08.30.07
Opinion Survey: Asian Americans in Movies
Images of Asian Americans in movies such as “Balls of Fury“:
A. ultimately lead to the empowerment of all Asian Americans.
B. ultimately lead to the empowerment of Asian American women, but lead to the disempowerment of Asian American men.
C. ultimately lead to the empowerment of Asian American men, but lead to the disempowerment of Asian American women.
D. ultimately lead to the disempowerment of all Asian Americans.
Consider: In this movie, as is the case in the recent movie, “I now pronounce you Chuck and Larry,” we see a tired dichotomy that is constantly presented in movies, television, and other forms of mass-media where the Asian American woman:
- Can speak English well
- Is assimilable into American society
- Is socially and/or romantically desirable
Whereas the Asian American man:
- Cannot speak English well
- Is not assimilable into American society
- Is not socially and/or romantically desirable
Cast your votes and leave your comments below. You can also talk to us live during our podcast session on Sunday, 9/2/07 from 8:00-8:30pm EST @ 212-255-2898
humpy said,
August 30, 2007 at 8:53 am
i propose that asians make our own movie:
***CKS OF FURY!
Kevin said,
August 30, 2007 at 7:11 pm
movies like “balls of fury” and its effect on the AAPI community are very gray in the spectrum of good and bad. on the one hand, having AAPIs on the screen always is a good thing to the community, because we see our faces up in mainstream culture and can eventually get mor AAPI to star in major motion pictures. but on the other hand, it is a crutch on the AAPI community because of the roles of those on screen. it gives the all too common stereotypes of AAPI. though we have AAPI mainstream stars such as Masi Oka, James Hong, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Jason Scott Lee, and Maggie Q, we have Christopher Walken playing an obvious yellowface. though we have come a far way from Fu Manchu, Charlie Chan, Mr. Yunioshi, but we as a community need to make stride for reverting back to those yellowface characters such as Christopher Walken as Feng and Rob Schnider as Ula, the Japanese Minister, or basically any character Schnider plays. we need more James Shigetas and Seesue Hayakawas, and less Rob Schniders.
to wrap up my longwinded responce, its a mixture for A&D, but more so A. i have faith that one day I will be able to see a badass villain and a true to life hero on the screen that is an AAPI.
humpy said,
August 30, 2007 at 7:14 pm
“glocks of fury” that is.
good to know the asian hopsings just want to censor and edit out real empowerment messages.
what a sad website this is; it had so much potential…
lynn said,
August 31, 2007 at 6:47 am
D
i don’t see where i can cast my vote, so here it is. if asian american women are accepted but asian american men rejected, it is still disempowering to ALL asian americans. some aa women would even be brainwashed into believing that aa men are incompetent, antisocial, ungentlemanly, misogynist, etc. that would cause more division and resentment within the aa community.
besides, aa women aren’t exactly treated with respect. so what if they could speak english well and assimilate? they are still exotic sex objects, no matter what. they need to be freed from their oppressive male counterparts–THAT’s the mentality that goes through non-asian minds.
Alex said,
September 5, 2007 at 9:41 am
I propose that I go out there and bone as many white women as I possibly can to suppress the angst that racist stigma has imposed upon me.
Anyone with me?! Come on!! YEAH!
Alex said,
September 5, 2007 at 9:41 am
D by the way