asians!@

Alner Samala
Eng1A
Instructor Vogel
July 20, 2005
Research Paper Final Draft




How Are Asians Represented In Television and Film


One of the least successful aspects of the Asian American experience is the portrayal of Asian Americans in the media, both in film and TV. Most Americans television viewers would agree that Asians and references to Asia are at best, portrayed infrequently on major national television networks (ABC, NBC, CBS). Consequently, I wasn’t surprised. Being a TV addict most of the night time, it confirms to me that Asians and Asian references were indeed grossly underrepresented. What I did find astoundingly however was practically almost every reference to Asia and the Asian people whether trivial or significant, draws upon derogatory stereotypes. I have noticed references primarily on martial arts, ancient Asian traditions (samurai era, feng-sui), Chinese food, and contemporary competition with other Asian nations, and each of it was rendered in a formulaic way. Yet somehow, I saw no constructive references to the truly contemporary modern day culture and people of Asia. The categorized roles of Asian actors were as either primary or secondary defining the primary characters as those who had names, who had significant airtime, and who were significant to the plot of that
program. White-Parks p. 181) Starting with the villainous serotypes in the movies from 70s to 80s and up to the present times, the progress of their portrayal can only be measured in a small gap. From the evil Japanese of the World War II, the communist gooks in Korea, China, and
Vietnam and the present day Hong Kong Triad gangsters- Hollywood shows a role of faceless, maniacal willing to die because life is not valued are endlessly recycled.

According to a common western stereotype, Asians are typically adept to martial arts, a belief television regularly enforces. In Hollywood movies, it is often we see actors like Jackie Chan or Jet Li, doing high intensity stunts and kung fu moves rather than seeing them in dramatic roles, and so do other upcoming Asian actors, they do the same part. Another common reference was Chinese food. A number of scenes in movies and TV show characters eating Chinese food or contemplating ordering it. It is once mentioned in one show in NBC’s Jack’s Place that the spicy stuff in the Chinese food “enhances digestion and increases memory” (White-Parks p.183). The last and most frequently used stereotype Asian reference was to a frozen past. Other references to competition, there were no references to a contemporary Far East, to a technologically advanced region that boasts, especially in Japan, of a high standard of living, social peace, and cohesion. Instead, the references depicted in movies a timeless East, a place and people were mystical- curiosities that are need not taken to be seriously. It is common that we see in many Asian movies; statuettes of Buddha, ceramic Japanese temples, and sometimes this white magician dressed in a traditional Chinese garb. It is common that these Asian references are both quaint and non-threatening. The time frame and representations of an East in some unchanging past has an end point and of course that end point is the WWII. The representation of Japan and the Japanese during that war was the most ominous reference noted, because like so many stereotypes, it was presented without intentional vilification ( White-Parks).

In a study shown that I have read; “”Minorities made up just over 5% of people on television - excluding foreign programs and foreign visitors - compared with the 6.7% of the country's population that is non-white. And Asian and Chinese faces were "pitifully sparse" - despite making up 4.3% of the population. Black people made up 3.7% of that, whereas they make up just over 2% of the population as a whole. Asian people made up just 1% of participants in TV shows, and "other ethnic minorities", including Chinese, accounted for just 0.2%. ( 2001) Ethnic minority participants were also far less likely to enjoy major roles. Broadcasters have also been accused of being color blind - meaning that although a character could be black or Asian, they could just as easily have been white because their ethnic background had no impact on the story. I have also found out that in BBC, study says that in one week, the only black or Asian faces in BBC2's top 10 shows, with a combined audience of 33 million, were in the US cartoon The Simpsons. (Jackson, 2000)

