Check Out This Informative Video on the History of Asian Representation in Film

These past couple of years have seen a horrible wave of violence against Asian Americans, which needs to stop. While a lot of the blame can be put on recent political figures and harmful verbiage in news stories, vilifying stereotypes of Asian people go way back.

They’re so pervasive that they’ve become movie tropes we have seen throughout the decades. 

Nancy Wang Yuen, Associate Professor of Sociology at Biola University, spoke to Vice about the long history of how Asian women are represented in Western media.

Check out the video from VICE News below. 

I found this to be incredibly informative, but also damaging in the ways Hollywood has portrayed Asian people. There are certainly cringe-worthy moments in Hollywood history. Madame Butterfly and Breakfast at Tiffany's are particularly painful to watch now. 

We want to think things are getting better, but are they? 

There is a dire need not just for representation on screen, but behind the camera as well. So many different perspectives could be improved if we just had the right people helping tell the stories. 

What we have seen over the last year is the danger of not being inclusive. We have seen hate and violence fostered thanks to countless years of stereotyping and tone-deaf portrayals. 

But it can get better if we force things to change. 

Let us know what you think in the comments. 

Source: VICE