Please enable JavaScript.

Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.

AAST355 - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Mentions that Asian American directors are more critiques by race rather than style like Tarantino
      - Asian American media is more political than it is cultural
      - The label of Asian American media helps with gaining more funding
      - The message of Asian American cinema is fluid
    - - Orientalism & Racial Objectification
        
        His culture is shown as strange and sensual with treasures and even actions of branding
      - Asian Identity as Plot Tool
        
        The character’s ethnicity was swapped (Japanese → Burmese) for political convenience
        
        Showing how Asian identities were treated as interchangeable and disposable in early cinema.
      - Exotic Villain Stereotype
        
        The Asian male character is shown as seductive, mysterious, and dangerous
        
        Plays into "Yellow Peril" fears and framing Asian men as threats to white women.
      - Toll of the Sea has a contrast of how Asians are portrayed. In the Cheat, Haka is seen as a powerful, dangerous, and evil character. While in Toll of the Sea the main character is seen as weak and powerless.
      - I thought it was interesting how this movie was made so long ago was able to essentially set the stage for the villainous Asian man stereotype. This is powerful because ut shows how exactly Hollywood is able to shape the fear of Asian people through film and how much of a long lasting impact it had
      - Asians can be framed as suspicious and easily can be seen as a threat.
    - - Stereotypes arent just misconceptions; they have the ability to control the way people think and make first impressions
      - Stereotypes helped colonizers control power
      - Repetitive reinforcement of stereotypes makes them feel more real
      - Power is formed by creating the ide of inferiority (stereotypes).
      - Ambivalence is that stereotypes are neither true or false. Its based on many different facts and cannot be proven right or wrong
    - - Movies are transformational
        
        Movies can create a different reality which can be used for teaching audiences about race, sex, and class.
        
        The critic's role is to illuminate
        
        The author's goal is to help people see films in a new way, believing that critical analysis enhances, rather than diminishes, the pleasure of watching a movie.
        
        Representation requires a political standpoint more than a racial one
        
        The author thinks simply having more Black filmmakers will not cause change. She argues that a filmmaker's political perspective is more important than their race when it comes to being progressive
      - Reel to Real: Race, Sex, and Class at the Movies - Bell hook
        
        Films have the power to create a different reality rather than displaying how things actually are
        
        Hooks criticizes to try and show that things that may seem progressive are actually influencing more conventional racist idealogy
        
        Movies can influence how we think and act
        
        More minority film makers will lead to ore progressive ideas displayed in movies
      - FIlms paint a story. Can provide representation, especially in the case of thirs cinema
    - - Film helps build on or off of the identify asian americans have
      - There is a history of negative stereotypes of Asians in film. Like Karate kid, Asian sensei.
      - Context is very important when it comes to the message of the film
      - Can reinforce sterotypes
    - - Asian/Pacific Islanders are not represented well at all. About 50% lower than the what their population in the US is
      - Females are severly undderrepresented
  - - - Reinforcement of the "Lotus Blossom" Stereotype
        
        Lotus Flower is portrayed as passive, loyal, and self-sacrificing.
        
        Asian women as quiet and submissive love interests for white men.
        
        Always seen in calm ature, could be showing her softness
        
        20:45 - she is so emotionallly and crying saying "her heart will go dead" if he leaves. They have barely met but she is acting overly emotionsal and manipulated
        
        I feel her emotions are just on one side of the spectrum or the other. She is either really somber or really excited.
        
        Interracial Love Framed as Temporary or Illegitimate
        
        The “Chinese fashion” marriage is never honored by the American man.
        
        15:15 Allen is telling Lotus that he has to go home but has a stern look on his face indicating he will not bring her whiele Lotus is smiling thinking she is going
        
        3145 - it is clear by the broken english that Lotus wrote these letters to her and mIke herslef just as the other women had said
        
        48:15 gives up her child to please Allen and his wife. Which is ridiculous
        
        Asian Characters Lack Agency
        
        Lotus Flower has no power over her own life or child by the end. Rarely were her decisions for her own good
        
        43:07 - Lotus is so quick to forgive Allen and says "there is nothing to forgive," even though she has been crying about him all this time. She is clearly upset but is a pushover
        
        Tragic Ending Used to "Clean Up" the Story
        
        Lotus Flower’s implied suicide serves to remove herself as the problem.
        
