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<p>@pandem</p>
<p>That’s a funny thing to say, considering the no. of Asians in design for fashion - such as Anna Sui, Vera Wang, David Chu (who started Nautica), Derek Lam, Alexander Wang, Peter Som, Vivienne Tam, Sunhee Moon, etc. to interior home design to automobile design (for instance, both the Camaro and Mustang were designed by Asian-Americans, as well as the Chevy Volt).</p>
<p>Not to mention all the Asian-American architects and ones who started new art styles (such as Nam June Paik who started the video art movement and George Nakashima, architect and furniture maker who is known as one of the fathers of, of all things, the American craft movement).</p>
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<p>It’s not a cultural thing, but rather an economic thing (after all, it’s not like there aren’t artists, writers, musicians, filmmakers, designers, etc. in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, India, Thailand, etc.).</p>
<p>Many immigrants and their families have to worry about surviving financially - which means the children doing well academically to ensure some sort of financial stability.</p>
<p>Otoh, children of monied immigrant families do often end up venturing into the arts since $$ isn’t an issue (i.e. - Vera Wang).</p>
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- pandem</p>
<p>I guess just b/c a bunch of ignoramuses write about it on the net, it must be true.</p>
<p>First off, there are plenty of Asian artists, writers, filmmakers, etc. in Asia.</p>
<p>Second, there are actually many Asian-American writers as well (just b/c you don’t know of them doesn’t mean they don’t exist).</p>
<p>Third, there are actually a good no. of Asian-Am (non-classical) musicians/singers as well (again, just b/c you don’t know of them doesn’t mean they don’t exist) - many being in “indie bands” or actually going overseas to get a better shot at a career (for instance, a surprising no. of pop singers/dancers in SKorea are Korean-Americans).</p>
<p>Fourth, there are many Asian-Am fashion designers, interior designers, chefs, dancers, etc.</p>
<p>Heck, aside from the well-established names, one only has to see (ironically) all the “reality shows” such as “Project Runway”, “Top Chef”, “Chopped”, “Design Star”, “The Next Food Network Star”, “America’s Best Dance Crew”, “So You Think You Can Dance”, etc. where Asian-Ams have not only competed, but won (a good no. of the competitions; for “America’s Best Dance Crew”, Asian-Americans have actually dominated).</p>
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<p>Uhh, there is no such thing as “Christian free will.”</p>
<p>Anyway, Asians (and in particular, Asian males) have long been seen as a threat.</p>
<p>This goes as far back to the era of silent films and early talkies where AFs were portrayed as exotic, and the Asian men (such as Fu Manchu) were portrayed as conniving and devious - hence, the start of the whole “yellow peril” theme.</p>
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–The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu</p>
<p>The “yellow peril” theme continued w/ the propaganda and films revolving around WII (and the battle against the Japanese), the Korean War, the Vietnam War; carried on w/ the economic rise/perceived threat of Japan during the mid 1980s/early 1990s (remember films like “The Rising Sun”, “Gung Ho”, etc.; not to mention the murder of Vincent Chin, whose murderers got off w/o serving any jail time); and continues today w/ the economic rise of China.</p>
<p>While things have improved some, the portrayal of Asians, particularly Asian males, has largely stayed the same (heck, the portrayal of gay men in the media have seen greater advances).</p>
<p>The “yellow peril” is a major reason why we hardly see any Asian-Am male news reporters sitting in the anchor chair, while AAF news anchors are eponymous.</p>