Interrogating the Image Miguel Llora Lecturer Department of Asia/Pacific Studies

Do media images help us understand how the world works?

What kind of images are we presented?

Who creates what stereotypical representations of people?

Representation and the Media The Politics of the Image

Cultural Studies Representation – What is it? Representation as Creative and Active An Image can have many different meanings – it is “text.”

Power Communication is always linked to power. Those groups who wield power have influence on what gets represented through media Knowledge/Power Intersect

Being “In” the “Discourse” Culture is saturated by images When we are part of a discourse, we come to accept images as part of the natural order of things and we accept them. Images then seep into what I like to call “common sense understanding” We need to step outside of the discourse and see how it shapes our thinking and critically see the content

“Discourse” Discourse: the Framework or context that gives “meaning.” According to Stuart Hall nothing exists outside of meaning.

Meaning No “fixed” meaning – we participate in its meaning. How? We now need to look at the cultural “fields” We look for meaning – by combining what is in the “fields” – or our framework of understanding and how one makes sense in the “habitus” and how we interact or “practice.” Meaning is a confluence, interactive, and constantly changing.

Habitus, the Field, & Practice In Pierre Bourdieu's focus: Habitus are cultural structures that exist in people’s bodies and minds. Fields are sets of relations in the world. Through practices, fields condition habitus and habitus inform fields. Practices mediate between the inside and outside.

Interrogation of the Image Asking the hard questions We no longer ask: Is the image is “accurate”? But rather we ask: “Why” the image “Is”? Do these images confirm or challenge our views of ?

Charles Ramirez Berg’s Six Hollywood Stereotypes of the Hispanic 1. El Bandido – treacherous, shifty, and dishonest, the drug runner 2. The Halfbreed Harlot – lusty, hot tempered, and embodies all that will be allowed but only as a second. A slave to her passions… 3. The Male Buffoon – Ricky Ricardo 4. The Female Clown – Carmen Miranda Fetish… 5. The Latin Lover – Rudolph Valentino 6. The Dark Lady – Dolores De Rio

Typical Asian American Male Stereotypes 1. Evil Asian Man – Fu Manchu 2. Lack of Intelligence – Selfish and stingy and with little regard for his wife. See “The Joy Luck Club.” 3. Undesirable Male Partner - 4. “Yellow Uncle Tom” – Victor Sen Yung’s “Hop Sing” character as the cook on the popular series Bonanza

Typical Asian American Male Stereotypes 1. Dragon Lady – the daughter of Fu Manchu 2. Geisha/China Doll – Tracy Tzu’s character Arianne in the Year of the Dragon 3. Fatalist - Miss Saigon and Puccini’s Madame Butterfly

New Questions We need to ask: What is our view of ? What is the directorial intent? Is it parody or advocacy? So it is not: What is being represented?” But: What is being represented to you?”

Positive with Negative? Is it beneficial to exchange “negative” stereotypes with “positive” stereotypes? Problem: Stereotypes do not provide any real knowledge – factual or otherwise. Stereotypes say less about the people being spoken about and more about the people who are speaking.

Subvert Stereotyping Stereotypes – positive or negative close possibility for true understanding. Stereotypes of any kind defy a “fixed” meaning. What needs to be done is to challenge or subvert the negative stereotypes. Challenge representation not replace it.