        50:00 Calls her self a "Little chinese nurse until your real american mother comes". So degrading
        
        Allen rips off flower scene
        
        16:40: Lotus is really excited to go back with Allen to America and gives him a flower. But it ois obvious he has made up his mind to abandon her and crumbles up the flower
        
        !2:00 the white men describe her as charming and different, reinforcing her as something exotic and hypersexual.
        Says " thats it she is different" and thats why you cant take her to America
      - I think the use of technicolor, especially in silent films, speaks volumes. Learning mise-en-scène also helped me truly decipher what the director was trying to show. I noticed so much of the setting and the idea of ornamentalism in play. It felt like Lotus Flower was more of an object who was a part of the setting and someone who sacrifices herself and the things she loves for the white man.
      - In Toll of the Sea and World of Suzie Wong, both lead actors are put in positions of weakness and lack agency
    - - They didn’t show race through skin well and it seems they use characteristics like clothing and background
        
        Early color film couldn’t show different skin tones well, so instead, they used flowers, clothes, and fancy sets to show someone was “Asian.” That made the character feel more like decoration than a real person.
        
        Lotus Flower was treated like part of the scenery
        
        Lotus is always surrounded by nature, dressed like a flower, and not moving much. The camera made her blend in, reminded me of a literal flower sitting in the garden, not a person
        
        Asian women were made to look soft, still, and sad
        
        Lotus Flower barely moves, always waits, and ends up giving everything up. White characters move freely, wear plain colors, and stand out. This illlustrates Asiain women as quiet and submissive.
        
        The film tech was made for white skin
        
        Technicolor is said to make white skin look good. It couldn’t show yellow or brown tones well, so Asian characters looked pale or odd.
    - - Generic Asian characters are made to create a general stereotype
        
        This enhances the stereotype that all asian are the same
        
        Example: Chinese character can play a japanese role
        
        Blurs the distinct culture of each asian race
        
        White people make up the true meaning on asian americans in film
        
        Asian-ness in media is created by white creators and for white audience
        
        Real Asian voices pushed aside by fantasy versions created for white entertainment
        
        Asians are seen as entertainment not real characters
        
        Leads to underrepresentation in major roles and overrepresentation in "comedic" side character roles
        
        Cosmetics are emphasized over actual agency
        
        The “Asian look” (makeup, costume, accent) is used without giving characters meaningful agency.
        
        Reinforces cosmetics rather than impactful meaning
    - - Brownface = Voice + Visual
        
        Not just makeup. The Indian accent became a way to mock people that are south asian
        
        Trained audiences to laugh at Indian culture, not with it
        
        Peter Sellers as Blueprint
        
        His role as Bakshi in The Party normalized and popularized brown-voice performances in the U.S.
        
        White actors kept imitating the same exaggerated being "indian" instead of hiring actual south asians
        
        Comedy as a Cover for Racism
        
        They label blatant racism as comedic fun. Masking the real issue
        
        Colonial Narratives Keep Coming Back
        
        In the 1980s (Indiana Jones, Octopussy), India was still shown as exotic, backward, or mystical.
        
        America kept viewing India through a British lens.
        
        South Asians = Model Minority Props
        
        Asians are cast as supporting characters, like as nerds, doctors, and spiritual beings.
        
        Reinforced the "smart but socially awkward foreigner" ideaology in Hollywood.
  - - - Exoticism
        
        Beginning scenes asian music is playing during the fight and martial artsts are fighting. But they are doing flips and techniques that are way over the top
        
        6:10 They are in the wilderness and Mr. Braithwaite looks around intriguied by it
      - All the sex workers are Asian
        
        Builds on the idea that Asians are painted as submissive and hypersexual
      - 6:00 Bruce Lee is issued a task by a higher up white investigator
        
        Reinfored the Hollywood dynamic that Asians exist to serve white interests
      - The Asian men imprisoned were see as weak, quite and harmlees. But once let out they wreaked havoc.
        
        I think this plays into ambivalence where Asians are seen as weak but somehow also cunning and dangerous
      - I think the mirror fight scene with Han is very powerful as well. I think it symbolizes the idea that you are not able to see the real enemy. From a filmmaking perspective, I think it is that Western media distorts the vision of Asian identity. Breaking the mirrors is breaking through the images Western media paints Asians in.
      - Bruce Lee is a very powerful figure in this movie. Despite still being seen as asexual, he is also seen as powerful and masculine as he is confident and very skilled at what he does.
      - Bruce Lee shows disciplined power while BLT shows chaotic rebellion
      - Symbolic fight against imperial power through a single person in Enter the Dragon.
        I hotel shows resistance through community, while also being peaceful
    - - Bruce Lee is seen as a polycultural role model
        
        Lee rejected racial and cultural boundaries that were present in media
        
        He taught martial arts to people of all cultures
        
        Believed in identity over race
        
        He embodied polyculturalism which in turn promoted anti-racism
        
        Hollywood systemic racism
        
        Lee was denied the lead in Kung Fu because he was “too Chinese.”
        
