/
Asian-American Identity in US Television Asian-American Identity in US Television

Asian-American Identity in US Television - PowerPoint Presentation

pamella-moone
pamella-moone . @pamella-moone
Follow
454 views
Uploaded On 2016-09-07

Asian-American Identity in US Television - PPT Presentation

What is the attitude of Asian Americans toward their representation in Fresh Off the Boat and the motive of ABC in airing such a show Background Initial research and data Diversity Representation in Television ID: 462484

americans asian show american asian americans american show shows representation white abc fresh black boat watch chinese airing motive project interview diversity

Share:

Link:

Embed:

Download Presentation from below link

Download Presentation The PPT/PDF document "Asian-American Identity in US Television" is the property of its rightful owner. Permission is granted to download and print the materials on this web site for personal, non-commercial use only, and to display it on your personal computer provided you do not modify the materials and that you retain all copyright notices contained in the materials. By downloading content from our website, you accept the terms of this agreement.


Presentation Transcript

Slide1

Asian-American Identity in US Television

What is the attitude of Asian Americans toward their representation in Fresh Off the Boat and the motive of ABC in airing such a show?Slide2

Background

Initial research and dataSlide3

Diversity Representation in Television

United States

t

elevision is predominately White

S

ome shows exist

where the experiences of persons of European descent is neither central nor

dominant

Black families sometimes take focus

Examples

include The Cosby Show and The Fresh Prince of

Bel

-Air

Diverse TV shows may be those that, while not feature non-Whites as leads, have diversity within them

Asian Americans are rarely the focusSlide4

"Black" TV Shows

Shows where African Americans are at the forefront are few in comparison to those focusing on White Americans

IMDB lists 115

"Best Black Comedy Shows of All Time," the earliest of which dates as early as

1950

Comparatively

, White comedies begin as early as the 1930's.

A

black sitcom is a sitcom that has a primarily or entirely black cast, or an African American individual in the lead role

.

Historically larger and more numerous than Latino

or Asian

sitcoms

Black

households are approximately 20% of TV viewers.

Black

sitcoms tend to have limited success with white

Americans

Notable exception: The

Bill Cosby

Show

Tyler

Perry's House of Payne has had great

success

ABC

is hoping to follow this trend with their 2014 sitcom

Black

-

ish

. Slide5

"Diverse" TV Shows

May be any

show that has a reasonable number of

characters not

of European

descent or one main character not of European descent

Examples: Parks

and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-

Nine

N

either focus

on a single non-White

family

Both have several

non-White cast

members

Increases suggest that television has reached an era

of

multiculturalism

Diverse movies

and shows

earn

more money and

higher ratings

If these shows fail

,

it could hurt attempts to further diversity

More

progress is to be

made

in the

representations of gender, sexuality, and

disabilities

Though TV

shows may now look more

diverse, their writers

remain predominately white.Slide6

"Asian" TV Shows

Acting

roles for Asian Americans have traditionally been

scarce

Bruce Lee appeared in childhood roles in the 1940’s

Star Trek and Happy Days had Asians in supporting roles

1976

sitcom Mr. T and Tina focused on a person of Asian descent

Asian

-American TV shows have been squashed throughout U.S.

history

TV series All American Girl, led by actress Margaret Cho was cancelled after only one

season

ABC's

Kung Fu had a 3-year

run

Gung Ho

lasted only 9

episodes

Others had same

fate, lasting two seasons at best, if they even

aired

ABC's airing of

Fresh Off the

Boat

is being

praised

Allowing Asians

to be both Asian and

American

A breakthrough show

for Asian

Americans, allowing them to gain

visibility as leads and not archetypes or secondary and tertiary

characters

Focuses

on an entire Asian American

familySlide7

A Brief Literature Review, Condensed

Asians are being

portrayed more often

in

US television, with the following explanations being given:

Asian American consumption habits are significant, as they have money and influence and can boost viewership

Diversity sells

A mission to reflect US demographics

The reaction to Asian American representation in Fresh Off the Boat varies

A starting point but not all-inclusive representation of being Asian in the US

Mixed reactions, from racist to relatable

Stereotype trap

May end as similar others have

My contribution:

Statistics to understand the diversity aspect of US demographics

Interviews with Asian Americans to determine their attitude on their representation in the show and their thoughts on ABC’s motiveSlide8

Demographic Data

Some demographic data reveals that the Asian and Pacific Islander numbers have consistently grown since 1950 (.20% of the entire U.S. population). In 2000, Asian Americans represented 3.8% of the U.S. population; in 2010, that number was 4.9%. Slide9

Ethnic Representation on TV

A survey of ethnic representation on CNN, FNC, and MSNBC show that Whites are over-represented and other races are under-represented.Slide10

The Project

Question generation and original contributionSlide11

Original Project Idea

Initial Thoughts

Began my project search with a focus on my own identity

Wanted to know what scholarly though indicated

Desired to search instances of social media to see how often a “token” person is referred to by their race (to see if certain races are more often acknowledged as token)

Planned to take a survey of or interview individuals to see what circumstances would warrant the term “token” being applied to an individual and whether or not they believes white people could be tokens

Post-Research Thoughts

There were instances someone being called a “token White person”

