The Model Minority Trope, Explained
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ส.ค. 2020
- Get 20% off Brilliant: brilliant.org/TheTake/ | The term “Model Minority” has long been used to paint a broad picture of Asian-Americans as smart and hardworking, wealthy, and well-behaved. And while this has been seen as a more positive stereotype compared to past caricatures, it similarly diminishes the nuanced realities of peoples’ individual lives, and sets expectations that can lead to further disadvantages and discrimination. Here’s our Take on how the Model Minority came to be such an insidious force used against Asian-Americans, specifically, and whether we can move away from these stereotypes of perfection toward something more imperfectly real.
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I'm glad they're including Indians when they say Asian-Americans. So many people forget that.
I feel like a complete dumbass, but I've never thought to include Indians when I think of Asian Americans. Of course they would be since India is in Asia 🤦♀️ I'm glad they included them on here so idiots like me can make the connection
Yess, I loved the south Asian rep in this!!
The British had more contact with Indians, so Indians and South Asians in Britain were labelled "Asians".
The Americans had more contact with Chinese, so Chinese and East Asians in the USA were labelled "Asians".
Technically, both South Asians and East Asians are Asians.
Hi, I'm Sirian Argentinian, I'm a minority in my country and we're not percieved as Asians when we actually are,Is it different in America, are Sirian Americans percieved as Asians or they 're percieved just as Arab people not belonging to Asia? I'm not hating just asking, thank you
I would have rather had a different video because I think the stereotypes and tropes are really different.
“What grade did u get?”
“An A.”
“Of course you did, you’re smart.”
“No, I studied.”
“But you’re smart, so you didn’t have to.”
“But I really did have to take the time to study.”
“I wish I was Asian and smart.”
No you don’t.
Edit: Thx for 5K likes :)
Or, on the flip side, my daughter’s father (an abusive man I left shortly after she was born) says that she is smart, because she’s half Asian (on his side) and completely disregards all the hard work I put into actually teaching her all the things she knows 🤷🏻
Then there’s me who never studies, gets mostly straight As but every grading season i get struck by incredible anxiety thinking my lack of studying finally caught up with me and ill finally crash and burn like the imposter i am. Then i get good grades again and the cycle repeats. Imposter syndrome is amazing
Christiaan id say im stubborn to a reasonable extent. If everyone in a group project is against me then ill give up but if i have a fighting chance i will fight to the end. As for being a rule follower most people would call me a teacher’s pet. I follow all the rules when an authority figure is around but when not i throw all the rules out the window. My friends have told me that im like two different people once a teacher enters the room.
That's why the talent argument is often so dump. Even if you are talented or intelligent you still have to put in the work and most people who are smart and good at what they do aren't talented or intelligent, but they worked really hard to get where they are now.
Every artist, every dancer, every mathematician and scientist will approve of that if you ask them.
My Korean friend likes to think that she’s smart because she’s Asian and not because she had no life and kept studying everyday a lot of hours.
Immigrant Asian-American here. "Model minority" as a concept also glosses over the fact that not all Asian ethnic groups have the same access to opportunities. The stereotype dismisses Asians from poorer backgrounds when they're struggling because they'll just "work their way" to success.
Clonetrooper87
Can confirm.. Even though I’m not an Asian-American, my father worked very hard on our country to get where he is now but it’s still not enough so he went to other countries for higher value he can send to us. He grew up really poor but at least now we can fend for ourselves but it’s still not enough. Him going to other countries made him face discrimination. What a world.
Asian is not a monolith society. Therefore, people from East Asia will have different culture, experience and way to a successful life than those from SEA, our South Asia. Stereotyping all ethnic into one identity 'Asian' is dangerous and show western society's lack of knowledge.
Add to that that while Asian people can be the top 1% of earners. (So, for the very VERY few in that group, the tippy top will be Asian), at the bottom the very lowest will be Asian. And as we all know, there are a lot more poor people than obscenely wealthy. So a ton of Asians are poor af, but are still held to standards that not even moderately wealthy white people have.
@Windigo Jones Ooh, found the capitalist bootlicker. Fun fun. You think if you ignore systemic poverty Jeff Bezos is going to sweep you away from your provincial life? Make you a billionaire?
Well hes not. All the capitalists do is steal. Congratulations on being able to make it. So have I, but that doesnt mean the system isnt crap. It's literally built on having winners and losers. It rewards greed and punishes community.
Now I fully recognize that I was perhaps unduly hostile in my response. But at the time of this writing wealth inequality it TWICE as bad as it was during the French revolution. You may not be ready to eat the rich, but to blame poor people for not being able to get a leg up in a world designed to keep them down just isnt cool man.
Check out Philosophy Tube, he explains Labor Theory of Value in his old video on Marx. Or ThoughtSlime or hell, I dunno, look around you and talk to people in poverty. Look into how schools are funded by property taxes, which means poor neighborhoods get worse schools by default.
The fact your still thinking that NOW astounds me. You may not be in the US, but look at what's happening here, we are the pinnacle of unchecked capitalism and greed. 60 million off healthcare, 48 million about to be evicted from our homes, 20% unemployment, people dying without their medications bc they are trying to destroy the postal service so they can privatize profits.
Sorry, I ought to digress. I hope you are well. bye.
@Windigo Jones "I know I'm not Asain, but let me tell you how to live your experience and deal with your struggles." Gtfo YT.
The worst factor of this stereotype is that it implies other minorities aren’t as capable or wired to be successful, so in turn, people assume there is a hidden Asian inside other minorities.
Can you explain this? I don't get it
@@maothecat7949 Intelligence or ambition has no preference such as being black, white, Hispanic or Asian
Agreed. I once had a boyfriend tell me, a black woman, that dating me was like dating an Asian woman because I was high achieving. I was young at the time, 17, so I just laughed it off but as I got older I realized how stupid of a thing it was to say.
Darnell Major Thank you, that is the best way to explain this.
Almost Paradise I’m sorry to hear that. Hopefully you have found better or will. These stereotypes are so damaging.
I’m asian and a lot of my asian friends tend to feel the need to mock asian culture to be accepted by their white friends, it’s quite sad.
I'm Kenyan and I lived in America some part of my childhood. I remember the whole school making fun of me for eating termites and all I could think why though? I didn't have any comeback at the time but the French literally eat snails but for them it's seen as classy.
Shirley Tatha there ya go!
@Vũ Uy Wasn’t subtle asian traits Asians bonding over shared childhoods? Like, I sometimes joke about my asian childhood with my asian friends because it’s something we can both relate to.
@@bananahat3350 but isn't that what Asians mock the most. Aside from the little things of living in an Asian household, the most prominent joke Asians make are about their strict parents or the need to over achieve to meet their parents' expectations. Technically that's a big part of someone's childhood too right?
That's really sad
I can't help but think of London Tipton
The show played it ahead of it's time
She didn't hold up any of those standards and was just your everyday rich girl
And Maddie broke the dumb blonde stereotype as well, if i remember correctly!
@@rivasnuria2158 Yeah, I think Ashley Tisdale and Brenda Song were supposed to play the other role but ended up playing Maddie and London respectively, which in my opinion was much better.
She was air-headed, which is also a cliche admittedly.
But wasn't her mother some variant of the sexy dragon lady (one of the older Hollywood Asian tropes) seduced by a super rich womanizing billionaire- thereby, so she is still a trope-adjacent?
The original crazy rich asian
The model minority myth is just another tool of lumping all Asians into one group and dividing them from other people of color. It doesn't account for our uniqueness, either. I'm a brown Indian-Bangladeshi who was born in America and grew up in a post-911 era. My experience is completely different from that of an East Asian's. Not to mention the wealth gap between various Asian groups. But the model minority myth makes it seem like we're all smart and have plenty of money.