        Never the main role, usually side kick character
        
        Left the US film indusrty and wen to Hong Kong for more oppurtunity
        
        Kung Fu as a means to express anti-imperialism
        
        Films like Enter the Dragon and Way of the Dragon had implications to the real world in term so imperialism
        
        Lee’s characters fought corruption using only fists.
        
        Symbolized bare-handed rebellion against U.S. militarism and capitalism.
        
        Asian American Radical Movements
        
        These groups allied with the Black Panthers, Chicano Brown Berets, and Native movements.
        
        Inspired groups like the Red Guard Party and I Wor Kuen.
        
        Again showed anti-capitalism motives
        
        Rejection of “Model Minority” Myth
        
        Post-1965 immigration policy framed Asians as docile and non-threatening.
        
        Bruce Lee was often loud and powerful in his roles
        
        Redefined Asian masculinity as assertive and revolutionary. This fought back against the idea that Asian men are weak and not masculine enough
        
        Challenged the idea that Asians only succeed by assimilating or being invisible.
        
        Implications onto asian americans in film
        
        Bruce Lee helped move more and more Asians out of weak side character roles
        
        He was able to paint Asian men as powerful and masculine through his roles
        
        Helped spearhead the idea of anti-racism in the film industry
    - - Model minority myth
        
        Asians are painted as another but still closest to white people
        
        They contribute to society and make money through hard work
        
        In the film, this idea is flipped on its head and rather than an academic lifestyle, it is more of a thug lifestyle where they make money and make bad decisions as a delinquent.
        
        Asians are not typically seen as athletes due to fram so seing the main character in the filk have athletic aspirations that practically fall short is interesting
      - Breaks model minority myth
        
        4:00 - looks at women in a sexual way which is different from what we read in hte NY times articles as men were displayed as asexual
        
        37:15 - Pulls a gun which seems like a crazy escalation from a fight. Virgil says unethical things like "shoot him" and starts kicking him when he is down
        
        1:06:00 - they hired a prostitute and Virgil pulls a gun on her
        
        1:20:45 - Bem violently beats Steve with a bat for his love interest
      - Power
        
        The gun has power to take a life, when they oul it out which is multiple times, it is an abuse of power
        
        38:40 - Showing weakness is a loss of power, Virgil is crying and Han makes sure he stops talking to get his emotions under control
        
        Virgil is definetly not mentally there. Han is tough on him the entire movie until he realizes how precious his life is when he tries to kill himself
        
        Ben has a great academic life and came from a wealthy family. He had a chance to develop a great future. But he is not happy with his life and gets a thrill from committing small crimes like cheating and scamming. This then escalates to stealing and selling drugs and even eventual murder
        
        45:00 - they got labeled the "chinese mafia" and liked it because it stuck more fear into everyone
      - Violence is more noble in Enter the dragon
      - Interacial relationships
        
        Porn video of a white man and an asian cheerleader
        
        Steve cheating with a white teammate
        
        White prostitute
      - Originally paints ben as a super hard working kid doing things the right way. Studyign really hard, doing extracurriculars, and even practicing basketball really hard
        
        Shes a spanish translator.
      - 11:55 - Ben talks about it felt good doing things that didnt showing up on college apps like stealling. At the beginning of the moie they talk about how their life is boring
        
        Straight As was an alibi to freedom
        
        16:15 he was upset he gets no playing time in basketball but says, at least it will look good on his college app
      - Contradiction
        
        22:45 - didnt like being thought of being o the team because he was a token asian due to the article Derek put out. So he quit the team. But he is okay with stealing
      - Breaking of the MMM truly paints these teenagers as teenagers. I forget where I heard this from but the fact that these characters are so flawed and imperfect makes them perfect depictions of Asian American teens. This gives them complex identities as they are not boxed in traditional Asian roles like the nerdy Asian.
      - Conditional acceptance. You can be perfect but one false move and you move back down the spectrum
    - - “Straitjacket Sexuality” = Trapped Masculinity
        
        Asian American men were historically denied marriage, family, and sexual freedom.
        
        Media forces them between two extremes:
        
        “Lack” (weak, desexualized, asexual)
        
        “Macho” (overcompensating, aggressive)
        
        Their identities get stuck proving manhood instead of just existing as human.
        
