The Model Minority Trope, Explained

don't know strategies mom we are the model minority on screen asian americans have long been portrayed as caricatures whether it's the sexually voracious dragon lady the evil dr fu manchu or even the kung fu heroes played by bruce lee and jackie chan what's happening hot stuff and more recently no stereotype has been so pervasive as the model minority the controversial term model minority has been used to paint a broad picture of asian americans as smart and hard-working i'm in all ap classes and got a perfect score on my psat wealthy and well-behaved i'm sorry i'm a good-looking doctor in film and tv model minorities are usually given some or all of these traits they are depicted as naturally smart obsessed with grades and studying no barbara you deserve it you're eight plus in every subject they are self-sufficient and driven to succeed no one seems to appreciate how i'm good at everything i do they hold down good jobs in a stem profession i want the american doctor chen is the american doctor they're often wealthy and they care about the appearance of success we were inspired by the whole of mira in the sun they're law abiding and rule followers and terrified of disappointing their families she's bringing shame on the family and you three shouldn't encourage her but while many of these traits may seem like virtues depictions of the model minority can be just as reductive and derogatory as overtly negative caricatures oh oh oh check out this uptight asian guy look at that i work really hard cause i'm no fun like all stereotypes the model minority trope diminishes the nuanced realities of people's individual lives and sets expectations that can lead to further disadvantages and discrimination math club yeah i'm asian you guys asian it's pretty racist man 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 towards something more imperfectly real it means that we aren't quite similar enough to be accepted but we aren't different enough to be loathed if you're new here be sure to subscribe and click the bell to get notified about all our new videos this video is brought to you by brilliant a problem-solving website and app with fun interactive courses in math science and computer science brilliant has over 60 incredible courses that can add valuable learning structure to your day click the link in the description below brilliant.org the take to sign up for a free account now the first 200 people that go to the link will get 20 off an annual premium subscription i thought you asian girls were supposed to be smart the smart asian might be the most common identifier of the model minority often found in a high school setting asian nerds they're seen as classic nerds blessed with high iqs good with math and coming off like walking textbooks i've just read a recent behavioral study in psychology today which found that its subjects were more motivated to specific action by the fear of loss from the hope of gain they're often portrayed as stiff and socially awkward the big bang theory's raj may be a brilliant astrophysicist yet a running gag on the show is that he can't even speak to a woman without the aid of alcohol she asked me a question i should probably not the model minority is also driven and self-reliant i'm a mr kim and this is my store i working very hard every day this is common especially to first-generation asian americans the self-made immigrant who values hard work above all else but you work for kim and future like a korean people and for the parents in fresh off the boat hard work gives them the kind of status and security they associate with being white if we get separated try and join a white family you will be safe there until i can find you usually the model minorities ambition and intelligence leads them to pursue stem careers in medicine or engineering i'm the only one of these clowns that can code in java and i write sleek performance low overhead scholar code with higher order functions that will run on anything they not only take competitive pride in their work they obsess over the wealth and social station it provides i used to be the tesla guy in the office i don't want to sound selfish but sometimes i wish only i made money you know but despite being professionally and academically competitive the model minority is also seen as exceedingly polite and submissive [Music] i'm sorry what was that hello my name is elena pitch perfect's lily is so meek that her voice barely rises above a mumble i think i have something that can help us out excuse me [ __ ] you don't need to shout the office's hidetoshi a former heart surgeon in japan is happy just to have his humble warehouse job even at their most genuinely combative the model minority is still viewed as adorably harmless make me look good out there we're not you sons of [ __ ] you no good sons of [ __ ] they never pose any real threat to the white status quo which allows them to be relegated to tertiary supporting roles like the fleeting love interest everyone this is julie the best friend sidekick science project yes for school yes mama you're not dating no mama okay follow me or the wise benevolent guru you're always there when i need you tran thank you glad you got no life above all the model minority is presented as wanting nothing more than to get along and integrate seamlessly into american society they're seen as virtuous and admirable but most importantly in a way that doesn't challenge the racial hierarchy i ain't worried because by and large agents are very dependable you know they don't want no trouble [Music] oh sh the asian invasion ever since chinese immigrants first landed on american shores they've been viewed with suspicion if not outright contempt the hysteria of yellow peril the idea that asians posed an existential