But Americans generally don’t consider South Asians as Asian? Or maybe this is just the ignorant people I’ve come across in the 15 years I’ve lived in New York City lol. They’re lumped with Middle Easterners, who they also don’t consider Asian despite the Middle East being in Asia. If you don’t look stereotypical Asian, you’re not Asian to them. South Asian having a large Muslim (and Hindu population who have similar traditional garb with other Muslim groups) also adds to people pushing them towards the Middle East. However, I do think people are slowly learning that Indians, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis etc are also Asian. It’s also interesting to me how in America, when you say Asian, people think East (and southeast to a lesser extent) Asia but in the UK, you say Asian and South Asia comes to mind. I wager it’s simply just due to South Asians being the majority Asian population in the UK
V B I’m black (African), I’m muslim, I wear a hijab and I don’t have stereotypically black features (I have a thin nose, small lips and almond eyes) so African-Americans would be confused on what I am and I’d tell them i’m black like you. I’ve had so many people tell me no way, I’m indian (girls who’ve see my hair) or bangladeshi or ”middle eastern”, as they say . I get bangladeshi a lot tho. like from south asians men who own halal food carts in the city. my bengali friend said I could pass for a dark skin bangladeshi too lol
whydoesthiswork it’s not just white people too. americans as a whole, black, white, latino, a lot of them have that mentality that only east asians are the real asians honestly. east asians may not have started it, but i have seen east asians perpetuate the idea that they are the real asians and only people who look like them are asian. many of them in america don’t consider south asians as real asians. i’ve witness a chinese coworker tell a punjabi coworker that he’s not really asian. also important to note that while you’re all asian, all asians are not the same race. asian isn’t a race. it’s just a continental identifier. not to get too deep into it racial classifications here but east/south asians (with native americans and pacific islanders) belong to the mongoliod race and south asians/middle easterners belong to the caucasiod race (caucasoid does not mean white/european). there’s 3 different branches in the caucasoid race and south asians/middle easterners are in the aryan or semitic branch. white europeans (specifically germans) took aryan and ran with it with their white supremacist nonsense but aryan is originally a sanskrit word. anyway tl;dr americans are dumb, east asians need to stop perpetuating the idea that they’re the only type of asians, and race is a social construct.
@@nmpoy That's what's so frustrating, the fact that people only label people who are "Asian" only from one region of Asia. For me, Asian means you're from the continent of *Asia*. If you want to be slightly specific, then mention the region in Asia: Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia or Central Asia. Then really specific, you can mention the nationality or ethnicity.
Ali C Ignorance. that’s all it is. The middle east is actually West Asia but most people wouldn’t even know that even though it’s basic geography
We should start calling white people European-Americans
Edit: For the love of Pete please stop responding to this. It's been 7 months
Edit 2: That means stop commenting. Every new reply is a copy/paste of 20 other replies who said it first
fr
I doubt anyone of them will care in the slightest.
i do. it's so finny when people try to check me for it.
I'm in favor. the whole Asian / Latino /Afro-American is a reminder that those are people with an immigration background, and calling the Wasps just "Americans" insinuates that they belong onto the North-american continent, no questions asked.
As a non American (white) European I agree. I can never relate to these white people memes. „White people are all the same“ „White people have no culture“ You ever been to Europe???
Talk about "the native" trope! Indigenous people are the least represented race in cinema, media, music, everywhere! The erasure of indigenous presence is so common we don't even notice. When there are indigenous people in film, they constantly play a one off role of being the hoodoo voodoo native that helps the heroes or requires help from the heroes. They're always tied down to their culture despite many natives not even being touch with it due to European assimilation. Even in diverse shows, there can be no native American in sight.
They’re not represented in media because they don’t exist anymore. 90+% of them died from smallpox and other diseases across several centuries. And the ones who call themselves “native” in 2020 have a ton of European DNA and would never, ever be accepted by their “ancestors.”
Nicolas Leroux White people actually were accepted into indigenous groups sometimes, so the idea that their ancestors wouldn’t accept them is ridiculous. Also, not all people of American Indian descent have as “watered down” DNA as you are saying. Plus, just because a minority is small doesn’t mean that they don’t deserve representation. I am Jewish and we are portrayed a lot more in pop culture than our small population percentage would suggest, even if a lot of the characters do end up being stereotypes.
Yes native Americans and Asian Americans face similar problems
Nicolas Leroux there are... so many indigenous people who aren’t mixed that still exist? That’s such a bull headed thing to say. Yes, many have been killed but there’s still a population that exists with their own communities throughout North America. You probably don’t see a lot because they’re reserves aren’t near you.
Shy Girl Have you never seen black-and-white photos of real Native Americans? Today’s “natives” look absolutely nothing like them. Today’s “natives” have European names, speak a European language, and posses European blood. They are not genuine Native Americans by any stretch of the imagination.
When I first moved to Texas from Nigeria as a teenager, I remember one of the first people I hung out with at school was this Asian girl and we had this conversation where I told her that in Nigeria, or at least where I grew up in, anyone who wasn't black was considered white. I said we never even thought of hispanic people as not being white and then she asked, how about asians? And I wanted to tell her the truth, which was, we just called every Asian person Chinese but I lied and said we counted them as white too. After hearing that, her face lit up, she was like oh that's so cool, I'll never forget that cause I genuinely felt sorry for her in that moment. I didn't realize it then but it's crazy how far and wide white supremacy is.
Yes, Asians including Chinese and Indians tend to admire white skin, since ancient time, before they met any white people. So it’s probably not racism. Some Chinese actually have whiter skin than white people, and the skin is hairless and silk smooth, it feels much better by the touch . So in terms of skin, many Asians actually beat whites. But in terms of facial feature, many Chinese still admire white people.
I hope she isn't Taiwanese or HongKonger 😬
Colourism is deeply embedded in many Asian cultures, even before European imperialism. It represents status and the upper class since they didn't have to work outside, under the sun. European colonialism made it worse cause then people started associating being cultured and advanced to white European, which further solidifies that lighter skin equals good/better.
I swear😂😂Nigerians but to make up for it. Now i know Indians are Asian and i can tell the difference between a Korean and Chinese person
Same in North Africa. Asians are stared at worse than the whites
My best friend is Chinese, and the stereotype of Asians being good in math hurt her in high school. She wasn’t good in math but never got the same amount of attention as the other less than stellar kids in her class. When she started complaining about it online, she then got harassed because she was adopted into a white family, so people were saying she “wasn’t Asian enough to be good at math”. So gross
That's just cruel. They forget that the reason some Asian kids excel in math is because they work very hard. A lot of Asian parents guilt their children in excelling academically. It's not genetics.
@@maylynbayani yep. A philosophy that many East Asian parents follow is if you chase your dreams then you'll end up poor and alone. That's why you have no choice but to study hard to become an engineer, doctor, or other high paying occupation like accountant or lawyer. Another depressing expectation is if you do get married, you are expected to marry a Caucasian America /European because marrying another Asian is competition, and marrying a black or brown person is uncalled for because "they are all brutes and being associated with one will lower you chances of succeeding in life".
@@tamiwu0346 i was definitely pressured to excel academically and my mother was the one who picked our careers. With who to marry, my grandfather specifically wanted me to marry an Asian. Mainly because he wanted to make sure the man understood certain cultural expectations and belief systems.
@@tamiwu0346 I would disagree about the marriage to caucasians. In my experience asians want their children to preserve the culture, so it is preferably someone of the same nationality
@@maylynbayani It is genetics dummy.
It's so true, Asians face so much discrimination which is largely left unacknowledged because white dominated society attributes so-called "positive" traits upon Asian identity. This most insidious thing about racial discrimination is when the object of the discrimination adopts those outside beliefs as their own. Hence, when it comes to the dynamic between Asians and Blacks in the minority community, there's an artificial superiority complex that takes grip and drives a wedge in fully sympathising with the struggles of other minority groups. The Take is honestly one of the best TH-cam channels. Thank you!
Mfundo Nkosi like making it harder to get into Harvard. It’s crazy!
very well put. btw are you from southern africa?
I think though the racial discrimination isn't as dangerous as what black people go through, it's surprising how many people think Asians aren't allowed to express their feelings about the racism they face because "it's not that bad" or "Asians are racist too". Though the racism certain races face can be better or worse, all racism is bad and when someone speaks up about it, you should still listen to educate yourself on that kind of stuff.
The "positive discrimination" gets applied to blacks, specifically black men, when it comes to sexual magnetism and sex itself which is how people get caught up in nonsense like my username. When it's really just based on narratives to dehumanize.
The power will always ascribe negative and "positive" traits to people it wants to control. So whenever I hear, "Science says we ARE bigger" or "We WORKED to be the model minority" it's like Damn.