        Hollywood keeps Asian men in stereotypes. On the other hand independent films push back by showing emotional depth and real sexuality.
      - Film as a “Technology of Ethics”
        
        Philosopher Emmanuel Levinas says film can teach empathy and ethics.
        
        Cinema shows how race, power, and desire operate in relationships.
        
        “Ethical manhood” means recognizing both your power and vulnerability.
        
        Independent films like The Debut, Charlotte Sometimes, and Better Luck Tomorrow help audiences see Asian American men as complex rather than jokes or side characters.
      - Hypersexuality
        
        Asian American men must learn to desire without domination or shame.
        
        Vulnerability is portrayed as strength
        
        These films create space for Asian men to be caring, emotional, and self-aware.
        
        countering the “asexual nerd” stereotype.
      - Better Luck Tomorrow is a story about rebeliion
        
        Asian American teens rebel against the “model minority” stereotype.
        
        Their crimes and moral chaos reflect frustration with perfectionism and invisibility.
        
        The film challenges the idea that Asians must always be obedient or harmless.
        
        Flawed characters make Asian masculinity visible and real.
        
        It also helped open doors for Asian filmmakers like Justin Lin in mainstream Hollywood.
      - Representation is power
  - - - 3:35 she says ”Ling Moy is honored” and continues talking in third person while wearing a super flashy and exotic dress. Talking in third person is often, in my opinion, seen as a form of lower intelligence
        6:05 - Exotic is the first word used to describe her
        10:00 - entrance of FU Man chu in very traditional clothing
        11:45 mind control isnt realy but the idea of the asian responsible for an impossible power
      - Ringing a gong represents "asian"
      - Lim moy is being decepive to Ah Kee in an effort to succeed in her plqn to kill Ronald Petri
      - Rather than just killing Ling moy decides to torture with acid
      - All asian characetrs died, even the "good" ah kee
      - Joan is seen as calm and gentle whil Lim moy is often brash, emotional and deceptive
      - The fact that AMW is such a great actor but still stuck only in roles of a dragon lady or Lotus flower speaks volumes on the constraint Hollywood has on Asian American representation in film. I thought it was also interesting how ALL of the Asian characters die, and even the "good" Asian character, Ah Kee dies. The white characters are then abel to move on with their lives.
    - - Anna May Wong is the first Asian American film star.
        
        She broke barriers as the first Chinese American Hollywood star.
        
        Both her roles are not postivie ones. Dragon Lady (evil/seductive) or Lotus Blossom (submissive/victim).
        
        She was exoticized, not humanized.
      - Hollywood painted her as different
        
        She rarely got lead roles or romantic pairings.
        
        She was often cast as “the other woman” or “the villain".
        
        They preferred white women with yellow face rather than her
      - Wong showed resistence to the business
        
        Wong challenged stereotypes by turning down roles nsulted her culture.
        
        She used her fame to critique racism
        
        Showed how success doesn’t always mean respect or freedom.
      - Her roles as "Dragon Lady" and "Lotus Blossom" has hurt asian cuulture
        
        These stereotypes still mess with how Asian American women are seen today.
      - Wong is seen as a symbol of transformation of the film industry
      - Even Asian men are trapped into roles
    - - Asian American women are boxed in tropes
        
        Their sexuality is always racialized.
        
        It shapes how Asian women are seen and how they see themselves in the film scene
      - Hypersexual images can be harmful but also politically productive
        
        Shimizu argues that Asian women can reclaim and reinterpret their sexualized images
        
        Some sexual portrayals enable agency
        
        Critics are important in reshaping meaning.
      - Being seen as sexual is not the biggest problem, it is the lack of diverse roles
        
        Narrow set of roles means narrow sexual meanings.
      - Shimizu calls for a race-positive redefinition of Asian female sexuality.
        
        Asian women should be represented as subjects with agency, not objects.
        
        Sexuality can be a platform for empowerment
  - - - Mise en scence
        
        Suzie is wearing bright purple clothing while most others are wearing bland colors like grey, brown, or black
        
        4:08 - all ther asian people on the boat are wearing a bright color like blue or purple and every white person is wearing a blander color.
      - Hypersexualization
        
        30:27 - Suzie gains attention from many White sailors and businessmen, that they start arguing over her. Shows a sexualization of Suzie
        
        47:00 - Suzie agrees to help Robert . Shows Suzie as submissive and subservient.
        
