MEDIA (MIS) REPRSENTATIONS OF CHINESE-AmericanS Culture

Media (Mis) Representations of Chinese-Americans

Media (Mis) Representations of Chinese-Americans

In the west, representations of people who are outside of the standard or norm, (white, middle & upper class, male) are not represented with accuracy. Chinese-Americans are one such group that doese not often receive an accurate or dynamically real representation of the spectrum of the culture or the people within it. Media representations in the west of Chinese-Americans are limited to a few stereotypes, generally. Some of those stereotypes include that all Chinese people practice and have mastered martial arts, and that all Chinese have exceptional intelligence in mathematics, sciences, and technology. Another media stereotype of the Chinese is that they are all short of stature, particularly poking fun at short men. Chinese men are often stereotypically represented as geeks or nerds -- exceptionally "book smart," but lacking in coolness and social skills. Chinese women are very often represented as generally obedient, and submissive. American women are often represented as either the Madonna or the whore. Chinese women are in an analogous situation with their representations: they are either a whore/geisha/prostitute, or asexual virgins with purity. Chinese-Americans are furthermore often lumped together with East Asians in general, as if East Asians are interchangeable or all the same. Asians in western media often play ethnicities that are different from their own, such as a Korean-American actor Sung Kang playing a Japanese Yakuza in the film Ninja Assassin. In actuality, there is incredible diversity in culture among the Asian people. Media representations...

Martial arts are absolutely a part of Chinese heritage. It is an aspect of the culture that plays well with media -- it is exciting, interesting, and entertaining. Yet martial arts are not the only aspect of Chinese culture that is marketable or commodifiable. There are many Chinese-Americans that practice martial arts, but they may not be masters at them, or they might only practice as a meditation and not for fighting/combat. Furthermore, to state what seems to be obvious, there are Chinese-Americans that have no background in martial arts. While Bruce Lee was one of the first Chinese stars of the west and was not a stereotype himself, his cultural legacy gets used in the present as a way to perpetuate stereotypes about Chinese-Americans. Jackie Chan has had a prolific career and certainly has contributed to the success of other careers in the film industry. His movies are distributed worldwide and often have extravagant or abundant resources for great production value. He has made so many movies -- all of which are martial arts and/or action based. The world does not receive a diversity of representation in a Chinese star with worldwide credibility and influence. In this way, Chan contributes to the limitations in media representations of Chinese-Americans.
Jeremy Lin created quite a sensation in America and in the world. Jeremy Lin is a Chinese-American professional basketball player.…