Still Unrecognized and Ignored.
Rhetorical Analysis of “Asian-American Actors Are Fighting for Visibility. They Will Not Be Ignored”
In the media industry, Hollywood’s stereotyping, erasure of Asians in cinema and whitewashing has definitely sparked anger from Asian American actors that want to be recognized for their efforts and hard work. Asians are getting fed up with the media industry and have finally decided that it’s time to make a stand. In her article, “Asian-American Actors Are Fighting for Visibility. They Will Not Be Ignored,” published in 2016 in the New York Times, Amanda Hess discusses up-to-date news and events within the Asian American community. More specifically, Hess discusses improvements and events that caused changes within the film industry, concerning Asian American actors. Hess begins with strong evidence from real-life actors and actresses and progresses to build her credibility by including a few facts from real-life events and emotional appeals; however, the argument towards the end is weak as she overuses ethos and doesn’t include explanations or commentary.
Representation of leading Asian Americans in media, has been long overdue. As her hook, Hess begins her article with a shocking fact, “As she developed her part, Ms. Wu heard the same dismal fact repeated over and over again: It had been 20 years since a show featuring a predominantly Asian-American cast had aired on television. ABC’s previous offering, the 1994 Margaret Cho vehicle “All-American Girl,” was canceled after one season.”
Constance Wu is a famous Asian American actress, who landed a main role on ABC’s sitcom, “Fresh Off the Boat.” The show brought a lot of attention forth to the media concerning the shows popularity for the “relatable” stereotypical roles, the humor and the criticism. It was also seen as a large improvement or ‘progress’ for Asian Americans. The tone of the article starts to change, as Hess begins to discuss “whitewashing,” and how it’s affecting Hollywood, Asian actors and the Asian American community. Hess continues to build her credibility by including many quotes and interviews from famous actors and actresses and transitions into logical appeal.
#SoRelatable? More like #CompletelyUNRELATABLE
Hess continues to builds her credibility with pathos. There is also an age-old saying that states that Asian Americans are soft-spoken. However, this article shows that Asians are uniting and taking a stand for the unfair treatment. Hess does not include many statistics, facts neither quotes, to support her argument about whitewashing. Furthermore, she does not support her reasoning to why Asian actors are not getting lead roles. But, she does discuss what Asian actors are doing as a response. Hess says, “It’s never been easy for an Asian-American actor to get work in Hollywood, let alone take a stand against the people who run the place. But the recent expansion of Asian-American roles on television has paradoxically ushered in a new generation of actors with just enough star power and job security to speak more freely about Hollywood’s larger failures.”
Stereotypical Americans.
Emotional persuasion, pathos, is very strong towards the end of the article. In response to the famous 2016 Oscars stunt, where Chris Rock essentially offended Asians with the stereotype that they’re good at math without outwardly saying it, Academy members signed a letter for the academy to stop the offensive jokes. “I have never seen the Asian-American community get so organized so quickly,” said Janet Yang, a producer who serves as a liaison between Hollywood and Chinese studios. She added, “It was the final straw.” The response only added to the issue, not resolving it. This tells the reader that Asians are sick and tired of the misrepresentation. Even when they non-violently and rationally handle the situation, they are blown off. Furthermore, people who don’t recognize the issue at hand add to the ignorance and frustration Asian actors feel.
“Mr. Nanjiani jumped on Twitter to call out the red carpet photographer who told him, “Smile, you’re in America now.” (“I know when someone is racist, the fault is theirs and not yours,” he wrote. “But, in the moment, it makes you feel flattened, reduced and bullied.”) And Ms. Cho helped start a hashtag campaign, #whitewashedOUT.” Hess shows how degraded Asians felt and feel about having no opportunities given to them unlike their colleagues. Furthermore, Constance Wu says, “For Asian-American actors, the dearth of opportunities compounds itself. “An Asian person who is competing against white people, for an audience of white people, has to train for that opportunity like it’s the Olympics,” Ms. Wu said. “An incredibly talented Asian actor might be considered for a leading role maybe once or twice in a lifetime. That’s a highly pressured situation.” Hess doesn’t really explain this quote in her article. It only leaves space for interpretation and bias from the reader. She fails to include ideas that support her thesis and therefore, weakening her sense of credibility and the article in whole.
Where do we go from here?
Hess persuades the readers to listen to stories of well-known actors to establish a sense of credibility. Her article starts off strong with ethos and a bit of logos, but it only gets stronger with pathos. However, her article does lose credibility and strength, as she doesn’t explain her evidence or comment on the quotes from Asian actors. The quotes and interviews begin to jumble up and have no sense of flow with Hess’s argument. The readers can clearly see that the issue is that Asian America actors are being underrepresented in the media and how Asians felt in response. However, there is no call to action or motivation to follow the topic and argument any further. Her article ends with less credibility than when it began. Nevertheless, there was strength throughout most of the article due to her use of pathos.
References
Hess, Amanda. “Asian-American Actors Are Fighting for Visibility. They Will Not Be Ignored.” NY Times. New York Times, 25, May 2016.