You drank the Kool-Aid
@@ImGonnaBlameTheMEEDUHSid I can't speak for myself but I feel like the "powerful black woman" is also positive discrimination, expecting black women to be able to fight their own battles when they still need support like anyone else.
I feel like with every video of this series about certain movie/tv tropes, I can just look at Crazy Ex-Girlfriend to see a good subversion of that trope. In this case, the lead male character Josh is Filipino-American and he's just... average. Just an average dude. Sometimes him being less smart and educated than many people around him is maybe played a bit too much for laughs but it never goes into Kevin from The Office or Joey from Friends territory, Josh remains real and human throughout. But just not ridiculously smart.
That's why I love CXG.
I love cxg so much. It takes all of the stereotypes and flips them on their heads. It’s so self aware but doesn’t feel overly ‘preachy.’
@@ellaforlin8160 YES, I hate it when tv shows feel so obviously preach-y about the message they're trying to pull off. Crazy Ex Girlfriend does a great job at pulling it off subtly and effectively
CXG is awesome for so many reasons, it turns so many different tropes and stereotypes on their head. I super appreciate the way that mental illness is handled- even the more “scary” mental illnesses. Because while a LOT of progress has been made destigmatising illnesses like depression and anxiety (which is a good thing), that same progress just isn’t there for the illnesses people see as worse, or more scary, like bipolar, borderline personality disorder and schizophrenia (to name just a few). The stigma is still there for those, big time. There’s also less education on what living without those sorts of illnesses is like, compared to depression and anxiety.
CXG is single handedly tackling the stigma and miseducation around BPD, and there’s flow on effects to the other “scary” mental illnesses. I would love it for that alone.
The most underrated show ever.
The “minority wedge” between the black community and Asians...that’s an entire video on its own.
Yes - would be a good video. I know Margaret Cho had an animation talking about anti Black racism and model minority myths many years ago.
Asians desire to be seen as "whites" , even with their success , many still feel inferior to whites.Thats why many try to boast their wealth and success on blacks in order to feel that relation to whiteness. Many asians will prefer dating/marrying whites to gain accessibility to being accepted as white.
manovrsb not true! Many Asians including myself are proud of our history and culture. We have been creating art and innovating long before white people. Often other POC say we have white privilege when actually we are often targeted by casual racism, fetishized, and mocked. Take for instance this pandemic, Asian people have been harassed and had violence brought against the most vulnerable members of our community. Many Asians I know go out to support other POC issues like BLM but we do not get support in return. That is why the community is so insular.
Lucy Hodges I saw mostly black people speaking up about racism against Asians....
Kris TV really? On places like Twitter, Instagram I haven’t seen much from any group
As an Asian American, I would like to add one small thing: how many of these model minority myths were coping strategies to survive a mostly white America. Many Asian-American immigrants came over, completely ignorant of the racial history of America, and took actions that, in retrospect, negatively impacted other racial minorities. Now that I'm older and more aware of our shared histories, I'm doing everything I can to spread awareness of this insidious lie, to heal the divide and to fight back against systemic racism and white supremacy.
Can you give an example? I'm honestly interested.
@@skyee7512 Inherent anti-blackness in the Asian community.
Google it.
zucchinigreen Newt may be asking about the coping strategies that I had mentioned.
Newt Nefarious When I was growing up, several of the Asian parents I knew, including my own, taught our generation that being significantly more successful than White-Americans is the path to integrating into American society. It was walking a razor’s edge; we had to integrate enough to become successful and financially/socially stable, but still maintain our Asianness to still be part of the family (we wouldn’t be ostracized, but we would definitely be judged for being too American). Integration was the most common strategy I’ve seen Asian families adopt to becoming Americans, and integration often meant doing things white people did, like developing negative perceptions about dark-skinned people. I’m still trying to dismantle some hurtful anti-black microaggressions in my behavior, like having thoughts like “They talk well for a Black person.”
Agatha z I mean, why can’t it be both? It’s possible for an already ingrained and problematic belief to get exacerbated and heightened as a way to deal with the stresses of relocation.
to those who missed the point of the video: though some seem worse than others, all stereotypes are bad. even if there are more “good traits” assigned than “bad,” they all still create a default image for an entire group of people. both high and low expectations from society can be damaging when applied to a minority.
Is it wrong that I love the Crazy Rich Asians movie tho? Because it has this stereotype...
It's me I enjoyed that movie too. even though it does have the stereotypes, its cast portrays Asians as more than a “model minority” and even pokes fun at the ridiculousness in a humorous way. it also helps that the original story has an Asian author, and the movie finally has Asians not featured as the minority. reminds me of when I went to China and for once, my race wasn’t the first thing people used to identify me
@@lishthefish1423 thanks God cause I love that movie and it would make me feel really sad the fact that it shows a race in a bad light
@@sawsawsuka glad to hear that!
Hollywood likes to say that white people "can't relate" to stories about minority characters. I SOBBED at the end of Never Have I Ever because Devi's relationship with her mom reminded me so much of mine with my own mother. The moment where her mother finally sees things from her point of view made me wish I'd had that with my mom. You don't have to be just like someone to relate to them.
Exactly, it's about life experience for relatability. People who say this also ignore the fact that there are stories with non-human characters that are extremely relatable (e.g. anything by Disney/Pixar).
I'm African and I like stories from all over cause I like getting to know about other people. The world is so much bigger than just our experiences.
and it is not like people of every other ethnicity haven't always been expected to relate to white characters or as if women aren't constantly expected to relate to male protagonists, etc 👀 it's just dumb excuses! lovely comment op
I hope I'm not stepping on anybody's toes, but discrimination can happen to most people. And I think there are very few females who haven't been taught as a girl to _just ignore_ boys who make crass comments over their bodies, or to be quiet, to be diplomatic and give in and not show off your skills, or to not tell a boy making misogynistic comments to zip it.
I know that I see it in tv-shows, but in real life schools? Not so much.
I don't believe it's the same, but neither is it any fun. And you can't just switch your gender (not at 13) any more than your skin, or where your parents are from.
As a Latina, I found much in common when immigrant customs and the nuances of the Indian community are explored. Like the Aunties and such.
Ugh it used to PISS me off in school when people would be like
“Of course you got an A, you’re Indian”
-_-
ikr? i just wanna shout at them "i didn't get an A because of my ethnicity! i got an A because i studied!"
But you both got As, so the stereotype is true (nobody thinks that Asians don't need to study, didn't you paid attention to the video?).
@@souljastation5463 "nobody thinks that asians don't need to study" @starlight's original comment literally proved your comment wrong already. @starlight's classmates would say that @starlight got an A _because_ they're asian.
the stereotype derives from the fact that people think asians get good grades just because we're asian. what @starlight and i are trying to prove with our comment is that we got A's because we studied and we just so happened to be ethnically asian.
by saying that we got good grades because of our asian ethnicity dismisses our hard work. like if a white person got good grades, no one says "oh that's because you're white"
@@madeofcastiron They do sometimes though. That is why 'white privilege' can be a problematic term if it isn't explained/ used correctly, people feel they are being told they didn't put any work in or had northing to overcome, when they did, but systemic factors also promoted their efforts. In the same way, the 'model minority' thing can be both a plus and a minus; it promotes a culture of success and studying, but at the same time the actual effort can be dismissed as an 'ethnic advantage'.
@@kahkah1986 i can see your point and i agree. i guess i should have worded my phrase better. when i said "you only got good grades because you're white", i didn't really have the premonition of inferring white privilege. the purpose of the phrase was more so to expose how ridiculous the idea of original phrase "you only got good grades because you're asian" is by replacing "asian" with another race (in this case, i used "white")
but i really agree with the points you raised. you brought up a new perspective i never thought of.
While Latinos are often grouped together societally and in the media as rather homogeneous, I cannot think of a more ethnically and politically diverse “group.” If any YT channel can tackle this topic, it would be The Take.
Exactly, there is literally no Latino look. Theyre among the most diverse nationality ever.
S Turns Latino is not a nationality.
And all the stories are very similar, about the class divide and how they are trying to be more white or are too white and have to find their roots
Exactly, they think they know our culture but they don't at all
@@m0m055 It's a cultural group. People of said cultural group can have different ethnicities.
"Are ya Chinese or Japanese?"
"I'm Laotian. From Laos."
"...So...are ya Chinese? Or...Japanese?"
@@sawsawsuka King of the Hill, bud.
