Can I be the first to coin the term “raceplaining”?
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Why not, instead of a snarky dismissal, you counter his points?
Uh, not certain that was a dismissal…
My response was snide, and I admit that, but I didn’t intend it as snarky dismissal.
(Full disclosure: I am a white male, but I live in Asia, have a bachelors and masters in Japanese and currently work as a Japanese-English translator and interpreter. I have a combined 15 years of study and experience in East Asia and have been racially insulted in at least four languages that I could understand well enough to know that I had been insulted.)
I fully agree with the sentiments that he was expressing, which is why I “liked” the comment. It seems odd to me and, I have to admit increasingly frustrating, that we on the socially-progressive left spend so much time infighting amongst ourselves that we are unable to see past petty factional infighting and tackle injustice outside of our ranks.
We will accuse each other of racism and sexism because we function in an echo chamber of like-minded souls, and we all strive to be as morally correct as possible. But (I must be frustrated if I’m starting a sentence with a conjunctive) we are so blinded by the need to point out each other’s privilege, or dismiss valid viewpoints because “x member of y group can’t have an opinion on z because oppression” that we beat each other up over pointless crap while the various right wing portions of our populations dismiss everything we say because we come across as shrill proponents of the worst kind of bowdlerism.
For the record: I disagree with the linked article’s analysis. I completely agree with the commenter above me who said that Asian people do not need to be protected and that these sorts of portrayals are common throughout East Asian media. The fact that I am a white male does not, in fact, diminish my opinion on this, as my qualifications, life and work experience will support. More to the point, the reason I made the comment above is that certain commenters will frequently use terms such as “mansplaining” to dismiss the arguments of others, no matter what they have to say and regardless of the validity or otherwise of their argument. In this instance, a Caucasian (I assume) dictating to someone of Asian heritage what is and isn’t racist when it comes to portrayals of Asians in the media seemed like a fantastic example of hypocrisy.
TL;DR: I’m really fucking annoyed the Conservatives just won another five years and am left wondering why the left as a movement can never represent itself well enough to ever affect change.
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I have always felt this way about the popularity of zombies: Nuclear war; I’m incinerated. Asteroid: I’m vaporized. Captain Tripps; I’m dead. But zombies? I’m a country boy who can handle guns…scary, but I might be able to handle that…
How does that correlation equate to causation?
I was a huge fan of the Return of the Living Dead series of movies from the 80’s. Everyone I knew enjoyed watching that VHS over and over and laughing away. Have I been afraid of Asians since the 80’s
Do you think that was because the story was written the year after the attacks? It isn’t eerie when writing is influenced by major world events. It’s predictable. Still, I see no connection to Asian fear. That just sounds like woo to me.
There is something kind of compelling in the argument that zombie movies are a reaction in the cultural Zeitgeist against what we perceive as being threats.
The first Dawn of the Dead is clearly a screed against blind consumerism and it got a cult following amongst people who felt disaffected by that culture but I don’t think it’s a direct “omg capitalists/terrorists/whatever exist, therefore I want to see these mindless automatons get fucked up” so much as a “I feel vaguely threatened and isolated by something and therefore it is cathartic to see a threatening horde of faceless threats get obliterated by a few people who were lucky enough to escape the existential threat intact” sort of sentiment.
I agree. It’s quite compelling. It’s a simple neat explanation for the vagaries of popular culture. It ties together pop-culture and pop-psychology in a way that appeals to a lot of people. That doesn’t make it true - simply compelling.
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Absolutely; it’s an interesting concept and potentially worth investigating but for now I’m wearing my cynical goggles.
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That whole episode was him struggling with the idea that he would have to kill fisk to defeat him. I think the idea was that he was letting him die.
Ninjas, triads, Asian mysticism, and even dragon ladies are not problematic in themselves, as has been discussed at length already in the comments. On that point, I agree that the article gets it wrong in some ways.
I thought it was a good article regardless, and he brings up some valid issues. Most importantly to the discussion is the fact that ninjas, triads, and dragon ladies are all you get on the show - there’s no depiction of “normal” Asians, or even any Asian Americans for that matter (who, he points out, are as affected by big-money-East-Asian investment/gentrification in the west as anyone else, and plenty of whom are poor).
This may be seen by many as a lesser issue than how other people of color are depicted in TV and movies, but it’s exceedingly deep-seated and widespread - Asians (and South Asians) are almost always doctors/engineers/nerds… or ninjas/gangsters/evil, and rarely a main character in any case. They are always an “other”, to one degree or another, which leads to the point about zombie movies and so on (which is tenuous at best as a broad stroke, sure, but not completely invalid).
So in that context, many people jump to the conclusion that those tropes are by themselves racist, which they aren’t. But those being the only depictions of Asian characters available (yes, there are some good exceptions and there are more all the time which is great) is what’s kinda racist and unnecessarily perpetuates stereotypes which then reinforce racism in viewers. I haven’t seen the show, but how hard would it have been to have an Asian-American character (with no accent) who is one of the good guys (if the good guys are problematic, fine - a complex character would be great)? Probably not hard, especially in the context of so many other characters being Asian.
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You absolutely win the whole thing!
