Asian Americans in Hollywood:

The Asian Americans model minority stereotypes have impacted society more due to the way the media use and portray Asian American characters. The model minority stereotype of Asian American characters makes the audience think that every Asian American is smart, unattractive, and aces all tests.

In modern media, the stereotype of Asians as the “model minority” is still common. However, the media’s portrayal and emphasis of these stereotypes has negative effects on the Asian Americans, such as uncomfortable peer pressure and unreasonable peer expectations. The reality is that while there are, in fact, Asian Americans who are more intelligent than the average person, there are also Asian Americans who are less intelligent. Everyone is different and people cannot judge by the stereotypes that generalize members simply because of ethnicity.

One example is the film, Better Luck Tomorrow written and directed by Chinese American Justin Lin, he incorporates the Asian American model minority stereotypes into his characters.  For example, Ben is depicted as a typical Asian who tries to get into college and get good grades. There is also Steve, another guy who does many extracurricular activities to look good on his college applications. When five of the students get into trouble, one of them, Vigil, is heard mentioning that his parents are going to kill him. This is illustrative of the idea that Asian Americans have helicopter parents that stress overachievement and good behavior.

In media, Asian Americans are portrayed as the only group of overachievers, but in reality, people of other ethnicities work just as hard to get into college and succeed in life. There are many other films such as The Debut, The Perfect Score, The Pingpong Playa, and Shanghai Calling that reflect model minority stereotypes, but the Asian American population is misrepresented by the stereotypes portrayed in film and television. Hollywood and the movie industry should work on giving Asian Americans roles that do not reflect these stereotypes.