|
|
|
|
|
GOLDSEA |
ASIAMS.NET |
ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
A New Image for Asian Men?
he original flavor stereotype of Asian men may have its inspiration in Hollywood mockery of the first wave of Chinese immigrants in the Old West. Bonanza's gimpy Hop Sing was the only recurring image of Asian men for most of TV's formative decades. For variety's sake, Hollywood racked its brain and added the coolie, the waiter and the bucktoothed enemy soldier.
Corean soccer star Ahn Jung-hwan
|
Fortunately, Hollywood is no longer a one-stop outlet for depictions of Asian men.
Pro sports's $30 billion estimated annual U.S. rake rivals the $35 billion pocketed by Hollywood. Driven by athletic excellence, pro sports allow no room for image jiggering to satisfy racial biases. The exploits of dashing Ahn Jung-hwan in the World Cup wasn't scripted for white American mass audiences. The straight-sets drubbing that a tall young Thai named Paradorn Srichaphan gave Andre Agassi at Wimbledon can't be left on the cutting-room floor. Ichiro's leadoff-hitting and base-stealing can't be imitated with wires and special effects.
Hi-tech and bio-tech -- whose estimated $400 billion annual revenues dwarf the media -- have spawned another set of images that clash with Hollywood's. How do Americans reconcile premiere AIDS researcher David Ho or Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang with Hollywood's Hop Sings and Long Duck Dongs?
Questions arise. Doubts are engendered.
Even modern culture -- commonly tarred by association -- isn't entirely subject to Hollywood's reflexive Asian-male undercutting. Classical music lovers are nourished by Yo-Yo Ma's gourmet cello notes and thrill to the daring rifts of Japan's iron chefs. Younger Americans surrender racial identities to a no-holds-barred universe created by manga artists. Linguists and speed readers frequently abandon Hollywood's relentless quest for the lowest common denominator in favor of films made for Asian sensibilities.
To the extent sports, culture and business enjoy a tighter relationship with reality than does Hollywood, they offer Asian men a fairer, more compelling stage. And these spheres too pack big audiences that take note of the yawning abyss that separates Hollywood's "original flavor" Asian men from the crispier, spicier variety in the real world.
Is America seeing the emergence of a new, improved Asian male image? If so, is it making life easier for Asian American men? Or just stimulating a more determined effort at undercutting?
This interactive article is closed to new input.
Discussions posted during the past year remain available for browsing.
CONTACT US
|
ADVERTISING INFO
© 1996-2013 Asian Media Group Inc
No part of the contents of this site may be reproduced without prior written permission.
|
|
|
|
WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
(Updated
Wednesday, Jan 22, 2025, 04:38:55 AM)
I think the AM image gets more work done through print media than video media. If you looked into it, there's tons of Asian newspapers and magazines floating around, and that's not including the imported stuff.
If you flip through and look at the adds, a vast majority of them display Asian singles/couples. Seldom do you see an adapted N.American add.
Mainstream media may not see much of the AM, but the niche print media does. Asians like to stay informed, and it's easier to read a paper than to watch tv all the time. I guess we would rather leave the make-believe world of Friends to White television.
Sammi,
You brought BET up buddy. I'll leave it at that. I'm not in the mood to insult anyone today.
huu76
Saturday, August 24, 2002 at 14:46:01 (PDT)
curious girl:
Margaret Cho had the perfect opportunity to improve the asian image through entertainment. What went wrong? "All American Girl" was suppose to be a comedy, but it was not. It was suppose to depict the Asian lifestyle, but it did not. She could have celebrate her 'asianess' but she did not. In short, she tried way too hard to be americanize that she insulted her asian heritage.
Why was all of her friends white? Why did her mother had to speak with a heavy accent in English all the time when in real-life her mother would probaly be speaking to her in Chinese? What up with Margaret's ugly-ass punk rock outfits? It was basically a purely white american lifestyle with a few asian actresses.
I tried really hard to watch the show but it was difficult to sit through the whole thing without getting irritated. Here's a big lesson to learn -- dont try too hard to conform to the american trends! Viewers like authenticity. That's how you win attention -- be bold, be different, be yourself!!
Another example is CoCo Lee. I thought she was cool when she was popular in Asia. But when she tried to win popularity in America, she was a disaster. Why? She originally had this funky hip look, but she changed her looks to fit-in in America. And she did the same things with her songs, which lost all its edge.
Ed -- Sorry, I know this pertains to the image of asians in the media more so than AM. I just needed to get my point across about the lesson we can learn from asian celebrities who try too hard to be americanized.
be
Saturday, August 24, 2002 at 06:57:00 (PDT)
[Let's not get sidetracked again. This page isn't about the general AA image, but about the changes, if any, to the AM image. --Ed]
Sammi:
You are another example that there is a growing progressive class of African-Americans who want to see more positive Asian roles in American media.
Just want to say a few things in huu's defense. We had a really caustic, then construction discussion about anti-Asian bias over in the section titled "Were AM Deliberately Excluded from Star Wars". It resulted in mutual respect and better understanding.
