Chris Collins

On December 18, 1996, a wave of disapproval was expressed throughout the country after the Oakland Board of Education passed legislation entitling the Ebonics language to be a dialect distinct from, and as legitimate as, Standard American English. The unanimous passage of such legislation by the Oakland Unified School District suggested that teachers be trained to speak Ebonics and that the school district consider applying for federal bilingual education funds for black students. At the time, the school district had a population of over 52,000 students, of which 52% were African American. The historical decision by Oakland's Board of Education had an underlying message for not only African Americans, but for any demographic group with a cultural language in the United States. That message was that the speech stereotypes in place in the U.S. were unwarranted and discriminatory. The commonly held belief that those who do not speak the standard, or "right," form of language are uneducated and can only speak that dialect have been, according to linguistics, detrimental to the educational development of African American youth. Even though most people may consider Ebonics to be a ' 'wrong' ' form of English, it has been proven that most people who speak it are able to speak Standard English as well. The adjustment process between Standard English and other home languages will be addressed in this paper. The concept of Team Talk will be introduced and considered as a model of the transition process between Ebonics and Standard English. The purpose of this essay is to address and establish the phenomenon of Team Talk so policymakers can take it into account when setting policy.

According to Stanford University Professor John Rickford, Ebonics is a pervasive facet of Americana, evident and influential in American literature, music, everyday life and popular culture. Ebonics is the most distinctive and vital native dialect of English in the United States (Rickford 8). Note that linguists such as Rickford use the term dialect as a neutral term to refer to the systematic usage of a group of speakers (for instance those in a particular region or social class) . Linguists stress that within the realm of linguistics the term has none of the negative connotations that it sometimes has in everyday usage. American dialects are a rich and varied lot, but none has been more studied by linguists over the past thirty years than Ebonics, and certainly none has generated more controversy.

The implementation of Ebonics into the teaching curriculum of Oakland's School District spawned controversy as massive press coverage (including nearly five hundred news articles) was dedicated to it. The precedent for this landmark decision was established in 1979 in the "King Case" in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The judge in this historic case found that the Ann Arbor School District Board had failed to provide equal educational opportunity for African American plaintiffs attending martin Luther King Junior Elementary School. The school board was culpable by failing to teach its teachers about the Ebonics spoken by their students and about means of taking it into account in helping such students to read, write and communicate in Standard English (Rickford 10). The precedent set in Ann Arbor laid the groundwork for the Oakland Board of Education's decision nearly two decades later. What developed during those two decades helped prove that Ebonics is a dialect distinct to African American culture and not an inferior form of the English language.

A new development over the past two decades in the study of Ebonics has revolved around the "Creole" issue. The Creole issue has to do with long-standing arguments about whether Ebonics is descended from a Creole language similar to the English-based vernaculars of the Caribbean (Rickford 11). During this period there has been the availability of precise quantitative information on the current English of the African American Diaspora as spoken by African Americans who migrated to Liberia, West Africa, Nova Scotia, Canada, Samana, and the Dominican Republic. One other contribution to the development was the discovery in the Library of Congress of previously unstudied recordings of the speech of former slaves born in the mid-nineteenth century. Together, these two developments have helped the Oakland Board of Education establish that Ebonics is a naturally used cultural, or home, language. According to William Labov, every naturally used language variety is systematic, with regular ties at the lexical, phonological and grammatical level. (Labov 153). The theoretical reason is that the successful acquisition and use of a language variety in a community of speakers would be impossible if language were not systematic and rule-governed. Labov emphasizes that if every speaker could make up his or her own words and rules for pronunciation and grammar, communication between different speakers would be virtually impossible.

Thus with the past similarities between the "Creole" issue and current linguistic traits of today's African American community, Ebonics is considered a dialect of English that is independent of intelligence or educational level. However, the controversy surrounding Ebonics was whether people could make the transition between it and Standard English. For example, in the Simpson trial, a worldwide media event, Ebonics was one of the many issues argued over. Readers may recall the squabble between Prosecution lawyer Chris Darden and Defense attorney Johnny Cochran in July 1995 about whether an African American could be identified as such by his or her voice. Darden argued yes, and Cochran vied no, and Judge Ito became so agitated at the bickering on this issue that he stormed off the bench and left the court for fifteen minutes. Consequently, both Darden and Cochran were correct. Cochran was right because there is no absolute connection between race and vocal characteristics (a person raised entirely in a White community, with White friends is likely to sound "White," or standard). Darden was correct since most African Americans do sound distinctively different from Whites (namely Standard English speakers), and can accurately identified as such 85% of the time or more (Rickford 12). A common example of a situational switch between Ebonics and Standard English can be depicted in a simple phone call. Such an example is portrayed in Appendix A, when a woman actually describes the switch Darden and Cochran found allusive.

The reason Darden and Cochran argued was because people can actually shift dialects depending on whom they are talking to. Darden was basing his argument on the stereotype that if an African American speaks Ebonics, he is unable to switch to Standard English. Cochran, however, had the similar flaw, but reversed. The problem with their arguments was that they never considered the conditions O.J was speaking under. In fact, I would argue that you couldn't distinguish what race a person is solely by their voice on the phone as long as they are aware of whom they are speaking with. I will prove that people who have a home language other than Standard English cannot only switch between the two, but under certain conditions form a hybrid that isolates them and their group members from those outside their group.

This paper accepts the proposition that people are able to switch from Standard English and their cultural language, or in this instance Ebonics, depending upon what group and situation they are interacting within. According to John McWhorter, University of California, Berkeley professor of Linguistics, "there is a general misconception in America that somebody who speaks a nonstandard dialect is only able to speak that. In linguistics, that person is considered bidialectical. That means that in casual speech, you speak in dialect; in a prison cell, speaking to a lawyer, you switch into formal, Standard English" (McWhorter 7). In situations where there is a group in pursuit of a common goal, people acquire the dialects from each other and form a hybrid language. This hybrid will be referred to as Team Talk throughout this paper and occurs when there is external pressure to accomplish a task as a group.

Certain examples of when Team Talk prevails include athletic teams, military platoons or fraternities. The remainder of this paper will focus on how certain norms of interaction within a group contribute to the development of Team Talk. The phenomenon of Team Talk will be described within the context of athletic teams at Stanford University. In particular, certain relevant characteristics of football and baseball teams will be examined according to the lexical, phonological and grammatical adjustments made by their members in reaction to the norms of interaction within the group.

Before we delve into the language adjustments made by team members, it is important to describe the more important components of speech. Such components are the forms of speech, scene, norms of interaction, message form, message content, channels of speech, and norms of interpretation (Hymes 60). In the context of Team Talk, the demographic composition of the team itself is a determining factor of which dialects dominate the group's speech patterns. Specifically, the forms of speech, or the number of different dialects present within the team, are crucial to the development of Team Talk. The scene is the time, place, and psychological setting of the group. The typical scenes related to Team Talk can differ greatly. From the playing field to the locker room, the psychological setting greatly influences the adjustment between home and standard languages in Team Talk. Norms of interaction are specific cultural properties relating to speaking. Such norms are distance from speakers when speaking, not speaking when the coach is, addressing the coach with nicknames, or to warn players on the field about the opposition. For the purposes of this paper, the forms of speech will be Ebonics and Standard English. The scene will either be the formal, "game and practice conditions," and less formal "locker room conditions." The norms of interaction will be determinant upon the scene. The forms of speech, scene, and norms of interaction all effect the fourth component, message form, of Team Talk.