I remember that episode.
yeah i relate. I am british bangali and i said to someone before ' i'm Asian' and they said ' so your from china? korea? japan?
fun fact. That episode came out 23 years ago.
That makes me sick. As a black American girl, I can literally look at all asians and tell where their ancestors come from. Literally bone structure, facial features, etc. Why can’t people see that? I think it’s ignorance and just not caring to learn about other people.
Yes!!!! Could you also do the Dragon Lady stereotype or the Flower Blossom Girl Asian stereotypes??
This. Especially regarding Asian women in Bridget Jones
Yes
I could cry when looking at my like dislike ratio. I have so many jealous people that my videos always get way more dislikes than likes. Please don't be jealous, dear kas
What’s the Flower Blossom Girl?
Emily Barclay So kinda manic pixie girl? Sorry this is kinda late I just got a notification
As a child of Asian immigrants I was always told that we should enforce the Asians stereotypes of being studious and what not because if we didn’t, we would be looked down on and discriminated like black people. I kinda guess that we became the model minority as a mix of pride and fear.
hurling racism at another in order to abscond from it themselves.
then expecting the acceptance they don’t give others.
sad reality
That’s why out of all the minorities my respect for Africans Americans is extremely high they are so strong as people what they’ve been thru & what they still face till today
@@iyana_245
i really appreciate you saying that because i often feel so often people just dislike black people because they believe we just complain too much.
my mom said the same thing :/
@@Kallah_DaughterOfYAHUAH Yep, and it feels like a lot of the times asians are only allied with other minorities when its convenient for them.
There’s actually this study that shows that Nigerian Americans are the most educated ethnic group on the US but most mainstream media ignores this bc that would go against the model minority trope.
Gross Actually I think all legal immigrants that qualified to get into the United States have similar traits/education/skills since all face same requirements to immigrate. Your right though that it is ignored since it would go against the popular racism view. I also think that the model minority view might slowly disappear as later generations become assimilated into the American lifestyle.
Jerms Dummy thing is the Nigerian Government is stupidly corrupt and isn’t generating Jobs. The country has a serious brain drain. Nigerians are going everywhere for Uni and jobs. Even moving to Ukraine!
@Jerms Dummy What an ignorant comment. You clearly don't know anything about Nigeria.
Jerms Dummy You honestly live up to your last name
This right here. As a Nigerian I’ve always found myself relating to the model minority character because their parents are like mine. Get good grades, stay out of trouble, no boys, respect elders etc, but being black meant that I wasn’t treated like “model minority”. I was always in the crossfire never filling relating most black or “model minority” character. I honestly wish there were more African characters on screen.
As a 1st generation (1.5 generation) Asian American, this trope really hurts us. I've recently gone to therapy to re-learn that emotions are real, perfection isn't achievable, and that you shouldn't compare yourself to others.
Mental health is a real issue in Asian Americans and it's only exasperated by the fact that many of our parents don't think it's real and general society thinks that we're just supposed to naturally be smart and high achieving. Thus, invalidating our issues.
Growing up, I had to learn to assimilate to American culture. I was only surrounded by Non-Latino Whites and African Americans. After realizing that I didn't fit in with white people, who's culture did I have left? African Americans.
I think this is what people don't understand when they say Asian Americans "act white" or "act black." We didn't have any other choices. Our parents learned that by assimilating, they could get a foothold in a different world so that's what they taught us. There was never a "be yourself" for me. You either assimilate or you won't make it.
Idk if you're familiar with David So on TH-cam who grew up in a black neighborhood. People accused him of "acting black" when in reality, that's genuinely how he grew up. There was a time he took a picture with his BEST friend (who's black) and people accused him of trying to "be cool because I have black friends." Not to mention his best friend is a doctor 🤣
@@Vincisomething I only know of David So superficially. It's sad that that happened to him but I'm not very surprised. A lot of people pass judgement on others without knowing them at all. Especially now a days.
@akshay satish and where does that sadness come from? That is what I'm talking about.
I'm not saying it's something to be offended about, but your lack of offense doesn't erase other Asian Americans that are effected by it.
@ coconut dreams I can very much appreciate your candid about your experiences. Being a blk woman growing up on the northwest side of Detroit... my high school wasn't very inclusive (98% blk). However, there was a few Asian students, some white and a handful of Latinx students there.
There was this one young man (who is of Chinese origin) that was very popular with the ladies & had this "swag" about him I just couldn't explain (figure like other folks it was because he lived in a prominently blk neighborhood & went to a prominently blk high school why he acted the way he did).
If anything I was the geeky nerdy girl that got good grades, while this cat would skip school almost every day. I was the overachiever in my family mainly because education has been denied to my family for a very long time so getting a education was a must for me.
Either way I get where you're coming from. It's not easy to admit that you had to de-program from your mind, body, & spirit all those unhealthy habits that were taught to you. It's not easy, but I wish you the best on your journey on a new self-discovery & that's what's up!!!!
@@jerleneh. thank you! It sounds like you're familiar with deprogramming or at least know it's difficulties. I hope your journey is going well :)
I think people just need to stop stereotyping everyone's races as one monolithic experience and understand that people have individual life experiences
I often felt extremely stupid when I didn't get straight A's or great grades, because I felt like I wasn't fulfilling the one thing my friends always told me that I was better at- the thing is they didn't even know how I scored when we met! They just immediately took me as the smart kid in the group and I felt WORTHLESS when I wasn't living up to their expectations.
I wish I'd had this video when I was younger but I'm glad that kids now do 😖💕
Even so I'm not Asian (and I'm not living in American but Germany) a lot of people including my parents always saw me as "the smart one".
I love science and math, I really do but my strength is my passion and that I chase whatever I wanna arrchiv.
My grades dropped in a... really bad time of my life. I hadn't many friends and people would always sigh when I tried to answer a question in class. I'm not so good at tests so I always worked hard to balance it out with my oral grades. But I got sorted in the "Realschule" (Germany has a system of 3 graduations "Realschule" is the second best and in the middle of the three).
Many were disappointed, my father tried to argue with the school but I told him not to. I said I'll make my exam and continue to do my "Abi" (when your grates are good enough you can do a higher exam). People in school laughed at me because I was suppose to be the smart one. I never claimed I was better than others, I never claimed to be smart. The gave me a title I didn't choose just to take it away and mock me with it. But Realschule was the best thing that could be have happened. The people who were bulling me stopped expecting me to be smart and my parents saw that I had to fight a lot in school and just supported my whenever they could even allowing me to finally get extra classes on my weak subjects.
For 2 years I didn't got bullied that hard because my class was made out of pretty amazing people who were chaotic but extremely against bulling and actual schooled each other when someone didn't laugh when they were making jokes.
Realschule was easy for me so I was able to focus on my weaknesses (e.g. Language classes English and German).
At the end I was able to make my Abi (which added another 3 *horrible* years but I made it) and I'm now studying at one of the most difficult universities of my country and don't get me wrong... I failed many classes and have bad grades. But I fight for every inch and give it all I have. I follow my dream of becoming a scientist in computer science so I know where I am heading. Imposter syndorm hunted me multiple times but I was able to overcome it and all of this because I was left alone with my dreams and goals instead of getting them dictated by others.
When there aren't any people left to fight the last person you have to overcome is your own. But some people only get so many self-doubts because they met people who projected their expectations on them.
I know I was and am luck that I have such a great support around me. Even so I fight I wouldn't have come so far without my friends and family support whatever I want to do.
I wish everyone the same and I hope you'll learn to find your self worth outside of people's experiences. You've made it far. Be proud of you and for once accepted that you are proud.
I’m not Asian but I went through the exact same thing! It made me feel terrible :( I feel you
❤️
Im not Asian American, but i am Asian. The pressure of always getting high grades is screwing my mental health. It's not fun :)
Great video! I'm a Black woman and this video helped me understand the pitfalls of the model minority myth. I'd like to hear your take on the "Oreo" stereotype and the African immigrant stereotype.
Yesss my life
I whole-heartedly agree 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾, because that is 70% of my life
yes please :D
Oreo stereotype?
I’m south Asian and our equivalent of that is “coconut” and it’s only said by other Asians 🙄. It’s one thing completing rejecting your heritage and whitewashing yourself but another story if you just aren’t a walking stereotype 🤷🏾♀️
Wow, this hit close to home.
