Representation In Hollywood
An Analysis of Asian American Representation in Modern Hollywood Film
Gia H. Ha
George Mason University
An Analysis of Asian American Representation in Modern Hollywood Film
While Hollywood has come a long way from blatantly portraying racism as it did in the past, it is still prevalent in modern day film and media. For instance, yellowface, which was portrayed in classic films of the mid-90’s, is still an issue in Hollywood today. With the recent controversy following the filmmakers of “Ghost in the Shell” trying to digitally yellowface actress Scarlett Johansson, there is no doubt that Hollywood still has a race problem (“Ghost in the Shell,” 2016). Racism has manifested itself in a new sneakier way; it is not gone, it just does …show more content…
not look the way it used to look. It is critical to analyze contemporary media, such as modern film, through a scholarly lens because it illuminates the type of offensive racial stereotyping still happening to Asian Americans today.
When millions of people watch Hollywood films on a daily basis, there needs to be a reexamination of what messages these films are sending. Modern film is a relevant source for discussions on contemporary racism because it is one of the most influential means by which people learn how to behave in society. The idea that film is more than a vehicle for entertainment is supported by a study on the impact of media representation on social identity; depending on the stereotypes depicted in films, people’s beliefs about Asian Americans are also influenced by what is on the screen and it can impact the viewer’s social identity (Mastro & Kopacz, 2006). To examine the scope of Hollywood racism, the study will review the number of Asian characters and their prominence in the top-grossing Hollywood films, in addition to reviewing the roles of Asian Americans directors, writers, and producers behind the scenes. One of the issues in today’s society is that despite the growing interest in racism and inequality within the academic community, the impact of Hollywood racism on the Asian American population remains largely ignored.
Literature Review
A study by the University of Southern California (USC) suggests that, with the increase in representation of marginalized racial groups in Hollywood in recent years, the focus has shifted to the prominence of the roles played by actors of color rather than how many are present in Hollywood. Research suggests that it is not just quantitative representation, but more importantly qualitative representation that influences the perceptions of certain ethnic groups (Smith, Choueiti, & Pieper, 2015). For instance, when Asian Americans are always portrayed as quiet, nerdy, and submissive in films, viewers begin to believe this stereotype. This impact is especially true for people who have little meaningful interactions with Asian Americans. According to studies, most roles associated with marginalized racial groups are still minor or stereotyped. Despite the increase in numbers of Asian Americans on-screen, they still remain underrepresented and some problematic patterns still persist from this stereotypical portrayal (Kim & Chung, 2005).
According to the USC study, which examined over 30,000 speaking roles in the 100 top-grossing films for the years 2007 to 2014, members of marginalized racial groups represented under 27 percent of all characters with speaking roles in films. Of these 100 films, over 40 films had no Asian speaking characters (Smith, Choueiti, & Pieper, 2015). The overrepresentation of White people in positions of power within Hollywood film continues to restrict efforts to diversify it (Smith, Choueiti, & Pieper, 2015). "The underlying fact is that White control of prime time continues to make it difficult to diversify it," says Dr. Stacey Smith, one of the researchers, "Recent gestures toward change have left the underlying structures untouched" (2015, p. 23). In the United States, many films hold the belief that Asian Americans must be from some distant, faraway land because Whiteness is perceived as “normal” and Asian Americans typically do not exhibit Eurocentric appearances. The underlying message of that assumption is tied to a history of xenophobia and anti-Asian sentiment that involved hate crimes immigration policies that excluded the Asian American community (Dalisay & Tan, 2009). Due to these messages, Asian American identity is questioned on a daily basis, both the “Asian” and the “American” aspects of identity. Often, Asian Americans have to do a lot of work negotiating between the two (Pyke, 2010). For instance, every time an Asian American hears things such as “Where are you from?” or “Where were you born?” it subtly implies that they are not American or that they are a foreigner (Sue et al., 2007, p. 274) In a study on racial macroaggressions, researchers say that subtle racism can be “potentially harmful” to the self-perception of people of color (Sue et al., 2007, p. 272). Asian Americans receive thousands of messages over the years that they do not fit in and internalized racism does not happen overnight.
