EPQ: How is East Asia’s growing influence diverting old stereotypes in the American film industry?

East Asian representation in the American film industry has long been associated to outdated and offensive stereotypes. In recent years, the globalisation of Asian culture has begun to divert these portrayals and reinvented the term Asian American, most commonly referred to as ‘orientals’. This paper exams the progression of East Asian representation in the media in relation to the use of stereotyping in films throughout the early 1900’s to modern day. With more demanding audiences, there has been a significant rise in Asian representation in the media, however underlying stereotypes will always exist regardless of race. It will conclude that it’s impossible to irradicate these harmful stereotypes but it is a matter of directors willing to listen to audiences and replace them with more humane representations.