I'm glad they're including Indians when they say Asian-Americans. So many people forget that.

“What grade did u get?” “An A.” “Of course you did, you’re smart.” “No, I studied.” “But you’re smart, so you didn’t have to.” “But I really did have to take the time to study.” “I wish I was Asian and smart.” No you don’t. Edit: Thx for 5K likes :)

Immigrant Asian-American here. "Model minority" as a concept also glosses over the fact that not all Asian ethnic groups have the same access to opportunities. The stereotype dismisses Asians from poorer backgrounds when they're struggling because they'll just "work their way" to success.

The worst factor of this stereotype is that it implies other minorities aren’t as capable or wired to be successful, so in turn, people assume there is a hidden Asian inside other minorities.

I can't help but think of London Tipton The show played it ahead of it's time She didn't hold up any of those standards and was just your everyday rich girl

I’m asian and a lot of my asian friends tend to feel the need to mock asian culture to be accepted by their white friends, it’s quite sad.

Talk about "the native" trope! Indigenous people are the least represented race in cinema, media, music, everywhere! The erasure of indigenous presence is so common we don't even notice. When there are indigenous people in film, they constantly play a one off role of being the hoodoo voodoo native that helps the heroes or requires help from the heroes. They're always tied down to their culture despite many natives not even being touch with it due to European assimilation. Even in diverse shows, there can be no native American in sight.

The model minority myth is just another tool of lumping all Asians into one group and dividing them from other people of color. It doesn't account for our uniqueness, either. I'm a brown Indian-Bangladeshi who was born in America and grew up in a post-911 era. My experience is completely different from that of an East Asian's. Not to mention the wealth gap between various Asian groups. But the model minority myth makes it seem like we're all smart and have plenty of money.

When I first moved to Texas from Nigeria as a teenager, I remember one of the first people I hung out with at school was this Asian girl and we had this conversation where I told her that in Nigeria, or at least where I grew up in, anyone who wasn't black was considered white. I said we never even thought of hispanic people as not being white and then she asked, how about asians? And I wanted to tell her the truth, which was, we just called every Asian person Chinese but I lied and said we counted them as white too. After hearing that, her face lit up, she was like oh that's so cool, I'll never forget that cause I genuinely felt sorry for her in that moment. I didn't realize it then but it's crazy how far and wide white supremacy is.

We should start calling white people European-Americans Edit: For the love of Pete please stop responding to this. It's been 7 months Edit 2: That means stop commenting. Every new reply is a copy/paste of 20 other replies who said it first

My best friend is Chinese, and the stereotype of Asians being good in math hurt her in high school. She wasn’t good in math but never got the same amount of attention as the other less than stellar kids in her class. When she started complaining about it online, she then got harassed because she was adopted into a white family, so people were saying she “wasn’t Asian enough to be good at math”. So gross

The “minority wedge” between the black community and Asians...that’s an entire video on its own.

It's so true, Asians face so much discrimination which is largely left unacknowledged because white dominated society attributes so-called "positive" traits upon Asian identity. This most insidious thing about racial discrimination is when the object of the discrimination adopts those outside beliefs as their own. Hence, when it comes to the dynamic between Asians and Blacks in the minority community, there's an artificial superiority complex that takes grip and drives a wedge in fully sympathising with the struggles of other minority groups. The Take is honestly one of the best KZfaq channels. Thank you!

I feel like with every video of this series about certain movie/tv tropes, I can just look at Crazy Ex-Girlfriend to see a good subversion of that trope. In this case, the lead male character Josh is Filipino-American and he's just... average. Just an average dude. Sometimes him being less smart and educated than many people around him is maybe played a bit too much for laughs but it never goes into Kevin from The Office or Joey from Friends territory, Josh remains real and human throughout. But just not ridiculously smart.

Ugh it used to PISS me off in school when people would be like “Of course you got an A, you’re Indian” -_-

As an Asian American, I would like to add one small thing: how many of these model minority myths were coping strategies to survive a mostly white America. Many Asian-American immigrants came over, completely ignorant of the racial history of America, and took actions that, in retrospect, negatively impacted other racial minorities. Now that I'm older and more aware of our shared histories, I'm doing everything I can to spread awareness of this insidious lie, to heal the divide and to fight back against systemic racism and white supremacy.

Hollywood likes to say that white people "can't relate" to stories about minority characters. I SOBBED at the end of Never Have I Ever because Devi's relationship with her mom reminded me so much of mine with my own mother. The moment where her mother finally sees things from her point of view made me wish I'd had that with my mom. You don't have to be just like someone to relate to them.