The message form is the easiest component of speech to identify. It is the easiest component to identify because it is what people say and how they say it. In particular, message form is comprised of three components: lexicon, phonology, and grammar. Lexicon is simply another word for vocabulary. The use of certain words or phrases is common to certain cultures. For example, speakers of Ebonics commonly use words such as "def," "dope," "stupid," "digits," "dissin," "bad, "word" and "witness" (Anderson 90). What is important to note is that Standard English speakers use some of these words. Words that are used by people who speak two different dialects are considered to be "crossover terms" (Labov 173).

During my experience on the Stanford Baseball Team, I had little exposure to crossover terms. I did not have much experience with dialectics other than Standard English since the demographic makeup of the team was mainly middle class caucasians. However, two out of the forty members on the squad were African Americans. These individuals did have distinct dialectical differences from the rest of the members. One of the prominent areas of distinction was their vocabulary. In particular, they used words such as "dope," "ill," crackin'," and "sick." However, these words only dominated the teams' vocabulary during conditions familiar to the "locker room" variety, but were used on a trendy basis. Specifically, these words were used as crossover terms, and team members used these words at a large extent for around a two-week period. For instance, most team members would use the word "sick" with a large frequency until they would discover a new trendy word. The cycle would continue throughout the time members were in close contact (such as practice, games and travelling) with each other. An inference that I took out of this common cycle of words is that it was an in-crowd and out-crowd determinant. In other words, it was a way of alienating those that were not members of the team, therefore maintaining stability within the group.

The composition of the football team was very different from that of the baseball team. Out of the one ninety-seven players on the football team, sixty-three are African American. According to Che'Holloway, most of these players have a distinct Ebonics dialect. Mark Sanders, a football team member of African American background, was a little surprised to see the distinct dialect by the players when he first came to Stanford. Even though he speaks Ebonics himself, he was under the assumption that since Stanford was such a prestigious university his teammates would speak Standard English. Of course, this turned out to be untrue. In fact, the use of certain words by football team members is more prevalent in informal settings. DeRonnie Pitts, who is also of African American descent, said that since the team is so large, it is a little easier for cliques to form. One driver for cliques he realized is the use of words. Such words as "choco," "slippin'" and "kiddy" are words he has used many times this past year. What he said was that most players used these words in the informal setting. He noticed that African American players said they used these words differently than those that are not of African American descent. Regardless, similar to the baseball team the use of these words help form a distinction between team members and those outside the team, or in-groups and out-groups.

The language of the baseball team used in the formal conditions, whether at practice or in games, was quite distinct from Standard English as well. The scene in practices had a hierarchical atmosphere since our coaches were the only ones who were allowed to speak with any volume. So the form of interaction between players was in the form of comments made to mock the coaches' power trip. An area of language distinction was our coaches' phonological variation. For example, our head coach used the word "suck" as an expression for feelings of disgust. He was not a person to curse, so he substituted the letter "5" for "f." Over the many years of saying the word, it became instinctual to use that word. It had become a part of his vocabulary. It had become a characteristic inherent to his team's Team Talk.

When a player heard our coach say this word, he knew that the once joyful locker room atmosphere was now one of game-like intensity. Our coach's language helped develop an "us against them" mentality by us, which alienated himself from the rest of the team. This would foster a norm of interaction by the players to whisper when speaking with one another. Players always made sure that the coach could not hear what they said. When they did want to speak with the coach, they would address him formally and use Standard English. Thus, the leader of the team in Team Talk could quite possibly not be considered a part of the team, depending on the norms of interaction developed. In other words, the coach or leader of the group may actually be in the out-group while the remaining members remain in the in-group. Obviously, there are more factors than speech that create this situation, but the importance of this analysis is to show that Team Talk can even alienate those within the group, depending on the norms of interaction.

Practice situations found the football team competing amongst each other. In particular, the offense competes against the defense in almost every drill. These encourage distinct in-groups and out-groups within the team. Pitts and Sanders both agreed that there is a distinct difference between being an offensive and defensive player. One difference they found was in the use of language. For instance, while in the more formal drills, defensive players bark before every play against the offensive team. They do this for two reasons. The first is to intimidate the offensive players. The other is to show that they are a cohesive group that will not be intimidated. On the whole, the football team is comprised of two teams-the offensive and defensive team. The kickers, who are primarily on the special teams, are considered weird and not a part of the team. Interestingly enough, the only kicker that the other members consider a part of the team is a person who uses the words the whole team uses. Even though he has no affiliation to offense or defense, he is still considered a part of the team because he can "relate" to the other members (Holloway) . However, there is an "us vs. them" mentality on the football team. However, it was directed at other sides of the ball, not coaches. In fact, coaches on one's specialty, whether offensive or defensive, were considered a part of the team since they actually used some of the words and language as their players.

Under baseball game conditions, there was less chance of alienation since norms of interaction were quite different. Players were more vocal than in practice, even though there were rules as to what they could say. As a player in the field, you were expected to cheer for your pitcher. This situation presented itself every inning, as the players on the field would yell words and phrases in support of their teammates. The duties of the players who were not playing at the time were to cheer for the other members of their team. The norm of interaction with those playing in the game was for these players to stand at the edge of the dugout for the duration of the game and yell words of encouragement to their teammates. The coaches would stand on the opposite side of the dugout and speak amongst themselves. This norm of interaction between players and coaches fostered an informal form of interaction between players and also maintained the "us against them" mentality.

However informal as members may have felt, they could not direct comments directly at the opposing team. For example, players were not allowed to yell, "you suck!" at the other team. But teammates found ways to bypass that rule by yelling words with varying voice intonations that would still get the opposition's attention. Phrases such as "swing it" were used after an opposing member swung and missed a pitch. Therefore in game situations, language is used as both a supportive and an intimidating factor in Team Talk. Whether language is used by members to support one another or by the coach in an effort to develop a game-like atmosphere for the players during practice, the overall result is to strengthen the in-groups and out-groups of the team.

Football game conditions were quite different than that of baseball's. The football team plays in front of anywhere from 40,000 to 100,000 people. Under these conditions, it becomes very difficult to hear the person next to you. Hence, under game conditions, vocal speech becomes obsolete. The "us vs, them" sentiments within the team actually enable the offensive and defensive groups to perform better in game conditions. Each side uses hand signals as a primary use of communication when they are unable to hear one another. Coaches send signals into the huddle for one member of each group, whether the quarterback or a linebacker, to relay to the rest of the group. The words of certain plays or formations are completely different for offensive and defensive players. For example, an offensive formation is called "far double wing left z-orbit 376 pump". Compared to the defensive formation called "hawk eagle kenny check wid me" (James Telesmanich) . Obviously, an offensive player would not be able to understand a defensive call, or vice versa. This is a further example of groups within a team developing comfortable stability by using language.