In all fairness to Asians, I think their argument is that they're doing the right things, but their accomplishments are going unnoticed by media outlets.
Political Observer:
I understand the points made by Toy Sunner and yourself about lack of common quality in Asian characters. There are subtle jabs that don't go unnoticed.
Recently, a repeat episode of NYPD Blue featured two uniformed police officers (one white, one Asian) in a hospital setting who met detectives to provide details of an assault. As the camera focused on the two officers, the Asian officer casually turned away from the group and his face was no longer noticeable. It was subtle and, certainly, I thought unfortunate. I mean, why not show the Asian officer's face and allow him to enter that meaningful exchange? Kinda makes you wonder what the director's motive was.
In fact, the next time an Asian was featured in that particular episode, he was being taunted and had racial slurs directed against him by two white murder suspects. This time, however, the camera focused on the Asian guy's face showing his amazement, yet no body language expressing his disgust or anger. He appeared caught off guard and helpless between these two scruppy white homeless guys.
You know, it really wasn't necessary for the writers and directors to do that. It was a clear example of ethnic role imbalance.
Geoff DB
GeoffDB02@aol.com
Friday, August 23, 2002 at 22:55:42 (PDT)
you kp fellas (korean priders) ought to get more ap (asian pride) in the US of A. we are all the same to white folks you should realize... Who cares if dong sung didn't get the gold? apolo is a good front man for young asian men in the media.
abc college guy
abc college guy you are so right. As a 19 year-old asian american, i think Apolo ohno is a great image of an ASIAN AMERICAN. SO what if apolo is not full asian. He considers himself a Japanese American.
Look at lenny Kravit. Do people go around making a big deal that he is only half black. I don't think so. Many women look at Lenny Kravit as a sexy black man. Why then are some making a big deal about apolo ohno being only half japanese. Why can't women look at ohno as a sexy asian man.
We need to put the Asian Man image in a positive light, we sure no that the hollywood aint happening.
Crazy-Laos
Friday, August 23, 2002 at 19:11:30 (PDT)
I didn't know there are so many short track speedskating fans here. I can't believe some are you still talking about the controversy between kim dong sung and apolo ohno. Kim dong sung is a great skater and so is apolo ohno. I think your criticism of apolo is driven by prejudiced. The referee who made the "cross track" call was an australian. How could he be biased?
When I was watching the race, I also thought kim had commited no foul. But during the short track world cup they showed the top view/angle of apolo and kim and it clearly showed kim moving over into ohno's lane. Which, if you look up the definition qualfies as "cross tracking". You don't have to touch or bump the person in order to call a foul.
Crazy-Laos
Friday, August 23, 2002 at 18:44:06 (PDT)
Curious Girl:
I think a show like "All American Girl" will come back in a different form. You gotta think about the time when it was out. There's "Full House", "Rosanne", "Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air", & other family oriented shows for them to compete with. Look at things now. We have "The Bernie Mac Show" & George Lopez has a show. What about PBS's "American Family" (Latino)? I feel that it's time for an Asian family show to jump on the bandwagon! Don't you or do you still think it may be too soon? Maybe I'm just a dreamer, but I think that people will be more open to sitcom about a middle class AA family now-a-days!
Sammi
Friday, August 23, 2002 at 12:07:01 (PDT)
Sammi,
First off I didn't know you were a lady, sorry :)
you wrote "The LAST thing I want is for Asians & Blacks to hate each other"
That's encouraging to hear. It's really too bad that some white guys come on here and are pro-asian at the point of being anti-black. That's really racist and unfortunate.
you wrote
"Why wait to see if there is a "market" for Asians in the Black & White community? "
Problem is business ventures have to make money. You can't pay bills with high spirits and strong beliefs. By definition there has to be a market in order for you to earn a profit. It's a waste of money to throw cash into a media venture that will not catch on in the mainstream.
Let me explain what I mean by people who have an asian fetish (asian tatoos, date only asian women, have only asian friends, eat only asian cuisine). White guys who have these types of asian fetish are NOT mainstream. In order for asians to gain broad appeal they have to find a way to penetrate the elite hollywood power dome. It's not easy to do but it's also not impossible. The directors and writers of these shows have to allow the asian characters to come alive and speak to the audience. We need to feel their roles.
One more thing Sammi, hey give my buddy huu 76 a break OK :)
Geoff DB and I had it out with him several weeks ago in another section of this site. It was a knock down brawl. The result actually turned out pretty positive though.
Political Observer
Friday, August 23, 2002 at 11:25:28 (PDT)
curious girl,
you wrote "It was pretty funny, but I think it lasted only one season."
that's the point i'm trying to make. Asians are getting the shaft. In order for a new asian image to have legs it has to catch on. Margaret Cho is pretty funny but I think she's been a victim of lack of asian interest. The mainstream needs to accept something in order for it to make money, flourish and attain main stay privileges.
Political Observer
Friday, August 23, 2002 at 11:12:16 (PDT)
NEWEST COMMENTS |
EARLIER COMMENTS
|