I'm adopted (chinese into a white family) and was raised to be just like any other white child, but desperately tried to fit into this trope. People would expect of me good grades just because of my face. At first I didn't understand it since I considered myself to be white, but every single day I was reminded that I was not.
It was crushing realizing that I don't belong.
Being adopted made 'not belonging' worse since my 'real' (biological) family didn't want me to begin with, so my 'second' family couldn't possibly love me as their 'real' child (they do). Since I couldn't change my appearance, I tried to be a 'good asian kid', tried to be a 'full-fledge chinese'. But I can't be 'chinese enough' nor 'white enough'.
Surprisingly to me, I've experienced the same amount of rejection from white and chinese people:
I'm not 'a real chinese person'. I wasn't raised in China nor my parents are Chinese.
I'm not 'Asian-european'. My parents are not Chinese nor immigrants of any generation. I was raised white, so how can I possibly understand 'their' struggle?
I'm not 'white'. I was born in China, so to western eyes I'm automatically Chinese although I haven't stepped in Chinese soil since I was 18 months (the age I was adopted at).
Sorry for the lengthy comment! Just wanted to share my experience. Thanks for taking the time to read :)
Thanks for sharing such a vulnerable account. I can see your experience is super complex - I hope you find friends who are caring and able to walk with you and hear you. I myself am Indonesian but grew up in South Africa all my life (with biological family) - and relate to some of what you’ve said.
I understand. Not completely, but as a mixed person in a multi cultural household I think we have many similar experiences of exclusion. There are likely groups of adopted kids you could be a part of, but also, look into multiracial groups as well. We are much more similar than we are different.
This is why people need to stop focusing on race so much.
Hey there! Wongfu production made a really good video about it. It's called in between. It talks about exactly this... And I think you'd like watching it...
Thanks for sharing!
I think we need to give kids a "build your own ethnicity set", kind off like that EA game (spore?). Not for going around and telling others "I'm a math-phobic average achiever white boy with asian genetics", but just so _we_ know what we are, while others are going "oh, but you're asian, how aren't you interested in computers?"
I really do not feel like Lilly from Pitch Perfect is a model minority. She's soft spoken, but she's also certified psychotic. She makes angels in vomit she falls into, sets fires to feel joy, and ate her twin in the womb. It seems more like they made her soft spoken and psycho for comedic effect.
That’s how I felt. When she kept showing up at the beginning of the video I was confused because I felt she broke the mold. When they explained it was because she was meek, I was like “Okay, I guess but they sort of correct that a little bit in the film later on so she can shine.”
If anybody was a stereotype model minority it would be the roommate of the lead in that movie. She definitely fit the bill.
Thank you for including Indians in the Asian Category ☺️🙏
You guys are South Asian so of course!
@@Chandasouk yepp But sometimes I feel like Asians are only looked at as Japenese /chinese/korean
@@upmapoha No doubt. I'm South East Asian and a lot of people never heard of countries around there lol
Indians and East-Asians face the same issues in Western society. We are brothers and sisters
@@Predestinated1 🙏
I'm African American and my best friend when I was little was of Indian descent but from Fiji. Her family loved having me over their house but she wasn't allowed at my house. Her parents were too afraid to have her at my house because we were black. Funny thing is my family was a quiet lower middle class family. Our house were super decent and safe. But they didn't see that only color. Lol
In their defence, Indian parents never let their kids sleep over at others place, regardless of how they feel about the host family. I'm positive (and hopeful) that it was not a racial thing.
@@natashak9335 disagree. I've had plenty of sleepovers with people. This is probably a case of anti-blackness by the Indian family who didn't let their daughter stay at her house.
We are pretty racists hope the new generation can change it!!!
Indian parents protect their kids even in their 20s,
while i am not saying there was no racism involved at all (Indians are no less racist than any other)
but it was probably more of general protect the kid stuff
@@natashak9335 Nah...Indians are pretty anti-black...not all of them, sure, but to say that they are just possessive about their child's future does not mean that they cannot be racist. From being called "demons" to accusing them of "cannibalism", there have been countless instances were some Nigerian students have been subjected to mob violence and were beaten up with rods, sticks.
I think this is also gets at why it's important to have Asian-American stories told by actual Asian-Americans. One reason I loved Mindy Kaling's Never Have I Ever was because it took character traits that would have been tropes or stereotypes in a white writer's hands-Devi being good at school, her mom being strict, Kamala and Steve being two Asian students at CalTech-and turned them into something real and complex. I'm not South Asian so I can't comment on other representational aspects of the show, but it still meant a lot to me
I’m South Asian, and I agree with you! My favorite line from the show was when she said “some people think I’m too Indian, and others think I’m not Indian enough!”. Although it had its flaws, I really enjoyed Never Have I Ever and I felt like a could identify with Devi.
I'm white russian and I feel so bad when people judge me as a model minority. Why? Just because I'm asian?! My arab friends too. Other people think we all look alike, but I gotta admit I can't tell indians and chinese apart because they do look too alike in terms of phenotype right? Well who am I to say? I'm blind after all
A little nitpick, but I don't think Big Hero 6 is a good example (used in the intro montage). Hiro is very smart, yes, but he's a bit hot-headed and impulsive. He also had a large group of friends he made pretty easily. His family is very warm and his aunt is incredibly permissive and open with him, they expect him to succeed to some extent but it's not presented as rigid. He also nearly gets Baymax to kill the (white) antagonist. He doesn't fit the trope in almost any way other than his smarts.
I was wondering that too. Especially since the clip they used was of Hiro nearly getting into trouble for breaking the law which is hardly model behavior.
I think they were using him as a counter-example
@@nawarb.4226 yep, I thought so too. But I only realised that after introspection into that scene. At first glance, it doesn't feel that way.
Also Kevin Tran from Supernatural doesn't fit the trope. Yes he's introduced as a smart talented straight-A Asian student applying for Princeton while also being a cello expert, but it's only built up as a perfect happy life initially where his biggest concern is writing an admission essay. This happy life exists in the beginning for him JUST so it can be broken down immediately after his introduction as he becomes a Prophet Of The Lord and gets pulled in the Leviathan-Angel-Demon multi-dimensional biblical drama where he has to save the world and as a result suffers incredible pain with unending missions and his life is completely destroyed, never to return back to the happiness he knew in the past. It's a tragic parallel to one of the white lead characters, Sam Winchester being pulled back into the perpetually painful hunting life full of unspeakable suffering where he has to save the world as Lucifer's true vessel and being forced to leave behind his smart talented straight-A Stanford student life with a nerdy library routine and a bright future in law, again, never to return back to it. Later in the show, Patience Turner, a black female character, is also given a similar introduction for it to be broken down by her getting pulled into the hunting life because of being a powerful psychic, though in her case it's more of a choice. But she does leave her straight-A athletic school life and her dad behind for it, you guessed it, never to return.
another thing is he barely looks east asian.
The Take has been one of the greatest and most informative youtube channels I've ever subscribed to. In terms of film analysis, I take your opinions as gospel because of how well thought out, detailed and backed up your points always are.
THIS right here
It certainly is very informative, but it's not perfect. Like most TH-cam channels, The Take can be biased.
@@djervalevy9784 there is no such thing as an unbiased channel or person
@@Rensoku611 I know and that's one reason why no one should take their opinions as gospel.
@akshay satish legit, I grew up where the minority slowly became the majority and the most consistent quality in South Asian parents was expecting their child to get straight As, and be hella successful
-I suffered for my degree
-I had ups and downs
-I cried, I was angry and i had to go through an emotional rollercoaster
-My parents had no money. They werent smart, neither am I
-I never did too well in school
Yet people always say "hahaha so funny, Indians and Asians are always better, theyre smart anyways". Our achievements are not appreciated, they are made fun of. And its fcking dehumanizing
You suffering for a degree was you’re own choice tho
When they showed the main character in Never Have I Ever I just though “yeah,but that’s a social-economical profile of a middle classe girl,basically the personality of a white basic girl” and by the end of the video I realized I was associating being like any other teenager exclusively to white ppl,because media teaches us that they are the only ones who deserve to be human. I’m shocked. Thank you this for the video,once again trowing away every opinion I thought I had and making it better 🥰🥰🥰
It's so stupid that POC believe individuality and only associated with white people.