Stanford Football team members whom I interviewed confirmed that they made the similar inference regarding the use of vocabulary, as well as speech, in order to remain distinct from any other groups on campus. The composition of the football team was completely opposite of that of the baseball team. There was more variety in the vocabulary used by its members, but the similar effect occurred. Namely, its members would use certain words to "fit in." One interesting note was that even though the head coach of the football team was an African American with an Ebonics background, he still followed the similar patterns of interaction with his players as the coach of the Stanford baseball Team, a Caucasian, did. However, those I interviewed said that African American players actually felt closer to the coach than did members of other backgrounds. This was inferred that those players could communicate better with the coach in an informal setting than members from other demographic groups. However in this case, the coach has narrowed the 'us versus them" gap between him and his players, even though there existed a large "us vs. them" feeling between the offensive and defensive groups within the team.

The "us versus them" mentality that the Oakland School Board addressed in its 1996 landmark decision acknowledged the distinction between standard and home languages. The decision, along with the research of John Rickford, William Labov, and John McWhorter, has developed an awareness of the speech stereotypes in place in the United States. Certain people are expected to speak only one certain way. If a person is educated, he or she is expected to speak Standard English. If the person is not educated, then he or she is expected to be unable to speak Standard English. However, through this analysis I showed that people have informal ways of speaking and make transitions between their dialect and Standard English depending on the situation. I continued this analysis by addressing the phenomenon of Team Talk. Team Talk is a hybrid of communication between members of a group with external pressure to perform as a cohesive unit. Fitting in with other members of a team is an important feature of Team Talk, and language provides the method to do so Team Talk within teams depends on many factors, and can be used to form one cohesive unit (baseball) or a compellation of groups (football) in order to perform at its highest level. What the media should do about the phenomenon is a subject necessary for another in depth examination to be performed in another paper. For the purposes of this paper, Team Talk exists and the certain circumstances surrounding a group should be considered by policymakers when making policy decisions.

Adele Givens (African American Comedian)

This is Tamika Speaking. How may I help you? Ah,...dis Tamika James. How may I halp you?...Yes it is. How may I help you?...Tamika with the tef misin' in the front. Then you gotta to break it down: Bitch-I's me, Bitch!

Then she (Tamika's friend) be proud, "Damn, Girl! You could talk just like a white woman!" She be proud because you could-And you know where Tamika learned that? You know how Tamika learned how to talk like that? She ain't just start. Da "fake bitch" been around for years! Because everybody here, when you were little, you could tell who yo mama-who she was talking to on the phone. You just heard the "fake bitch" when she took over, didn't you?

'Cause when her friends call, it's like, "Hello...? Oh, hey how ya doin, Girl. I ain't doin nothin... Cookin these beans! Yeah, I know we had them yesterday. But beab=ns taste better the second day, y---? Girl, I can't hardly hear nothin you sayin, these kids with all that damn noise. Ya'...ya'-hold on. Let me-Ya'll kids stop all that damn noise. People think I ain't taught you nothing!

That's how she talk to her friends. But you let the principal...or the insurance man...or somebody white calling: "Hello. Oh, hi Mr. Kennedy, how are you? Gee, you haven't received it yet I mailed it out Tuesday. Well, don't you worry. I've got the account number. I'm gonna track it down-can you hold on for just a second, Mr. Kennedy? I can barely hear you? Children, Mommy's on the phone now.

Get to know me White people so I can relax and just talk to you like I talk to everybody else. Don't leave me. And, watch out for the "fake bitch." The "fake bitch" don't only survive in the Black community. Come white people. You know "fake bitches" live. I don't bash tile "fake bitch" I celebrate he 'cause she the one got yo' ass where you at today.

Anderson, Monica F. Black English Vernacular. Harvard University Press, Harvard, MA, 1992.

Givens, Adele, HBO Def Comedy Jam, 10/04/96.

Holloway, Che'. Member, Stanford University Football Team.

Hymes, Dell, "Models of Interaction of Language and Social Life," in J.G. Gumperz and D. Hymes (ed.), Directions in Sociolinguists, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, 1972, pp.35-71.

Labov, William, Sociolinguistical Patterns, Philidelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1972.

McWhorter, John, "People Don't Speak Just Black English," Los Angeles Times, October 31, 1998, Metro; Part B; Page 7.

Pitts, Deronnie. Member, Stanford University Football Team.

Rickford, John, Word Up: The Vernacular(s) of African Americans, Cambridge University Press, 1996.

Sanders, Mark. Member, Stanford University Football Team.

Talesmanich, James. Member, Stanford University Football Team.

Steven Han

Arriving on the shores of America, many Asian-Americans brought with them dreams of success, prosperity, and equality -ideals that have become the fabric of the American dream. Similar to their European counterparts, these immigrants have succeeded in fulfilling many of their dreams, surpassing the expectations of those around them. Yet despite this success, Asian-Americans have in many ways become a segregated segment of the American population, marginalized by propaganda, media, and evolved stereotypes in a way that affects the acceptance of Asians and in particular, Asian males, into popular culture. These stereotypes against Asian males have affected their image of integrity, physical attractiveness, and masculinity in ways that have created self-doubt and inter-community conflict. In this paper, I will focus on the origins of many of these stereotypes, the propagation of them, significance for the individual and community, and possible corrective measures to reduce these damaging images.

In a 1982 survey conducted at universities across the United States, Caucasian men and women as well as Asian women "described Asian men as 'wimpy', intense, emasculated, technically-minded, and un-sophisticated." (Nakano) Although treated in similar one-dimensional stereotypes, Asian women nevertheless fared better in the survey. So then, the question arises: where did these damaging stereotypes originate? The answer to this question may lay in the historical treatment and international conflict with peoples of Asian decent. In the mid 1800's, the first Asian-Americans, most of them of Chinese decent, came to the new world as indentured servants to work on the Trans-Atlantic railroad and in the gold-mines in California (Takaki). Just as Blacks were subordinately treated during this era, the early Chinese Americans were bought and sold, treated without respect, and characterized as heathens with snakelike features and deceptiveness (Takaki) . This trade of Chinese men to the new world, otherwise known as the Coolie Trade, began the first negative imagery of Asian males in America through written accounts, cartoons, and rumors (Harper's Magazine, 1864). It is also possible that because the early populations of Asian Americans were mostly male and because they were subordinated workers, white America automatically created a hierarchical division advocating that Asian men were "low & worthless". This kind of mentality is most likely the result of creating a hierarchy (slaves and owners) which leads to mistreatment, prejudice, and unwillingness to learn more about one another.

