For this week’s blog post, I read an article published in Research in Human Development that encompasses most of the main ideas I’d like to incorporate throughout my project. Asian American Media Representation: A Film Analysis and Implications for Identity Development (Besana, et al., 2019) examined media representation of Asians and Asian Americans through film analysis. This article covered the topics of the model minority myth, misrepresentation, seeking identity through media, and social mirroring. Social mirroring is the way in which people internalize others’ perceptions of themselves self-based on the views of society (Besana, et al., 2019). This 2019 study also focused on films that were made in the last 25 years and ones that were U.S. films. For my project, I wanted to find a study that was current and showed how Asians were portrayed in U.S. media today. As much as looking at the past will help with my literature review, I want to acknowledge the progress Asian representation has made in the media.
This article is relevant, and most importantly timely, to what I’m trying to express through my project. I found this article interesting since the analysis included films that were recent and showed the progress that U.S. media has made when portraying Asians in the media. However, through the results of the analysis, there were still discrepancies and major racial innuendos that were consistent in the portrayal of Asians. Through my documentary, I’m trying to express how important accurate representation of race and culture is when portrayed in widespread media. As well as the impact that it has on youths and young adolescents.
When producing my project, I’ve already contacted some potential interviewees. My goal for this project is to include people who are adopted Asians (mainly of Chinese descent) who have struggled with and/or found their identity while growing up in an American household and how the media has affected them. This is a very personal project and this has always been a question of my own, if western media has impacted others as much as it has myself.
Asian American Media Representation: A Film Analysis and Implications for Identity Development
Tiffany Besana, Dalal Katsiaficas & Aerika Brittian Loyd (2019) Asian American Media Representation: A Film Analysis and Implications for Identity Development, Research in Human Development, 16:3-4, 201-225, DOI: 10.1080/15427609.2020.1711680
