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ASIAMS.NET |
ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
WHY THE MEDIA BIAS AGAINST ASIANS?
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:58:56 PM)
o aspect of American life angers us more relentlessly and insidiously than the way we're alternately maligned and ignored by the U.S.-based mass media. None of us could name a major film studio, publishing company or TV network -- other than perhaps PBS -- that hasn't committed these sins hundreds or even thousands of times.
The mass media's distortions of Asians and Asian Americans have been decried far too often to bear repeating here. In a nutshell, though, they center around sexualizing and cheapening Asian women while simultaneously desexualizing and dismissing Asian men. Suffice to say that instances in which the U.S.-based media portray us fairly are so rare as to draw stunned disbelief each time they are encountered.
Why this persistent assault on the culture and phenotype of a third of humanity? Some spy the heavy hand of moguls seeking economic advantage in portraying Asian competitors as inferior, and therefore, unworthy of trust, patronage or investment. Others see a conspiracy to keep down a race whose burgeoning global influence threatens in due course to overshadow that of white western peoples. A history of wars against Asian nations, sexual rivalry, economic scapegoating, xenophobia and simple ignorance are other often cited factors.
Likely, what's at work is some combination of those and other forces.
Share your hard-earned insights on the subtle and gross workings of the American mass media's apparent crusade against the Asian and Asian American image.
This interactive article is closed to new input.
Discussions posted during the past year remain available for browsing.
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WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
Hi,
As an Asian American, I know theres a lack of the Asian American movies. There's simply nothing that Asian Americans can relate to. You can argue that theres plenty of the Asian, not Asian American movies, starring kung fu masters such as Jackie Chan and Jet Li and what not. There's a bold and ambitious movie called "Better Luck Tomorrow" its by an Asian American director Justin Lin. It meanders from the cliches that plague Asian Americans today, the movie portrays Asian Americans as normal people. As you know Asian American films are nonexistent; this is preciously why this film needs to be successful so it can pave the way for furture Asian American films. The Latino and African American culture have films, now its time for the Asian Americans to step up.
I plead you to please encourage Asian Americans to support the film. It'll definitely be an eye opening experience for Asian Americans around the nation and other Americans.
David dwin@wam.umd.edu
Thursday, March 13, 2003 at 23:16:28 (PST)
[129.2.157.24]
FYI - Now starring as part of the french film festival in Sydney is a french film called L'Idole. The director says:
"And in it there's a Chinese guy and an American girl, and it's a film about being foreign. It's got a bit of everything."
A bit obscure i know but someone out there might see it even if it ain't hollywood.
maxdacat
Thursday, March 13, 2003 at 07:22:43 (PST)
[129.227.170.8]
'if Hollywood wasn't run by Jews, how else could short, ugly, swarmy actors like Ben Stillman, Adam Sandler or David Schwimmer get leading roles that get babes??? hahahaha! You think guys like that in real life have a shot?
NOT!'
Well, it's run by them...they have a say on what they want or who they want.
'You are absolutely right. A lot of the anti-Asian sentiment is perpetuated and propogated by the Jewish run media. It's as if Asians have become the Jews scapegoats. '
No, it's the fact that the Asians have become somewhat of the Jews, and the Jews have become somewhat of the Anglos. It's part of the American experience, Jews were once discriminated by the Anglos, and now they want to do it to the Asians. U remembered what Henry Ford said about the Jews, well's that what the Jews are saying to us..'treacherous outsiders'..de ja vu!
'A lot of it has to do with the perceived and impending Asian dominance of the world economy. Jews see East Asian men, and to a lesser extent White-Anglo men, South Asian men, and Middle Easterners as imminent economic threats. Jews, therefore, do what they can to degrade them every opportunity they have.'
Yes, Asians are perceived as rivals to the Jews. As I have mentioned before, the Chinese and Jews in NYC are competitors in the real estate market.
'Maybe the answer for Asians would be to become the media themselves. Slowly but surely buy up Hollywoood, or start up their own avenues of media.
