They All Look The Same Essay Research

They All Look The Same Essay, Research Paper

Bobb Merline

I Don t Know, But They All Look the Same.

I am not going to let this b##ch get away with this. I said to myself as I carefully observed my car for the evidence. At the parking lot of my work place, a Mercedes Benz lightly hit my car on the front bumper when the driver was carelessly backing up. Even before I could realize the circumstance, a Caucasian lady got out of the Mercedes and took a quick glance at my car. She said, I don t think I damaged your car. Then, she parked her car. For a strange reason, my mouth was kept open during the short period of time. After parking next to the Mercedes, I found a little scratch mark on my front bumper. At the same time, I saw the lady hastily walk away. Excuse me, Mam. I approached the lady with my fake gentle manner. To my surprise, the response was not very kind. What. I am late for my meeting right now. Oh, I am sorry mam, but I think you scratched my bumper. I replied in a low and incompetent tone. Didn t I just tell you I did not damage your car. Are you calling me a liar, boy. Startled by her machine gun-verbal assault, my mouth was shut down for a moment. The sudden anger made my eyes wide open and I found some silver paint on the bottom of the Mercedes s back bumper. Yes, it was time for me to strike her back. I burst right into her face and said, what the hell is this then, huh. Like a police officer, I asked the Caucasian woman for her driver s license and insurance number. The panicking woman was not willing to give her private information to a crooked Asian gang member who drives a fixed up Honda Accord. Instead, she got on her cellular phone and explained the situation to her lawyer. Do I really have to give them to that Asian boy. I don t

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know, Chinese, Korean, whatever, they all look the same anyways. I could not help not to listen to these statements which pierced through my ears from a distance. The white woman asked me many questions as if I was the one who damaged her precious E-Class. Is that your car., let me see your insurance papers and license, and oh, do you have green card. What does your parents do. These questions certainly made me lose my temper and made me curse her out and I just left the scene. Scheming crooks, illegal aliens, greedy shop owners, bookworms, and lost tourists are some of the stereotypes which follow Asian Americans like their name tags. Behind the curtain, there is Hollywood, which represents the majority of the American media. The American Media created stereotypes to transmit negative and limited range of cliched stock images of the Asian immigrants.

Since Asian Americans are among the minority groups, the rest of the American society are most likely to meet them in the television screen in their living room because not every city in the country has Asian population like Los Angeles or New York. From the gangster – involved, short and cunning characteristics of Asian men to the exotic, sex hungry Asian women, the television and movie perpetuate the gender, race and class inequalities by allowing these stereotypes to appear over and over in their box office hits. In today s TV shows, it is impossible yo see a sexy hero like Brad Pitt with yellow skin and dark hair. In order for an Asian character to score a hit movie, he has to be funny with broken English and most of all, the Kung – Fu master who flies among his enemies. More often than not, Asian men have always played the role of evil and greedy gangster in popular adventure movies such as Lethal Weapon 4″ and Rush Hour. The myth that Asian American communities such as Chinatown is filled with illegal activities like drug dealing, prostitution, and gang movements all get their emphasis in the movies. In Lethal

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Weapon 4, Jet Li, who is the action hero in Asia plays the villain. Jet Li plays the crime boss who

is in charge of smuggling illegal labor force from China, drug dealings, and assigned killings among other things. When his Chinatown based operation is discovered by two Los Angeles police officers, played by a Caucasian and a black actor, the chase is on to capture the foreign villain. The result, of course, the cowboy – like cops defeat the evil Kung – Fu master and his crew with American style fighting. In another popular adventure movie, Rambo , the muscular white male hero Sylvester Stallone, single handedly defeated a village full of Vietnamese soldiers in his quest to destroy Communism. Such a heroic effort could not be possible in reality. This kind of film creates the images of the Asian enemies who lack intelligence and destined losers. Also, the Hollywood producers tend to oversize the old male – dominance in Asian society which does not necessarily apply to the modern Asian American society. Such aspect labels the Asian men as the undesirable male partners. The Asian man must also display no competition to the white man in terms of courtship with women, especially Asian women. This aspect is shown in the movies with usual endings where the white stranger rescues the innocent Asian girl from her evil Asian master.

Out of irony, the Asian man is not allowed to have an intimate relationship with a white woman because the white woman cannot be subjected to the Asian patriarchal system, which is seen as inferior and potentially degrading. The perfect example of this a