Author Archives: Dong Sik Choi

1. State the author’s thesis and/or argument (in your own words, do NOT merely cite).

In Gene Luan Yang’s Cartoon, American Born Chinese, Yang portrays different types of Asians in America: American Born Chinese, Chinese, and stereotypical Asian figure. By portraying different types of Asians, Yang shows racial struggles and stereotypes.

2. Identify specific examples and forms of evidence they use to uphold their argument. (Indicate where you found this in the source text by including the page number.)

On excerpt A, Yang portrays identity struggles that second-generation Asian Americans face. When Jin first encounters Wei-Chen, he thinks, “Something made me want to bet him up” (p.36). Wei-Chen approaches to Jin since Jin shares the same ethnicity as him, but Jin refuses to be friend with him by saying ‘White’ students are his friends. Jin feels repulsion toward Wei-Chen because Jin wants to get along with Americans and do not like being the Asian. On excerpt B, Jin turns into a White boy which he wished to be. He even changes his name into more ‘white’ name and enjoys being White. I personally understand Jin’s behavior because I was like him. In high school, I chose to hang out with American friends instead of hanging out with the Korean group. I hated people thinking ‘Asians only hang out with Asians’ and expecting Asian stereotypes from me.

On excerpt B, a new character Chin-Kee is an aggregate form of negative Chinese stereotypes. Chin-Kee speaks loud, cannot pronounce L, has big tooth and slanted eyes, and does a martial art. The name Chin-Kee sounds like ‘chinky’. (P. 203). He shows the most common negative stereotypes that Asian Americans witness in America.

3. Define key terms and concepts the author either references or introduces.

Toy Robot: Wei-Chen has a toy robot that turns into a robot monkey. The toy is actually a gift from his father. Wei-Chen’s father hands the toy to Wei-Chen by saying “let it remind you of who you are”. With the toy, Jin and Wei-Chen start to talk and eventually become friends. Transformable toy portrays Asian Americans. Asian Americans are sometimes viewed as Americans and other times viewed Asians. Many Asian Americans struggle with identity because of this issue.

Mooshu Fist, Kung Pao Attack, Twice Cook Palm, Happy Family Head Honk: these are the names of attacks that Chin-Kee uses. Every punch and kick have a name with typical food or terms that represent Chinese in America. This portrays how America is stereotypically viewing Asian Americans.

4. Relate how this author’s idea(s) connects to other scholarly or cultural ideas. (Be sure to adequately identify what you are discussing as an external work or issue; do not presume the readers are familiar with your reference.)

When I was a child, Asian characters in cartoons were always martial artists. Always had bald, slanted eyed, long white bearded Asian master who will not stop mentioning the importance of yin and yang. As a child, I could not see anything wrong about it. Cartoons gave belief that each race has its own role and each role are not interchangeable.

1. State the author’s thesis and/or argument (in your own words, do NOT merely cite).

In the article “If we are Asian, then are we funny?” by Sarah Moon Cassinelli, Cassinelli narrates memoirs of Margaret Cho. The article focuses on how All-American Girl wrongly portrayed Asian Americans and showed “Asianess” of Asian American families satirically.

2. Identify specific examples and forms of evidence they use to uphold their argument. (Indicate where you found this in the source text by including the page number.)

“The show seemed to overemphasize the characters’ Asianness marking the Asian face, body, and family structure as decidedly uncanny” (p.131).

Representation of minority on a television could be a positive advancement but All American Girl overly emphasized the biased ethnic authenticity of Asian American family and portrayed expected stereotypes of Asian Americans.

“One, defining, ‘authentic’ Asian- American experience ignores the vast diversity of which we are capable […] and holds us in a racial spiderweb”(p.132)

The show keeps on showing “authentic” Asian American family and struggle of Margaret between being “True American girl” and “Korean girl”. The term “authentic” limits Asians from being accepted as true American.

“The show is mocking its Asian viewers and antagonizing its non- Asian audience by making it glaringly obvious that the Asian implication of the title is not worthy enough to be included” (p.135).

Although the title of the show was All-American Girl, the show’s main plot was about an Asian girl trying to be an American. This show is also tangled by model minority myth which that stigmatizes Asian Americans as forever foreign who will always be distinguished with American.

3. Define key terms and concepts the author either references or introduces.

Authenticity- Authenticity is the key term to Margaret Kim. The show questions Margaret’s authenticity as American and Asian. Viewers were expecting “authentic” Asian American family. In the show, authenticity meant typical view on Asians. The orientals.

Nuclear Family – In the show, Kim family is the presentation of racial and cultural identity. In this family, Margaret struggles between “old Asian culture” and “new Asian culture”. “Nuclear family is a major structure within the immigrant experience and even described as the “most hallowed icon of the immigrant” (Freedman 96)”(p. 139). The Asian American nuclear family is another portrayal of “foreignness” of Asian Americans in the show.

4. Relate how this author’s idea(s) connects to other scholarly or cultural ideas. (Be sure to adequately identify what you are discussing as an external work or issue; do not presume the readers are familiar with your reference.)

Satirizing Asians with stereotypes on television is not a past thing. Even today, there are a lot of tv shows that show the life of typical Asian American family and make jokes about cultural differences. For example, Fresh Off The Boat is the first American sitcom starring an Asian American family since All American Girl. However, the show still focuses on Asian family struggling with cultural differences and trying to be an American. Even after 30 years, the Asian Americans on TV shows are foreigners who keep trying to fit in. Both shows keep on showing stereotypes of Asian elders and emphasize “foreignness”.

