Hold on to Sixteen – Glee and Positive Asian Stereotypes
For those who have been following, we are big fans of Harry Shum, Jr, and the positive role model he provides in the huge hit show Glee. After not much of a story line since the whole conflict with his father surfaced, we were happy to see that it was finally revisited. This gave him some more screen time and some singing lines as well. It would have been nice if they allowed him to flex his dance muscles more though it’s tough when he’s part of a bigger number to get a lot of solo dance time.
In the end though, the story line was dissatisfying unfortunately. Rather than stretching it out a bit and developing the story more as they have with other characters. Yet this one ends very abruptly with the father turning around 180 with little struggle or explanation. So, although grateful for the story line, it would have been nice to have more attention on it. It was more of a “let’s get this story over with so we can focus on others.”
On that front though, I must say that aside from the “positive” stereotype that Asians are smart and good at math, people should start thinking that Asians are great dancers as well. When you look at other shows such as America’s Best Dance Crew, a lot of the champions have been all Asian or have Asians on the crew.
This got us thinking about what other “positive” stereotypes there are. Here is a partial list:
- Smart
- Great dancers
- Successful
- Great with cars (?…the fast and furious types are considered cool by many)
- Good at playing pool
- Good at poker
Maybe others? Sorry if this last list annoys people, but I’ll take some positive stereotyping to get off the negative first. It is of course best to have accurate presentation. One step at a time.
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