Negotiating Images of the Chinese: Representations of Contemporary Chinese and Chinese Americans on US Television
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Negotiating Images of the Chinese: Representations of Contemporary Chinese and Chinese Americans on US Television A Thesis Submitted to School of Geography, Politics, and Sociology For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Cheng Qian September, 2019 !i Negotiating Images of the Chinese: Representations of Contemporary Chinese and Chinese Americans on US Television ABSTRACT China's rise has led to increased interest in the representation of Chinese culture and identity, espe- cially in Western popular culture. While Chinese and Chinese American characters are increasingly found in television and films, the literature on their media representation, especially in television dramas is limited. Most studies tend to focus on audience reception with little concentration on a show's substantive content or style. This thesis helps to fill the gap by exploring how Chinese and Chinese American characters are portrayed and how these portrayals effect audiences' attitude from both an in-group and out-group perspective. The thesis focuses on four popular US based television dramas aired between 2010 to 2018. Drawing on stereotype and stereotyping theories, applying visual analysis and critical discourse analysis, this thesis explores the main stereotypes of the Chinese, dhow they are presented, and their impact. I focus on the themes of enemies, model minor- ity, female representations, and the accepted others. Based on the idea that the media can both con- struct and reflect the beliefs and ideologies of a society I ask how representational practice and dis- cursive formations signify difference and 'otherness' in relation to Chinese and Chinese Americans. I argue that while there has been progress in the representation of Chinese and Chinese Americans, they are still underrepresented on the screen. More importantly, their portrayal largely adheres to long-standing stereotypical representations from early 20th century film. ii! !iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost, I want to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisors Dr Michael Barr and Dr Simon Phipott, for their continuous help, support, and encouragement. Their valuable guidance helps me throughout the four years of the Phd study. They always made themselves available to answer my questions and clarify my doubts despite their busy schedules. They have supported and encouraged me even when I was doubting about myself. I am also thankful for the excellent example they have provided as successful researchers. I would also like to thank all the faculty and staff of the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology and the faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. I thank Dr Robin Humphrey, the director of postgraduate research training programmes for the valuable training courses he provided; Dr Graham Long for his comments on the drafts; Dr Jemima Repo for her knowledge and guidance on gender politics; and Ms Jenny Dawley for her administrative support. I also express my thanks and best wishes to my fellow Phd candidates for the time we worked together, and all the fun we have had in the last four years. Last but not least, I would like to thank my family: my parents and my husband, for encouraging and supporting me throughout writing this thesis and my life in general. I would not get the thesis done without them. I also thank my friends, Haoqi Yao, Xinyi Wen, Fiona Mew, and Joe Lawrenson for the spiritual supports that helped me through difficult times. iv! !v TABLE OF CONTENT ABSTRACT ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv Table of Content vi List of Tables and Figures viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 2 THE PORTRAYAL OF CHINESE IN FILMS 11 1 Introduction 11 2 1920-1940: Before the Pacific War 14 2.1 The Yellow Peril Incarnate in One Man: Dr Fu Manchu 14 2.2 Humble and Gentle Majority: Charlie Chan 16 3 1941-1949, After the Pacific War 19 4 1949-1972 Before the Establishment of Diplomatic Sino-U.S. Relationship 22 4.1 Cold War Creation, Early James Bond Films: An Example 22 4.2 Romance and the Yellow Peril: The World of Suzie Wong 24 4.3 Kung-fu Master, Bruce Lee, and Early Chinese Martial Films 26 5 From Big Screen to Small Screens 27 CHAPTER 3 LITERATURE REVIEW ON STEREOTYPE 30 1 Definitions and Lippmann's classic theory 30 2 Katz and Braly's study 32 3 Allport's Views on Stereotyping, Categorisation and Prejudice 34 4 Fiske's model 36 5 Racial stereotypING 38 5.1 Orientalism 38 5.2 Racial Stereotyping in Media 39 5.2.1 Asian-American Portrayal in US Television 44 5.2.1.1 The Yellow Peril 46 5.2.1.2 The Model Minority 49 6 Gender Stereotyping 50 