A new show on the CW Television Network, “Nikita,” is eliciting mixed reactions from the Asian Pacific American community on campus about the show’s portrayal of protagonist, Nikita, who is played by Maggie Q.
Maggie Q, the daughter of an American father and a Vietnamese mother, stars as a rogue assassin working to take down the organization that originally trained her as a spy. Many APA students, however, feel Q is at risk of being typecast into one or both of the two roles traditionally reserved for Asian women on American television: either a submissive sexual toy, the geisha or the dragon lady.
“I think [her character] plays off both stereotypes,” said Douglas Lee, graduate coordinator for APA student involvement and advocacy at Maryland. “The advertisements for the series portray her as a very feminine ninja warrior.”
Aaron Wong, a junior economics major, said he believed the most prevalent television role for APAs was the submissive China doll.
“They play the role of the geisha. They’re always the quiet, attractive, passive ladies. They are elegant and well-kept,” he said. “The roles Asian American women play on television are so stereotypical that we don’t really have an opportunity for them to be ‘normal.’ I feel like there are no benefits to that stereotype.”
Jasmine Vinh, a junior public health major and Japanese language minor, said she feels the main problem is the over-sexualization of APA women in film.
“I took a course on Asian Americans in film last semester. The dragon lady stereotype [in Nikita] is a very negative stereotype that portrays Asian American women basically just using their sexuality and being sneaky and evil,” she said.
She added that while the beauty standards for all women in Hollywood are high, they are even higher for APA women.
“You always see the white man being dominating,” Vinh said. “If the white man were to go for a girl at the end of the movie, it would always be a beautiful woman. An Asian American woman would have to be exceptionally beautiful to even be onscreen, but still be submissive to the white male.”
Vinh expressed frustration at the culture of Hollywood and the portrayal of one-dimensional APA women. She really couldn’t think of any examples of APA women who were able to break out of the mold.
Lee offered a potential positive side effect of television stereotypes but cautioned against being too optimistic.