        52:30 - Robert says "wonderful oriental faces, to specifically point out the race
      - Lack of agency for Asian women
        
        37:20 - Suzie is trying to explain her song and the story it means, but Robert is very stern and basically tells her to shut up and sit still so he can paint her
        
        4:05 - Suzie clearly does not want to talk to Robert but he is being forceful and continues to try and continue the conversation
        
        1:24:00 - Robert says Suzie isnt a really a human being and cant have feelings and that since she is chinese it doesnt matter
        
        1:45:00 - Gets riles up about Suzie being a sex worker and says he can get "10 like you in 2 minutes"
        
        1:27:50 - Suzie says she cant be a white woman, so she has to go and cant be with Robert
      - Mi Lin and Robert Lomax
      - 18:45- every white sailor is with an asian women. Sexualized
      - Fascinated by oriental faces so he paints them
      - I felt like this film masked orientalism as romance in that Suzie was exoticized, desired, and misunderstood by all white men. The film was able to transform Asian women into fantasies, as all Asian women were sex workers. educed agency as they were only seen in these seductive roles.
    - - Suzie Wong is portrayed as a racialized Fantasy
        
        Suzie is exotic, submissive, and hypersexualized
        
        She’s desirable because she’s not white, but is still never treated as equal.
      - Power Dynamic in Romance
        
        The white man is the savior; the Asian woman must “prove” her worth.
        
        Her identity is only valid through her relationship to him.
      - Lack of agency for asian women
        
        Suzie isn’t given full depth or agency. Her pain and power are expressed through Robert
        
        Although she is an important character, she is still practically invisble and only tied to the main white male Robert
      - Legacy of the stereotype
        
        It still shapes how Asian women are seen. exotic, docile, and sought after by white men
    - - Whitewashing is similar to the idea of colonialism
        
        Replaces Asian identity with white identity.
        
        Erasure fo asian culture
        
        Three Types of Whitewashing
        
        Yellowface
        
        Asian characters rewritten as white (Dr. Strange)
        
        White protagonist in an Asian setting:.
        
        Denial of Asian role opportunities
        
        White actors can play anyone
        
        Reinforces power as white people can take roles of asians
        
        Symbolism of Asians in film
        
        Asian Americans grow up seeing themselves as side characters
        
        Appropriation is used as a form of "representation"
        
        Uses Asian aesthetics and culture without giving Asians real roles.
  - - - White peopel shot up a filipino camp because they accused them of taking over jobs and lowering wages
      - White women had to walk behind or in front of Filipino men in public so people wouldnt spit on her for being with a filipino man
      - Documents the 1977 eviction of the International Hotel in San Francisco's Manilatown. A tribute to the elderly Filipinos who lived there
        
        Exposes the negative impacts of gentrification on Filipinos. Shows community's decade-long struggle to save their home
      - Filipinos being evicted negatively affected all the other asian business in the area like barbershops and resturaunts
      - Filipinos liked the place because it was comforting, cheap, and the best place they could go
      - Mystery fire killed tenants and sparked a debate that the I hotel should have been demolished and no one would have died
      - Filipinos peacefully protested.
      - "Capital should go elsewhere" and let the poor people live in peace
      - The fight for the hotel showed the struggle for community housing.
      - They didnt have time to take their things and were dragged out. They were told they can grab their things when they get back but all their things were broken ot stolen.
      - The ones were suffered the most were the old tenants.
      - Filipino man says america is not cruel but that the law should allow for low income housing for those in need, not take it away
      - Connection to Third Cinema: Political purpose. Gets a lot of different perspectives in the community and pays tribute and brings light about what happened to the I hotel and the tenants there
      - I have never heard of this and I am sure I never would have if a documentary had not been made on it. And getting these perspectives from the community, making it third cinema-like, really helped me understand the struggles the people were actually going through. This allowed me to empathize even more and feel the weight of how Asian American history was tied to oppression by the government
    - - Representation through resistance
        
        The I-Hotel movement became a form of media. Used news, photography, and protest art to tell Filipino and Asian American stories. I think it is crazy I have never heard about this and how easily it was swept under the rug
        
        This film was a great way of showing how events like this that arent mainstream can have storytelling power and become more well known
      - Story spread across generations
        
        The connection between the elderly manongs and young Filipino activists created a collective narrative across generations.
      - Community journalism
        
        Filipino newspapers and local radio during the I-Hotel fight acted as countermedia as they documented things like violence and corruption in the comunity
        
        Independent Asian American media remains vital for challenging corporate and government
      - Asian American visibility through alliance
        
        The I-Hotel struggle unified Filipino, Chinese, and broader Asian American communities
        
        Modern Asian American representation in film and activism still draws from this “representation as unity"
      - Legacy of Memory and Media
        
