What are some of the stereotypes that haunt and affect Asian Americans today? Well some of the most obvious are “the Dragon lady,” “the exotic Asian woman who lives to pamper her husband,” “the sexy but submissive Asian woman,” “evil, devious, and sneaky” Asian characters, “trustworthy Chinese peasants,” all Asian women are “passive and docile,” Asian women are “spoils of war,” the “Connie Chung” Asian American newscaster,” and most recently “the model minority.” Now with that reminder, where did all these stereotypes come from? This question can be slightly answered after one reads Lee and watches the films Slaying the Dragon and The Joy Luck Club.
Both Lee and Slaying the Dragon suggest that many of these stereotypes were invented by the American film and music industry in order to spread racism, oppress people of color, and yet at the same time make massive profits. So first lets look at the American film industry. As another reminder, the American film industry was born in the early 1900s, at a time when a dominantly white America felt threatened by the Chinese Americans and wanted them gone. And what’s one way America oppresses people of color? Trough spreading the word or in this case an image of why the group under attack is “bad,” “alien like,” and should leave. With Americans fascinated by the cinema, movies were one of the most recognizable ways to oppress the Asian/Asian American people and their cultures through stereotyping. A quick list of films where Asian or Asian American characters are stereotyped include, The World of Suzie Wong, Flower Drum Song, early Anna May Wong movies, Flash Gordon, Walk Like A Dragon, and a handful of American films produced during the Vietnam War. To answer the question “Where did Asian American stereotypes come from?” in depth, we must now examine these films more closely and delve deeper into America’s history of racism.
To start, the first stereotype of Asian American women was “the Dragon Lady.” Anna May Wong, the first ever Chinese American actress, and first Asian American actress to gain international fame, was portrayed as “the Dragon Lady,” during the 1920′s “Yellow Peril.” “Six images- the pollutant, the coolie, the deviant, the yellow peril, the model minority, and the gook- portray the oriental as an alien body and a threat to the American national family” (Lee, p. 8).
Next, we have Flash Gordon from the 1930s, stereotyping Asian American men as “evil, devious, and sneaky.”
1937 (to 1945)- the Second Sino-Japanese War begins, transferring the Japanese and Chinese stereotypes. Instead of the Chinese being the bad guys, the Japanese now become the devious ones. This is when the stereotype of “Trustworthy Chinese peasants,” forms.
1949- Communist takeover in China. Chinese and Japanese images are switched once again. Japanese become good, Chinese bad.
Soon after geisha films are released, the stereotype that Asian women are “exotic,” and “only live to please men,” can be seen.
1950s- With the Korean War, international relationships between Asian women and white men first take place on the screen.
This is when the dynamics between Asian women and white men started to change. It wasn’t until this time period could a white man and Asian woman be seen kissing on screen. And this is also when Asian women started to become objectified, when white men could have free sexual desires for women of color, and when white men were viewed as the “manly man; the white hero.”
1960- In the film, The World of Suzie Wong, actress Nancy Kwan unknowingly begins the “sexy but submissive Asian woman,” stereotype which still exists to this day.
Film industry uses “passive” Asian American stereotypes to counteract African American civil rights movement.
1970s- Vietnamese women are “spoils of war,” in films like the Rambo series.
1980s- “The New Yellow Peril,” begins when Asian American women become newscasters. This started the “Connie Chung,” stereotypes that Asian American women newscasters need to have their hair a certain way and wear “exotic” makeup.
Film industry continues to use Asian Americans as scapegoats because they know any other minority group would rebel; according to Slaying the Dragon.
Clearly, everyone knows the film industry is a powerful machine that can easily manipulate and influence the minds of it’s audience. And because of this, it’s been used as the perfect tool to make immense profits and oppress different groups of people. So what’s the result of all these stereotypes? What impact does it have on American culture and it’s people? As can be seen in the film Slaying the Dragon, a quite popular assumption made by many white American men, is that they can get the perfect “submissive, pampering wife,” from an Asian American woman. Another troubling affect is, some Asian American women believe that white men are just like the ”white hero’s,” they see in the American films.
Ok, now strictly moving on to Orientals, Lee mentions how during the mid-late 1800s the American music industry spread and profited from racism towards the Chinese Americans. “Like California As It Was And Is,” a score of popular songs published between 1855 and 1882 portrayed the Chinese immigrant as an agent of economic decline and social disorder of free white working-men and their families” (Lee, p. 17). And who wrote these songs? White American men who felt threatened by the Chinese Americans amidst the height of the gold rush. “Popular songs were not meant to be passively consumed in the listening, but were intended for singing around the campfire, in the boardinghouse parlor, in the saloon and music hall, and at the political rally” (Lee, p. 17). Not only was singing/songwriting one of fastest ways to spread discrimination, but it was also a conveniently good way to make money. Sort of disturbing? Yes, yes it is.
And lastly, let’s take a look at The Joy Luck Club. I honestly did not see that many connections to be made between this film, Lee or Slaying the Dragon. I did notice two things though. 1. One of the children sang “I enjoy being a girl,” which was also sang by Nancy Kwan’s character in Flower Drum Song. And 2. Nearly all of the women in the film did not want to talk about the bad things which had happened to them, similar to how the survivors of the Japanese American concentration camps did not want to talk about their experiences.
