Week 8: Stereotypes and the Ethics of Representation

This week I read American Born Chinese, and I own Persepolis and have read it many times. I really enjoyed American Born Chinese. The illustration is clean and simple, and the stories intertwine in a really interesting way. I liked going back and forth between segments and getting a little closer to the climax of the story each time.

In the book, Jin feels that he is an outsider and is terrified that people will detect his Chineseness. It is a source of shame for him. In “Danny’s” portion of the story, his cousin Chin Kee is supposed to represent everything Danny fears people see when they look at him, which is an extremely negative stereotypical image.

It was kind of hard to read the sections with Chin Kee, because he was a really embarrassing, racist representation of what people actually say and think about Chinese people. But we got the picture that this is what Danny is trying so hard to not become. As if what people think and say about you makes you who you are.

Are stereotypes a necessary tool to use as a kind of shorthand for characters? Yes and no. When you write a character, you need to use certain clues to let the audience know who they’re looking at. If you were writing about a businessman, you’ll probably give him a suit, briefcase, glasses, and a short tidy haircut. Unless you plan on making him a main character, that’s all people need to know about him. The problem comes in when characters are stereotyped because of their race, gender, sexuality, etc. You can’t (usually) change these things about yourself, and you shouldn’t be lumped in with every bad joke ever told about it. Artists, writers, and other contributors to media should know the difference between stereotyping a football player and a gay man. Have I ever personally felt hurt over stereotypes? Yes. In countless movies, comics, books, songs, conversations in real life, etc., I have been offended by stereotypes of women. That we’re not rational, that we don’t like sex, that all we care about is our hair and shopping, that we’re gold diggers, that we’re just sex props, the list goes on and on. This is easily fixable. Creators need to ask themselves if a stereotype is harmful or not, and be careful about how they represent them.

Okay, rant is over.