        The rebuilt I-Hotel and Manilatown Heritage Center turned memory into cultural media. Was a symbolism of activism
        
        Asian American media functions not just as entertainment but as living memory, turning trauma into legacy and representation into healing
    - - Felt very real and authentic due to recording on a cam corder
      - Teacher called her a vegetable
      - Has so much to deal with outside of life that also make it hard for him to survive in school
        
        Deals with crime and calling the police for when someone breask his window and when someone robs him
      - No family to really take care of him
        
        Misses older brother and starts crying becouse of it
        
        family misses graduation because of his little brothers court case
        
        Misses his mom bc she hangs out with step dad too much
        
        Eveyrone hates the step dad bc he only cares about her and not anyone else
      - Finallly graduates but has no one to support him but his friends
      - This type of filmmaking using a camcorder helped me see a truly human portrayal of someone who has no help from anyone and pretty much has to survive on his own. He had such little help from his family, school, and even community-serving entities like the police. Seeing how often he lives in fear and loneliness was truly able to make me feel sad for him.
      - Survival
- - - - 12:00
    - - I think this line really shows the whole diaspora identity crisis
      - Shows that your "home" is not just about blood, it was also about your lived experience as he was essentially raised by Uganda
    - - I feel like this is very ironic as he is being very controlling and recreating the oppresion he tried to flee from
      - Classic controllling immigrant parent lol
    - - 1:17:00 Pontice says Mina is dishonoring the family for being with a black man
        
        This shows that racial hierarchies still exist even among groups that are being oppressed themselves.
  - - - Asian identity shown as mixed, global, “fluid.”
        
        But films don’t give it a stable space to live.
      - Asian Americans = aesthetic props, not fully rooted citizens. Representation without real belonging.
    - - Asians positioned between white power + Black labor.
        
        Seen as economically useful but socially suspect.
      - Media keeps Asians as closest to equal yet not equals.
    - - Mina + Demetrius’ relationship causes social meltdown.
        
        Love = exile, not freedom.
      - Asian Americans shown as unable to fully integrate romantically or socially and are still seen as outsiders.
    - - Mississippi Masala shows unresolved exile.
        
        Later films sell happy multicultural fantasy.
      - Asians are marketable diversity. Asian Americans become feel-good content instead of complex humans.
  - - - This is an instance of assimilation being disguised as pride.
      - This is sad because this is something Changez does for social survival. He has to become more "American" to fit in
    - - I feel like Jim sees this as accepting his foreignness, but in actually I think that is is reducing Changez to an accent, as he sees him as foreign
    - - This felt like the pressure building up in an immigrant kid of doing everything to succeed.
    - - 54:20 - Changez is changing back into his clothes after a strip search and does not only see himself. He sees flashbacks of 9/11
        
        I think this is important because it shows how other people see Changez
  - - - Fear shapes perception more than reality.
      - The story prioritizes feeling ("thrust") over accuracy.
      - Media normalizes profiling logic. If it feels risky, it is risky
    - - South Asians, Arabs, Muslims blurred into one “brown” category.
        
        Accuracy? Irrelevant. Fear > facts.
      - Media reinforces generalization where Asian Americans lose individuality and become generic “foreign risk"
    - - Films paint Asian Americans as unstable or double-sided.
      - Narratives frame Asian characters through suspicion and threat.
        
        Even when innocent, they’re shot like villains.
    - - praised one week, profiled the next.
        
        Media teaches viewers that Asian Americans are conditionally accepted.
        
        Reminds me of a spectrum, always subject to change
        
        \Framed as emotionally unreadable and not fully trustworthy.
      - after 9/11
      - "double agent"
- - - - Seen as robotic, hyper-productive, emotionless
        
        Smart but not “human,” efficient but soulless.
      - Leads to the stereotype of asians in stem and good at math
    - - Asians seen as both superhuman workers and looming threats.
        
        Useful but dangerous. Admired but untrusted.
      - Films switch between “model minority hero” and “cold futuristic villain."
        
        Condidtional acceptance
      - Relates to Bhabhas idea of ambivalence
    - - Comparing Asians to machines strips them of human characteristics like agency and emotions
      - Media normalizes flat and expressionless Asian characters
    - - Not just smart but also obedient and efficient.
        