When Asian Americans see people who they identify with in minor or subordinate roles, it can negatively affect their self-perception (Dalisay & Tan, 2009). An example of this is when Asian Americans are only cast to play subordinate service jobs like giving massages or fixing nails. Asian Americans often become homogenized and reduced to stereotypes, such as the depiction of Asian Americans as non-English speaking immigrants in many Hollywood films. Many stereotypical representations in film leave no room for Asian Americans who fall outside of this stereotype, such as those who do not speak an Asian language or those who do speak English in a US accent (Mastro & Kopacz, 2006). It also reinforces orientalism, which prevents Hollywood from seeing Asian Americans as individuals, depicting them as stereotypes instead, which allows Hollywood’s racist legacy to prevail (Kim & Chung, 2005).
One of Hollywood’s most harmful stereotypes about the Asian American community is the model minority myth. The stereotype overly generalizes Asian Americans by depicting them as hard working and high achieving, as well as economically and academically successful (Dalisay & Tan, 2009). For instance, if films consistently cast Asian Americans playing roles of technicians or mathematics, then viewers may learn to believe that all Asian Americans are smart people. While this may seem positive when examined at a surface level, the model minority myth actually creates racial hierarchies between different marginalized racial groups and specifically serves as a tool of anti-black racism (Dalisay & Tan, 2009). The myth is a political tool that protects institutionalized white supremacy and validates anti-black racism by highlighting the success of specific Asians (i.e. Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Indian immigrants) with successful educational and professional backgrounds (Dalisay & Tan, 2009). For a long time, Asian American activists have worked to debunk the myth by discussing its negative consequences and impacts. By positioning some Asian American groups as a model of success in the United States, the model minority myth is used as a tool of oppression, especially one that perpetuates anti-black racism (Dalisay & Tan, 2009). When Hollywood continues to portray Asian Americans at the model minority, the myth fosters internalized racism within certain Asian American communities against other marginalized racial communities (Dalisay & Tan, 2009). In this sense, Hollywood perpetuates a form of systematic oppression where some Asian Americans unconsciously adopt the idea that certain racial groups are better than their own, thus supporting white privilege (Pyke, 2010). Instead of searching for liberation, Asian Americans with internalized racism become complacent within a system that punishes them for what they represent (Pyke, 2010).
Mainstream film also continues to feed the dangerous myth that Asian women are subservient and that they enjoy being dominated (Okada, 2008). The fetishization of an entire group of women based on race alone is objectifying and it reduces Asian American women down to sexualized stereotypes. For instance, in the case of East Asian women, this includes the fantasy of hypersexualized geishas or adorable girls in sailor school uniforms. These stereotypes placed onto a population of over a billion people comes from centuries of colonization (Kim & Chung, 2005). The female Asian body has been colonized to sell a fantasy of compliant submissiveness. This colonization of Asian bodies is an extension of the Western colonization of Asian people. On-screen, the Asian body is dominated into compliant submissiveness, mirroring the real submissiveness experienced by colonized people (Okada, 2008; Kim & Chung, 2005). The exotification of Asian women projects a fantasy about how Asian women should behave and act (Okada, 2008). The one-dimensional depiction of Asian American women in Hollywood film does little to empower the historically oppressed (Dalisay & Tan, 2009). The continuous reproduction of these films, in turn, reinforces the idea that the only roles Asian women can serve those where they are subordinate and hypersexualized, which can also lead to internalized racial oppression (Okada, 2008).
According to studies, people value diversity and want to see it on-screen (Smith, Choueiti, & Pieper, 2015).
However, the ideas of harmful Asian stereotypes and the objectification of Asian American women is not useful to creating diversity. Hollywood still has a long way to go in terms of racial equality, but film is a good platform for discussing contemporary racism experienced by Asian Americans because it actively struggles with reinforcing internalized racial oppression and deconstructing stereotypes such as orientalism, the model minority myth, and the fetishization of Asian …show more content…
women.
Methods
The purpose of this study is to examine the portrayal of Asian characters in Hollywood films to identify the prevalence of racist Asian stereotypes in everyday settings.
