Professor
Bui’s lecture applies directly to our class lectures and reading on beauty and schemas/stereotypes,
specifically, “The influence of a culture on the person perception of its
members” (Tubbs 59). Bui explores representations of ethnicity and gender in
film, and how western interpretations of Vietnamese women have affected her
experience as a Vietnamese-American. Her main concern was that of the
expression of the Vietnamese woman through her sexuality in film. Also, she
explores Vietnamese women being the personification of Vietnam. The films shape
the female characters as passive and willing to use their bodies as a
commodity. Further, she comments on how these images are presented
concomitantly with the romanticized past.
We
discussed that it is “efficient
and effective” to have stereotypes in advertising, but we didn’t discuss the
use of them in all other media platforms (Notes Steele-Knight). In the
“socialization of others,” the dominant culture—white America—has the control
to shape and present images of all other cultures through film, television, and
news. These images, or stereotypes can be positive or negative. Bui mentions
the stereotype of the model minority, but does not explicitly define what the
term means. It can be inferred that the female characters in the films are
representations of the model female minority; they are “quiet beauties” (Comm.
101, Bui). The first time I heard the term model minority was in a creative non-fiction
class. In a personal essay, a young Filipino woman said that this stereotype
often works to her benefit; professors, and even law enforcement see her and
her friends as “smart Asians,” so they rarely, if ever, get into trouble.
By
contrast, Bui’s personal experience exposes how stereotypes can be negative. The
Tubbs text states that there is a small amount of truth to stereotypes, so it
was interesting to hear that when Bui was in Vietnam, she ended up having the
prostitute stereotype imposed upon her (26). Bui casually points out that the directors of the films
analyzed are all men, which implies gender bias and ethnic bias—perhaps not in
Tony Bui’s case. Further, the tyranny of the male gaze is implied. In short,
the films portray the Vietnamese female characters as quiet, non-threatening
and sexually available—the perfect woman.
I
have a good friend who is half Vietnamese and half white—biracial. She was
raised in Alaska and South Dakota. Although we are ethnically different, we
have many things in common, and that is one of the many things that I enjoy
about our friendship. She told me an awful story about her Vietnam War
experience. Her father, a white
American, worked for the military during the war—he wasn’t a soldier. The war
was coming to an end, and the U.S. government was pulling every worker and
soldier out of Vietnam as fast as they could. They told my friend’s father that
it was time for him to leave, so he packed the family up and headed to the
airport. When they got to the airport, representatives from the military told
her father to leave them. Needless to say, he refused! This story made really
angry. Also, she shared a story with me about being followed by security in a
mall in South Dakota, and I could completely relate to that. We all reference
schemas/stereotypes to some degree, but when it begins to create barriers and
negativity toward others, we need to reexamine our beliefs.
This is really interesting, I feel that all minority's have a specific way they are always represented. People use their schemas to place people, or attempt to understand them, however these stereotypes do not reflect reality. We use these schemas because it is easier for us to place a person in a group, we definitely see this in movies all the time. People naturally expect a person of a specific group to fit a specific stereotype, such as professor Bui's experience. I do believe that using these schemas and stereotypes create barriers and perpetuate the negativity, however if we look at each person as an individual rather than just a member of a certain group, we can overcome these barriers.
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