Week 9. The Public window

YouTube is the unique in many kinds of mass media. As the We Media, TouTube provides the opportunity to ordinary people to illustrate their idea. Each person is very free to upload their video and share their opinion with the audience. As the same time it makes possible for different ethnic group to share their culture, it may also lead the clash between different cultures. Besides of admit that the existence of the conflict, in some situation the antagonistic sentiment is being enlarged in the YouTube. It may because of try to catch audience’s attention, or make their video more special, some YouTuBer magnify their emotion and become aggressive. Like the women in the video “ Debbie spend now”, her expression, words, and action is not friendly. But by this theatrical expression, her video catch people’s eyes and received thousands of feedback. YouTube is a passageway for all the people to express their emotion. Meanwhile, it is also a great window for the social to listen and watch the public thought.

In the Fresh off the Boat in Tuesday night, is different with the previous story, which the story line is upright and impartial. In this series, Louis’s restaurant became more popular. Huang’s family become richer and enters the middle-class social activity. However, Louis has a guilty conscience when his billboard hoarding being scribbled, because stealing the commercial planning from someone else. It is very interesting that even though Jessica still standing the same position and support him. It is an interesting phenomenon of the Chinese action called “shield a shortcoming”. They may always stand by their friends/relatives’ side, and regardless no matter his action is right or wrong. Their judgment of dispute only depends on how he or she close to this person. From the ethic or the moral aspect, this is not a right action. But from the other perspective, this action also illustrate that Asian people are thinking a great deal about their friendship and family relation. It has to say that the action of Louis’, which steal the commercial plan from other, is immoral, but the reflection of Jessica, maintenance her husband without any condition, is quite lovely.

Week 4. The way to be a human rather than a man/woman.

Compared with the male characters in movies of last week. It seems the Asian American male characters in the movie of this week became more positive. On one hand, international political position of China and the other Asian countries changed in the mid 20 centuries also influence the Asian characters in films. On other hand, as the time that Asian people lived in American growth, the mutual communications between these different races became widely and deepen. The gradually understanding made the image of Asian American more close to the reality and less demonized. . As one the most famous character, Bruce Lee great changed the impression of Asian Male in the media. The impressions of Asian males were not long in evil, weakness build and strange image, but begin to be positive, strong and brave. Then, Bruce Lee became an idol for lots of Asian America.

Compared with male character in movies, the image of Asian American female is more complex. The hypersexualize is one of the significant phenomenon for the Asian American. Most of Asian American female characters were looking forward acting as the sense of women, long hair, smile, behaved and wear dress all the time. These female made living and living by the benefit bring by their gender. These females’ roles in the movies were more living as the women in the common sense, rather than the ordinary human. The role was cleanly separated by gender. Like the Mulan, who should to me a beautiful bridge to honor her family rather than took apart in the military. The opinion set in the movie was involved the public recognize.

In today’s films, I deeply felt the power of the media. In the first part of the movie, the young man who watched the action of Japanese female in the movie, and wish he can merry to a Japanese female. The image of female in movies will leave deep impression for the audiences who have not directly communicate with the Asian American. The positive images of the Asian American in movies will great involved the image of Asian American.

Culture intergrade

Before I arrived America, I heard about that in the middle of Twenty Centuries， there was a famous nightclub in San Francisca called Forbidden City nightclub. After I was the documentary projected in today’s class, “Forbidden City nightclub” becomes a legend rather than a simple compound term in my mind.

In the movie, some actors mentioned that they were strongly against performing in the dance club or studying dance by their family. The male who practice dance at home considered as “there are must something wrong”. The female actor should jump out of the wind of her home to be an actor in the dance club. This kind of opinion came from ancient Chinese society and deeply rooted in the Chinese Social background. In ancient China, different jobs present the different social position. The scholar is the highest level, second level is farmer, third level is workers and the fourth level is businessman. The dancers or performers were lower than these four levels and as the lowest level of society. People who were dancing for entertain others were being despised. People have the fixed consensus about and what kind of job you should had could be considered as a successful, and what “role” you should play in your gender. Even nowadays, Chinese people do live up to society expectations, such as being responsible and disciplined. Besides of personal intended, large amounts of Chinese people are care about their social position and even live in other’s sight lining. Some teenagers give up their personal intended because parents want their children to focus on studying, and got a suitable job. It is quite unusual for the performers who to break up the social bond and join the Forbidden City nightclub.The courage of consisted in their dream deserved our respects.