Yeah, but the show was pretty problematic for other reasons. It was FULL of flat, stereotypical characters. The antisemitic stereotypes and jokes were really off-putting. The LGBTQ characters were just flat stereotypes with no complexity. Devi's disability was treated as a joke, with no real consequences, which is ableist as fuck. The show also reinforced Islamophobia. It just felt really uncomfortable to watch all of this.
@@deedolce04 Disagree with literally everything you said. It seems like you find offense in non-offensive things
@@propogandalf They literally made jokes about killing Jews in the Holocaust. The Jewish characters were rich lawyers. The gay male character was another stereotype. The show treated disabilities as some kind of joke, and something that can be turned on and off. The characters in the show shamed an Indian woman for marrying a Muslim man, without ever commenting on how fucked up that is.
@@deedolce04 they clearly emphasised that the jew jokes were fucked up and shouldn't have been said. There's only been like 10 episodes so it's hard to flesh out all the characters, which is why it seems like the gay male character is just a stereotype. Devi's disability happened because she couldn't process her grief, she couldn't just turn it "on and off". And I don't know if we watched the same show but they definitely commented on how fucked up it was for people to shame the indian woman for marrying a muslim man. The whole thing was a criticism on that part of indian culture, and being from that culture myself I can confirm that this is a major problem in real life, so it's realistic as hell.
I can't believe you didn't include Jason from the Good Place! He's such a great example of an Asian American character who doesn't fit the model minority stereotype.
Because he's Filipino. Even WE can't decide whether we're asian...or hispanic...or pacific islander 😂
Hidetoshi Hasagawa (from The Office) is revealed to have killed a Yakuza mob boss on purpose while performing surgery, so I don't think that fits the stereotype of the harmless, hardworking Asian.
Hes a great side character with a sketchy past like creed
Oh shit, that’s interesting. So it kinda explains why he’s there with that type of job and happy.
@@chanmarr8118 exactly
What! That is a violation of Doctors' Pledge!
london tipton was also a really good deviation from the typical smart asian stereotype
As a Jewish American, I can relate to a lot of this - although it's obviously not 1:1 there are a lot of parallels in the progression of the status of "Asian" in the USA to the status of "Jew".
The first generation are the "aliens" - shunned and denied on account of their strange language and culture and signifiers of otherness, and then hypocritically derided for their "clannishness" and "stinginess" - retrospectively to be praised for their "self-reliance" and "frugality" once the next generational transition is made. The _successful_ members of this generation are the ones who managed to set up a small enterprise of some kind, the sort that can be capitalized on whatever an extended family of immigrants can scrape together and run on the unpaid labor of their children, and create the conditions for the next generation to take the next step.
The next generation are the "model minority" - or to put it another way, "almost White". They're the ones the first generation sent to college, with strict discipline and high expectations, aiming for a high-status and highly-paid professional career. If they take any role in the first generation's family business after graduation, it's with a business degree, and the mindset to match. Normally they flee as far away from that as possible, making their parents both sad and proud. And as they struggle with the conflict between fleeing the conditions of their youthful servitude and maintaining the familial connection with their parents, they also struggle with the conflict between rejecting the otherness with which they're regarded and maintaining a connection with the distinct culture of their parents and the "old country" that signify home and identity.
The succeeding generations become decreasingly treated as "minorities" or "ethnic" and increasingly treated as different shades of "normal" - or to put it another way, "contingently White". Still recognized as more-or-less distinct due to their "other" heritage and remaining cultural (and physical) markers - and still subject to malicious and sometimes deadly othering no matter how many generations later - we become increasingly accepted as part of the in-group. Our opportunities and expectations likewise become less circumscribed, in either direction. And eventually too, all traces of cultural distinctiveness vanish, save for those few which end up being absorbed into the general mass culture as a whole and barely recognizable to the original. (I learned more Yiddish from Bugs Bunny than from my _bubbe_ )
All of the above plays out above the social layer of those whose racialized identities make them categorically and irrevocably _not-White_ and in fact the _opposite_ of White, for whom the above generational progression is almost entirely denied (the fact that people who buy into the "post-racial" myth will immediately shout the names of the few famous exceptions to this rule only goes to prove the rule), and the statistically realistic parameters of "success" are forever circumscribed by their status as alien/other as with the first generation of immigrants, but generation after generation.
I would love to see an analysis on the fiery Latina trope
YES! I grew up believing that’s who I was supposed to be because that’s all I ever saw.
they did it!
Where the f*uck is Jason Mendoza in this???
I think the nature of the good place being in a fantasy world and centering on 6 characters interacting with the fantasy world takes itself out of dealing with racial issues. Whether that's good or bad, I think it pretty much ignores real world racism issues
@@shelleyc853 But a lot of the show focuses on who they were before they died. When Jason was living on Earth he was still a lazy, drug dealing, EDM DJ with a 40 person dance crew. Very unlike most Asian characters you see on TV
Shelley C Yeah, but Jason is a perfect example of defying the Model Minority stereotype. He’s literally not academically gifted AT ALL, just a dumbass. I can’t think of any other example in comedy of an Asian person being used as comic relief, at least not for their stupidity. But the show still treats him like a real human. The narrative acknowledges that he’s actually pretty emotionally intelligent, he fits more into the Wise Fool trope than anything. He also gets two romantic interests, who are both different races to him, and one of them is a nonbinary queen. Not to mention that he is seen as attractive, which NEVER happens to Asian men in media.
Don’t misunderstand me, the video was fucking great, but when they were talking about characters that defied the stereotype they only brought up women. It would have been nice to see them talk about a male character as well, especially after bringing up that they are stereotyped as nerdy, unattractive and bad with women.
@@malcfoy ah that is all true, weirdly I didn't think about that, they make more of a thing about him being from Florida than being Filipino-American(I believe?). Also come to think of it, its interesting that his Dad is the same as him, rather than him being a disappointment to his family for being a dumbass drug dealer which is what the stereotype would have you. I still think they kind of ignore it though, as him being Filipino-American isn't brought up except for the first reveal, however I guess that could be seen as intentional and further defying the stereotype
@@shelleyc853 Disagree Jason mentioned being Filipino and Asian multiple times in the series. And he also called out different characters for stereotyping him based on his asianess
I’m dumb as hell my mom beat the smartness into me
Hope you’re all doing alright.
Señor Chang from community single-handedly dismantles the model minority trope. God I love that show.
in retrospect community had one of the most diverse casts of its time, all of which break a certain stereotype within the show, with shirley becoming a co-valedictorian with annie as a black woman, abed having an intense interest in movies than following his dad's dream as a biracial polish/arab man, with chang becoming a less than mediocre spanish teacher to becoming a student as a chinese man, and the list goes on. while the show did have some flaws, it still manages to be one of the most progressive shows on television in the last 10 years.
Also when westerners think of Asian, they usually think about Chinese or East Asian. Since East Asian countries are known to be a quite developed country, people tend to dismiss many Asian who were born in a poor country and had to work hard to even study abroad.
Also I hated it when people say “You don’t look Asian.”
The amount of pressure the model minority puts over real-life minority individuals should be considered a crime. The damage it causes to one's self-confidence is outrageously vast.
i agree. But it's not only the pressure. Its the dehumanization: Studies show that Indian- and Asian-Americans have to do much better than other people to get into colleges. At the same time, hate-crimes against these minorities are not taken seriously. And they are made fun of all the time and they face social discrimination.
Yeah, if someone is smart and also is Asian, people diminish their achievements or good grades because they expect Asians to be smart. When I was in school, people always expected me to get good grades and thought that I never had to study or work for it.
@@allison477 I remember being so terrified of saying anything "dumb" when I was in middle school (bc everyone assumed I was smart), that I ended up not saying anything. I ended up very alone, with few friends, feeling confused and even more isolated.
"Wherever general well-being is declining, minorities are targeted." J.S. Margot
"If white men can't be happy, the rest of us don't stand a fucking chance."
Jim Jeffries.
@@alienboy1322 Interesting, I must admit.
@@konraddygudaj257
If you haven't watched Jim Jefferies, I recommend you watch his show on TH-cam.
@@alienboy1322 I will definitely see it someday.
