Growing up as an Asian American, I never really had a role model of sort that I could relate to entirely. There were the general characters in movies that I looked up to but there was never that one character that I could possibly see myself as because there was never any lead characters that looked like me. Every time an Asian character was showed on-screen they were never a normal relatable person; they were always rather a living stereotype or unrealistic. Asians are always portrayed as intellectuals that are very awkward and geeky or one who has a very thick ethnic accent. Apart from Aladdin and Jackie Chan there never was a core Asian character who I looked up to as a role model. So, growing up there was always a stigma towards me that I had to be very Asian or very smart.
Ever since Asians immigrated to the United States, they were being portrayed by the media in one form or another. The portrayal was often stereotyped extensively which affected the public’s viewpoint towards Asian Americans. But in the recent decade the portrayal of Asian Americans has shifted to a more positive and everyday image. So, I wondered about how this happened and asked my research question, “How and Why has American Media Shifted the On-Screen Image of Asian Americans from Stereotypical Roles to Lead Roles?”https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/uresposters/1259/thumbnail.jp
