Popular culture texts such as films have become increasingly prevalent and powerful in dictating what we believe and know to be true. Throughout history, Asians and Asian Americans have been represented through disempowering portrayals that have evolved into stereotypes perpetuated in films. However, Asians and Asian Americans have worked to reclaim their identities and transform how they are portrayed in movies. Thus, this thesis examines four American films including "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961), "Memoirs of a Geisha" (2005), "Minari" (2020), and "Everything Everywhere All at Once" (2022). By conducting a modified critical discourse analysis of how these films portray Asian and Asian American identity, this thesis depicts how disempowerment in films is connected to negative stereotypes and representations, and how empowerment in films can provide prototypes that are more authentic representations of Asian and Asian Americans. / MACOM / This study uses a modified critical discourse analysis to examine the representation and portrayal of Asian and Asian American identity in four popular films, Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961), "Memoirs of a Geisha" (2005), "Minari" (2020), and "Everything Everywhere All at Once" (2022). In the past, Asians and Asian Americans have been featured in stereotypical roles to disempower them. However, Asian and Asian American actors, actresses, writers, and filmmakers have joined Hollywood on and off-screen to rewrite their stories, reclaim their identities and portray themselves in holistic and empowering ways. A modified critical discourse analysis is used to look at these four films and how these films portray Asian and Asian American identity. The thesis shows that negative stereotypical roles lead to the disempowerment of Asians and Asian Americans, while authentic representation leads to the empowerment of Asians and Asian Americans further providing prototypes that are more strong, authentic portrayals.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/115353 |
| Date | 06 June 2023 |
| Creators | Snyder, Megan Elizabeth |
| Contributors | Communication, Logan, Nneka, Woods, Chelsea Lane, Watkins, Brandi A. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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