I concur, minorities are typically pigeon holed into very specific stereotypes. The most common ones I've seen for Asians are that they have overbearing parents who are overly fixated on academia, or that they are hyper intelligent. 🤓
Dwight's "How many Indian CEOs can you think of?"
its so different in 2020 though
😂
It's now even more weird in 2023
It's now even more weird in 2023
As a jew, I feel like we also have to deal with the model minority stuff a lot as well. The world really expects us to be doctors and lawyers but then when we’re successful, people use it as fodder to discriminate against us.
D2 E2 Nah, just experience real life as a Jewish person.
Lol why r people disliking the vid... Its only been up for like 8 mins wow
There's no difference between a like, a dislike or a comment on a video. They all register as 'engagement' to the almighty algorithm 😂 so value the dislikes as much as the likes 😂
i think its the incels since the takes subjects are more inclined to the left (feminism, racism, economic classes)
@@amgm1996 What does that mean?
@@djervalevy9784 internet trolls that comes for whoever has an oppositte view of life as them.
People like to drink their haterade on the daily.
Does Diane Nyugen from Bojack Horseman also count in this new age of Asian-American representation? I think she’s a great character but I’m not Asian-American so I wouldn’t know.
Since she is voiced by a white woman, it voids the relevancy to her identity
I’m not Asian but I think she wouldn’t be a model minority because she has flaws, isn’t wealthy, and struggles to find a successful and meaningful career. She also isn’t polite and submissive. She’s smart but her character is much more complex than that.
As a South Asian woman I loved her portrayal because it showed how toxic Asians’ expectations for our success can be (even those we place on ourselves) and it showed how it affected her mental health in a very real and messy way. Her character arc was from a model minority to a real human being, which I really appreciated. But like said earlier, I really wish she was voiced by an Asian American woman :/
Voiced by Allison Brie and her Vietnamese parents can easily be replaced with any Appalachian Hick. I think it could be better
I think as a character, she could be seen as a part of this new age of representation. Interestingly, there was recent discussion about that chartacter some weeks ago. The series creator apologized for casting Alison Brie as voice actress for Diane. That's another interesting discussion about racial representation in fiction: do the same parameters of "regular" acting work in the realm of voice acting? I haven't come to a conclusion yet.
"So what made you want to be a lawyer?"
"My parents told me to be one...."
I’m asian but i suck at studying, but i’m good with my hands. I love making stuffs like woodworking, hands craft.
Same. I suck at math too.
Me too
@@lilmissynna9671 lol, I've been failing in maths since 5th grade 😆
As an Asian-African-American who fits most of the stereotypes of the smartest person around, I have to say life is extremely stressful because I mess up even for slightest, it's like an ocean of disappointment floods over me.
And then speaking for my other Asian American friend who doesn't fit the stereotype and gets rather average grades, he constantly feels disappointed in himself for not living up to the standards culture has brought on him
Too Indian/not Indian enough... Oh Christ! This is an actual problem among all minorities and it pisses me the hell off! I remember a friend complaining about her parents complaining about her being "too white", like wtf?!?! Was she dipped in paint??
''Must be nice to be naturally smart and get A's all the time.''
''Yeah it's very nice to be threatened to be disowned if I don't study 10 hours a day.''
I had this conversation with one of my friends from Saudi - we were going over male stereotypes in America. I was telling her that my whole life I was given an impression of Asian men as "emasculated" and they were not sexual beings. They were helpful human calculators that walked around and were friendly....like a flight attendant. I was explaining that this trope came about for the same reasons so as to not threaten the racial hierarchy. If white men were not afraid that Asian men would take their white women (like the fear was with black men), then they could allow them in their circles. Also, acting meek avoided fights from both black and white men. They stick with their families because Asian men have a harder time dating other races. Asian women on the other hand tend to get with white men because that "meekness" actually works for white men who can't get white women or any woman. All they have is a regular western job and the status that comes with "white" and that is good enough for some Asian women. It's all very sad but I hope that it can change over time.
I really wish this was talked about more too. I think the take went over it in the interracial couples video but just barely
and gorgeous asian women usually get with average or mediocre white men....i have seen it many times
@@dragonchr15dang
DISNEY PRINCESS ANALYSIS! Please!!! I'd love to see an analysis on each Disney princess and what we can learn from them and their movies! I'd love to see a Disney series on this channel and I'm sure I'm not alone!
They did a really good one on Cinderella.
I'd love to see one on Snow White, Aurora, Ariel, and Belle!
They are so negative about all movies. Everything is bad in their analyses. There is enough Disney bashing on the internet - I don't need it here too.
@@Tinkerbe11 That's true. They'd probably mention how all Snow White did was cook or how Ariel gave up her voice for a man or how Belle had Stockholm Syndrome. The Take is rarely nuanced in its analysis.
@@Tinkerbe11 Funny that you said that because, the Cinderella video is the opposite of what you are implying a Disney analysis would be from them. You should check it out, I think you would like it.
I feel like Asians are getting more recognition for sure, but in my own anecdotal experience it's more Asian women. Asian men IMO rarely ever given any real roles and are continually imascualted in movies
Yep. Hit the nail right on the head. There's this blog about how Asian men have more testosterone than white men (with data too), but the comments are so butthurt that "no way fam an Asian can have more testosterone than me????? have you seen them?"
fr
This is true, but at the same time, no one cares about Hollywood anymore. They’re so racist anyway. K-dramas are really paving the way. So don’t worry. And Bollywood too. So many women are opening up to Asian men now.
@@ntmn8444 kdramas are watched by minority in Germany and these people are considered weird kboos
@@tatjana7008 i mean wherever you go in the world you are going to find people who are obsessed with k-dramas, even in my country in africaa, the same cant not be said for german movies so maybe the people who see k-dramas fans as weird are just jealous that their culture is not as recognised as korean culture is nowadays.
London Tipton from Suite Life if Zack and Cody is another good example of an Asian young woman not playing a model minority. :)
This is amazing could you do a video about how the black representation in media is getting more and more light and closer to white beauty ideals e.g. less kinky hair, less wide/flat noses, lighter skin tones. And the whitewashing of many beloved characters
@@kristyna907 this is just in my life and opinion but the way I see it is that although there are more black people in view but most of them aren't dark they're light with thinner noses and less thick lips. Obviously that doesn't make them less black but it does invalidate other black people who don't look like that. But again this is just in my life and my experiences but if you feel different that's completely alright we don't have to agree but lets just agree to disagree.
When I was a kid, I always thought that asians were white and just had weird eyes (calm down, I was a little kid) yet I still had the stereotypes in mind, being good at math and stuff.
Telling ppl to calm down on your racism as a child is not your place
Bro same I thought everyone was white except indians and black people
Jay R and you’re dense!
@@TheShows247 I recall being pretty confused when asians were called yellow-skinned, to me, mixed people were yellow. I'm from Brazil, we have the largest Japanese population outside of Japan, y'know how they ended up here? The king brought them among with Italians and Dutches because he wanted a whiter population.
J. Albuquerque Sorry for my ignorance but Brazil’s king import white peoples to his country? Doesn’t make much sense.
I’m Nigerian but this describes my parents so well...and are families
I’m so glad they included and when they talked about Asians they recognised and acknowledged the VARIETY...I’ve been told a number of times that I’m not Asian because I’m Indian which is a country that is LITERALLY SMACK BANG IN ASIA
IK??
"Hey, so I'm Asian"
-"You're Indian, right?"
"Yup"
-"Then no, you're not Asian"
😃🔫
For real, it's so fucking annoying. There was this Chinese girl who once told me when talking about her friends, "they're all Asian, not Indian." I was like, wtf? Our countries literally share a border next to each other. East Asian or South Asian, they're both Asian. I always considered myself Asian so when she said that it was like she was completely ignorant and bigoted. Like what, do you think India is located in Antarctica or something?
I’m mixed Asian-Latino. Trust me when I tell you that there is subtle and overt racism from three sides: larger society, Latinos, and Asians. Thanks for this video
From The Golden Girls: “I’m going to live, my doctor is a Jew!” So 1980s...
BLANCHE: Oh, Dorothy, she's gonna be all right. Her doctor's a Jew.
DOROTHY: Blanche, please! How is she, Dr. Jew?
Comedy gold...
time for another video on stereotypes🤦🏻♀️
Jason Mendoza is the ultimate Asian anti-stereotype
We just gonna forget about London Tipton? 😒 I mean she rich so I guess
London Tipton...
