The image of Al Jolson singing "Mammy" in blackface is now considered disturbing.
Speedy Gonzalez, the lovable Mexican Looney Toon, has been banned from Cartoon Network for being a dangerous stereotype.
The film "Lost In Translation," featuring repeated use of broad Japanese caricatures, is lauded as an innovative modern classic with virtually no attention paid to the treatment of Japanese culture.
Why is it, then, that society is so quick to dismiss offensive stereotypes of every race except for Asians? While other cultural stereotypes are now condemned, short Asians who confuse pronunciation of 'l' and 'r' are still largely considered to be hilarious. Society has seemingly accepted that these things aren't even stereotypes, but simply an accurate description of Asian people.
The problem is magnified even more when the small visibility of Asians in American mass media is considered. "Lost In Translation" had one of the highest numbers of Asians on screen in a recent major motion picture release, but every one of them was portrayed as some sort of a weird freak. One of the most offending scenes is when a prostitute visits Bill Murray's character's room, and requests that he "lip her stocking." Not only does it further the 'l' and 'r' confusion stereotype, it also suggests that Japanese males are sexual deviants who engage in rape fantasies. Naturally, this gag got one of the biggest laughs of the film.
Admittedly, some of that was to illustrate the isolation felt by the main characters, but while the oddity of Caucasian characters Giovanni Ribisi and Anna Faris were displayed by their personalities, all of the Japanese people were uniformly ridiculed for their racial quirks.
"Lost In Translation" deserved the critical acclaim and Academy Award it received on account of its brilliantly subtle character study between two individuals, as well as Bill Murray's wonderfully understated performance. That is not in question. But its reliance on woefully outdated Asian stereotypes to gain its laughs is dubious.
It is bewildering that in our hypersensitive culture, almost no reviewers of "Lost In Translation" even seemed to notice the Asian stereotypes in the film, and if they did, they gave it their approval. Roger Ebert specifically praised the Japan-ese/American culture clash, calling it a "comedy of manners." Ken Fox of TV Guide is one of the few who actually took issue with the film, saying the Japanese were shown as "cartoonishly infantile."
The number of positive Asian portrayals in American mass media is depressingly small. The bulk of Asians on screen are in typical "martial arts master" roles, played by guys like Jackie Chan, Chow Yun-Fat and Jet Li. The only sitcom in recent memory to star an Asian-American, Margaret Cho's "All American Girl," was short-lived and featured the main character's routine mocking of her family on account of its lack of an American accent. Basically, the crowning achievement for Asians in American pop culture was when Sulu was promoted to Captain in "Star Trek VI."
Sure, there are lots of portrayals of blacks as gang-bangers and whites as trailer park trash. But there is also an abundance of positive, non-racially defining portrayals for those races. Instances of Asians cast in movies or television for a reason other than their "Asian-ness" is frighteningly rare. Lucy Liu in the "Charlie's Angels" films, B.D. Wong in "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," and Ming-Na in "ER" are the few positive examples of Asians not being typecast based on their race.
The other side of the rice patty is portrayals of Asians in films such as "The Last Samurai," in which Asians are shown in a mostly positive light, but depicted by overly romanticized ideas of honor and strict adherence to martial arts. Although this portrayal has its roots in valuable historic influences, it perpetuates antiquated myths of Asian culture, with which most modern Asian Americans feel little to no connection.
There is no doubt Asians have a long way to go to be accepted into American popular culture. While other races also have a long way to go, there is a distinct lack of anyone trying to improve the exposure of Asians in movies or TV. Society has seemingly accepted Asians as karate masters, tiny clowns obsessed with taking pictures or math professors. The lack of outrage over "Lost In Translation" has cemented this fact. While the outcry from Native American groups over Outkast's Grammy award show performance made all the major news outlets, Asian Media Watch's "Lost In Racism" has gotten almost no press.
Who knows, though, maybe I'm just sore that Ensign Kim never got promoted after six seasons on "Star Trek: Voyager."
Albert Ching is a journalism junior. Reach him at albertxii@hotmail.com.
