Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
When you think of the most famous Asian characters in film and TV, what might jump to mind are characters like criminal mastermind Fu Manchu; the prostitute who says, "Me so horny," in Full Metal Jacket; or perpetual foreigner Long Duk Dong in Sixteen Candles.
Not to mention archetypes like the brainiac, or the kung fu master, or the dragon lady.
But these stereotypes that don't accurately reflect the 14.6 million Asian-Americans in this country.
This Saturday, these images are getting tossed out of the rickshaw they rode in on: the first summit on Asian-American stereotypes takes place at the Japanese American National Museum in LA.
It's called "Beyond the Bad and the Ugly." Jeff Yang is the organizer and writer of the Tao Jones column at the Wall Street Journal.
"We’re not saying erase all negative references," Yang says, "but there are plenty of places where you can play into race and make them human rather than just a two-dimensional character. And they work really well."