"Are ya Chinese or Japanese?" "I'm Laotian. From Laos." "...So...are ya Chinese? Or...Japanese?"

to those who missed the point of the video: though some seem worse than others, all stereotypes are bad. even if there are more “good traits” assigned than “bad,” they all still create a default image for an entire group of people. both high and low expectations from society can be damaging when applied to a minority.

While Latinos are often grouped together societally and in the media as rather homogeneous, I cannot think of a more ethnically and politically diverse “group.” If any YT channel can tackle this topic, it would be The Take.

Yes!!!! Could you also do the Dragon Lady stereotype or the Flower Blossom Girl Asian stereotypes??

I often felt extremely stupid when I didn't get straight A's or great grades, because I felt like I wasn't fulfilling the one thing my friends always told me that I was better at- the thing is they didn't even know how I scored when we met! They just immediately took me as the smart kid in the group and I felt WORTHLESS when I wasn't living up to their expectations. I wish I'd had this video when I was younger but I'm glad that kids now do 😖💕

As a child of Asian immigrants I was always told that we should enforce the Asians stereotypes of being studious and what not because if we didn’t, we would be looked down on and discriminated like black people. I kinda guess that we became the model minority as a mix of pride and fear.

As a 1st generation (1.5 generation) Asian American, this trope really hurts us. I've recently gone to therapy to re-learn that emotions are real, perfection isn't achievable, and that you shouldn't compare yourself to others. Mental health is a real issue in Asian Americans and it's only exasperated by the fact that many of our parents don't think it's real and general society thinks that we're just supposed to naturally be smart and high achieving. Thus, invalidating our issues. Growing up, I had to learn to assimilate to American culture. I was only surrounded by Non-Latino Whites and African Americans. After realizing that I didn't fit in with white people, who's culture did I have left? African Americans. I think this is what people don't understand when they say Asian Americans "act white" or "act black." We didn't have any other choices. Our parents learned that by assimilating, they could get a foothold in a different world so that's what they taught us. There was never a "be yourself" for me. You either assimilate or you won't make it.

There’s actually this study that shows that Nigerian Americans are the most educated ethnic group on the US but most mainstream media ignores this bc that would go against the model minority trope.

Wow, this hit close to home. I'm adopted (chinese into a white family) and was raised to be just like any other white child, but desperately tried to fit into this trope. People would expect of me good grades just because of my face. At first I didn't understand it since I considered myself to be white, but every single day I was reminded that I was not. It was crushing realizing that I don't belong. Being adopted made 'not belonging' worse since my 'real' (biological) family didn't want me to begin with, so my 'second' family couldn't possibly love me as their 'real' child (they do). Since I couldn't change my appearance, I tried to be a 'good asian kid', tried to be a 'full-fledge chinese'. But I can't be 'chinese enough' nor 'white enough'. Surprisingly to me, I've experienced the same amount of rejection from white and chinese people: I'm not 'a real chinese person'. I wasn't raised in China nor my parents are Chinese. I'm not 'Asian-european'. My parents are not Chinese nor immigrants of any generation. I was raised white, so how can I possibly understand 'their' struggle? I'm not 'white'. I was born in China, so to western eyes I'm automatically Chinese although I haven't stepped in Chinese soil since I was 18 months (the age I was adopted at). Sorry for the lengthy comment! Just wanted to share my experience. Thanks for taking the time to read :)

I really do not feel like Lilly from Pitch Perfect is a model minority. She's soft spoken, but she's also certified psychotic. She makes angels in vomit she falls into, sets fires to feel joy, and ate her twin in the womb. It seems more like they made her soft spoken and psycho for comedic effect.

I think this is also gets at why it's important to have Asian-American stories told by actual Asian-Americans. One reason I loved Mindy Kaling's Never Have I Ever was because it took character traits that would have been tropes or stereotypes in a white writer's hands-Devi being good at school, her mom being strict, Kamala and Steve being two Asian students at CalTech-and turned them into something real and complex. I'm not South Asian so I can't comment on other representational aspects of the show, but it still meant a lot to me

I'm African American and my best friend when I was little was of Indian descent but from Fiji. Her family loved having me over their house but she wasn't allowed at my house. Her parents were too afraid to have her at my house because we were black. Funny thing is my family was a quiet lower middle class family. Our house were super decent and safe. But they didn't see that only color. Lol

Great video! I'm a Black woman and this video helped me understand the pitfalls of the model minority myth. I'd like to hear your take on the "Oreo" stereotype and the African immigrant stereotype.