I think Asians will eventually have their say, regardless of what the current media protrayals are.'
The rising power of the Asians in this country and in the world is inevitable and unstoppable. So people should stop whining!
LSD
Wednesday, March 12, 2003 at 12:03:19 (PST)
[172.130.46.243]
Wake up America,
"Hollywood has plenty of negative stereotypes of Jews.
Many of the recent ones have been in Sci-Fi movies.
I'm sure u heard of the Ferengis - those big nosed ugly, greedy and pushy aliens from Star Trek with overbearing moms..lol."
How do you know if these characters were a dipiction of Jews? Did they actually say they were Jews? It sure sounds vague compared to blantant sterotypical roles offered to Asian American actors. If any are offered at all.
" Then u have Independence Day with this wimpy selfish NYC Jewish Dude from the Hamptons who gets killed as the invasion takes place. He was in his car making a business deal and then dies in Madison Ave."
This could of been anyone. There are plenty of Asian, white, or Jewish greedy stock brokers living in NY.
" So u see, there are negative portrayals of every race of people in America.
Have u seen the movie the 'Apprentice of Duddy Kravitz' movie about a driven, scheming and sneaky Jewish sales man in Montreal.I have yet to see a main movie character depicting an Asian Man of the same nature."
LSD
Oh nooo, only AA are portryed as evil greedy gangsters or some asexual nerd. Your comments doesn't surprise me considering you're a well known Jew wannabe on this website. Many people already think you're really a Jew.
LSD, I've been pondering, hmmmmm....
if Hollywood wasn't run by Jews, how else could short, ugly, swarmy actors like Ben Stillman, Adam Sandler or David Schwimmer get leading roles that get babes??? hahahaha! You think guys like that in real life have a shot?
NOT!
are you awake yet?
Tuesday, March 11, 2003 at 19:37:43 (PST)
[205.188.209.172]
Tman:
I like what you say about the way how Asian women act. White men like this because it gives them an ego boost when their own women kind don't give them the time or day. They can go Asian or White - whenever it suits them. Be in a area where the White girls suck then go to a Asian area or resturant and pick up on Asian girls because they'll like your dorky Howdy Doody or Brad Pitt smile. They rather pickup on white dorks than asian dorks anyday. Truth!
I admit that I like white women in the past and still do but many are such a pain to first know initially that in many instances I'd rather know a Asian women before a White women. Some White women are hot and nice but it is seldom you get a complete package like they have a hot bod but screwed up in the head or so-so bods but great personalities. Asian women on the other hand have this low-esteem mentality where "White is right" and they try so god-damn hard to erase anything cultural about them inorder to be like white even changing their brown eyes blue to fit in.
If I was a white guy in America I would feel safe and accepted in the white areas in the states. I would not see any racism against me and I would feel that all women like me especially Asian women and I wouldn't know why yet won't complain now would I? I would be socially accepted nearly everywhere I go, like a damn Visa card. I would be having the best jobs available to me; especially jobs in management where you don't have to know anything just only manage people and keep a good image.
I would be brain-fed everything run in the news media as true and the only difference of opinion would be when directly confronted to make a opinion then my little brain can only process what little I have read and know initially. For them Racism doesn't exist and they would only tell you it is a figment of your imagination.
If that was true than I must have a very vivid imagination.
Don't believe others when they say prejudism doesn't exist here. It does and it can come from anywhere. The more all of us speak out and fight the power the better we can change things the next time around. History repeats itself and each generation must bear the cross to change with the times.
Everybody has to do their part to change things around like speaking to people who are ignorant about your culture. By learning more about your own culture you can better explain it to people so the next time around they would think twice to say what they say. I find myself educating people young, old, white black asian hispanic etc... about my Asian background. Believe it or not some Asians don't even know about their own cultures. I find myself at times to be the few Asian representative living in America speaking the truth and pulling no punches - educating others what it is like to be a ASIAN MAN living in America.