Then in the early 1900's began America's imperialistic tendencies in Asia as well as the Exclusion Acts, forbidding further entry of Asians into the United States. America's imperialism in Asia helped reinforce the existing mentality of superiority over Asians in the United States, prompting some to believe that Americans were instilling order to the "barbarous nations" of Asia (Takaki) . For Asian Americans, this meant the continuation of abuse and lack of respect that eventually became worse through war-time propaganda. During World War II, the notion of the "Yellow Peril" was prevalent, and it seemed as if America viewed Asians as the enemy. Propaganda helped fuel resentment in advertisements with Asian men depicted as evil, lurking demons threatening to take away the white woman (Takaki) . Existing negative images worsened as Japanese-Americans were sent to relocation camps and those who enlisted in the United States Military were assigned to segregated units. At this point, many Asian-Americans wanted to prove their American-ness, but were criticized as "enemies on American soil." Anti-Asian sentiment also continued through the Korean and Vietnam wars as white Americans fought against Asians in wars. The problem, though, was that Americans failed to distinguish between Asians and Asian Americans, many of which were dedicated to the United States and tried to fight in these wars for the United States, Through these wartime campaigns, Asians became known as "Japs, Nips, Gooks, and Chinks" (Takaki) Ironically, though, these wars also became the setting in which many American GI's came home with Asian brides, which added to the acceptance of Asian women in American society, but not for Asian men. This is important because while white Americans could kill Asian men in wars, it was "ok" to return home with Asian brides. Even today, the out-marriage rate of Asian women versus Asian men is disproportionately higher. This rate of out-marriage of Asian women is perceived to be a result of inadequacies of Asian men and thus contributed to the emasculation image of Asian males (Espiritu)

Since the Immigration Act of 1965, Asians were once again allowed to enter the United States, and since then, have done so at an unprecedented rate. But with this surge of immigrants, there has been a surge in anti-Asian violence and negative imagery as well as new stereotypes. With the economic ascendancy of East Asia, new stereotypes of the industrious, quiet, and diligent Asian male have come forth replacing stereotypes such as that of the barbaric heathen. Unfortunately though, this stereotype can be just as damaging as the one before it. Not all Asian males are quiet or industrious, and those who do not fit the mold are "considered to be aberrations and feel the pressure to conform" (Lam) . Moreover, the portrayal of Asian men as quiet and good at math does little to promote their attractiveness and desirability. Thus, the media has spawned the image of the male Asian "nerd" as in the movie "Sixteen Candles" or in the sitcom "Head of the Class" which was broadcast throughout the United States. Unfortunately, there has been no effort to portray the opposite, positive images of Asian-American men.

The media, specifically newspapers, television, and Hollywood were the primary sources from which Asian male stereotypes disseminated and found its way into American homes. Many stereotypes were created from historical prejudice and propaganda, but in the wake of the communications revolution, the image of the Asian man became more complex with more stereotypes that are just as damaging if not more. It was in Hollywood that images of the karate expert, wise old man, math nerd, deceptive businessman, unemotional and abusive patriarch, and emasculated Asian male became the acculturated norm. Embedded in the psyche of popular culture, movies such as "Rising Sun" portrayed the evil Asian businessman: sneaky, deceitful, lustful, and sinful. Then there were all the kungfu/karate movies in which every Asian male is capable of performing martial arts. Adding to this, the hero has always been a white man who wins by defeating the Asian man in combat (ie, Mortal Combat, Bloodsport, American Ninja, etc..) Excellent examples of Asian male emasculation can be found in "Good Morning Vietnam" and "Sixteen Candles". In "Good Morning Vietnam, " the hero is a white man who saves an Asian woman and the only examples of Asian males are either boys or homosexual men. Similarly, in "Sixteen Candles," the Asian male portrayed is seen as a nerdy boy who consistently looks for a girlfriend but cannot find one because he is unattractive. Then there are the countless movies with Asian gang members smuggling drugs or \~ involved in illegal activities. All of this adds to the stereotype that Asian men are untrustworthy, corrupt, unattractive and "losers". I feel that this imagery is a form of unspoken racism in that it is not overtly stated, but is subconsciously driven into the minds of America's populace.

One movie which I believe deserves special attention is the "Joy Luck Club," a movie about 4 Chinese American women, written by a Chinese-American woman. What I believe is unfortunate is that this movie does a very good job in reinforcing many of the stereotypes above and further makes Asian males appear abusive and self-serving; this is obviously not an attractive image. As a result, this movie has a special significance for inter-Asian relationships as well as the message it gives to non-Asian communities. As I will discuss later, the fact that an Asian-American woman wrote such a novel may signify the strength of the stereotypes which can turn an Asian-American woman against an Asian American man. This sort of stereotype has no truth, but it is the acceptance of them as the truth that has been ultimately harmful to the Asian American community.

Some stereotypes have even found their way into the political arena and have become a hotly debated issue. As recently as 2 years ago, amidst the Johnny Chung fundraising scandal for President Clinton, many fundraisers with Asian surnames found themselves being questioned for the motivations behind their donations. Further adding to the anti-Asian stereotypes and attitudes were a wave of China bashing through television and newspapers around the country. According to one political donator, he thought behavior of the media in reaction to the fundraising events were "blatantly racist and obviously an example of extreme stereotyping" (Kim)

So what does this all mean for the Asian American male? Are Asian American males deserving of these stereotypes, or "are they simply victims of societal and cultural norms?" (Nakano) These stereotypes do two things to the Asian American male; first, it creates unacceptance of Asian males in American society, and second, it creates for many a feeling of inadequacy and self-resentment. An example of external unacceptance in American culture is reflected in dating and marriage patterns. Several white males in a study by Nakano commented: "I think Asian American men on the whole are pretty lame. Did you ever notice how many Asian women date white men? You never see many Asian men dating white women, though" (Nakano) . On the otherhand, when asked to comment on Asian women, some said, "If they are really cute...exceptions can always be made" (Nakano) This double standard definitely shows that Asian women have an easier time acculturating into American society and being accepted. This double standard is also reflected in mass media. Above, I mentioned the stereotypical roles played by Asian men, but it must also be known that for the most part Asian men have been forced to remain behind the camera, their participation limited to "technical" positions. But, Asian American women have been able to achieve some success in the news and public information area and gain a certain degree of visibility.

Ironically enough, some of the most vocal criticism of Asian men have come from Asian women, and not from whites! One Asian woman commented: "I really get frustrated with them because they don't really try to understand you. Sometimes they can be very egotistical and very narrow-minded They have this narrow-minded view of how Asian American women should be" (Nakano) . A likely explanation for this attitude that some Asian women possess may be the result of buying into the stereotypes already created by American society, perceiving Asian males to be unattractive and undesirable. As mentioned above, the movie "Joy Luck Club", brings this internal stereotype to mainstream America. The movie is an example of Asian American women portraying Asian men in a negative light, reinforcing the negative views the media has repeatedly shown to popular culture. The pattern of outmarriage and dating by Asian women "reflect a sexualization of racism, that constructs white men as the most desirable sexual partners, frowns on the Asian-male-white women relations, and fetishizes Asian women" (Espiritu) . Given this view, it is possible to view the double standard above as the interlocking system of emasculation of the Asian male and racist attitudes toward him, even from Asian women!

Along with the plethora of Asian women stereotypes (discussed in the next chapter) , these controlling external images have created tension and resentment between both Asian men and women. Given these existing stereotypes, many Asian Americans do not think of other Asians in sexual terms (Espiritu) . But in particular, as we have seen above, many Asian females, because they buy into the existing stereotypes, fail to see Asian men as desirable marriage partners. In doing so, these women unconsciously enforce the "Eurocentric gender ideology that objectifies both sexes and racializes all Asians" (Espiritu). Most significantly, media images subordinate many Asians to whites and the resulting hatred of this perceived inferiority turns Asian American men and women against each other (Miyagawa). Obviously detrimental for the Asian American community and for self-efficacy, the only possible release from this negative imagery is to try and resist them. It seems too often that both Asian men, because of internal shame (explained below) , and Asian women, because of buying into stereotypes, would rather date non-Asians for reasons that are tacitly consistent with the unequal status of Asians in the United States.