The Forbidden City nightclub gives the America society a new aspect to approach Chinese culture and enhance the communication between two different kinds of culture. Besides of hate and fear of the Asians, America people also fell curiosity about them. The Forbidden City Nightclub reminds me of the Cotten Club. Both these two clubs play the important role in culture communication between different races. Charlie Low was very smart to start this business. “Forbidden City” was an impressive name for a nightclub in that age. This name reminds people of the Forbidden City in Chain, the living place for Emporia, which full of treasure and mistress. In that special time background, besides of let America know more about Asian culture, Forbidden City nightclub also gave the Asians a chance to intergrade into American society.

Week 1 – Jasmine Flowers

It is my first class related to the Asian American. Everything in the class is new to me and very impressive. During Wednesday, we do the words definition. The word “Microaggression” is a “useful” word. For my personal experience, I had heard the words like “You drive very good as a woman.” or “You are not hard working enough as an Asian.” These sentences made me quite uncomfortable, but I do not know what is wrong with this kind of attitude and way of speaking before learn the word “Microaggression”. Sometimes people are not intended to be aggressive, while the prejudice is exist in subconsciousness. This word helps me better understanding people’s action in the racial study.

During this weekend, I saw one installment of America’s Got Talent 2014, which include a special dancing preforms called the “Jasmine Flowers ”. “Jasmine Flowers” is a famous traditional Chinese song that extol the beauty of jasmine flowers and the girls as glorious as the jasmine flowers. Most of dancers are the second generation of immigration who grow up in New York. This dance is a unique fusion of which classical ballet coms form west with the traditional Chinese style fan dancing. It is hard to make the twenty-five people dance moved as one person moves, especially when add the fans, but they do finish this dancing perfect! The feeling of watching this dancing is amazing as if you looking two different kind of preforms and culture at the same time. New York is the second largest immigration city of Chinese in USA (Los Angeles is the largest city), there are many Chinese children grow up as America there, this dance great illustrate their identity. This dance is kind for way for them to rich back to their roots. The mix and communicate within different style of art sometime has truly amazing piece.

I find a cut in Youtube, you can watch it if you like!

Here is the link:

Week 2 Fu Manchu?

During today class, the topic “ anti Asian sentiment in USA” did shock me a lot. Previously, I had heard about that the Asian people had a long period of suffering since late 19 century. But I did not imagine the Anti Asian sentiment could in such serious situation at that time.

For the Cartoon picture describes the Anti Asian sentiment, it is not only defaming the Asian people, but also focused on compared and split the Asian and Americans. The facial expressions, body language of these Asians were looked ridiculous and ghastliness. The imagination of human is interesting; they could depict a racial, which they knew nothing about but only relay on their image and ignorant. In the aspect that lower and debased the Asian people purpose, the Fu Manchu series movies is successful in created the horrific fell to the audiences. Fu Manchu is looked so much like a Zombie. Let alone for the foreigners in last century who know nothing about the Asian people at that time, as a Chinese, I’ve even scared by Dr. Fu Manchu and doubt that “Is Chinese people really horrific as this? ”. Though, I am so sure that the true Chinese people are much better than the ugly Fu Manchu in the movie. This role is none of representativeness for Chinese people. Prior to today’s movie and cartoon, the racial discrimination I heard about is more related to the Black people. Since of racial identity of myself, I did not have very deep feeling about anti-Black sentiment. When I am personally on the scene in today’s topic, I can physical experience the racism and prejudice.

In the reading last week, it mention that: “Film and television, for example, have been notorious in dissemination images of racial minorities which establish for audiences what people form these groups look like, how hey behave, and “who they are.’ The power of the media lies not only in their ability to reflect the dominant racial ideology, but in their capacity or shape that ideology in the first place.” In today class media example, I felt the power of the Film. If I am not a Chinese, and also have not meet any other Chinese before I saw the Fu Manchu or the Anti- Chinese Comic, it would be hard to prevent the preconceived prejudice idea about Chinese. At the late 19 century, the closed- door policy of the Qing dynasty cut off China from the outside world, and other countries knew very litter about the China. People always terrified by the things they are not familiar with. Nowadays, the mutual understanding and cooperation between China and world enhance the other countries know about Asian. The people who think Chinese as Fu Manchu would fall behind the time.