christine

Things that stand out to me: • In american film category, representation goes from caricatures to more complex characters who are also seen as romantic prospects • In asian film category, great to see a move away from hyper masculinity towards softer, more emotional roles

also I just made this based on my past consumption, I am in no way an expert so feel free to tell me if I am overlooking something

• most striking contrast is in "Before 2000s" which makes sense given how far america has come with race & identity politics • However, ordering by date watched would roughly track top down american film to top down asian film. I consumed the 2000-2010 images during puberty

• as I see it, the difference in portrayal lies in: dignity, self respect, confidence, being taken seriously, being a main character, complexity of emotion and character development, romantic prospects, fitness, style, charisma, competency and fluency

idk obviously none of this is news!! but as I have begun to watch a lot more asian film, this exercise has been very interesting for me to understand my own consumption & reflect on the ways I may have internalized these images

I know there aren't that many asian american actors since we are often encouraged to be in traditional stable careers, but in general I feel we have a lot of room to define this narrative for ourselves, and in a way that demonstrate our solidarity as well as our many subgroups.

And not just for aa men but in general, I feel a lot of frustration with current asian american representation... we are straddling 2 worlds, things come up like "oh you can't speak Chinese?", or how we're "practically white"

I want to know, who is creating content? who is pushing the narrative? where are these conversations happening? how can we make for a stronger cultural identity? We should all generate content and play around, see what is compelling, make it easier to define for ourselves