These negative images and stereotypes have also been damaging internally to the psyche of Asian American males. Many have at some point felt that they "couldn't wash away feelings of inadequacy - barriers there because of (his) race and features" (Mura) . Just as others question the validity and masculinity of Asian men, Asian men themselves have also had to question themselves, inevitably creating in some feelings of shame and belief in those stereotypes. This is probably THE most damaging consequence of stereotypes against Asian men. The fact that not only those of a different race have accepted these stereotypes, but also that many Asian women have as well has had a profound impact on the psyche of the Asian man. Some even felt that they "didn't respect or love (themselves) enough to date someone who was like (them racially)" (Kang). This may eventually translate into social shyness in which Asian men feel that they are unwelcome, unattractive, and "wishing they were not Asian". Of course, what I have described is in the extreme form and does not always happen, but it happens more frequently than it does for Asian American women.

Changing the stereotypes and peoples' perception of them is of course impossible to do overnight. In this case, with the stereotypes affecting Asian American males, it would be especially difficult, given the current political tensions in Asia (China, North Korea, and Japan) , internal tensions spawned my illegal campaign contributions, and historical prejudices. For Asian American males, there may need to be an Asian men's movement, advocating their position and asserting their legitimacy in American society as energetic, artistic, athletic, attractive, and desirable. Perhaps, though, the best starting point is within the Asian community itself; "Asian men and women together should oppose the stereotypes that degrade each other and fight this system which seeks to divide them" (Miyagawa). strongly advocate intra-Asian relationships because this seems to be a practical way of resisting forced assimilation. For those who voluntarily pursue other relationships, it is still important to contribute to the community to help breakdown stereotypes and not fall prey to them. Then there needs to be a corresponding recognition by American popular culture as well. The vehicle that can be used to do this is the same that helped disseminate and perpetuate these stereotypes: the media. Another possible alternative may be an Asian American programming channel, challenging stereotypes and creating visible, positive imagery. Although the segmentation of the Asian American community along ethnic and socioeconomic lines may make this seem infeasible, Asian Americans are a significant contributors to American GDP and hold much economic clout. As a result, such a programming channel on television is more than adequately possible.

For Asian American men, the path to acceptance must start from within; by empowering themselves, Asian American men can empower their presence in American society. Of course, this is easier said than done, but the need for a support system is important to help realize this empowerment. Again, the media can do this. So how can we change the media's portrayal of Asian American men? That is also a mystery to me, but it is getting better as we speak.

Already, Hollywood has cast more Asian men in prominent or leading roles. Actors Jason Scott Lee, Jett Li, Jackie Chan, Chow Yun Fat, and Russell Wong are now becoming some of Hollywood's rising stars playing hero roles and portraying positive Asian male images. Many of these actors have been stamped as sex symbols and have done much to improve the image of the Asian male. Gracing the covers of magazines such as GQ are now Asian male models and in the ever-important arena of sports, Asian men have also made a splash. Undoubtedly, professional athletes are often the icons of desirability and now Asian male athletes have created a presence in America. In baseball, Chan Ho Park, Hideo Nomo, Hideki Irabu, Bruce Shen, and Benny Agbayani have joined the ranks of Mark McGuire and Ken Griffey Jr.. In Hockey, Jim Paek plays for the Penguins. In tennis, Michael Chang has risen to become on the best players winning countless titles. In Football, Eugene Chung and Dat Nygen have competed with some of the strongest and fastest athletes in America. Fortunately, the ranks of Asian male actors and athletes will grow and this will eventually help reshape the image of the Asian man. Curiously though, it seems that the saviors of Asian American men are coming from Asia, as many of the actors and athletes are not citizens of the United States.

As we have seen, the stereotypes created originated from many sources. First brought over as indentured servants, Asian males were quickly subordinated, ridiculed, and ostracized. Anti-Asian sentiment grew and culminated in the Exclusion Acts to prevent any further immigration. It was around then that wartime propaganda further stereotyped Asian males as animal-like, immoral, and treacherous. This stereotyping continued until the 1965 Immigration Act that made Asian immigration legal once more and until the economic ascendancy of Asia. At this point, new stereotypes arose and further degraded and emasculated Asian American men. These stereotypes included images of nerdiness, quietness, femininity, karate expert, and deceitfulness. Externally, such images have been transmitted via media institutions and accepted as valid by virtually everyone, even Asian American women. This not only affected the perception of the Asian man, but also his internal psyche; in some cases, Asian American men also bought into these stereotypes, creating self hate and resentment. Consequently, a tension between Asian American men and women exists. But this system is getting better. With better media portrayals, role models, and general acceptance, the image of the Asian American man is increasingly better.

Nakano, Roy. "Is There a Need for an Asian Men's Movement?", Asian Images. July, 1982.

Kang, Dredge. "Multiple -Box Person". January, 1985.

Mura, David. "Turing Japanese". 19xx.

Lam, Andrew. "Hollywood Discovers Seductiveness of Asian Male". New Asian Faces.19xx.

Yidrienne Lai

Dragon lady, sexual object, lotus blossom, subservient wife... these are all prevalent Asian American female images existing today dating all the way back from when the first Chinese immigrant stepped onto the soil of the this country. Madame Ah Toy, accompanied (or brought along) by two other Chinese men arrived in San Francisco in 1840 - marking the very first arrival of Asians in America. There were two contrasting of accounts of Toy and what she made of her living. One story describes her as an intellectual who hosted tea parties for cultured men. In the other version, she charged gold miners an ounce of gold to get a sneak peek at her in her lingerie'. Interestingly enough, Asian females today are not depicted in cinema as intellectuals that gave tea parties to cultured men. Wonder which story of Toy, as well as any of those that came after her, was favored?

Before further advancement into this study, however, it is imperative that the main stereotypes of Asian American females are outlined. Following the presentation of the stereotypes, the essay will thoroughly examine the assumptions charged upon Asian American females in three aspects: one, the origin of the stereotypes; two, the media portrayals of the stereotypes; and three, the effects of the stereotypes. To further take the analysis as explored from the three perspectives, a close examination of possible improvements will serve to conclude this discussion.