"They never pose any real threat to the white status quo"
Immediately shows Amanda Waller shoving Katana behind her
That Asian calling out that black girl about how they handle racism got me. As an Asian that got bullied by black people I wondered that same question
At which part
@@melodysafo5437 They perhaps mean the clip at 8:30.
yeah he was completely unnecessary. peoples experiences are different... for an asian person to tell a black person about how to be or react to RACISM is like a black person telling a middle eastern person to get over terrorist jokes or white people telling EVERY minority group to “get over things” and that we live in a “post racial” society.
lol it’s insanity.
@@Kallah_DaughterOfYAHUAH "As an Asian that got bullied by black people I wondered that same question"
Did you miss that part of OP's comment?
Jennie Franklin honestly, if you could. Call out bad behavior. I am some that is black and I am trying to do that. It can be scary sometimes but if I can help someone then I'll do it.
As an Asian person, I often felt like I was a bad Asian due to the fact I struggled with subjects in school and was more into the arts. I remember someone saying all Asian people are smart and then another person saying I was stupid and an exception.
The west is really strange
This is literally the first lit analysis video that I've seen about any Asian American centric topic in media and I think that pretty much sums it up
This is my favourite youtube channel now, thank you for consistently great content! xx
I was hoping you would include the "Yappy" web series by Wong Fu Productions. I don't think it's a perfect series but it does tackle this subject matter with some nuance.
It's also made by TH-cam filmmakers regarded as some of the early prominent Asian digital creators. They're one of the reasons I decided to pursue a career in film/video production
i was thinking the same!
Thank you for posting this! I wish there was more of a breakdown of the Model Minority MYTH and not just being a Model Minority because I think that gets at the heart of the matter. Someone who watched this video will still come away with the perception that Asian/Pacific Islander people are culturally superior to other communities of color (this is the core of the myth and why it never dies). Yes, people of Asian and Pacific Islander (API) descend overall are wealthy, highly educated, and meet societal norms of "success" but if we don't breakdown why that is we do a disservice to them. The primary reason API folks are wealthy/educated in the US is because of immigration policy not because of culture. For example, Indian Americans are far wealthier than Cambodian Americans but that's because majority of Indian Americans came from wealthy Indian families, while a lot of Cambodian Americans came as refugees. Japanese Americans are wealthier than Viet Americans because wealthy Japanese moved here while Viet immigrants are poorer. Even when you look at different waves of Chinese Americans and when they came you see who is doing "better" not because one group is more "Chinese" but because one group was wealthier/more educated in their previous country. This is why Nigerian Americans are wealthier/more educated. It's not like they are culturally superior to Cambodians or Somalis its because they already have resources. Somali Americans immigrated under a Civil War and strife. A lot of them are refugees or refugee adjacent. Obviously, being wealthy gives you a really good shot at staying wealthy. This myth covers up poverty in Asian and Pacific Islander communities and blames Black Americans for the systemic racism they suffer.
Same! I wish they would definitely go more in depth specifically about the negative tropes that come with being Asian and how it harms other races- not just a general overview
You can tell a lot about a person's political orientation by the language they use. "Model Minority" is a term that is exclusively used by Democrats and Leftwingers. Republicans never use that term. If a person uses that term, either directly or as a critique of American culture, you know they are leftwing.
Yass! Thank you for taking our recommendations. Y’all finesse the mess out of these👌🏾
Thank you so much for making this video. I just "joined" your channel. You're one of the best channels on TH-cam and you're doing important work here. Keep it up! ❤️
they also give the model minority a white romantic partner, even if they're toxic
Can you guys do a video on the black (ex) girlfriend trope? How in TV shows and movies they’ll often show a male protagonist as having a black (ex) girlfriend as a way to integrate a token black character, but outside of Shonda Rhimes’s work they are never presented as real viable love interests. I’m not black but it’s something that seems to have become more common as tv shows and movies want to appear more progressive without doing any real work
This is so true, as an Indian American 🇺🇸. There is an obsession in the community to be living a rich country club in the US. That’s the measure of success in the Indian community here.
love this video! means really a lot to me that you made it!
Could you make one of these videos but for hispanics? That would be great.
YES, I've been waiting for them to do a video on that. I honestly hate some of the stereotypes associated with us.
@@leawithnoh6722 Yeah. Well, at least for me, one that I despise is the one where we're all catalogued as mexicans when there's so much than that.
@@Winter-Alpha-Omega Ikr, it's like the whole continent of South America doesn't exist. And each country has it's own unique culture, but that almost never gets shown in movies and stuff.
@@Winter-Alpha-Omega If I had a dime for everytime someone thought i was Mexican, I'd be as rich as Trump.
@@leawithnoh6722 Yeah, that's right. I hope The Take can make a video on this and clarify it.
Mississippi Masala is so underrated.
Thank you so much. Waited so long!
The amazing experience of watching videos from this channel is complemented with the amazing and insightful comment section. I didn't know youtube comment sections could be so great! I always learn a lot by scrolling through it!
its hard being Indian when u r constantly pushed out of the term "Asian" simply for not sharing features as Koreans, Chinese, Filipinos, or other east Asians
You are not Asian you are Indian. If we went by continent Russians would be Asian.
Indians are good spelers. I'm not Indian.
As much as I detest The Big Bang Theory for its pervasive sexism and general unfunniness, but it and Silicon Valley are unfair examples as both shows are premised in nerd/geek culture, where many stereotypes attributed to the model minority trope (book smart, social awkwardness, insecurity, timidness, etc.) are depicted by many or all of the main cast.
I'm especially glad you addressed why using Asian communities as a point of comparison for other systematically oppressed minorities is painfully unfair, because this comparison is still waaaaaay to prevalent. Like, Jim Crow is well within living memory and people still believe that the only thing standing in the way of black-American success is 'pulling yourself up by the bootstraps', when the point of comparison is a racial group where specifically the most well educated and wealthy were selected to come to America.
Raj is the only character in the Bug Bang Theory who literally cannot talk to women. He is entirely 'unsexed ' to the point that he is stopped from pursuing a love interest at the end of the show.
YESSS Thank you for throwing in that bit about Hello Peril... As an Asian American from SF, I really loved that movie and love to see it referenced in other places
I still don’t see how using a blaccent is justified given the anti-blackness of many Asian communities.
I feel like racism against Asians is so normalised. I was once talking about it to one of my friends (white friend too) and she said, ‘yeah but u don’t go through it like black ppl.’ I never said anything about racism against black ppl I was talking about my own experiences as a Pakistani. Racism isn’t a competition. No one should be trying to prove they go through worse racism because it’s all bad, and saying that one race goes through it worse than the other is saying that racism is okay as long as it’s ‘not too bad.’ When rlly it’s never okay to any degree against any minority.
So glad to see this video on a succesful channel! I always try to tell my students that stereotypes and prejudices are wrong, even if they seem good. Don't put people in boxes or assume what they are, just get to know them and don't generalize.
As an Asian American who is really into studying films, I’m SOOO happy you guys covered this on your channel! The representation of Asians in Hollywood/movies has always been a problem to me, and this has also negatively affected the way I viewed myself growing up.
I didn’t think I could love you guys more! This just goes to show how awesome your channel is!! 🥳🥳🥳
I think the explanation/examples/connections made in this video are really well done
A take on black men and masculinity. Inspired by The Game coming to Netflix
I guess I am the only Asian who's failed in her school. (Or didn't get A's at school)
Being Asian doesn't mean ur naturally smart. I have to study ur ass off
@@flower_girl4983 ikr even with a high IQ, if you don't study you won't magically get A's
You're not but I had a abusive childhood so it effected my behaviour and learning abilities.
akshay satish you just copying and pasting this comment onto every thread? 😂
@@forget-me-not8522 Exactly!
I love this The Tropes content !!! It is so well researched, it is really impressive 👏
Good stuff as always from The Take. I will say though, that good Asian American stories have a richness to them I am always drawn towards. The way they often blend the aesthetics of their ancestors' place of origin with the established Western formal structures makes for really interesting work.
The problem with stereotypes is that they paint broad strokes about the cultures in question without seeking to understand them and their point of view.
So glad because you actually read our comments 🥰
Thanks for breaking this trope down. I learned a lot.
Never been this fast!