A little nitpick, but I don't think Big Hero 6 is a good example (used in the intro montage). Hiro is very smart, yes, but he's a bit hot-headed and impulsive. He also had a large group of friends he made pretty easily. His family is very warm and his aunt is incredibly permissive and open with him, they expect him to succeed to some extent but it's not presented as rigid. He also nearly gets Baymax to kill the (white) antagonist. He doesn't fit the trope in almost any way other than his smarts.

london tipton was also a really good deviation from the typical smart asian stereotype

Thank you for including Indians in the Asian Category ☺️🙏

The Take has been one of the greatest and most informative youtube channels I've ever subscribed to. In terms of film analysis, I take your opinions as gospel because of how well thought out, detailed and backed up your points always are.

I can't believe you didn't include Jason from the Good Place! He's such a great example of an Asian American character who doesn't fit the model minority stereotype.

-I suffered for my degree -I had ups and downs -I cried, I was angry and i had to go through an emotional rollercoaster -My parents had no money. They werent smart, neither am I -I never did too well in school Yet people always say "hahaha so funny, Indians and Asians are always better, theyre smart anyways". Our achievements are not appreciated, they are made fun of. And its fcking dehumanizing

Hidetoshi Hasagawa (from The Office) is revealed to have killed a Yakuza mob boss on purpose while performing surgery, so I don't think that fits the stereotype of the harmless, hardworking Asian.

Where the f*uck is Jason Mendoza in this???

When they showed the main character in Never Have I Ever I just though “yeah,but that’s a social-economical profile of a middle classe girl,basically the personality of a white basic girl” and by the end of the video I realized I was associating being like any other teenager exclusively to white ppl,because media teaches us that they are the only ones who deserve to be human. I’m shocked. Thank you this for the video,once again trowing away every opinion I thought I had and making it better 🥰🥰🥰

I would love to see an analysis on the fiery Latina trope

I’m dumb as hell my mom beat the smartness into me

Does Diane Nyugen from Bojack Horseman also count in this new age of Asian-American representation? I think she’s a great character but I’m not Asian-American so I wouldn’t know.

Also when westerners think of Asian, they usually think about Chinese or East Asian. Since East Asian countries are known to be a quite developed country, people tend to dismiss many Asian who were born in a poor country and had to work hard to even study abroad. Also I hated it when people say “You don’t look Asian.”

As a Jewish American, I can relate to a lot of this - although it's obviously not 1:1 there are a lot of parallels in the progression of the status of "Asian" in the USA to the status of "Jew". The first generation are the "aliens" - shunned and denied on account of their strange language and culture and signifiers of otherness, and then hypocritically derided for their "clannishness" and "stinginess" - retrospectively to be praised for their "self-reliance" and "frugality" once the next generational transition is made. The _successful_ members of this generation are the ones who managed to set up a small enterprise of some kind, the sort that can be capitalized on whatever an extended family of immigrants can scrape together and run on the unpaid labor of their children, and create the conditions for the next generation to take the next step. The next generation are the "model minority" - or to put it another way, "almost White". They're the ones the first generation sent to college, with strict discipline and high expectations, aiming for a high-status and highly-paid professional career. If they take any role in the first generation's family business after graduation, it's with a business degree, and the mindset to match. Normally they flee as far away from that as possible, making their parents both sad and proud. And as they struggle with the conflict between fleeing the conditions of their youthful servitude and maintaining the familial connection with their parents, they also struggle with the conflict between rejecting the otherness with which they're regarded and maintaining a connection with the distinct culture of their parents and the "old country" that signify home and identity. The succeeding generations become decreasingly treated as "minorities" or "ethnic" and increasingly treated as different shades of "normal" - or to put it another way, "contingently White". Still recognized as more-or-less distinct due to their "other" heritage and remaining cultural (and physical) markers - and still subject to malicious and sometimes deadly othering no matter how many generations later - we become increasingly accepted as part of the in-group. Our opportunities and expectations likewise become less circumscribed, in either direction. And eventually too, all traces of cultural distinctiveness vanish, save for those few which end up being absorbed into the general mass culture as a whole and barely recognizable to the original. (I learned more Yiddish from Bugs Bunny than from my _bubbe_ ) All of the above plays out above the social layer of those whose racialized identities make them categorically and irrevocably _not-White_ and in fact the _opposite_ of White, for whom the above generational progression is almost entirely denied (the fact that people who buy into the "post-racial" myth will immediately shout the names of the few famous exceptions to this rule only goes to prove the rule), and the statistically realistic parameters of "success" are forever circumscribed by their status as alien/other as with the first generation of immigrants, but generation after generation.

