Stereotypes In Hollywood Movies

From China to Europe, or from the East to the West, the distance is not a problem any more for learning another culture in the contemporary world. Nevertheless, between different cultures, there are still invisible gaps – stereotypes and “Othering”. The stereotypical representations of the “Other” can still be found in our daily life, in news media, in many films and TV products. The representation of China and Chinese people in the West, for example, is reduced to a few stereotypes from the earlier Fu Manchu to the recent Kung Fu heroes. However, people who are portrayed as the “Other” does not favor these stereotypical images. The first Asian-American film star, also the actress who plays the role of the “Dragon Lady” in many Hollywood movies, revealed her feelings in a magazine interview in 1933:
I was so tired of the parts I had to play. Why is it that the screen Chinese is nearly always the villain of the piece, and so cruel a villain--murderous, treacherous, a snake in the grass? We are not like that. How should we be, with a civilization that's so many times older than that of the West? We have our own virtues. We have our rigid code of behavior, of honor. Why do they never show these on the screen? Why should we always scheme, rob, …show more content…
Before introducing these two films, I will study the image of the Marco Polo and his influence in the European history to get a general idea of this historical figure. Then I will focus on representation of Marco Polo in the two films and compare their similarities and differences. By analyzing the character Marco Polo, I will explain his European identity and Western viewer’s identification with him. Afterwards, I will analyze the different use of stereotypical elements in the representations of China in the two films. In the end, I will examine fantasies and both of the “Othering” and “Humanizing” processes in the two