Stereotypical Representations of Asians & Hispanics

When immigrant groups or "other" cultures are portrayed in the media, quite often their representation is portrayed as somehow "inferior" to the "superior" portrayals of the dominant cultural group. Racism, prejudice and discrimination often lead to stereotypical representation of immigrant groups as a means of affirming the "superior" nature of the dominant group and is used as justification for its greater resources, power and control.

Historically in the U.S. media, representation of Asians and Hispanics have largely been stereotypical, often derogatory images that serve to reinforce the image of dominant groups as justified in their class privileges. From news reels in the 1920s and 1930s to current Hollywood films, the media has largely been guilty of reinforcing stereotypical and negative representations of Hispanics and Asians. Nevertheless, the increasing numbers of Asians and Hispanics in the U.S. population, globalization, and the spread of communications technologies have witnessed advances for Hispanics and Asians in U.S. media. This is true not only in terms of their presence in greater numbers but also in the manner in which they are represented. This analysis will explore past and present representations of Hispanics and Asians in the U.S. media in order to illustrate this change.

Historical representations of both Hispanics and Asians in the U.S. media have often been stereotypical and derogatory. Hispanics were often portrayed in Hollywood

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n. As one television programmer maintains about the tendency to represent other groups as somehow inferior, "Each cultural group has its strengths, flaws, talents, intellect and areas of excellent. It's unfortunate that some people consider their particular regional or ethnic culture to be superior and focus on the flaws of others. They miss the wonderful benefits of the marvelous cultural diversity that makes our country great." Hollywood has increasingly been recognizing the potentially lucrative benefits of embracing this "marvelous cultural diversity." This is perhaps truer for Asians than for Hispanics. Today, directors like John Woo and actors and actresses like Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Lucy Liu write their own ticket in Hollywood and continue to influence both Asian and American filmmakers and talent. Action adventure films have higher global appeal than dramas or comedies which are more culturally-specific. Asians excel at this kind of filmmaking. The recent Academy Award given to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, represented a watershed of Asian involvement and positive representation in American media. As Minh-Ha T. Pham (2004, p. 121) explains, "When Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, a subtitled, epic Chin

Category: Film - S