A not so tiny part of the liberal/socially progressive problem is that regardless of what they really think their motivations are, a lot of people really are in it for imaginary brownie points. Their point is to look good (or feel good) by shitting bricks and raging against others because they’re somehow less enlightened than they are. At that point, regardless of whatever good cause they support, they become a part of a different but equally bad problem. Your point (and mine to some degree) is that we can either let the little stuff slide and work together towards a greater understanding, or we can chew at each others ankles until nobody is willing to get involved.
To summarize: Daredevil is not important. Some white guy not thinking it’s racist isn’t important (and is variably correct depending on how nitpicky you want to define “racism”). You can rabidly attack the guy for being a horrible racist, or you can engage him, and explain how even stereotypes can have damaging effects. Which of the two approaches do you think any reasonable person is going to respond better to? If you’re seeking brownie points then by all means do the former. If you’re truly trying to effect change, then the latter may be more effective.
Maybe I’m Jaded (get the pun? Jade, because I’m Asian? Ha!), because I live and grew up in a supposed hotbed of liberal progressiveness, and have been on the receiving end of some pretty gnarly racism in my time (and often without provocation). It’s really hard to stress about some guy being portrayed as a Ninja (which again, pretty much every Japanese person I know [which is a lot] thinks are awesome), when there is a lot of much more damaging and “real” racism going on. And again sometimes letting the little stuff out for discussion or even just poking fun at tends to disarm it.
And yeah, you can have “raceplaining” if I can coin “Riceplaining” when someone is trying to speak for the not all all unified and hugely heterogenous group that is “asians”…
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Let’s face it – We do have some of of the better stereotypes overall: Mathematically and scientifically superior, supreme fighting skills, and sexually amazing.
No one has implied that at all, including me.
Don’t even get me started on the intimidation factor of Japanese people’s pixelated genitals! Too many sharp edges! Those blocks must fit together just right.
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So, to start with… I just took time to read the 10 page paper:
http://www.academia.edu/2152540/Hamako_E.2008._Zombie_Orientals_Ate_My_Brain_Orientalism_in_Contemporary_Zombie_Film_and_Fiction._Paper_presented_at_the_Annual_meeting_of_the_Association_of_Asian_American_Studies_East_of_California
I completely agree that the Orientalist themes piggy back on Muslim Terrorists technically counting as Asians. Huge problem with that paper.
The rest of the paper is interesting reading, drawing a lot of parallels, but doesn’t hold too much water.
Focusing on the part that does relate to the Muslim Terrorists, I don’t buy the statement that the Zombie phenomenon is entirely about them. Absolutely they are part of what drives the collective subconscious terror of Zombies, but I think there’s plenty of other things contributing to that.
For example: War! Economic depression, widespread unemployment, corporate backlash. Outsourcing, speaking of Xenophobia.
It’s not hard to see these things directly represented in Zombie fiction, or in a more subtle way driving the escapism that is Zombie films.
Escapism? Yes. That thing that lets you forget about your problems with your job, your spouse, your kids, your health, and imagine a world when you only have to worry about surviving with a group of strangers, some of which might be very attractive.
It’s like ‘Lost’, with the beaches replaced by ruined civilization, and I dunno, the forest? replaced by lumbering killers.
Of course it’s not entirely about them - the zombie is a useful metaphor for a whole lot of things, often simultaneously. But it’s been a significant element, post-9/11.
I’ll give you that point.
My main issue is with people holding a blog article, or a conversation they had with some person (of color), or etc… as some sort of fantastic reference point for a whole group of people. It could be said that by doing that that that person’s singular viewpoint is now being used as a reference for a whole group of people (can you believe that I was able to get three “that”'s in a row in a reasonably grammatically correct sentence?).
That one 1/2 Japanese guy thinks that Daredevil is horribly racist. This one doesn’t. Some other one doesn’t give a rat’s ass because he’s horribly racist himself and is more worried about his daughter dating a hispanic/black/whatever guy…
The point is that you can only take that guy’s opinion piece as just that. Some random guy’s opinion piece. He may have great academic credentials and write for a blog for nerdy folks of color, but at the end of the day, if you decide that his point of view somehow should be applicable to the larger group as a whole, well… Again, that’s a wee bit racist. If you decide to wrap yourself in the mantle of “But this was what that Asian Guy said”, and proceed to smack people around the head with his argument, well… you may need to look inward as much as you look outward.
And, somewhat unrelated, I absolutely HATE that “Asian” is considered a single group. Hell, there are so many groups that traditionally (and unfortunately currently) hate each other lumped in together. So many vastly different cultures. And let’s not forget that our fine East Indian friends are “Asian” as well (just like Japanese folks because we’re obviously the same!). And while I’m ranting incoherently, “White” or “Caucasian”? Honestly, the larger “races” that we’ve somehow collectively decided are valid groupings have to be the stupidest taxonomy possible.
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It is all semi-meaningless labels. “Asia” is a good descriptor when you want to tell what half of the world something is on. (Which a former mod would constantly remind me included Afghanistan.) Beyond that it is pretty useless. Both the cultures and the genetic make up of any “race” is too varied to accurately describe anyone. But everyone likes labels to organize things in their heads a little easier. We do this with everything, making and living by generalities.
I do appreciate your apparent “world is grey” view.
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The thing that made zombies make a bit more sense to me is realizing that they’re not a monster. They’re a disaster.
They’re not Dracula and Freddy. They’re rising water, spreading flames, a mushroom cloud on the horizon. They’re a setting, not an antagonist; that role is filled by humans, in most zombie flicks.
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