The Changes of Asian Stereotypes on Television
For decades, media has shaped the images of Asians with little understanding of Asian people themselves on American television. The China Doll stereotype which is defined for Asian women who are highly fetishized, the Dragon Lady stereotype which depicts Asian women as strong, deceitful and domineering, and the Kung Fu Fighters stereotype which assumes all Asians know Kung Fu. Those are just a the handful of stereotypes that the American media has build for the Asians which have traditionally been the norms in the television shows. There are always misunderstandings of Asian people which negatively impacts the Asian community in reality. Asians have been fighting against these stereotypes …show more content…
It still portrays negative Asian stereotypes. In the first two episodes, there are a lot of racially based humor, from Eddie 's Chinese food lunch to the mispronunciation of Eddie’s birth name from his teacher, to Eddie’s father wants to hire a white waiter to make his customers feels comfortable in his restaurant. But anyone who found themselves can pronounce everyone’s names correctly? Or can easily accept the taste of a new type of food? More accurately, those are just culture differences. I argue that Fresh Off the Boat just uses racial humor to reflect cultural differences, not to spread racial stereotypes. Since the whole media industry has helped to reconstruct the bad image of Asians, Fresh Off the Boat allows for an opportunity to stand out and show the audience a positive image of Asians. Has Fresh Off the Boat changed the way that viewers think about Asians and removed most of the negative stereotypes of Asians? To answer this question, I need to know what are the stereotypes of Asians on TV from since the past to the present now? And what impressions of Asians did Fresh Off the Boat give to the audience? Those are some research questions I intend to analyze throughout my …show more content…
Jessica is a pragmatic woman who believes in tough love. In fact, Jessica can be very accurately described as the world’s most supportive spouse. She’s harsh and critical with no remorse, but she does all of that because she genuinely cares that Louis gets to see his dream fulfilled. She loves her husband and she loves her kids, and she’s willing to do a heck of a lot to help them achieve their full potential. As the only Asian family in the neighborhood, Jessica makes friends with white ladies and joins their rollerblading group. She breaks the weak and submissive images of Asian women that the media has constructed. Jessica reminds me of two Asian actresses who are as same as her, Maggie Q and Lucy Liu. In the article Star Types And Stereotypes, the author Mike mentions that the television shows Nikita and Elementary try to humanize actress Maggie Q and Lucy Liu’s roles as independent and confident women which establishe a new image of Asian female (Mike). Maggie Q, Lucy Liu and Constance Wu who plays Jessica are high-achieving Asian actress who have played the strongest and most interesting female leads on television which is a huge achievement. “The media leads toward depicting more liberal and independent women and a decline of the traditional Asian female image”(Kim 7).
For decades, media has shaped the images of Asians with little understanding of Asian people themselves on American television. The China Doll stereotype which is defined for Asian women who are highly fetishized, the Dragon Lady stereotype which depicts Asian women as strong, deceitful and domineering, and the Kung Fu Fighters stereotype which assumes all Asians know Kung Fu. Those are just a the handful of stereotypes that the American media has build for the Asians which have traditionally been the norms in the television shows. There are always misunderstandings of Asian people which negatively impacts the Asian community in reality. Asians have been fighting against these stereotypes …show more content…
It still portrays negative Asian stereotypes. In the first two episodes, there are a lot of racially based humor, from Eddie 's Chinese food lunch to the mispronunciation of Eddie’s birth name from his teacher, to Eddie’s father wants to hire a white waiter to make his customers feels comfortable in his restaurant. But anyone who found themselves can pronounce everyone’s names correctly? Or can easily accept the taste of a new type of food? More accurately, those are just culture differences. I argue that Fresh Off the Boat just uses racial humor to reflect cultural differences, not to spread racial stereotypes. Since the whole media industry has helped to reconstruct the bad image of Asians, Fresh Off the Boat allows for an opportunity to stand out and show the audience a positive image of Asians. Has Fresh Off the Boat changed the way that viewers think about Asians and removed most of the negative stereotypes of Asians? To answer this question, I need to know what are the stereotypes of Asians on TV from since the past to the present now? And what impressions of Asians did Fresh Off the Boat give to the audience? Those are some research questions I intend to analyze throughout my …show more content…
Jessica is a pragmatic woman who believes in tough love. In fact, Jessica can be very accurately described as the world’s most supportive spouse. She’s harsh and critical with no remorse, but she does all of that because she genuinely cares that Louis gets to see his dream fulfilled. She loves her husband and she loves her kids, and she’s willing to do a heck of a lot to help them achieve their full potential. As the only Asian family in the neighborhood, Jessica makes friends with white ladies and joins their rollerblading group. She breaks the weak and submissive images of Asian women that the media has constructed. Jessica reminds me of two Asian actresses who are as same as her, Maggie Q and Lucy Liu. In the article Star Types And Stereotypes, the author Mike mentions that the television shows Nikita and Elementary try to humanize actress Maggie Q and Lucy Liu’s roles as independent and confident women which establishe a new image of Asian female (Mike). Maggie Q, Lucy Liu and Constance Wu who plays Jessica are high-achieving Asian actress who have played the strongest and most interesting female leads on television which is a huge achievement. “The media leads toward depicting more liberal and independent women and a decline of the traditional Asian female image”(Kim 7).