Stereotypes

Interestingly enough, many of the popular images of Asian females are similar and some entirely contradictory. However, one common denominator is that typically they are a reflection of a man's ideals or negative presumptions of a woman. The Madame Butterfly - a few descriptors in one similar set that one often correlate with an Asian woman: submissive, very patient, loyal, hard working, self-sacrificing, self effacing, gentle, and quiet. This is probably the image of a lot of Asian women one would see in a war film, a film about the horrendously hard and tragic lives of Chinese or Vietnamese families (oh, but that's every film with more than three Asians in it) . This image of Asian American is often the flattest, most one dimensional and unfortunately, most popularly embraced by all -men and women. Used in cinema, this "type" of Asian woman typically sacrifices her life to prove how good she is. At first thought, one may think that this is a positive role; however, if this is one of the only roles existing for Asian American women, then what is the insidious message from this image? "The only good Asian is a dead Asian." 2

The Suzie Wong - this set of similar stereotypes embodies a different "flavor" of male ideals, but, nevertheless, it is almost just as widely believed as the first and perhaps even more damaging. These images are, in general, sexually loaded: china-doll, lotus-blossom, geisha girl, and in general, a woman who is eager to please, exotic, sexually knowledgeable, sexually willing, beautiful, slender, and possess ancient sex secrets.

The Dragon Lady - this view is typically the female counterpart of the negative stereotypes often cast upon Asian men. The images paint a picture of Asian women as: conniving, deceitful, stealthy, lying, evil, and back-stabbing. These women are considered "untraditional," and that they are not to be trusted. The "evilness" of these women is often attributed by the mass or media. The dragon lady can often be found with characteristics of the Suzie Wong, too. As stated above, these stereotypes embody the male fantasy as well as presumptions of a woman. This combination is a formula for the Asian Eve.

These three main characterizations of Asian American women are strongly embedded in the consciousness and subconscious of the American society. Clearly, these stereotypes were not formed from one instance such as the story of Madame Ah Toy. The troubled history of Asians in America unfortunately assisted the impression of such assumptions of Asian women. Events including the racist immigration policies of the U.S., the post war periods of the 20th century, as well as popular cinema all reinforced once and once again these damaging characterizations.

Origin

The Orient has always been depicted by the Western culture as a place of mystery and intrigue. Similarly, the stories brought back by early explorers certainly painted a picture of a place in the Far East where physical laws are not obeyed, magic is used and the people are evil. A popular saying, "ancient Chinese secrets," allude to this mystique and supernatural aura often associated with Asians. It is clear that this lack of knowledge and understanding of Asians attributed to the evil and conniving imagery associated with them. It is from these assumptions of barbarism and paganism that the Dragon Lady image of the Asian woman was concocted.

In the 1800's, America witnessed a huge influx of Asian immigrants, predominantly male, who moved over in search of a better life and the "gold mountain." Very few of these men brought wives with them; if they did, they sent for their families after attaining a modest amount of wealth after years of toiling by the railroads. The U.S. then proceeded to pass one of its most racist immigration policies ever - the Chinese Exclusion Act of l882. 3 This class-based law stated that only wealthy merchants, diplomats, or students were permitted entry to the U.S. from China. As a result, male laborers were unable to bring their wives and families over to join them. Subsequently, crime rings that ran Chinese prostitution flourished. Young girls were persuaded to leave home with promising jobs awaiting them in the U.S.. Little did they know that it was prostitution that awaited them. Thus, it is not difficult to understand the source of the heavy sexual undertone of the Asian female stereotype when a large proportion of the Asian female population were prostitutes in that time period. In fact, Americans at the time hardly ever encountered Asian American women who were considered "respectable."

A little more than half a century later, the major wars in the 20th century brought about another influx of Asian female immigrants; the characterization of this group is what caused the popular culture to create the Madame Butterfly stereotype. At the end of the World War II, a large number of Japanese women returned to the U.S. with American G.I.'s who they met while employed on American military bases in Japan. A similar phenomena occurred in Vietnam and Korea, where the presence of U.S. military bases created a number of jobs for local women - who, during war time, were expected to replace the young men in involved in combat to support the family financially. With such constant contact with Americans and with a large segment of their own marriageable men off at war, naturally many Japanese, Vietnamese and Korean women coupled off with American G.I.'s and left their country to immigrate to the U.S.. In fact, since WWII, nearly a quarter of a million Asian women have married American servicemen overseas. 4 What many of these women discover, however, that they experience unexpected degree of isolation and severe marital and adjustment problems. As a result, these women cling on to their husbands, despite the fact that there may be a history of abuse in the home. Many are ashamed to return to their own country as most have defied their parents to marry the American G.I. in the first place. These marriages often become relationships of displaced and abused power due to unrealistic expectation of what the married life is like in the U.S.. Typically the couple is happy when they are living on base in Asian due to the financial advantages the G.I. has. However, once back in the U.S., the G.I. typically has less earning power to attain a comparable standard of living as compared to ~ Asia. This change in financial expectations as well as culture shock experienced by the Asian wife often results in a myriad of problems. As a result, Asian Female Stereotypes Asian women seen by society is commonly one who depends heavily on her white husband, sometimes tolerating all sort of mistreatment and abuse. Unfortunately, due to the language barrier as well as a lack of understanding of American culture, these women failed to view the men in realistic terms; they considered them masculine and, thus, catered to their every need and want. This image creates the illusion of Asian women being naturally subservient and willing to please white males. The Madame Butterfly has thus emerged at this point of American history.

Media Stereotypes

Having explored the origin of the Asian American Female stereotypes, it becomes clear why some of these images pervade our culture so consistently and overwhelmingly. The media, in fact, is one of the largest contributors to the perpetuation of these characterizations of Asian women. We can begin by examining the three categories as represented by Madame Butterfly, Suzie Wong and the Dragon Lady.

Puccini may have constructed a world famous story of the love of a woman for a man. However, what he also did, was that he made the Madame Butterfly so convincing and sympathetic (or is that pathetic?) that he inspired the composition of several other mega hits as well. Madame Butterfly is Japanese woman who turned her back on her family to marry a white soldier, who ended up leaving her to go home to his country. After carrying his child and waiting dutifully and patiently for years on end, she kills herself upon finding out that he has returned to Japan with his new white wife. Madame Butterfly, as created by Puccini, is full of nothing but love, faith and loyalty. She, in fact, never gets angry at her unfaithful husband and dies dutifully so that the white couple can now carry on with the rest of their lives with her son. What comes out of this is not only a famous opera, but a whole truckload of binding stereotypes of subservient, idiotically faithful, and naive Asian women who engage in unmotivated romance with white men. Unmotivated romance points to that the story lines are never required to deliver reasons that an Asian woman would need to fall in love with a white male; they just do. A few other films/productions that feature such characterization - Miss Saigon, Karate Kid II, Rambo, Sayonara (a film depicting multiple Japanese women lathering soap and delivering back massages for their white lovers), etc..

On top of the subservient stereotype as discussed above, Asian women are also strongly associated with sexually loaded images. Perhaps one of the most famous Asian film characters ever in U.S. film history, Suzie Wong is the type of woman who is completely constructed by men's sexual fantasy — the prostitute with the heart of gold. In the World of SuzieWong, Nancy Kwan plays a sweet and guileless Cantonese prostitute Suzie Wong who falls madly in love (again, she just does) as soon as she sees the white male protagonist (played by William Holden) . Suzie is so smitten that she practically begs him to have sex with her after she finally succeeds to get him alone in his room. He, of course, is too noble to consent, but at the end is won over by her sincerity and exotic beauty. Later, Suzie is beaten up and raped by a drunken American sailor; she smears the blood across her chin and goes to brag to her friends, "I am sorry you not have nice man to beat you up, passing the wound off as the result of Holden's passion. As a phenomenal hit at a time when not very many non-Asians interacted with Asian Americans, the World of Suzie Wong succeeded in conjuring up the notion that Asian women are objects of sexual desire, and more conveniently, they are always willing.