The amount of pressure the model minority puts over real-life minority individuals should be considered a crime. The damage it causes to one's self-confidence is outrageously vast.

As an Asian-African-American who fits most of the stereotypes of the smartest person around, I have to say life is extremely stressful because I mess up even for slightest, it's like an ocean of disappointment floods over me. And then speaking for my other Asian American friend who doesn't fit the stereotype and gets rather average grades, he constantly feels disappointed in himself for not living up to the standards culture has brought on him

Señor Chang from community single-handedly dismantles the model minority trope. God I love that show.

I’m asian but i suck at studying, but i’m good with my hands. I love making stuffs like woodworking, hands craft.

"So what made you want to be a lawyer?" "My parents told me to be one...."

Dwight's "How many Indian CEOs can you think of?" its so different in 2020 though

London Tipton from Suite Life if Zack and Cody is another good example of an Asian young woman not playing a model minority. :)

Too Indian/not Indian enough... Oh Christ! This is an actual problem among all minorities and it pisses me the hell off! I remember a friend complaining about her parents complaining about her being "too white", like wtf?!?! Was she dipped in paint??

"Wherever general well-being is declining, minorities are targeted." J.S. Margot

Lol why r people disliking the vid... Its only been up for like 8 mins wow

''Must be nice to be naturally smart and get A's all the time.'' ''Yeah it's very nice to be threatened to be disowned if I don't study 10 hours a day.''

As a jew, I feel like we also have to deal with the model minority stuff a lot as well. The world really expects us to be doctors and lawyers but then when we’re successful, people use it as fodder to discriminate against us.

DISNEY PRINCESS ANALYSIS! Please!!! I'd love to see an analysis on each Disney princess and what we can learn from them and their movies! I'd love to see a Disney series on this channel and I'm sure I'm not alone!

I’m Nigerian but this describes my parents so well...and are families

I feel like Asians are getting more recognition for sure, but in my own anecdotal experience it's more Asian women. Asian men IMO rarely ever given any real roles and are continually imascualted in movies

This is amazing could you do a video about how the black representation in media is getting more and more light and closer to white beauty ideals e.g. less kinky hair, less wide/flat noses, lighter skin tones. And the whitewashing of many beloved characters

From The Golden Girls: “I’m going to live, my doctor is a Jew!” So 1980s...

I was hoping you would include the "Yappy" web series by Wong Fu Productions. I don't think it's a perfect series but it does tackle this subject matter with some nuance. It's also made by KZfaq filmmakers regarded as some of the early prominent Asian digital creators. They're one of the reasons I decided to pursue a career in film/video production

I had this conversation with one of my friends from Saudi - we were going over male stereotypes in America. I was telling her that my whole life I was given an impression of Asian men as "emasculated" and they were not sexual beings. They were helpful human calculators that walked around and were friendly....like a flight attendant. I was explaining that this trope came about for the same reasons so as to not threaten the racial hierarchy. If white men were not afraid that Asian men would take their white women (like the fear was with black men), then they could allow them in their circles. Also, acting meek avoided fights from both black and white men. They stick with their families because Asian men have a harder time dating other races. Asian women on the other hand tend to get with white men because that "meekness" actually works for white men who can't get white women or any woman. All they have is a regular western job and the status that comes with "white" and that is good enough for some Asian women. It's all very sad but I hope that it can change over time.

I’m mixed Asian-Latino. Trust me when I tell you that there is subtle and overt racism from three sides: larger society, Latinos, and Asians. Thanks for this video

When I was a kid, I always thought that asians were white and just had weird eyes (calm down, I was a little kid) yet I still had the stereotypes in mind, being good at math and stuff.

Jason Mendoza is the ultimate Asian anti-stereotype

"They never pose any real threat to the white status quo" Immediately shows Amanda Waller shoving Katana behind her

This is literally the first lit analysis video that I've seen about any Asian American centric topic in media and I think that pretty much sums it up

Could you make one of these videos but for hispanics? That would be great.

I’m so glad they included and when they talked about Asians they recognised and acknowledged the VARIETY...I’ve been told a number of times that I’m not Asian because I’m Indian which is a country that is LITERALLY SMACK BANG IN ASIA

This is my favourite youtube channel now, thank you for consistently great content! xx

Yass! Thank you for taking our recommendations. Y’all finesse the mess out of these👌🏾

Mississippi Masala is so underrated.

