Trends And Patterns Of Asian North American - 1634 Words

Trends and Patterns in Asian-North American Representation in Hollywood Momo S. Tanaka University of Saskatchewan Trends and Patterns in Asian-North American Representation in Hollywood I saw the highly promoted movie adaptation of The Hunger Games in spring of 2012, and I left the theatre wondering one thing: where were all the Asians? This is not an uncommon occurrence: as a second generation Japanese-Canadian, I have grown up surrounded by American and Canadian media that lacks representation of Asians to the point that seeing an Asian on my television is an thrilling. This is the sad reality of the state of representation of Asians on television. I have learned and experienced first hand that the lack of†¦show more content†¦Stereotypes like these are often utilized in representation. All types of media — movies, television shows, advertising, and the like — use representations â€Å"to express reality† (Viruega, 2011, p. 3). To paraphrase Benshoff Griffin and Taylor Willis, representation is a the process of combining signs to present an image of complex abstract concepts to communicate a story. In other words, representati on is involved in the communication and the determination of meaning and interpretation. Media uses representation and becomes an extremely influential element of the creation, acceptance, and perpetuation of stereotypes around Asians (as well as all other ethnic groups). According to cognitive-transactional model of media priming â€Å"repeated exposure to media stereotypes makes the stereotypes highly automatic, requiring little cognitive effort† (Zhang, 2010, p. 22), and this influences media consumers’ judgments and actions in interactions with Asians (Zhang, 2010). Because American media is extremely prevalent in Canada, as a consequence of globalization, cognitive-transactional model of media priming dictates that the reinforcement of racial stereotypes and views through representation has become very similar