threat to western society persisted for nearly a century until it was replaced by a newer more subtle form of discrimination when president lyndon b johnson signed the immigration and naturalization act of 1965 into law he opened the floodgates to thousands of asian immigrants but the law also prioritized highly skilled asians such as doctors or engineers forever setting expectations for their role in american society in 1966 sociologist william peterson popularized the concept of the model minority arguing in the new york times that japanese americans had been able to overcome years of discrimination even their internment during world war ii due to their work ethic and strong family values their parents most of whom are american citizens and their grandparents who are aliens immediately wanted to go to work this implication that asian americans were an exemplar for other minorities to follow was weaponized against other racial groups suggesting that any racism no matter how entrenched could be overcome by just working hard and not causing trouble [ __ ] year of the [ __ ] vote and they already got a business in our neighborhood more than anything the model minority allowed white people to absolve themselves of any responsibility for the systemic racism that was faced by blacks in particular you're so studious computer trey you could learn a thing or two from his people they're very wise this created a lasting wedge between asian americans and other minorities i know you and your folks can come down here from god nose way and be about as black as the ace of spades and as soon as you get here you start acting white and treating us like we're your doormats you don't think i experience racism i do and it sucks but how i react to it is my choice you don't have to give it so much power wow for asian americans themselves this model minority myth obscured the many struggles and discrimination they actually faced go back to isis today besides more overt racism asian americans face a so-called bamboo ceiling limiting their earning potential and their ability to get promoted never thought of myself as an executive before i know cause you have no role models how many indian ceos can you think of according to research by diversity inc asian americans constitute only 2.6 of fortune 500 leaders despite possessing on average higher levels of education and the trope of the wealthy successful asian obscures the fact that they are currently the most economically divided racial or economic group in the u.s how to get the money to buy a ticket credit card right even as pop culture has responded with more portrayals of working class asian americans in recent years many of them only serve to reinforce this idea of the good immigrant pulling themselves up by their bootstraps please be a five-star ride the myth also places undue expectations of success on asian americans who must clear an incredibly high bar just to be deemed worthy of their place in american society i was just trying to be a normal teenager normal teenagers end up in prison or worse working in jersey mikes we often see this pressure dramatized through the parents epitomized by the tiger mom stereotype popularized by yale professor amy chua i think that we in america can ask just a little bit more of our children jessica the prototypical tiger mom on fresh off the boat pushes her children to succeed because she sees them as extensions of herself children are never too old to be controlled it's just like chess children are the pawns and you are the queen and she worries that any deviation from those model minority expectations will only bring failure and shame upon them you need to make school more challenging or else my son will fall behind i'm sorry there's not much i can do about a straight a student since the model minority trope is ostensibly based on positive traits it's easy to see why some might view it as progressive evidence of just how far america has come from that early demonization [ __ ] is not the preferred nomenclature asian american please but it's still a stereotype rooted in treating asian americans as a homogeneous faceless other only accepted so long as they know their place and i'm never gonna have time to get to those so that's your responsibility now big boy uh make sure those are in by nine o'clock sharp tomorrow okay no problem [Music] some old loser was telling me that i'm too indian and some other people think i'm not indian enough as we've become more aware of the prejudices of the model minority trope we've also begun to see a rise in stories and characters that challenge it what's the point owen what's the point of anything i fell asleep watching the movie amelie and when i woke up i would spill so much red wine in myself that i thought for a second i had been shot asian-american characters are increasingly allowed to be more than just nerds sidekicks and comic relief and instead star as complex imperfect protagonists but all i saw was fear in your eyes and i was confused and scared constantly the so-called asian august of 2018 even saw the debut of three films crazy rich asians searching and to all the boys i've loved before that center on well-rounded asian-american characters not tropes because the more people that you let into your life the more they can just walk right out crazy rich asians both plays off of and critiques that model minority trope i'm so chinese i'm an economics professor with lactose intolerance its focus on wealth success and honoring the family reinforces many of those stereotypical images but at the same time it gives us a relatable realistic protagonist rachel chu so your family is like rich why comfortable that is exactly what a super rich person would say who's been raised by a single mother defying the two-parent ideal of the model