For example, an immigrant student might have a whole different point of view toward American culture, than a native American. So being highly critical over a topic can leave some blindspot while analyzing a topic.
I’m not sure I follow completely, Talha, but I think you make a good point about how people have very different points of view based on their background and that this can create blindspots.
I feel like sometimes arguments over identity and representation can be too overblown. People’s characters or identities may be magnified, when there is not too much information for these people. Some people naturally consider the small parts or one part of these people’s characters as all. Especially in today’s internet age, people who do not know much about the other group can easily spread the misunderstanding and stereotypes information to others through media. As a result, these misunderstandings and stereotypes information can be over-interpretation and exaggerated during the spreading process.
I’m not sure I follow your stream of logic, Bing Lin. Could you try to say what you are trying to say a different way?
I think arguments over identity and representation can be too much. Since we all come from different cultural backgrounds, thus we have different opinions and perspectives. In the article, Chau critiques that movies and TV shows like Crazy Rich Asians and Fresh off the Boat emphasize the stereotype of Asians. This explains the media brought up the issue of the Asian stereotypes, not only will let people more aware of the problem, but also will enlarge the problem of the stereotype to the Asians.
I find it interesting that you think that when a problem is brought up in the media, it has the potential to enlarge the problem. I’d like to hear you expand on that idea, May.
I feel like sometimes arguments over identity and representation can be overblown. Everyone is unique, people shouldn’t stereotype others based on their race, religion, culture, ethnicity, or gender. When I was younger, some of my classmates assume I’m good at math just “because” I’m Asian. I don’t like these comments but I wouldn’t waste much time thinking about it.
Thank you for sharing, Yu Yun. Do you think shows like Fresh off the Boat reinforce stereotypes like “all Asians are good at math”?
I believe that the argument of representation and identity can be too much, because movies such as Crazy Rich Asians and Fresh of the boat project the stereotypes that Americans have on Asians. Not all Asians have the same cultures, and movies that are casted by all Asian Americans portray the same stereotypes that does not represent all Asians. The movies highlights untruthful traits of Asians that can lead to more discrimination that exist in America. However, it is nice to see movies coming out that are about Asian Americans to show that America is more diverted than just white and black people.
Kelly, you make a good point that not all Asians have the same culture. Asia is full of billions of people. On the other hand, you’ve said that the argument of representation can be too much, yet you also argue that these movies/shows can lead to highlighting more “untruthful traits of Asians”. These ideas seem a bit contradictory to me.
I think that sometimes arguments over identity and representation can be too much. Arguments over identity were a good idea; however, if you don’t have a strong expression ability, it might bring more misunderstood. Not all Chinese had the same culture and identities. They all have different dialects and cultures between states. It can’t be warp up and combined into stories to represent a group of people. Some movies might say end stereotype for a group of people, but what they want might be the number of views.
Lei, what do you mean by “a strong expression ability”? I appreciate these points you’ve made about how not all Chinese share the same culture. This is surely important to note.