So this leads us to wonder, so what if an Asian woman is not subservient and not always willing to comply with the rest of the world? A popular image comes to mind dragon lady. Many a times, if one is not entirely ready to drop on her knees and serve you tea after offering to scrub your back in the tub, then she is assumed to be inherently scheming, untrustworthy and back-stabbing. The very first American film featuring an Asian character is the Thief of Baghdad in 1920's. Anna May Wong plays a conniving stealthy Mongol slave (who, needless to say, is killed at the end for her treachery). This same type of character reappears again and again through various types of media. The daughter of the Mysterious Dr. Fu Man Chu, the villainess in the comic strip "Terry and the Pirates," and the gangster's girlfriends in the Year of the Dragon. Even in today's popular miniseries Ally McBeal, actress Lucy Liu's Ling is bitchy and mysteriously good at everything from swing dancing to sex. "I have trade secrets," she said, when asking her partner to sign a confidentiality agreement prior to having sex with her. When she expresses her displeasure, the show supplies a tiger's growl sound bite with her every narrowing of eye. Granted, evil characters are needed in every story; however, it is the direct attribution of the character's evil qualities to her ethnicity that is particularly damaging as it leads people to assume that the traits are pan-ethnic.

Clearly there are not many Asian images presented in media. And when there is, more often than not they are associated with one, or some, of the above negative stereotypes. This leads to one to ask - what are the effects of this projection onto Asian American women. What happens to the Asian American community as well as to the non-Asians who they associate with?

Effects of Stereotypes

With such stereotypes of Asian American women so heavily embedded in history and popular culture, there is needless to say, tremendous damage done to the image of Asian American women. While these stereotyping persist, in addition to Asian females being typecasted where ever they are, the following will continue to be a problem in American society. One, a great deal of non-Asian men will pursue Asian women looking to find their own Suzie Wong. Two, a huge disparity in the out-marriage of Asian females to non-Asian males compared to the out-marriage of Asian males. Three, tension exists and grows between the Asian males and non-Asian males who date Asian women.

The popularity of Asian women amongst non-Asian men has steadily grown since the post war years. For example, one only needs to flip the through the personals section of the newspaper. One Asian woman who advertises through the personals says that being Asian is a plus but there are some drawbacks as well. She speaks of one particular ad, "He said he liked Filipinas best, because they really know ho to treat their men. "This ad was submitted by an ex-Marine who did his tour of duty in the Philippines.5 Researchers at UC Berkeley found that there is a trend of resentment amongst white women who feel that they've been displaced by Asians as the fantasy object of desire. Agencies or websites offering to set up white men with Asian women are incredible. For example, http://www.chinesewomen.com houses an agency called A China Doll, Intl.. This company, like numerous others, boasts the great qualities of Chinese women (faithful, beautiful, submissive, and hardworking) as well as give hints on how to meet and marry them (write as many of them as you can, and you're sure to bring in a bountiful catch) . The website touts, "A traditional Chinese lady is expected to be demure but sexually gratifying when home alone with her husband."

With this growing coupling Asian women with white men, the ratio of outmarriage among Asians becoming more and more skewed. In 1990, 1.46 million Asian women were married, compared to only 1.26 million Asian men. This statistic leads to wonder what happened to the approximate 200, 000 men who did not couple off with anyone. For a more shocking statistic, we can examine the ratio of interracial dating among Asians. For Asian female and white male couples to Asian male and white female couples, the ratio is estimated to be between 10:1 and 20:1. Naturally, this situation could become very frustrating for Asian males, who are typically considered to be on the lower end of the social totem pole.

As a result, Asian males, who also come with their own slew of negative stereotypes, may experience resentment towards white males. Many Asian males feel that the Asian women are abandoning their own people for status, regardless of the qualities of the white male who they choose to be with. Asian American males are defensive and scrutinizing around white males who they consider to have an "Asian fetish" and as a result, many white males who date Asian females are made to feel uncomfortable in social situations amongst Asians. White males often feel that Asians are suspicious of their intentions when they are seen dating Asian women. Thus, tension builds between the males of these two races. One white man who admits to being most attracted to Asian women has built a website "celebrating the coupling of white men and Asian women."6 This site is called Asiaphile. In his site he lists several comments that he gets all the time when people find out that he is dating an Asian. "He must like the submissive types, ""She must be a wildcat in bed!" Or "Oh, isn't she the most sweet and innocent little doll!" But most commonly, " He must have some kind of weird fetish." It is important that one must not assume the intentions of a white man dating an Asian woman to be derived of the popular stereotypes as it causes huge rifts between such groups as the Asian and white men.

As we can clearly see that the media played a large role in building and perpetuating the stereotypes of Asian American women, this is the source that must be persuaded to alter the limited and negative images portrayed. One way of improving the situation is to have stations that run Asian American programming, an equivalent to an Asian BET. The programming should portray Asians in more three dimensional roles and should strongly refute the previous flat characters we always see Asians presented as. Not only should this channel reach out to the Asian Ameican population, but it should cater to non Asians as well (and seeing how Asian women are increasingly popular now a days for whatever reason, it may not be too difficult) Specifically, programs should break the boundaries of the stereotypes by, for example, featuring many Asian hip and trendy male and white female couples as well as Asian women who are independent, sincere, trustworthy and may choose the Asian guys over the white guys for once, if they so please. And it will be the woman who chooses to be with the man, instead of tripping over herself to answer to his every beck and call.

It is surprising that such programming does not yet exist. It is certainly not the economics that should keep it from developing in the near future. Even though Asian Americans are less than 6% of the total U.S. population, the economic engine of this minority group is quite astounding. By the year 2000, Asians will make up 31% of California's professional, managerial and entrepreneurial population. If Asian Americans formed their own nation, the GNP would rank l5~ in the world and first on a per capita basis. These numbers attest to the growing economic clout Asians will have with retailing and entertainment business. Used effectively, Asian Americans will be able to "persuade" the media to better portray them in popular films, novels, etc.. In fact, this clout is not only backed by the Asian American economic back bone, but by their sentiment which transmits to Asia as well. Asian Americans represent a barometer of the reception a movie offensive Asians can receive in the Asian markets, The Asian markets, by the year 2000, will generate 50% of all world box office revenues. 7 Now if this is not a wake up call for Hollywood to produce more positive Asian images and movies, what is?

Kendall Benson

In the past few years a tragic trend has been developing all across the nation. From Littleton to West Paducah and Jonesboro, teens have become more violent and have raised the question: why do the young kill? In the past forty years there have been over three thousand studies, commentaries, and analyses that have pursued the answer'. These reviews have shown that television and movie violence has lead to aggressive and violent behaviour.2 In a study done by the US Senate Committee on Judiciary, it was found that during the peak child watching hours of 6am till 9am and 2pm till 6pm, there were 1049 violent acts. 3 Movies also have been making headlines for their violent content. Movie directors like Quentin Tarantino and Oliver Stone have featured violence and gore with top billing as films like Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and Natural Born Killers, have portrayed a glamorous side to killing and revenge. It is not the violence in films that are to blame for today's extremely high frequency of hateful occurrences, because violence has been a part of the medium since its creation earlier in the century. It is only when the film industry tricks the child into believing that the anti-hero is a role model that movies are accountable.