6.1 The Sexless Chinese American Men 56 6.2 The Representation of Chinese and Chinese American Females 59 CHAPTER 4 METHODOLOGY 61 vi! 1 Sampling and Justification 61 2 Data Collection 64 3 Data Analysing 65 3.1 Visual Analysis 65 3.1.1 Frame and Shot 66 3.1.1.1 Shot Size 68 3.1.1.2 Camera Angle 68 3.1.1.3 Camera Movement 69 3.1.2 Scene and Sequence 70 3.1.2.1 Staging Elements 70 3.2 Visual Social Semiotic Analysis and Halliday's Metafunction Framework 71 3.3 Critical Discourse Analysis 74 3.3.1 Discourse, Power and Dominance 74 3.3.2 Critical Discourse Analysis 76 3.3.2.1 Text Level 77 3.3.2.2 Processing Level 78 3.3.2.3 Social Level 79 4 Justification and limitation 80 CHAPTER 5 CHINESE AS THE ENEMY 83 1 Introduction 83 2 Enemies in television drama 85 3 Foreign Minister Chen in Madam Secretary 88 3.1 Analysis of Face the Nation 91 3.2 Analysis of 'South China Sea' 98 4 Representation of Minister Chen, and the Enduring 'Others' 108 CHAPTER 6 MODEL MINORITY 116 1 Introduction 116 2 Medical Robot: The First and Long-Lasting Trend of Model Minority 117 3 Dr Zia and The Night Shift 120 3.1 Dr Zia and his Family Value 123 3.2 Dr Zia's Sexlessness and Unattractiveness 128 3.2.1 Militarism, Masculinity, and the Missing Part of Zia's Past 133 4 The Influence of Model Minority Stereotype 136 !vii 4.1 In-Group Influences 136 4.2 Out-Group Influences 138 5 Discussion 140 CHAPTER 7 FEMALE REPRESENTATION 143 1 Introduction 143 2 The Turning Point of Representing Chinese Female: Ally McBeal 144 3 Dr Joan Watson in Elementary 146 3.1 Casting Choice: Gender and Race 146 3.2 Partnership between Watson and Holmes 149 3.3 Desexualisation 153 3.4 Romantic Relationships 158 4 Discussion 163 CHAPTER 8 MODEL CITIZEN 169 1 Who Are We? 169 1.1 Current Diversity on Screen and Behind the Camera 171 1.1.1 Race 171 1.1.2 Gender 173 2 Examples of Model Citizens in a Televised World 175 3 Discussion 179 Chapter 9 CONCLUSION 185 1 From whitewash to underrepresentation 185 2 Stereotypical Fashion of Representation 191 3 Summary, Limitations and future research 202 4 Parting Words 207 REFERENCES 208 FILMOGRAPHY 247 Appendix Dr Fu Man-chu and Detective Charlie Chan Filmography 259 Appendix C Major Legislative Milestones in U.S. Immigration History 264 viii! !vii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Figure A The Warmth and Competence Model Figure 8 - Figure 9 Screenshots from Madam 37 Secretary S1E17 96 Figure B Representation of Race on Prime- Figure 10 Screenshots from Madam Secretary Time Television from 1970-2002 44 S1E17 97 Figure C Comparison of Percentages of Female Figure 11 - Figure 14 - Figure 7 Screenshots and Male Characters on Prime-Time Television from Madam Secretary S3E3 98 52 Table 1 Analytical Traits of Feminine and Figure 15, 16 & 17 - Figure 7 Screenshots from Masculine 53 Madam Secretary S3E3 99 Table 2 Traditional/Postfeminist Femininity Figure 18 & Figure 19 - Figure 7 Screenshots Traits 54-55 from Madam Secretary S3E3 102 Table 3 Six Level of Tele-Film Analysis Figure 20 - Figure 24 - Figure 7 Screenshots Framework and Cinematography Analysis 66 from Madam Secretary S3E3 105 Table 4 Cinematography Elements 67-68 Figure 25 & Figure 26 - Figure 7 Screenshots from Madam Secretary S3E3 107 Table 5 Race of the Suspects and Perpetrators in L&O:SVU, Criminal Minds, and Body of Figure 28, 29 & 30 Official Poster of The Night Proof 87 Shift 129 Figure 1- Figure 3 Screenshots from Madam Figure 31 & 32 Screenshot from The Night Secretary S4E7 91 Shift S2E10 130 Figure 4 - Figure 7 Screenshots from Madam Figure 33, 34 & 35 Screenshot from The Night Secretary S1E17 95 Shift S2E8 130 viii! Figure 36, 37 & 38 Screenshot from The Night Table 10 Characters' Race/Ethnicity in Screen, Shift S3E6 132 2007-2013 172 Table 6 The Percentage of Minority Portrayals Table 11 Directors from Racial/Ethnic Minori- in Early and Contemporary Era 154 ties by Media Platform 173 Figure D Hyper-Sexuality of Males and Fe- Figure F Historical Comparison of Percentage males in Films 1990-2006 149 of Behind-the Scene Women by Role 174 Table 7 Sexualisation of Female Characters on Screen 2007-2015 155 Table 8 Sexualisation of Male Characters on Screen 2007-2015 155 Figure 41 & Figure 42 Screenshots from Ele- mentary S2E7 156 Figure 43 - 46 Screenshots from Elementary S2E7 157 Figure 47 Screenshots from Elementary S2E7 158 Figure 48 Screenshots from Elementary S4E19 158 Table 9 Marriage/Relationship Status of the Female Leading Characters in the Top 10 Pop- ular Crime Television Series 161-162 Figure E Historical Comparison of Percentages of Female Characters by Race/Ethnicity 165 ix! CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION As a Chinese living overseas, when I was being asked ‘where are you from’, the answer peopler expected was not Newcastle or Manchester, but China, Japan or Korea.