Turning Off the Stereotypes

By Liem Vu
May 25, 2007

As we creep closer to reaching the first decade in the new millennia, we’ve seen a drastic change in the international social setting, especially in North America. With immigration rates soaring, and a plethora of cultures permeating Western culture, it has finally manifested itself in the media. What was previously a Caucasian dominated industry is now a mosaic of different cultures ranging from the East to the West. However, one specific ethnic group still seems to lack full equality and autonomy until recently: the Eastern Asian ethnicity.

In spite of the popularity of Jet Li, Bruce Lee, and Jackie Chan movies, they all relegated Asian males to action-oriented films that rarely treated these individuals as anything but action heroes. And for females, they were often relegated to superficial roles that barely extended beyond the two dimensions. Of course, with the dissolution of a certain famous insect-named band which was blamed on an Asian wife, it didn’t help the situation either.

In addition to film, broadcasting stations such as MTV USA didn’t even have an Asian host until 2001 with the hiring of SuChin Pak. This phenomenon even crept into the Great White North, whose nickname becomes eerily less innocent in light of the lack of Asian representation in Canada’s counterpart to MTV. MuchMusic has had only three Asian hosts out of the 52 hired since the stations conception in 1984. Fortunately, things have begun to change, perhaps not in the broadcasting realm specifically, but in TV-related media.

Not until the past few years has this stereotype been stripped away with the insurgence of multicultural-related media within the TV industry. Shows such as ABC’s Lost and NBC’s Heroes proved to movie executives and producers that the world was receptive and interested in characters representing different ethnicities; perhaps due to the fact that the audience themselves had become so multicultural themselves. The characters in the show were of various ethnicities, but were not subject to stereotypes; rather they were portrayed realistically with both negative and positive traits shared by humanity. Not only did the presence of these ethnicities help break down misconceptions, but it also gave creative opportunities for these individuals to be part of the TV medium. As if the culture shock of this wasn’t enough, the reality show genre adopted this enlightened approach in the recent season of ‘Survivor: Cook Islands’, pitting ethnic groups against each other. Although controversial, it did yield Survivor’s first Asian winner in the show’s history.

Canada has been quick to follow the ethnic approach in their products. CBC released an original CBC movie called Dragon Boys, consisting of an Asian dominated cast. The CBC also created a show called ‘Little Mosque on the Prairie,’ focusing on the lives of Canadian Muslims. The question that arises is whether or not this is a positive and progressive leap for Asian and Eastern ethnic individuals, or if it is merely a fad produced for capital gain. The true motive is difficult to determine but nevertheless, it serves as a tool for getting the word out there that certain ethnicities are not confined to specific job roles and archetypes.

Indeed, television was once a medium criticized for stereotypes and images that pushed the values of society, but it has proven to be a potential and prospective medium for tolerance and equality. Because, the truth is, not everyone loves Kung Fu fighting.

On the other hand, this form of stereotyping may have transformed into an older form of prejudice: tokenism. Has the media gotten to the point where they are merely hiring people to fill specific roles and to fill certain archetypes? The past few years have shown that those of Eastern Asian descent have equally ambitious goals because they can be our new musicians, actors, documentarians, hosts, editors, and role models. And so there is one question left: we're ready, are you?