Speak the truth
Tuesday, March 11, 2003 at 11:30:54 (PST)
[209.245.6.204]
Proud of my roots,
You are absolutely right. A lot of the anti-Asian sentiment is perpetuated and propogated by the Jewish run media. It's as if Asians have become the Jews scapegoats. How unfortunate it is, considering Asians have given them the least grieve in the well storied and documented frictions with ALL people they have encountered.
A lot of it has to do with the perceived and impending Asian dominance of the world economy. Jews see East Asian men, and to a lesser extent White-Anglo men, South Asian men, and Middle Easterners as imminent economic threats. Jews, therefore, do what they can to degrade them every opportunity they have. At the same time, Black and Hispanic men, particularly Blacks, are perpetuated by the Jewish media as being masculine, hip, and cool, and that it's cool for girls of all races to date and breed with them. This is due to the fact that Blacks and Hispanics pose no Economic thtreat to Jews.
Maybe the answer for Asians would be to become the media themselves. Slowly but surely buy up Hollywoood, or start up their own avenues of media.
I think Asians will eventually have their say, regardless of what the current media protrayals are.
Asian Media
Tuesday, March 11, 2003 at 11:27:17 (PST)
[216.214.209.62]
'I too always had sympathy for the Jewish plight since I grew up in area with large Jewish population but as I started reading up on the role of Jews in media and negative images toward minorities I have come to distrust them.
I don't hate the Jews or any other people. But they really are the perpetrators.'
They are 3 camps Jews in this country...there are the liberal idiots who run Hollywood, the snooty professionals, and then u have the geniune working class/blue collar/white collar folks.
No one likes the Hollywood idiots. The professional snobs are a mixed bag and the downtrodden blue collar and white collar folks are usually the nice people.
If Asians ran the movie industry and the media, we would be in the same boat. We probably would make fun of other groups as well, and twist everything to our advantage. It's all human nature.
Did u ever hear Asians complaining about how other minorities like the Blacks and the Hispanics discriminating them? It's true..maybe Asians are too soft in this country!
LSD
Tuesday, March 11, 2003 at 09:58:01 (PST)
[66.212.81.199]
Even though negative stereotypes about Jews exist (e.g. - thought to be stingy & control/manipulate the media, etc), none of these ever get played out in the US media like EVERY OTHER RACE. Yet, owning and influencing a lot of the media, they have NO PROBLEM mudslinging against all other races (& all the erstwhile crying anti-Semitism at every turn).
Not to label all average Jews as bad, just some of the elite ones at the top pulling the strings. I grew up having a lot of sympathy for Jews in fact, reading about the Holocaust and everything. But, after tracing back a lot of the divisive racial attitudes in this country to them, I've become disgusted. In short, using Blacks and Hispanic minorities as pawns against whites, Azns & Middle Easterns.
Wake up America
I agree with you 100%. Who controls Hollywood? Or Madison Ave? JEWS!
Eastern European Jews practically developed Hollywood and filmmaking, try tracing most major Hollywood studios like Goldwyn (orginally Goldfish), Columbia, Fox..etc.
Since the early beginings of films Jews could of portrayed positive images of minorities or at least fair images of minorities but they chose not to. We have all seen the negative images of Asians in films and TV that continues today. Jews are so fond of always playing the victim. How many HOLOCUST movies can they make ???? And in most of them they never even mention the millions of non Jews who also perished during World War Two.
I too always had sympathy for the Jewish plight since I grew up in area with large Jewish population but as I started reading up on the role of Jews in media and negative images toward minorities I have come to distrust them.
I don't hate the Jews or any other people. But they really are the perpetrators.
I would urge, beg, Asian Americans to support Asian American film makers, we don't need more doctors or computer geeks, we need more image makers. Become actors, directors, producers, media tycoons, be more active politically. If you choose to do nothing, you are part of the problem.
Proud of my roots
Monday, March 10, 2003 at 16:03:42 (PST)
[205.188.209.172]
Wake up America,
Hollywood has plenty of negative stereotypes of Jews.
Many of the recent ones have been in Sci-Fi movies.
