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1. First, watch, enjoy, and critically interpret The Joy Luck Club. In the first part of your essay, craft an argument in which you support, refute, or modify Hagedorn's analysis of the film and its characters. Why is the title of her article "No Joy, No Luck"? Despite appreciating the groundbreaking film on many levels, why did it also disappoint her? For the second section of your essay, apply her critical framework and analysis of stereotypical depictions of Asian women in popular films of the past in order to evaluate the qualities and dimensions of Asian women characters in more recent movies, TV shows, and/or video games. It might be helpful to find and analyze examples of characters who play both central and supporting roles in different popular narratives. According to the signs you uncover and analyze, how much progress has been made since the article's publication in 1994?
1. Matt Zoller Seitz attributes the recurrence of the Magical Negro stereotype, in part, to concern about changing demographics whereby Caucasians would no longer be the dominant ethnic group in America. He argues that a trend in supportive Black characters and narratives that center Whiteness would be comforting (thus, popular) to a large segment of the audience that might feel power shifting, particularly after the historic election of President Barrack Obama. Considering today's political landscape, what signs do you see that support or complicate this explanation? Be sure to consider both national voting patterns and the rise of other political movements since the Obama presidency. Is the Magical Negro character trope popular today? What other racialized representational patterns or trends can you find in more recent popular storytelling and what do they reveal about underlying cultural attitudes, hopes, or conflicts?
2. Seitz is critical of the Magical Negro stereotype, but it has been argued that this particular representation of African Americans is a positive response to accusations that this demographic group too often is portrayed with overtly negative, violent stereotypes. Write an essay in which you evaluate this argument. Frame your reading of these signs within the context of the mass movement for racial justice in America, taking care to base your claims on analysis of specific signs you introduce and explain to your readers from specific popular films and characters.
3. Both the Magical Negro and the black domestic servant are exaggerated versions of racial stereotypes. In an essay, compare and contrast these stereotypes. What underlying myths regarding racial difference do they display? To what extent do films which include these stereotypical roles perpetuate and reflect racial myths in America? To develop your ideas use both Seitz's ideas as well as ideas from Helena Andrews' "The Butler versus The Help: Gender Matters."
4. Building off Helena Andrews' argument, identify signs in recent film and/or television that point to the celebration or devaluation of women's labor in the 2020s. Compare these signs with signs we see in the economic data during the COVID-19 recession suggesting that women, particularly women of color, were disproportionately affected by economic hardship and under supported by public policy and practice. What role have broader cultural value systems around "appropriate" gender roles that have traditionally relegated a woman's role to the domestic space played in this phenomenon? What do the signs from the films you introduce suggest about underlying attitudes concerning a woman's "natural" role in our culture today? Connect this to representation of women in popular film and television.
Content advisory: at times, this show explores content of a sexually-explicit nature.
1. Watch a few episodes of The Outs, and write an essay in which you agree, disagree, or modify John Sherman's claim that the program's characters "are queer in a way that challenges the popular image of a same-sex relationship, both for romantic partners and friends" (Sherman 260). To do this, it will be essential that you both associate and differentiate the characters from The Outs within their respective genres and against other popular queer characters over the last few decades. Remember, the make up of popular characters can reflect popular attitudes at that time. They were popular because they resonated with widely held beliefs. Consider why Sherman celebrates narrative inclusion of a "multiplicity" or "plurality of queer politics" and representation. Do we see this vision realized in queer characters today? Define for readers what Sherman calls the "norm of the anti-norm" (Sherman 261) and determine whether or not this livelier, "anti-assimilationist" shade of representation has indeed grown in popularity since the article's 2016 publication. What do the signs you uncover and analyze from films and shows reveal about evolving cultural attitudes around queerness?
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