As an Asian person, I often felt like I was a bad Asian due to the fact I struggled with subjects in school and was more into the arts. I remember someone saying all Asian people are smart and then another person saying I was stupid and an exception.

Thank you so much. Waited so long!

The west is really strange

Never been this fast!

Thank you for posting this! I wish there was more of a breakdown of the Model Minority MYTH and not just being a Model Minority because I think that gets at the heart of the matter. Someone who watched this video will still come away with the perception that Asian/Pacific Islander people are culturally superior to other communities of color (this is the core of the myth and why it never dies). Yes, people of Asian and Pacific Islander (API) descend overall are wealthy, highly educated, and meet societal norms of "success" but if we don't breakdown why that is we do a disservice to them. The primary reason API folks are wealthy/educated in the US is because of immigration policy not because of culture. For example, Indian Americans are far wealthier than Cambodian Americans but that's because majority of Indian Americans came from wealthy Indian families, while a lot of Cambodian Americans came as refugees. Japanese Americans are wealthier than Viet Americans because wealthy Japanese moved here while Viet immigrants are poorer. Even when you look at different waves of Chinese Americans and when they came you see who is doing "better" not because one group is more "Chinese" but because one group was wealthier/more educated in their previous country. This is why Nigerian Americans are wealthier/more educated. It's not like they are culturally superior to Cambodians or Somalis its because they already have resources. Somali Americans immigrated under a Civil War and strife. A lot of them are refugees or refugee adjacent. Obviously, being wealthy gives you a really good shot at staying wealthy. This myth covers up poverty in Asian and Pacific Islander communities and blames Black Americans for the systemic racism they suffer.

love this video! means really a lot to me that you made it!

Thank you so much for making this video. I just "joined" your channel. You're one of the best channels on KZfaq and you're doing important work here. Keep it up! ❤️

Can you guys do a video on the black (ex) girlfriend trope? How in TV shows and movies they’ll often show a male protagonist as having a black (ex) girlfriend as a way to integrate a token black character, but outside of Shonda Rhimes’s work they are never presented as real viable love interests. I’m not black but it’s something that seems to have become more common as tv shows and movies want to appear more progressive without doing any real work

they also give the model minority a white romantic partner, even if they're toxic

I guess I am the only Asian who's failed in her school. (Or didn't get A's at school)

That Asian calling out that black girl about how they handle racism got me. As an Asian that got bullied by black people I wondered that same question

This is so true, as an Indian American 🇺🇸. There is an obsession in the community to be living a rich country club in the US. That’s the measure of success in the Indian community here.

The problem with stereotypes is that they paint broad strokes about the cultures in question without seeking to understand them and their point of view.

I think the explanation/examples/connections made in this video are really well done

I love this The Tropes content !!! It is so well researched, it is really impressive 👏

A take on black men and masculinity. Inspired by The Game coming to Netflix

So glad because you actually read our comments 🥰

As an Asian American who is really into studying films, I’m SOOO happy you guys covered this on your channel! The representation of Asians in Hollywood/movies has always been a problem to me, and this has also negatively affected the way I viewed myself growing up. I didn’t think I could love you guys more! This just goes to show how awesome your channel is!! 🥳🥳🥳

YESSS Thank you for throwing in that bit about Hello Peril... As an Asian American from SF, I really loved that movie and love to see it referenced in other places

I feel like racism against Asians is so normalised. I was once talking about it to one of my friends (white friend too) and she said, ‘yeah but u don’t go through it like black ppl.’ I never said anything about racism against black ppl I was talking about my own experiences as a Pakistani. Racism isn’t a competition. No one should be trying to prove they go through worse racism because it’s all bad, and saying that one race goes through it worse than the other is saying that racism is okay as long as it’s ‘not too bad.’ When rlly it’s never okay to any degree against any minority.

So glad to see this video on a succesful channel! I always try to tell my students that stereotypes and prejudices are wrong, even if they seem good. Don't put people in boxes or assume what they are, just get to know them and don't generalize.

The amazing experience of watching videos from this channel is complemented with the amazing and insightful comment section. I didn't know youtube comment sections could be so great! I always learn a lot by scrolling through it!

Needed it. Thank you.

its hard being Indian when u r constantly pushed out of the term "Asian" simply for not sharing features as Koreans, Chinese, Filipinos, or other east Asians

I still don’t see how using a blaccent is justified given the anti-blackness of many Asian communities.

I just love this channel so much :)

I love this video. Thanks for making it