I'm sure u heard of the Ferengis - those big nosed ugly, greedy and pushy aliens from Star Trek with overbearing moms..lol.
Then u have Independence Day with this wimpy selfish NYC Jewish Dude from the Hamptons who gets killed as the invasion takes place. He was in his car making a business deal and then dies in Madison Ave.
I also remembered seeing another sci-fi show where there is this alien who wears an ugly skullcap and calls his race of people 'schmucks'.
So u see, there are negative portrayals of every race of people in America.
Have u seen the movie the 'Apprentice of Duddy Kravitz' movie about a driven, scheming and sneaky Jewish salesguy in Montreal Canada?
I have yet to see a main movie character depicting an Asian Man of the same nature.
LSD
Monday, March 10, 2003 at 12:06:07 (PST)
[66.236.160.96]
"But I'm sure if they go to China or anywhere, no Asians would say the same to them as we are not brought up to judge someone so instantly and shoot words out of our mouth just because it is a "free" country and I can say anything I want because I'm SoooOooo Open-minded"
***True,I think caucasians can be really uncivilised sometimes. It's that "white-is-right" thingie which makes me sick to the core.
true, White expats in Asia do not face discrimination or racial hatred like what most AA's have to put up with. Asians DO NOT have any problem with a person's eyes.We dont shout racial slurs when we see people of other races in the streets. We have better things to do.
Just go to any country in Asia, no matter what your skin color is, you'll be greeted with friendly smiles.That is one trait abt Asians which I will always be proud of.
One Mad Asian,
Remember, none of these silly & petty racist remarks can bring anyone of us down. You should thank God that at least you are not as shallow as these bigots with such myopic views. My eyes may be small and slanted, but at least my eyes see people beyond their color.
Another Tanned &Proud Azn
Monday, March 10, 2003 at 06:12:18 (PST)
[210.187.156.253]
To: TIme 2 flip the script..
Date non-Asian women, especially white women who are plentiful in this country. Don't limit yourself to Asian women.
Leafy Greens
Monday, March 10, 2003 at 04:30:17 (PST)
[24.24.146.91]
Just some random thoughts:
You just have to put yourself in an area where you feel comfortable because, unfortunately deep-seeded attitudes and negative media portrayals don't change with the size of your wallet. It just eases the pain.
I've always lived in predominantly white, upper-middle class areas of California (Marin, S.F., Belmont, Los Gatos, Del Mar-very racist). I chose to be there because they were nice areas. Racism was present, but was overt. To the whites, I was a nice, respectable Asian man who minded his business. But, I never was whole-heartedly accepted; just tolerated.
I would venture to say that every nice area in the country is predominantly white. It comes down to socio-economics and comfort level. Rich whites want to be with rich whites, e.g. country club settings, fraternities/sororities, etc. What I did notice is that AF were more abundant in these areas because of outmarriage versus AM/out marriage or AM/AF.
Conversely, you have African-American ghettos, Mexican-American barrios, Asian-American China/Japan/Korea-towns, because people feel more comfortable with what they know. Some people choose to live there, even if they can afford to live in a higher-end neighborhood because of familiarity.
I now live in Hawaii, where I blend in nicely with the scenery and the 55%/45% split of Asian descendants and Haoles (finally decided it took too much energy to break the stereotype).
Even on commercials here, given the demographics, they will show WM/AF in relationships, but not AM/WF. What does this message say?
My observation is that a good number of the most attractive Asian/hapa women in Hawaii (take note of this on the Mainland sometime), only date white men.
Just for fun, take a peek sometime at the dating service ads from Asian women? What they say is, "Wanted: 6'0 or over (how many Asian men are 6'0" or over?), White/Caucasian Male." Seems like all the money thrown into Marketing does works.
I'm not bitter, just truthful, because I'm guilty of falling for the same trap.
I've only dated white women my whole life because subconsciously, I bought into the marketing that white is right. Not any more.
Tman
Sunday, March 09, 2003 at 22:42:31 (PST)
[198.81.27.7]
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