        Productivity > personhood
  - - - This is literally the idea of Asians being the closest thing to white. Asians can perform above average but are still not seen as equals
        
        Shows productivity is favored over humanity
      - MMM
    - - This shows Archie being boxed into a role. Constricted by society
    - - 51:15 shows that sexual harrassment of the asian women robot. Shows submissiveness and no retaliation.
      - 57:35 Female robot repeats things that are said by coworkers like "They could have put a bigger rack on her"
  - - - I think sets the sceen of the movie, showing the the personthat is most human is not their for their child, the robot is
      - Shows that humanity is not just about biology, it is about theconnections made between people
    - - I feel like this displays Yang as more human, as curiosity and fascination are very humanistic features
    - - I felt like this portrays difference between humans and robots. Humans can have these experience that are undescribable, while robots cant experience the experiences at all
    - - Discussion in class: I think After Yang is not an example of traditional whitewashing because Yang is given depth and humanity, which is rare to see in film with whitewashing. He is not reduced to a stereotype or something like comic relief. Instead, he is portrayed as emotionally complex, which gives him more life even though he is supposed to be a robot. Rather than replacing an Asian presence with a white one, the film actually emphasizes what happens after Yang is gone. I think this was to force the audience to recognize his importance to the film and make him seem less of a disposable character.
- - - - This relates to the classic idea of immigrant Asian parents. My dad is similar in that he is proud of what I do but doesnt say it. It is something about culture that makes this scene so impactful
        
        Also relates to 10:40 where Evelyn cant tell Gong Gong that joy has a girlfriend. And Joy is really distraught by it. And when you can see Eveylen try to come up with words to express her feelings, she ends up jus calling Joy fat and putting more expectation on her
        
        Another example of Immigrant asian parents not being able to emotionally connect with their children who live almost completly different lives and grew up in a completly different era then they did
        
        44:20 also shows how Evelyn is emotionally lacking. Waymond explains that he doesnt feel like he is wanted and its trhrough her actions and lack of communication
    - - The idea of stop being controlling and more undertanding
      - An idea breaks free from the tiger mom trope
    - - Shows Eveylns flaw of being emotionally unavailable
    - - I think this plays into breaking down the theme of nihlism where life doesnt matter. Being kind is what matters
      - Really shows how Waymond fights his battles wiht kindness and empathy
      - 1:43:35 Waymond finds a way to buy Evelyn more time when she thinks he is making things worse
        
        Kindness cant be mistaken for weakness, it is power
    - - Shows Evelyn being able to empathize
        
        Moment of growth
    - - Beautiful reconnection at the end of the movie. GOOSEBUMPS
        
        Ends with a hug, which I think personally is one of the most human and most comforting things in the world
  - - - Chan Is Missing, Better Luck Tomorrow, and Everything Everywhere All at Once
      - These films fought against old stereotypes and showed that Asian Americans more than robotic nerds. Showed complexity of asians being messy, funny, weird, chaotic, and overall HUMAN
        
        Asian American media isn’t stuck in old tropes anymore. Asian american actors now have more range and more realistic stories.
    - - The author says there’s no “single Asian American soul.”
      - Modern Asian American media embraces cultural complexity. No more model minority Asian characters get to be flawed
    - - In this movie Asian American teens commit crimes, cheat, and get into fights. Strays far from model minority myth
        
        There was backlash for this but riger Ebert said that Asian Americans have the right to act like whatever they want
        
        Representation = freedom to act
    - - This movie was all over the place, pun intended. It was emotional, weird, painful, and joyful
      - This film proves Asian American stories don’t have to follow what is normally stereotyped in popular film.
    - - Writers are told: “Write like you’re the majority.”
      - Asian American creatives now build media on their terms. This helps shift the persepctive of asian americans in film
  - - - The Mindy Project and Fresh Off the Boat were criticized by Asian American groups for issues like stereotypical framing, casting choices, and lack of diversity.
      - Asian Americans need representation that avoids stereotypes and reflects human like expereinces that are flawed
    - - Groups such as MANAA are an example of an organized group that use criticism to influence how Asian Americans are portrayed in film
        
        Getting change in media isnt just about representation either, it is something to prove that Asian Americans belong fully in American cultural life.
    - - Roles have often been limited fro asian americans
        
        AMW always stuck as lotus flower or dragon lady
        
        Said she felt like she dide literally and figuratively on camera
        
        Fu Manchu as a villain. Dangerous and deceptive
      - Film has the ability to create reality, so tropes make asians seem different reinforce real-world assumptions that Asian Americans are outsiders
    - - Things like twitter and youtube allow fan-made and more authentic representation. This helps reach audiecne and change the narriative surround asians in media
    - - The term ends up grouping diverse asians together
        
        Media representation affects who gets included or excluded within this broad identity
        
        This shapes internal and external perceptions of the community
        
        We talked about in earlier readings how flim creates an idea of who belongs and who doesnt (cultural citizenship) - Desai
- - - - 12:45 - Later talks about the stories she heard are not entirely ture and parts have been lieft out
    - - 5 people had to stay in a spot meant for a horse
  - - - Third Cinema challenges dominant Hollywood ideals as it focuses on anti-colonial struggle, self-representation, and community identity.
        
