Scholars have criticized the media for producing and pushing the Model Minority stereotype to the general public. Bob Suzuki, who published an article about thirty years ago in 1977, argues that the Model Minority is mostly a publicity stunt pulled by the media. Suzuki further states that although the Model Minority Stereotype seems misleadingly positive on the surface, it is erroneous and distorted, which proves as a liability for many Asian Americans. The Model Minority stereotype unintentionally downplays and degrades other nationalities. Therefore, Asian Americans bear a higher vulnerability to harassment, hate crime, and discrimination compared to other ethnic groups on top of the huge encumbrance parents and society has already placed
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Television is the undisputed largest outlet of Asian American stereotypes, which include the Model Minority, the yellow peril, the poor communicator, and the perpetual foreigner stereotype. The American entertainment media has inaccurately described the Asian identity to the rest of the world for decades. Caucasian Americans who do not understand the Asian culture shaped the Asian American identity, and thus did not consider how negatively such stereotypes would affect the Asian Americans. According to the United States Census Bureau, Asian Americans are the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States. From 2000 to 2010, the population of Asian Americans in the United States increased by almost ten percent. The reason most Americans continue to stereotype Asians is because Asian Americans are missing in Hollywood. The Screen Actors Guild notes that, Asian Americans make up less than four percent of all television and dramaturgical actors compared to thirteen percent by African American actors, six percent by Hispanic or Latino actors, and seventy three percent by Caucasian American actors. This disparity robs Asian-American actors of opportunities to disprove typical stereotypes and generalizations made about the Asian American community. Since Hollywood’s early years, Asian American women have been cast as dragon ladies. Dragon ladies are female characters that are usually physically attractive but use the trait to deceive and undercut others. Anna May Wong, a famous Chinese American actress who starred in several motion pictures under the infamous role of the dragon lady in the 1920s had criticized Hollywood for portraying Asian Americans in a negative spotlight. She even left the United States temporarily to act in European movies to escape being cast in that stereotypical role. Anna May Wong explains in an interview with the Los
Television is the undisputed largest outlet of Asian American stereotypes, which include the Model Minority, the yellow peril, the poor communicator, and the perpetual foreigner stereotype. The American entertainment media has inaccurately described the Asian identity to the rest of the world for decades. Caucasian Americans who do not understand the Asian culture shaped the Asian American identity, and thus did not consider how negatively such stereotypes would affect the Asian Americans. According to the United States Census Bureau, Asian Americans are the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States. From 2000 to 2010, the population of Asian Americans in the United States increased by almost ten percent. The reason most Americans continue to stereotype Asians is because Asian Americans are missing in Hollywood. The Screen Actors Guild notes that, Asian Americans make up less than four percent of all television and dramaturgical actors compared to thirteen percent by African American actors, six percent by Hispanic or Latino actors, and seventy three percent by Caucasian American actors. This disparity robs Asian-American actors of opportunities to disprove typical stereotypes and generalizations made about the Asian American community. Since Hollywood’s early years, Asian American women have been cast as dragon ladies. Dragon ladies are female characters that are usually physically attractive but use the trait to deceive and undercut others. Anna May Wong, a famous Chinese American actress who starred in several motion pictures under the infamous role of the dragon lady in the 1920s had criticized Hollywood for portraying Asian Americans in a negative spotlight. She even left the United States temporarily to act in European movies to escape being cast in that stereotypical role. Anna May Wong explains in an interview with the Los