Using USC’s study as a model, a study analyzing Asian American representation is developed (Smith, Choueiti, & Pieper, 2015). To ensure that the study has a large sample size of films, the study will look at the 100 top-grossing Hollywood films from the years 2010 to 2015. The study uses data from American Multi-Cinema to identify the 500 films. The films are spread out over several years in order to study variations in Asian American representation over time. The data will be collected by four graduate students with a background in film and media studies. They will examine and identify the films independently after they are trained to analyze films in a similar manner on a separate sample of films. If any differences arise between the four students, an additional graduate student may be recruited to review the data collected. Also, it should be noted that identifying Asian Americans solely based on their appearance can sometimes be challenging, so the data collected by the researchers will be entirely based on perceptions of certain physical characteristics. Focus questions will be designed to analyze Asian American representation in films, specifically looking at on-screen prevalence, on-screen portrayal, and behind the camera involvement. The study will also examine different aspects of Asian American
representation such as age, gender, class, ability, and sexuality. Examples of some of the questions are as follows:
• How many Asian characters appear across the 500 top-grossing films from 2010 to 2015?
• How many of these films feature an Asian lead?
• How many speaking characters are Asian?
• How many Asian characters had Asian accents or spoke in an Asian language?
• What genres do the Asian characters appear in?
• What is the apparent age range of the Asian characters?
• How many Asian characters are portrayed in sexy attire?
• How many Asian characters are shown with some nudity?
• How many Asian characters are portrayed as attractive?
• How many Asian characters are part of the LGBTQ community?
• How often were Asian characters depicted under the model minority myth?
• How many films had Asian directors? How many were female Asian directors?
• How many writers were Asian?
• How many producers were Asian?
• For the above questions, what is the ratio of Asian males to Asian females?
Regardless of numbers, a more critical aspect of this study is whether Asian Americans play roles exhibiting different levels of prominence. Another interest of the study is the prevalence of Asian stereotypes in films. The study will also examine the number of Asian Americans who work behind the camera in the top films to determine whether the presence of an Asian writer, producer, or director decreases the likelihood of Asian stereotypes and macroaggressions on-screen. For instance, does the presence of an Asian female writer, producer, or director reduce the likelihood of Asian female hypersexualization? Based on results of the study, findings will be examined in a manner that will look for common themes and correlations between data to determine how the portrayal of Asian Americans in US films. Findings from the study analyze racism through the
Gia H. Ha
George Mason University
An Analysis of Asian American Representation in Modern Hollywood Film
While Hollywood has come a long way from blatantly portraying racism as it did in the past, it is still prevalent in modern day film and media. For instance, yellowface, which was portrayed in classic films of the mid-90’s, is still an issue in Hollywood today. With the recent controversy following the filmmakers of “Ghost in the Shell” trying to digitally yellowface actress Scarlett Johansson, there is no doubt that Hollywood still has a race problem (“Ghost in the Shell,” 2016). Racism has manifested itself in a new sneakier way; it is not gone, it just does …show more content…
not look the way it used to look. It is critical to analyze contemporary media, such as modern film, through a scholarly lens because it illuminates the type of offensive racial stereotyping still happening to Asian Americans today.
When millions of people watch Hollywood films on a daily basis, there needs to be a reexamination of what messages these films are sending. Modern film is a relevant source for discussions on contemporary racism because it is one of the most influential means by which people learn how to behave in society. The idea that film is more than a vehicle for entertainment is supported by a study on the impact of media representation on social identity; depending on the stereotypes depicted in films, people’s beliefs about Asian Americans are also influenced by what is on the screen and it can impact the viewer’s social identity (Mastro & Kopacz, 2006). To examine the scope of Hollywood racism, the study will review the number of Asian characters and their prominence in the top-grossing Hollywood films, in addition to reviewing the roles of Asian Americans directors, writers, and producers behind the scenes. One of the issues in today’s society is that despite the growing interest in racism and inequality within the academic community, the impact of Hollywood racism on the Asian American population remains largely ignored.
Literature Review
A study by the University of Southern California (USC) suggests that, with the increase in representation of marginalized racial groups in Hollywood in recent years, the focus has shifted to the prominence of the roles played by actors of color rather than how many are present in Hollywood. Research suggests that it is not just quantitative representation, but more importantly qualitative representation that influences the perceptions of certain ethnic groups (Smith, Choueiti, & Pieper, 2015). For instance, when Asian Americans are always portrayed as quiet, nerdy, and submissive in films, viewers begin to believe this stereotype. This impact is especially true for people who have little meaningful interactions with Asian Americans. According to studies, most roles associated with marginalized racial groups are still minor or stereotyped. Despite the increase in numbers of Asian Americans on-screen, they still remain underrepresented and some problematic patterns still persist from this stereotypical portrayal (Kim & Chung, 2005).