        Asian Americans can use film and media to reclaim their own stories and fight back against stereotypes.
    - - Ghost life describes how Third Cinema movement still "haunts" modern media and film, even though the movement itself seems to have died out
        
        ideals from third cinema show up in new forms like independent, activist, or diasporic cinema.
    - - Just being “seen” in film doesn’t mean representation is empowering if it’s filtered through white-centered media
        
        Asian American visibility must come with agency. True representation means control over storytelling, not just being included in someone else’s narrative where you might not be represented accurately.
    - - Third Cinema often mixes styles, languages, and perspectives. Helps paint culture and identity as more multidimensional aand fluid
        
        Asian American media can lean into blending East/West, tradition/modernity, and immigrant/US-born experiences to express a more real depiction of a more cultural hybrid instead of trying to fit Hollywood ideas.
    - - Third Cinema encourages collaboration and community-based production, rejecting the individual controlling idea.
        
        Asian American filmmakers and influencers can use collective platforms like social media to democratize storytelling and build solidarity across marginalized groups rather than compete for narrow studio slots..
    - - its films not made for profit but for representation
      - Meant to expose oprresion and empower people to change
        
        political weapon
      - challenges stereotypes
- - - - I think this is why its called saving face. You need to uphold the reuptation of the family and act accordingly. 1:20:00
      - 18:30 - the high expectations made by elders causes guilt to guide decision making (filial piety)
    - - We talked about in the past how brownface used comedy to mask racism. This used comedy and a happy ending to spin this idea of sexuality struggle for Asian Americans into a slightly funny one.
    - - Unexpected from a movie made by Alice Wu who is a minority herself
    - - YELLOW PERIL
        Asianness and acceptance are on a spectrum and we will never fully belong
  - - - Sohn disagrees with the idea that LGBTQ progress automatically means equality.
        
        Film and media should avoid simplified “happy ending” tropes and show the struggles of queer Asians
      - For queer Asian Americans, life doesn’t necessarily “get better” as they say.
    - - Queerness and race can’t be seen as separate ideas.
        
        Representation should reflect intersectionality and challenge both racial stereotypes and queer struggle
        
        Queer Asian characters experience exclusion from both their cultural and queer communities, as in the case of Saving Face.
    - - Sohn notes that queer Asian North Americans appear in film mainly as sidekicks or background characters.
        
        Asian American filmmakers can combat this by making more queer Asian leads whose identities are complex and not boxed in known hollyowod tropes.
      - They are "invisible"
    - - Because many queer Asians face rejection from biological families, they get along with their own communities that replace traditional structures.
        
        Film should show the importance and value of commmunity on feeling like you belong.
        
        Sohn calls these networks “inscrutable belongings.”
    - - Sohn warns that same-sex marriage equality can create a “homonormative” ideal.
        
        Asian American cinema should encourgage the complexity of finding your identity.
        
        Queer people looking for acceptance by mimicking straight norms.
- - - - 38:00 is a scene where the judge's decision is impacted heavily because the criminals had no criminal background and a stable life.
        
        Absolute cheat of the system because htey are priveliged
    - - The fact that Japanese were seen as taking rather than earning jobs is already racist in itself. And generalizing Asians is also racist in itself
  - - - The murder of Vincent Chin by white autoworkers showed how economic fear (Japanese auto imports) was transformed into racial violence against anyone “who looked Asian.”
        
        Asians became scapegoats
    - - Pan asian coalition called the American Citizens for Justice was formed over the white killer received no jail time.
        
        Turned the idea of Asians being passive to a group willing to incite change
    - - Chin case forced Asian Americans to confront race and fight for civil rights just as africans americans did.
        
        Confronting the MMM and painting asians as complex haracters is important
    - - News outlets ignored racial bias at first. Asian suffering was often downplayed
        
        Filmmakers later used documentaries (Who Killed Vincent Chin?) to reclaim narrative control and confront how media shapes racial understanding.
    - - Even though the killers avoided justice, the movement transformed Asian American identity
        
        The Vincent Chin story became foundational to Asian American film. It symbolizes how storytelling can fuel a fight for jsutice