Portrayal of Asian-Americans in the Canceled Sitcom, All American Girl
Ever since arriving in this country, Asian-Americans have been misunderstood and discriminated against. Lately things have gotten better, but there are still people trying to further improve their situation. Margaret Cho, a Korean-American, is one of them. In the late 1990's she got her own sitcom, All-American Girl. This was a perfect chance to improve the portrayal of Korean-Americans, and Asian-Americans in general.
Positive Aspects
“All American Girl” showed many positive portrayals of Asians in a modern day society in California. The show is the first show in history to have a multi generational Asian cast portraying a Korean family in America. The grandparents are typical Korean people who came to America all the way down to their grandchildren who are all American (All American Girl).
Despite much stereotypes present in the show, including the portrayal of an average Californian teenage girl chasing boys, “All American Girl” does show some of the general Korean traditions. In one episode, Margaret‘s, the main character, mother is upset at her granddaughter for pursuing a non Korean boy romantically. The theme of Margaret’s romance continues into the next episode when her new Korean boyfriend wants her to be the typical Korean woman (All American Girl). Another example of Korean thinking in the show is portrayed when the grandmother blames the bad luck of family on “bad feng shui.” Feng Shui is probably a term that most Americans are oblivious about, and this show brings it to light.
“All American Girl” made a good attempt at trying to educate the American people on the Korean way of life and traditions. People living in America tend to ...
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Hiltbrand (p.17) argues that the show takes cheap shots at Asian culture and makes unfair use of stereotypes. He says of the show, "In its own warped fashion, this misshapen sitcom reminds me of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis -- only with rickshaw jokes. Grade: C." Here you can see some of the negative sentiment that people had towards the show. Hiltbrand uses the example of "Rickshaw Jokes" to state his opinion that when it came down to it, this show wasn't all that much better than all the other stereotypical portrayals of Asians in other shows, despite its good intentions.
All American Girl, while having its positive aspects, was still seen by many as detrimental to the Asian-American community. It is unfortunate that because of network executives and ignorance in general even a show that has good intentions still leaves people out in the cold.
Yamato, Jen. Burning Questions.“The Hunger Games and Real World Parallels: “Can kids all become Katniss Everdeen”. Movie Line. March 13, 2012. Web. May 04, 2012
Foucault starts out the first chapter, The body of the condemned, by contrasting Damiens gruesome public torture with a detailed schedule of a prison that took place just eighty years later. Foucault is bringing the reader’s attention to the distinct change in punishment put in place in less than a century. It gets the reader to start thinking about the differences between how society used to punish people and the way that we do today. Foucault states that earlier in time the right to punish was directly connected to the authority of the King. Crimes committed during this time were not crimes against the public good, but a personal disrespect to the King himself. The public displays of torture and execution were public affirmations of the King’s authority to rule and to punish. It was after many years when the people subjected to torture suddenly became sympathized, especially if the punishment was too excessive for the crime committed.
Cultural differences in the United States have always impacted personal relationships, sometimes for the good, but also for the bad. Lenny and Eunice’s cultural variances were no different. Lenny Abramov was a 39-year-old man who worked in Indefinite Life Extension at Post-Human Services, which allowed the wealthy and the healthy—known as High Net Worth Individuals—to become immoral. Lenny is a self-deprecating Russian-American Jewish male, who is self-conscious about his appearance, uselessly well educated, passionate, neither old nor young, and helplessly prone to error. Eunice Park, on the other hand, is a 24-year-old young Korean-American woman who is constantly struggling with materialism and the pressures of her ...
Since its start, the television industry has been criticized for perpetuating myths and stereotypes about African-Americans through characterizations, story lines, and plots. The situation comedy has been the area that has seemed to draw the most criticism, analysis, and disapproval for stereotyping. From Sanford and Son and The Jefferson’s in the 1970s to The Cosby Show (1984) and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the 1990s, sitcoms featuring black casts and characters have always been controversial. However, their significance upon our American culture cannot be disregarded. During the 1950s and 1960s, 97% of the families were Caucasian. In the first five years of the 1990s, nearly 14% of the television families were African-American (Bryant 2001). These statistics obviously show the substantial impact our American culture has had on African-American television families.
...en in this film have any strong masculine qualities. They cannot take charge, they are easily intimidated, and they are never assertive with their beliefs and restrictions giving the impression to the movie viewers that Asian Americans are docile beings and Asian Americans are obstacles easily overcame.
