On Feb. 6, the East Asian Studies Student Advisory Board (SAB) hosted a screening and discussion about recent controversial manifestations of Orientalism in modern television.
Scholar and writer Edward Said, a pioneer in the study of Orientalism, identifies the concept as a constructed lens with which the West views the East in his seminal book, Orientalism. In other words, Orientalism is the hegemonic distinction between the West (the Occident) and the East (the Orient); a simplistic, weak and exoticized construction. This event aimed to identify and de-construct Orientalist tendencies in modern American society.
The event screened two recent episodes of The Simpsons and How I Met your Mother, both of which have stirred controversy in how they depicted the Eastern World, particularly East Asia, as constructs of a Western Orientalist perspective.
Both episodes discussed at the event featured Asians as stereotypes. For example, The Simpsons depicted sexualized Asian women, while How I Met Your Mother used American actors to dress up as stereotyped versions of Asian people, wearing Kung Fu clothing and a Fu Manchu mustache. Helen Rolfe ’16, the Public Relations Chair of the East Asian Studies Student Advisory Board, explained that the Asians depicted in the shows were one-dimensional characters, depicted “not as complex people, but as stereotypes.”
SAB Co-chair Catherine White ’14 clarified this event’s implications at Connecticut College, saying, “It’s important for us to understand the implications of Orientalism and how it is a problem.” This event thus facilitated dialogue about Orientalism, a notion that, according to Rolfe, “doesn’t get talked about, but is most definitely [present in society].”
Co-chair Maddy Stubblefield ’14 agreed. “By having this discussion and others like it, we’re hoping to not only open people’s eyes to these issues that are present even in the most popular of media, but also giving them a way to formulate their thoughts and hold conversations that can hopefully carry over even outside the event.”
This discussion encouraged broader conversations about Western constructions of cultural identity in a broader sense than just in television. It also pushed its audience to consider the responsibility that we have as observers of American mainstream culture to be particularly alert of Orientalist perceptions in Western media that should be de-constructed.
For further information about the event or the East Asian Studies Department, the SAB meets every Wednesday at 8:30 in the Knowlton Common Room and is open to the general public. •