According to the USC study, which examined over 30,000 speaking roles in the 100 top-grossing films for the years 2007 to 2014, members of marginalized racial groups represented under 27 percent of all characters with speaking roles in films. Of these 100 films, over 40 films had no Asian speaking characters (Smith, Choueiti, & Pieper, 2015). The overrepresentation of White people in positions of power within Hollywood film continues to restrict efforts to diversify it (Smith, Choueiti, & Pieper, 2015). "The underlying fact is that White control of prime time continues to make it difficult to diversify it," says Dr. Stacey Smith, one of the researchers, "Recent gestures toward change have left the underlying structures untouched" (2015, p. 23). In the United States, many films hold the belief that Asian Americans must be from some distant, faraway land because Whiteness is perceived as “normal” and Asian Americans typically do not exhibit Eurocentric appearances. The underlying message of that assumption is tied to a history of xenophobia and anti-Asian sentiment that involved hate crimes immigration policies that excluded the Asian American community (Dalisay & Tan, 2009). Due to these messages, Asian American identity is questioned on a daily basis, both the “Asian” and the “American” aspects of identity. Often, Asian Americans have to do a lot of work negotiating between the two (Pyke, 2010). For instance, every time an Asian American hears things such as “Where are you from?” or “Where were you born?” it subtly implies that they are not American or that they are a foreigner (Sue et al., 2007, p. 274) In a study on racial macroaggressions, researchers say that subtle racism can be “potentially harmful” to the self-perception of people of color (Sue et al., 2007, p. 272). Asian Americans receive thousands of messages over the years that they do not fit in and internalized racism does not happen overnight.
When Asian Americans see people who they identify with in minor or subordinate roles, it can negatively affect their self-perception (Dalisay & Tan, 2009). An example of this is when Asian Americans are only cast to play subordinate service jobs like giving massages or fixing nails. Asian Americans often become homogenized and reduced to stereotypes, such as the depiction of Asian Americans as non-English speaking immigrants in many Hollywood films. Many stereotypical representations in film leave no room for Asian Americans who fall outside of this stereotype, such as those who do not speak an Asian language or those who do speak English in a US accent (Mastro & Kopacz, 2006). It also reinforces orientalism, which prevents Hollywood from seeing Asian Americans as individuals, depicting them as stereotypes instead, which allows Hollywood’s racist legacy to prevail (Kim & Chung, 2005).
One of Hollywood’s most harmful stereotypes about the Asian American community is the model minority myth. The stereotype overly generalizes Asian Americans by depicting them as hard working and high achieving, as well as economically and academically successful (Dalisay & Tan, 2009). For instance, if films consistently cast Asian Americans playing roles of technicians or mathematics, then viewers may learn to believe that all Asian Americans are smart people. While this may seem positive when examined at a surface level, the model minority myth actually creates racial hierarchies between different marginalized racial groups and specifically serves as a tool of anti-black racism (Dalisay & Tan, 2009). The myth is a political tool that protects institutionalized white supremacy and validates anti-black racism by highlighting the success of specific Asians (i.e. Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Indian immigrants) with successful educational and professional backgrounds (Dalisay & Tan, 2009). For a long time, Asian American activists have worked to debunk the myth by discussing its negative consequences and impacts. By positioning some Asian American groups as a model of success in the United States, the model minority myth is used as a tool of oppression, especially one that perpetuates anti-black racism (Dalisay & Tan, 2009). When Hollywood continues to portray Asian Americans at the model minority, the myth fosters internalized racism within certain Asian American communities against other marginalized racial communities (Dalisay & Tan, 2009). In this sense, Hollywood perpetuates a form of systematic oppression where some Asian Americans unconsciously adopt the idea that certain racial groups are better than their own, thus supporting white privilege (Pyke, 2010). Instead of searching for liberation, Asian Americans with internalized racism become complacent within a system that punishes them for what they represent (Pyke, 2010).