Suzanne Collin’s novel The Hunger Games, explores the blurring boundary between private and public life, a process amplified by the entertainment industry, and draws a commentary upon the parallels existing in our society.
Mantsios, G. (2013). Media magic: Making class invisible. In M. L. Andersen & P. H. Collins (Eds.), Race, class and gender: An anthology (pp.386-393). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
In this paper I will be sharing information I had gathered involving two students that were interviewed regarding education and their racial status of being an Asian-American. I will examine these subjects’ experiences as an Asian-American through the education they had experienced throughout their entire lives. I will also be relating and analyzing their experiences through the various concepts we had learned and discussed in class so far. Both of these individuals have experiences regarding their education that have similarities and differences.
There are close to 12 million Asian Americans living in the United States (U.S. Asian, 2000). Asian Americans are considered one of the fastest growing minorities (Pimentel, 2001). Between 1990 and 1999, the Asian population rose 43% (Census, 2000). However, Asian Americans are still portrayed in a simplistic manner by the American media, which in turn, promotes stereotyping. I have researched various types of mass media in the United States, such as: music, films, television and magazines. I will focus on several examples where Asian Americans are portrayed in a negative way. Furthermore, I will give examples of musicians, and independent films that prove Asian Americans have potential on what they can contribute to in the American media. Finally, I will recommend different ways to rid the stereotype put on Asian Americans by actions that can be taken, not only pertaining to Asians, but to other ethnicities that face stereotypes on their culture.
Race and ethnicity are two factors that often contribute largely to a family’s way of life. The Korean family featured in the documentary exhibit the traditional practice of Korean customs while attempting to assimilate into Canadian culture. The three young Korean daughters struggle to maintain this balance, and attempt to keep their parents, mainly their father, content. One of the major differences visible between Canadian and Korean culture is the pressure that is put
However, Asians are rapidly becoming a greater force in American culture as the proportion of educated Asian-Americans rises. Despite small numbers, they begin to have more and more influence in the business and professional worlds as well as academics. They are an interesting group, however, caught between two extremely different cultures as they seek to strike a balance between the ideals of their parents and the world they live in.
The world of television can either completely hit or miss the mark when it comes to providing its audience a diverse cast/actors. "Girls" is a new HBO show about young, prosperous, and white New Yorkers in their twenties struggling to find their footing in the post-collegiate world. It is a poor example of representation of race, but the show in itself cannot be held responsible for the whole problem of racial diversity of media and popular culture. There has been a lot of controversy about the show's diversity since the first episode, seeing how it is set in the melting pot of NYC and Brooklyn, yet it is prominently white. The shocking part is that despite its meting pot nature, it is very easy to live a segregated social life in New York City, especially if you are a rich white person. The fact that the show is so white should not come off as unusual, yet it does because this generation is more willing to see that change happen in pop culture. Not everyone sees it that way and pop culture still does not represent races equally or at times even accurately. For example, when show do add in minorities they often make them extremely stereotypical to their race. The recurrence in the lack of realistic representation in the show highlights the “whiteness” of stereotypical roles that overshadows real life representation.
Oftentimes the children of immigrants to the United States lose the sense of cultural background in which their parents had tried so desperately to instill within them. According to Walter Shear, “It is an unseen terror that runs through both the distinct social spectrum experienced by the mothers in China and the lack of such social definition in the daughters’ lives.” This “unseen terror” is portrayed in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club as four Chinese women and their American-born daughters struggle to understand one another’s culture and values. The second-generation women in The Joy Luck Club prove to lose their sense of Chinese values, becoming Americanized.
Throughout Asian American literature there is a struggle between Asian women and their Asian American daughters. This is the case in The Joy Luck Club, written by Amy Tan and also in the short story "Waiting for Mr. Kim," written by Carol Roh-Spaulding. These two stories are very different, however they are similar in that they portray Asian women trying to get their American daughters to respect their Asian heritage. There are certain behaviors that Asian women are expected to have, and the mothers feel that their daughters should use these behaviors.
...able they really are with overtly racist stereotypes; and even with all the “human right”’ movements that spring about there is still the need for long-lasting solution against combating prejudices. By displaying stereotypes jokingly, especially ones that pertained for the Asian population, Yang proves not only do people hold prejudice against other groups with his examples of Asian stereotypes, but that stereotypes are still prevalent in today’s society.