Another mechanism contributing to the misperception of minorities by the media is the narrative structure of news content. In our society, information that counts as news is typically constructed into a narrative or story structure. The narrative structure of the news casts people as heroes, villains, and victims; issues are framed as conflicts between opposing forces with one of the forces often cast in the role of hero and the other of villain. Sometimes the story involves one or more victims. When the news item involves minorities, they more frequently fall into the categories of villain and victim than the category of hero. A narrative structure creates unity among events separated by time and space, implies intentionality to the actions of the participants involved in the events beyond that which they may have had, and creates the impression that the separate events share a common "meaning”, thus providing a single interpretation to the many events. Interpretations which are repeated with frequency become accepted understandings among those to whom alternative interpretations are not evident. ((Ungerleider, 1991)
One more study that I found is the lack of people in the industry. According to the Screen Actors Guild, the number of primetime parts for blacks and Latinos declined in 1998, with blacks filling around 12 percent and Latinos just 3 percent. Asian-Americans represented a little more than 1 percent of parts on primetime shows. A 1998 Directors Guild of America report showed that minority (and women) directors (in TV and film) worked fewer days in 1997 than the year before, despite an increase in work for directors overall (Jackson, 2000)
It is sad to think that everything is being white washed or there is a fact that there is a certain
seclusion inside the film and media industry. Such numbers are valuable indicators. But the executives are right that numbers don't completely capture racism's complex nature. Discrimination, for example, also takes the form of segregation. The vast majority (83 percent) of the 55 African-American primetime writers worked on shows with primarily black casts. "White writers, however, routinely make the crossover to write on shows with predominantly minority casts," (Jackson, 2000).Black, Latino, Asian-American and Native American actors cite the frustration of being considered only for "specifically ethnic" roles, the countless opportunities they miss because of someone's parochial idea of what a "neighbor" or a "bank teller" should look like. On the flip side, minority writers say they can only get started in the business by avoiding issues relating to ethnicity. The misunderstanding of the systemic, institutional nature of discrimination was also reflected in the scramble by some of the networks to "tack on" token minority characters to existing shows later in the season.
(Jackson, 2000). The dilemma for Asian Americans in show business relates primarily to their
visibility; non-Asian audiences my not accept Asian Americans in dominant group roles. In addition to that, productions that are relevant to minority group life may appeal to a limited audience. The stereotypes of a dominant culture are not as always negative. Perhaps , it is unrealistic to expect Asian Americans eventually to appear randomly in American productions as heroes, villains , lovers or ordinary people, but it would be a sign of progress to move in this direction. (Kitano, 1988)

. Another myth that I have learned regarding the state of how it affects all minorities on TV, is that the power of economics that takes part in the mass media. It's somewhat noteworthy to see media acknowledge the powerful role sponsors play in the content of programming. But this "economics, stupid" line, which pretends to be a dry-eyed, straight-up look at things, actually stops short of the whole story. It’s deemed that such policies are not based in “market sense” (Jackson, 2000).The fact is "economics" do not explain the disparate treatment of white and non-white audiences by sponsors, and consequently by programmers. Advertisers pay less for programs that garner non-white audiences, in a widely acknowledged policy called "discounting." Some flatly refuse to buy ads on stations or shows that reach primarily non-white audiences, the so-called "no urban/no Spanish dictate." Companies have cited worries that "our pilferage will increase," if they advertise on minority stations ( Jackson, 2000) Others say the parade of new shows with young white casts isn't about racism. It's about economics. It's about attracting the hard-to-get audience of white 18-to-34 year olds with vast buying power. (Ungereider, 1991)

The argument that maybe offered that a small number of Asians appearing on Major American network television simply reflects the relatively small number of Asian Americans within the American population. I feel although, the implication of film and television programming on the viewing public exceeded a mere reflection of a perceived reality. In fact, television’s perceived reality often becomes the viewer’s actual reality. The most important conclusion that I could provide from this research is that Asians and the whole Asia are extraordinarily under represented on the American network television. Other references were equally almost scarce, and they could be explained away as rather inconsequential examples of sloppy and careless thinking on the part of television’s creators. For much, it is easier to represent Asia in traditional and stereotypical ways than it is to try, in the “superficial medium” of network television, to come to grips with the complex, contemporary reality of many nations and peoples pf Asia. (White-Parks, 1994).