minority stereotype a poor raised by a single mother low-class immigrant nobody and in the end she gets the dream romance and happily ever after that characters like her are so often denied will you marry me mindy kaling's netflix series never have i ever similarly remakes the model minority trope for the 21st century centering on davey an opinionated upper middle-class indian-american teenager who's studious but hardly meek buddy keep him moving take your broke-ass bike and get out of here while davey may fret over getting into a good college where you get into princeton don't waste your prayers on stupid things like world peace she's also obsessed with sex i just want him to be a stone cold hottie who could rock me all night long refreshingly she's also allowed to be angry davey has what you might consider a short fuse and sometimes she's a straight up psycho which i find pretty admirable she's even seen going to therapy contradicting years of depictions of asian americans as wholly self-reliant tavi the reason i was enlisted by your doctors and your mother is to delve into some of the major events that have happened in your life over this last year more and more we've seen on-screen asian-american characters who are allowed to be messy and flawed behaving immaturely like pen 15's maya are you guys like talking about like masturbating or getting bad grades and not particularly caring like free-spirited claudia in the netflix adaptation of the long-running book series the babysitter's club hey guys watermelon gummies these are new kinds of role models for a group that has often been denied the chance to be individuals seeing someone like claudia who is forging her own path helped me feel more connected to my own identity always be my maybe features asian americans who are far from polite hello can i help you check the attitude [ __ ] and who have rejected limiting only doctor or engineer expectations with one main character excelling as a creative chef while the other lacks drive and plays in an unsuccessful band and importantly there are non-role models too arguably aquafina's entire career is also based on a complete subversion of the model minority trope playing asian american characters who are ambitious yet aimless far from living a put together life that most would envy can you believe that commute suspended me because i broke one white girl's collarbone even as performers like aquafina and ali wong have been praised for subverting the model minority trope they've also been criticized for appropriating black culture to do it you gonna roll up to that way and you're gonna be like fuckbox and i would just twerk twerk twerk the [ __ ] out of him and do some of this that i learned in atlanta it's an accusation that once again illustrates just how much the model minority has to do with the entrenched stereotypes of other people and how little it has to do with asian americans own identity lily singh claims to have invented the word boss so you want to learn how to be a boss what's a boss the difficulty of firmly establishing this identity is like so many issues of representation reinforced by the general lack of opportunities for asian americans both on screen and behind the camera networks if you look at your cast if it look if you look at your writers if you look at the your directors the people in your team if it doesn't reflect the melting pot that is out there make some changes despite the success of films like crazy rich asians or to all the boys i've loved before asian americans still constitute only one percent of leading roles they see the asian faces on screen it means something to kids and people to see images that reflect themselves and until that changes our perceptions of who asian americans can be will remain comparably narrow in the meantime perhaps we can still find some worth in the model minorities more positive attributes such as the veneration of hard work and familial loyalty even as we critique it and without assuming that this is how it is for everyone should we make our mothers happy and see each other again and above all we can support any portrayal that allows us to see a more complete more complex picture of asian americans one that's not perfect and is therefore recognizably human you can be a main character you can have your own story you can tell your own story however you want this is the take what do you want our take on next this video is brought to you by brilliant a problem-solving website and app that offers math and science courses developed by award-winning professionals from mit microsoft and google if you've ever wondered who invented and discovered math we recommend checking out brilliant's brand new math history course you'll learn about the successes and failures of math giants like ada lovelace solve fun puzzles using egyptian multiplication and finish the course an expert in perfect numbers and algebra brilliant also has daily challenges featuring fun games and examples of math and science problems we face in real life all you have to do is click the link in the description below brilliant.org the take to sign up for free and if you're one 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Channel: The Take

Views: 516,407

Keywords: model minority, fresh off the boat, crazy rich asians, pitch perfect, never have i ever, pen15, the mindy project, silicon valley, greys anatomy, killing eve, cristina yang, billions, harold and kumar, jackie chan, bruce lee, mississippi masala, the big sick, do the right thing, gilmore girls, gilmore girls mrs kim, gilmore girls lane, mindy kaling, late night, sandra oh, constance wu, kumail nanjiani, new girl tran, new girl nick and tran, friends julie

Id: qWBPGc_dpmY

Length: 18min 43sec (1123 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 22 2020