More references regarded other races

Debate exists as to whether a white person can truly be a token

when the surrounding society is predominately

white, even

if an individual group within a society is more diverse

Is it possible to be a “token white girl” in a setting or place of identity

where

white people are the majority?Slide12

Original InfographicSlide13

Second Project Idea

Initial Thoughts

Refocused my project to explore non-White identity in television

Wanted to interview friends of non-European descent to get personal opinions

Desired to get perspectives on why programming is becoming more diverse

Began literature survey literature

on

how television

programming

has

changed

Post-Research Thoughts

Various opinions exist regarding ABC’s motive

Profit

Getting ahead of

potential backlash for not being

diverse

Reacting to a shift

in consumer behavior to appeal to a broader

audience

Some argued that ABC should fear losing

its primarily white

consumers

Minority community opinions

Some thought the shows were not significant enough

S

everal thought ABC's

motive was

profit

and the network was exploitative New goal to focus on a historical comparison of the TV industry to determine why this programming is possible and what the motives might have been

What has happened to make it possible for mainstream television producers to create programs in which the experience of persons of European descent is neither central nor dominant?  Slide14

Second and Final Project InfographicSlide15

Second and Final Project Infographic, ContinuedSlide16

Second and Final Project Infographic, ContinuedSlide17

Final Project Idea

Initial Thoughts

Revised again to narrow my topic and make an original contribution

Post-Research Thoughts

Wanted to provide a real contribution

Decided on the use of interviews

Goal: to interview Asian Americans about Fresh off the Boat to understand how they felt about the show's representation of Asian Americans, as well as why they thought ABC was airing the show

What is the attitude of Asian Americans toward their representation in Fresh off the Boat and the motive of ABC in airing such a show?Slide18

Interview Questions

What

is your ethnicity

?

Do

you watch Fresh off the Boat? If not, are you familiar with it

?

If

you do watch, why do you watch the show

?

Do

you agree, support, or relate to representation of Asian Americans in the show

?

Are

you aware of any other shows in the past 20 years that focus(

ed

) on the experiences of Asian Americans

?

Why

do you think ABC is airing a show like Fresh off the Boat

?

If

you're aware of or watch Black-

ish

,

Cristela

, or other similar diverse TV shows, do you think the reasons they are being aired is similar to or different than ABC's reasons for airing Fresh off the Boat?

Howso

?Slide19

Interview Process

Remained within college community

Found individuals

of both American-born Chinese and Korean American

identities

Approached them under

the impression that their identities, with the exception of their ethnic affiliation, would remain

confidential

A

sked

them

questions on

the

previous slide

Separated the interviews by identity (American-born Chinese and Korean American) to summarize and draw conclusionsSlide20

Interview Summary

Total interviewees: 10

American-born Chinese: 6

Korean American: 4

Viewership:

4 do not watch, 4 watch occasionally, and 2 have seen every episode

American-born Chinese: 2 do not watch, 3 watch occasionally, and 1 has seen every episode

Korean American: 2 do not watch, 1 watches occasionally, and 1 has seen every episode

Awareness of other Asian American shows in the past 20 years:

9 were not

1 was aware of All-American Girl (cancelled after only one season)

StatisticsSlide21

Interview Summary

Reasons for watching:

Hype within the Chinese American community: 1

Friends watch it: 1

Liked the casting: 2

Find it funny: 2

Related to or felt resonance with it: 3 (all Chinese)

Feelings toward representation:

Fairly represented and felt relation to characters: 4 Chinese-born Americans

Have not watched, but mothers indicated accuracy of representation: 2

Chinese-born Americans

No real opinion: 1 Korean American

Felt it was a starting point: 1

Korean

American

Skeptical it could be all-inclusive (due to differences between ABC’s and KA’s) but agreed it was more representative than “White” shows: 2 Korean Americans

Korean Americans were less excited and saw less accurate representation

Chinese Americans related, saw similarities to their own families, and connected with the experiences more than other shows in terms of identity

Qualitative ResponsesSlide22

Interview Summary

Opinions on ABC’s motive in airing Fresh Off the Boat:

Profit (and ratings): 4

Diversity (and Asian Americans rising in population): 7

Only 1 mentioned that ABC may be attempting to cover up their lack of diversity in past programming

Opinions on ABC’s motive in airing

Black-

ish

and

Cristela

:

Money and rating: 3

Diversity: 8

Depended on the show: 2

For Black-

ish

: a change in American sentiment and an attempt to move past racism

F

or

Cristela

: the increasing Latino population in the US

Qualitative Responses, ContinuedSlide23

Interview Conclusions

All

Chinese

Americans expressed relation in some way

and

found the representation to be accurate or closer than any other show.

The

Korean Americans saw it as a starting

point

and

pointed

out that the

show

cannot be entirely representative of all Asian Americans. 

7

responses focused on diversity and the increasing Asian American

population

4

mentioned profit and

ratings

1

brought up the idea that ABC could be trying to cover up its less-than-diverse past

.

Thus, there was general goodwill for ABC’s attempt.

Representation

Motive

What is the attitude of Asian Americans toward their representation in Fresh off the Boat and the motive of ABC in airing such a show?Slide24

Conclusion

Overall, Chinese

Americans are more positive of the representation of Asian Americans in Fresh Off the Boat than Korean Americans, but both groups were positive and

hopeful.

B

oth

groups thought ABC’s motive was largely to increase diversity, though the notion of profit was not altogether foregone. Slide25

The End