What are the two most influential ideas you learned from your research? Why did these ideas impact you so much? Be specific.
Firstly, I realized through my research the reach media has in its various forms, television, cartoons, literature, across decades and generations. Works and shows from the 80s and 90s proved to be milestone moments in Asian American pop culture. This was contradictory to my previous assumptions that most media was more ephemeral and replaceable.
Additionally, I learned through my research that realities and expectations often have an interdependent relationship. For example, what stems from concrete economic, political factors such as Chinese immigration policy in turn shaped the cultural perception of Chinese immigrants during and well after those developments. I imagine that the converse also holds true, where existing perceptions and prejudices sway political decisions. What this meant was that it would be more “inaccurate” to only look at one component of society in isolation.
What do you hope people will learn from your project?
One should be proactive when seeking change. In order to change the narrative, one must be willing to seize the pen, so to speak.
What is the most important thing you learned about yourself, your community, and your world during your time at NNHS?
At a fundamental level, I have learned more about what I’ll call input, output. Just as in math, not all functions are linear and some habits, such as consistent sleep (or lack thereof) and efforts, like spaced repetition, have an exponential return on investment. I think this mental model is also applicable when looking at who you are influenced and surrounded by. Throughout high school, I have become more mindful of those “inputs,” and sought to glean insight standing on the shoulders of giants in developing a habit for reading (see first blog post). Here, I strongly resonate with a quote by Jim Rohn, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” At the global level, I find that this principle illustrates how it only takes a small change to make a big difference. Yes, there are the global challenges facing billions of people, which seems daunting, but I’m reminded that a small nudge locally can have a cascading ripple effect, especially when we begin to consider the long term.
What advice would you give future NNHS seniors?
- We regret more often from inaction than from action.
- Memento Mori. “You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.”
- Amor Fati. Embrace fate, because life happens for you, not to you.
- Have expectations for yourself that are more important than those set by others.
- Whether for reasons of ability or feasibility, what limiting beliefs have you imposed on yourself?
Kevin,
I found your video essay extremely interesting. Throughout our lives, being asian myself, I have witnessed many different microagressions driven by asian stereotypes, however I never understood where they came from. I enjoyed learning the history behind this through your video. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Kevin! I really enjoyed this final video essay. It was very informational and I loved learning about this topic. It’s interesting how Asian Americans are portrayed in the media and I like hearing your opinion on it. The music and the pictures really helped the overall tone of this video. Great job Kevin!
Hey Kevin,
As someone who also read Interior Chinatown, I found your take to be pretty interesting. I think we both analyzed along similar planes of cultural presence in media and representation, but I really liked how you took a deep dive and considered historical trends in the evolution of Asian Americans in the media. I also liked how you contextualized the question with modern Asian American issues, including what America saw with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, a very interesting video essay.
Kevin,
Your video was so informative! I’ve seen a lot of this representation in the media, as well as looked at the cartoons in my social studies classes, but I never really considered how it impacts how Asian Americans are perceived. I also like how you gave a history of Chinese immigrants because it shows how they were perceived years ago. It’s really unfortunate to see how the Chinese representation in the media actually distorts how Americans perceive Asian Americans, as well as the cultural challenges they face. Overall, a really great video and blog post!
Hi Kevin! I liked how you connected expectations to real perceptions. For example, you showed how media representation from the past is still limiting the perspective society has today on Asian Americans. Speaking of the past, I liked how you bridged the historical representations of Asian Americans to modern Asian American pop culture. Overall, great video!
Hi Kevin,
I remember taking APUSH last year and seeing an endless amount of racist political cartoons. I like how you included that historical perspective into certain laws and comics because the history of Asian Americans isn’t as heard of yet it is very crucial to understanding why certain stereotypes or portrayals exist in the first place. For example, the immigration of skilled Asians contributes to the model minority myth, because America favored giving visas to people with an educational and technical background, however this contributes to the belief that all Asians have amazing jobs and makes working class Asians seem nonexistent in this country, even though they aren’t. I also like how you included the poem Persimmons, it applies to your topic very well and is a good connection between our poetry unit and our final voices project. Well done Kevin!
Hey Kevin. Your lessons/takeaways resonated with me, especially your second lesson about the interconnectedness of different policies/societal factors. This brings up an interesting dilemma. Should individuals (or governments) make decisions in a vacuum or while considering the implications on others? To make this more concrete, should an individual say, “It’s okay if I do [insert immoral action here] because if I don’t, someone else will anyways?” Or should we consider our actions in a vacuum–which is to say that we should make our choices independent of the actions of others? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
AYO! ‘Tis Kevin! I loved your video essay. I have always been interested in this particular topic, the portrayal of Asian Americans in pop culture, especially in political cartoons and such. But I’ve not really gotten around to doing any real in depth research, simply been heavily offended by every offensive portrayal in each movie or tv-show and political cartoon. I also think that the best solution was given by you at the end, especially given the small effect each individual has on the larger world, that each person should simply talk to the people around each of them to try to make a change bit by bit.