Mainstream film also continues to feed the dangerous myth that Asian women are subservient and that they enjoy being dominated (Okada, 2008). The fetishization of an entire group of women based on race alone is objectifying and it reduces Asian American women down to sexualized stereotypes. For instance, in the case of East Asian women, this includes the fantasy of hypersexualized geishas or adorable girls in sailor school uniforms. These stereotypes placed onto a population of over a billion people comes from centuries of colonization (Kim & Chung, 2005). The female Asian body has been colonized to sell a fantasy of compliant submissiveness. This colonization of Asian bodies is an extension of the Western colonization of Asian people. On-screen, the Asian body is dominated into compliant submissiveness, mirroring the real submissiveness experienced by colonized people (Okada, 2008; Kim & Chung, 2005). The exotification of Asian women projects a fantasy about how Asian women should behave and act (Okada, 2008). The one-dimensional depiction of Asian American women in Hollywood film does little to empower the historically oppressed (Dalisay & Tan, 2009). The continuous reproduction of these films, in turn, reinforces the idea that the only roles Asian women can serve those where they are subordinate and hypersexualized, which can also lead to internalized racial oppression (Okada, 2008).
According to studies, people value diversity and want to see it on-screen (Smith, Choueiti, & Pieper, 2015).
However, the ideas of harmful Asian stereotypes and the objectification of Asian American women is not useful to creating diversity. Hollywood still has a long way to go in terms of racial equality, but film is a good platform for discussing contemporary racism experienced by Asian Americans because it actively struggles with reinforcing internalized racial oppression and deconstructing stereotypes such as orientalism, the model minority myth, and the fetishization of Asian …show more content…
women.
Methods
The purpose of this study is to examine the portrayal of Asian characters in Hollywood films to identify the prevalence of racist Asian stereotypes in everyday settings.
Using USC’s study as a model, a study analyzing Asian American representation is developed (Smith, Choueiti, & Pieper, 2015). To ensure that the study has a large sample size of films, the study will look at the 100 top-grossing Hollywood films from the years 2010 to 2015. The study uses data from American Multi-Cinema to identify the 500 films. The films are spread out over several years in order to study variations in Asian American representation over time. The data will be collected by four graduate students with a background in film and media studies. They will examine and identify the films independently after they are trained to analyze films in a similar manner on a separate sample of films. If any differences arise between the four students, an additional graduate student may be recruited to review the data collected. Also, it should be noted that identifying Asian Americans solely based on their appearance can sometimes be challenging, so the data collected by the researchers will be entirely based on perceptions of certain physical characteristics. Focus questions will be designed to analyze Asian American representation in films, specifically looking at on-screen prevalence, on-screen portrayal, and behind the camera involvement. The study will also examine different aspects of Asian American
representation such as age, gender, class, ability, and sexuality. Examples of some of the questions are as follows:
• How many Asian characters appear across the 500 top-grossing films from 2010 to 2015?
• How many of these films feature an Asian lead?
• How many speaking characters are Asian?
• How many Asian characters had Asian accents or spoke in an Asian language?
• What genres do the Asian characters appear in?
• What is the apparent age range of the Asian characters?
• How many Asian characters are portrayed in sexy attire?
• How many Asian characters are shown with some nudity?
• How many Asian characters are portrayed as attractive?
• How many Asian characters are part of the LGBTQ community?
• How often were Asian characters depicted under the model minority myth?
• How many films had Asian directors? How many were female Asian directors?
• How many writers were Asian?
• How many producers were Asian?
• For the above questions, what is the ratio of Asian males to Asian females?
Regardless of numbers, a more critical aspect of this study is whether Asian Americans play roles exhibiting different levels of prominence. Another interest of the study is the prevalence of Asian stereotypes in films. The study will also examine the number of Asian Americans who work behind the camera in the top films to determine whether the presence of an Asian writer, producer, or director decreases the likelihood of Asian stereotypes and macroaggressions on-screen. For instance, does the presence of an Asian female writer, producer, or director reduce the likelihood of Asian female hypersexualization? Based on results of the study, findings will be examined in a manner that will look for common themes and correlations between data to determine how the portrayal of Asian Americans in US films. Findings from the study analyze racism through the