1.State the author’s thesis and/or argument.

In Beyond Finishing The Game by John Fong, Fong focuses on need and effect of a grassroot strategy for Asian American firms. He claims in order for Asian American cinema to grow, communities of Asian Americans need to outreach. Fong Also claims that to gain interests from the community, Asian American films are using strategies to reach Asian Americans and these are brining positive results in Asian American cinema industry.

2.Identify specific examples and forms of evidence they use to uphold their argument.

“Cajayon and producer John Castro spent several weeks in the Bay Area before the opening doing an immense amount of meetings and presentations to the area’s large Filipino population, the target audience for the film … he eventually created one of the biggest success stories of the year” (p.6)

Gene Cajayon, a producer of The Debut, used a grassroot strategy by reaching to Filifino communities at different cities and giving them impressions that the movie is about them.

“Lin and his crew built a massive pan-Asian campaign around not only the film, but an idea of “cool” defined by the film’s envelopepushing, controversial content. The result was a desire amongst young Asian Americans to see the film not only for its own merits, but to be part of a movement which could possibly define who they were, and what they stood for … BLT utilized this sentiment to not only generate great ticket sale numbers (over $3.5 million box office, over $15 million in dvd sales), but also create an awareness among more Asian Americans of community and the importance of voting with one’s wallet at the box office to support Asian American cinema.” (p.7)

Justin Lin, a producer of Better Luck Tomorrow, also used similar strategy with Cajayan for his movie. Lin successfully made young Asian Americans to believe watching their movie could help them seeing their identity. As a result, the movie generated great sales and also created impression that Asian American communities should support Asian American Cinema.

3.Define key terms and concepts the author either references or introduces.

Community – In Fong’s article, community directly means a group of a specific ethnicity. Community is the something that Asian American cinema, and also other minority cinema, could rely on and get support from. Since Asian American firms cannot spend as much on marketing as Hollywood does, they chose to reach to specific communities that would feel related to the movie.

Grassroots strategy – the tern defines the strategy Asian American Cinemas are using. Grassroots strategy is highly community focused marketing. In this strategy, Asian American filmmakers ask for support from the community. This is an effective and relatively cheap strategy that focusing on specific audiences who are most likely to decide to watch the movie.

4.Relate how this author’s idea(s) connects to other scholarly or cultural ideas.

The ongoing movie, Crazy Rish Asians by Jon Chu would be a proof of Fong’s claim. This movie brought attention because it was very unusual for major productions to create a movie of filled with mostly Asian Ameircan actors. Fong asserts in the article that “all of these efforts could potentially result in concrete steps forward in terms of how companies and distributors approach the release of Asian American films.”(p.9) Crazy Rich Asian can be the proof that the past supports from Asian American communities helped major productions to realize casting Asians will be profitable too and proceed to create more.

In Lisa Sun-Hee Park’s article, “Assimilation”, Park focuses on asserting the complexity and peculiarity assimilation of races in America by how model minority myth of Asian Americans affected status of Asian Americans. Asian Americans have developed from low-wage laborers to a ‘model minority’. The life of model minority seems possible to be an example of assimilating as a norm, in this case norm indicates life of Whites. However, yet Asian Americans still need to stay as a foreign minority who behaves appropriately and which rejects the idea of assimilation.

Park begins by giving two different understandings of assimilation. First, she presents the belief of W.E.B Du Bois. Du bois asserts in “The Conservation of Races” that African Americans are already Americans and racial differences exist, therefore there is no need for assimilation efforts to integrate different races into one normative measure. “If one is already an American, the assimilation efforts are normative measures to center whiteness as the nation identity … With substantial agreement in political ideals and social engagement, Du bois saw no need for assimilation.” (p.14)

Park also presents idea of Robert E. Park. Robert Park saw assimilation as a solution to racial differences. While Du Bois saw racial differences are normal and racism is what creates problem, Robert Park believed assimilation would help balancing the racial differences. “Park viewed assimilation as a solution to racial difference, which he understood as a social problem.” (p.14)

Park presents two different beliefs on assimilation to demonstrate possible positives and negatives of assimilation and to give better understanding of what assimilation in America would mean before narrating how assimilation is complex to define with the situation of Asian Americans. Park focuses on the “model minority” myth. “It holds up Asian Ameicans as models for other minorities based on measures of income, education, and public benefit utilization rates.”(p.16) She mentions Asian Americans’ life developed but “these narratives represent a double-edged sword for Asian Americans. Lisa Lowe eplains that Asians in the U.S hold an impossible position in which they are simultaneously projects of inclusion and exclusion.”(p. 16) Assimilation is based on notion that all races are ‘real’ Americans yet as a model minority, Asian Americans are at “the position of the perpetual foreigner/victims who must be rescued, welcomed, and domesticated.”(p.17) Asian Americans are believed as foreigners who behave right despite the citizenship rights. She concludes, “what is clear, however, from these many years of contemplation is that assimilation is neither simple nor “natural”.”(p.17)

Portrayal of Asian Americans in early firms is an example of a peculiar assimilation. Asian American When Asian actors started to appear on Hollywood movies such as “Walk Like Dragon”, “Sayonara”, and “The World of Suzy Wong”, Asian appeared as mysterious foreigners. Hollywood and Whites did not care about real Asian characteristics but chose to portray Asian women as exotic, obedient, and docile foreigners. They wanted Asian women to behave as they want but still would not recognize as same citizen.