Not all Asians Prefer to Study

Brianne Beets
Writng 101- Winter Quarter
Media Representation Essay
Word Count-?

Not all Asians Prefer to Study

Deceptive images are all around us. They engulf our communities, tricking us into believing what is
meant to be perceived. We are all wrapped up in believing everything television and movies want us to
believe. Most of these perceptions are based on stereotypes that have been created and forced people to
believe that everyone of a certain race, ethnicity, or gender fits into one particular mold. The proof is all around us. In the movies that peers of my age watch and endure there are a multitude of inaccurate viewsof people, yet the people that are most drawn into these movies are made to believe them.

I have experienced such incidents myself while I was on a trip to Europe. I was having a conversation with a group of boys from The Netherlands when they admitted that they thought all Americans went to similar high schools where people were brutally shoved into lockers and trash cans, and subjected to the tortures of a "swirlie", as in having there head dunked in a toilet while it is flushed repeatedly. These boys also thought that all American girls were blonde, bubbly, self-centered, and dim-witted. Of course while there are places in which incidents such as this occur, it was not something that happened in every school across America. While these Dutch boys contemplated their own misjudged perceptions, I myself was led into believing that The Netherlands were all similar to Amsterdam, the capital city, where almost anything you could possibly think of is legal, except murder, and fireworks surprisingly. But that too was wholly inaccurate. This group of Dutch boys explained to me that there were numerous small farming towns around The Netherlands, one of which they inhabited, in which they attended a miniscule school in which none of the sort in which I had previously thought occured.

Basic stereotypical misjudgements such as these are becoming increasingly more common as the media continues to affect more people. But the fact of the matter is contemplating why the media continues to stereotype people of particular races, ethnicity, or gender. Some may think that putting people into one huge melting pot makes it easier for people to judge them and objectify them, perhaps thinking they know what these people are like without actually having to excercize the time and energy that it takes to truely learn about an individual.

One such movie that come to mind when thinking of stereotypes is the primarily teen-targeted movie, The Perfect Score. This movie confronts stereotypes and forces people to realize that not all people of a certain "type" are alike. A particular character in this movie brilliantly shatters the stereotype that all Asians are diligent, quiet, and studious. This character is more of a slacker, choosing to smoke pot in the bathroom opposed to attending his classes. Although by the end of the movie this character realizes his true potential of intelligence, his persona is a far cry from the average Asian stereotype.

In spite of the fact that there do exist fashions of media in which stereotypes are not recognized, there still lies the multitude of stereotypes that continuously affect the teens who watch them.