The 1980s

Representative Films of this Decade

• The Karate Kid (1984)²
• Sixteen Candles (1984)¹

The Karate Kid (1984)

Pat Morita plays Mr. Miyagi, the kung fu master of Daniel LaRusso. Mr. Miyagi teaches discipline and character to Daniel as Mr. Miyagi demonstrates the wise sensei.³

Sixteen Candles (1984)

Long Duk Dong exemplifies the crazy foreign exchange student who seems completely lost in American culture. Long Duk Dong is portrayed to be a bad driver and very funny as he acclimates to the American experience. The name itself is stereotypical.⁴

Survey!

Whether or not you have seen the films mentioned in this decade, what stereotypes/trends do you see for Asian American male Actors?

1. poor drivers
2. kung fu master or karate sensei
3. athlete
4. popular kid
5. unfamiliar with American culture

Show Answers

Stereotypes/Trends

Mr. Miyagi is the Karate Master, peaceful man, wise sensei to a white American boy. Long Duk Dong, on the other hand, is crazy, very unfamiliar with American culture, and is only present as comedic relief.

Validity

Before actor Bruce Lee appeared in American cinema, Asian people were depicted as weak, passive, and non-sexual. Bruce Lee showed a sort of heroism for Asian males. “Yes, well this particular mystique is a function of the popular media,” said Professor of Chinese History, William Wei. “There are a lot of films that basically emphasize Asian martial arts of one sort or another.”⁵

With regards to driving, Dr. Bradd Libby, a researcher in computational statistics, has discussed the correlation of bad driving and Asian drivers.⁶ The following plot shows traffic deaths against traffic density between different countries.

“We can see from Gapminder’s data that seven of the Asian countries considered had traffic death rates that were lower than the average and only four (Laos, the Philippines, Mongolia and Malaysia) had averages that were higher. To their benefit, the Asian countries that were below average in traffic fatalities include the most populous ones: China, Japan and Indonesia. That is, Asian people are good drivers. The Japanese and Singaporeans are great.” - Bradd Libby

In addition, here is no proof that any race is naturally more intelligent than any other race. However, in America, Asian Americans have highest percentage of bachelor’s degrees among ages 25 and older (49%) and the highest median household income of $66,000.