In looking at movies in the past century, violence has always been an integral part. Out of the top twenty five highest grossing movies, seventeen of them have had violent subjects or scenes4. In comparing film violence of today with that of violence forty years ago, little has changed. The only large discrepancy comes in how the hero's are now displayed in today's ultra violent movies. If we look back to movie westerns of the fifties, like John Ford's The Searchers (1956), we can see similarities with movies that are being made today. The good guys are good and the bad guys are bad.

John Ford's The Searchers (1956), has classic western violence but also it is clear who is good and who is bad. The long opening scene manages, without an excessive touch, to introduce seven characters (four of whom do not have long to live), to sketch in the history of the Edwards family, including their adoption of young Martin Pawley (Jef frey Hunter) , himself part Cherokee, after his parents were killed in an Indian raid, and to begin elaborating the characterization of John Wayne as the embittered Confederate veteran Ethan Edwards, a performance all the more vivid for its intractable contradictions. The plot, as far as we can grasp it at the outset, has to do with Ethan's return to his brother's Texas homestead after years of mysterious post-war drifting during which he acquired, by whatever means, a sackful of fresh-minted Yankee dollars. Soon, we are off with the cowboys in the search of stolen cattle. While the cowboys are gone a band of Comanches use the opportunity to massacre those left behind. The close-up of the Comanche war chief Scar blowing his buffalo horn signals the film's most important event, which we are not allowed to witness. That the massacre must remain unseen is essential to Ford's sense of decorum. It goes without saying that this off-screen event is far more powerful than any overt depiction could be.

In The Searchers (1956), as well as many films of that time, the white male is the protagonist of the movie. In this case he is against the evil Comanche Indians. All of the actions that Ethan initiates are in reaction to evils done by the antagonist. This line of reasoning promotes that steps against someone should only be taken when an injustice has occurred. This is supported by evidence from box office receipts. Many of the top movies of all time are tales of good against evil. In movies like Star Wars (1977), Independence Day (1996), Home Alone (1990), and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) , for example, the roles are clearly defined. The good are fighting against those who seek to oppress them. It is when the lines become muttled that children can become confused about who they should look up to as a role model and who they should aspire to be. One of these movies is The Godfather (1972) 6

In 1972 Francis Ford Coppola directed a film version of Mario Puzo's best-selling novel, The Godfather. This saga of the Corleone family helped with the acceptance of on screen violence. The story begins in 1945 with the wedding of the only Corleone daughter, Connie. At the wedding we meet the rest of the family, Michael, Sonny, and Fredo. Michael, played by Al Pacino, is back from the war and tries to set himself apart from his criminal relatives and promises to his girl Kay that he could never be like them. This all change after an assassination attempt on his father's life, when Michael kills the two men responsible for the shooting. Michael then flees the US for his safety and is sent to Italy, where he is eventually betrayed and as a result his new young bride is killed in a car bomb. Back in America, a rival family war takes the life of Sonny Corleone. After this a peace is made and Michael comes home to America, where he eventually brutally attacks the heads of the other families and consolidates his power with a lot of carnage and bloodshed.

All told, twenty three characters violently die in The Godfather. In one scene a Hollywood producer wakes up next to the chopped off head of one of his favourite horses, the blood from the animal covering his body. Coppola's film featured other extremely violent scenes. One man is impaled with a knife and his eyes bulge out from his head while being strangled with piano wire. The most violent take in the movie is the assassination of Sonny Corleone. He is ambushed at a highway toll both and is pierced with hundreds of bullets. The shot was done in one take as hundreds of fake blood capsules were exploded on James Caan's (Sonny) body, to make the killing look particularly horrendous. 7 Another scene shows the stories hero, Michael Corleone, shoot a police captain right between the eyes. The director made it so we sympathise with the murderer Michael Corleone. He is the hero and everyone else is against him. The movie showed that an evil man like Michael Corleone is a grand sort of family man who is gentle with children. The child who watches this movie sees the glorified life of a Mafia boss and comes to believe that these occurrences are part of everyday life.

One of the most violent movies in recent years is Oliver Stone's statire about everyday life and media frenzy, Natural Born Killers (1994)8. Based on a story by Quentin Tarantino Stone tells the story of Mickey and Mallory, a perfect couple who share a passion for murder and revenge. The story begins with Mickey and Mallory beating Mallory's father to death with raw meat and setting her mother on fire. The two continue to rampage and soon become cult hero's and are revered as celebrities, but are eventually apprehended by a corrupt and homicidal cop. In jail the they are harassed by the maniacal prison warden and his lackey. Natural Born Killers in its violence makes fun of America's culture of violence and our countries obsession with true crime and its encouragement by the media. Stone personifies this in the jail scenes toward the end of the film. In the movie, a TV journalist sets up an interview with Mickey and Mallory behind bars. But in the end, with much killing, the two escape and are once again on their way.

Natural Born Killers took a step past any other violent film to date. By using different techniques, like black and white film and quick editing shots, Stone makes the viewer feel like the film is one long violent act. What comes as disturbing is that the violent acts occur at the hands of the films hero's. They act out in revenge and in cold blood, and do it in a glamorous light, where children who see this movie will think that these characters are "good" and the police and establishment are "bad." A quote from a teenager in the movie:

"Mass murder is wrong. But if I was a mass murderer, I'd be Mickey and Mallory."

This is further propagated by the way Stone develops each of the different characters. Mickey and Mallory are psychopaths, yet the director tries to get the viewer to sympathise with them. When other characters are analysed, like the police officer and the prison warden, one can see that Stone wants to change the roles away from the roles in traditional movies and wants to create an uneasiness toward public officers. The definitions then become obscured as one cannot tell who is good and who is bad.

Not being able to tell the good from the bad is the premise behind the 1999 film The Matrix9. In the near future, a computer hacker named Neo (Keanu Reeves) discovers that all life on Earth may be nothing more than an elaborate facade created by a malevolent cyber-intelligence, for the purpose of placating us while our life essence is "farmed" to fuel the Matrix's campaign of domination in the "real" world. He joins like-minded Rebel warriors Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie Ann Moss) in their struggle to overthrow the Matrix.

These warriors uses a combination of martial arts and gunplay in their attempts to regain control over the artificially intelligent computers. This action movie displayed many violent scenes. One controversial moment comes when the two main characters walk into a building dressed in black trench coats and armed to the teeth with a variety of weapons. These characters, Neo and Trinity, kill upwards of a dozen guard in slow motion while a famous anarchist band plays speedily in the background. What kind of message is that intending to display? When looking at the protagonists in the film, the artificially intelligent computer sentinels, it is interesting to note that all of the Al sentinels are white males dressed in suits and ties similar to those worn by government agents. The Matrix is thereby promoting violent anti-social behaviour in proclaiming that the "bad guys" are the white male establishment and the "good guys" are the gang of outsiders walking around, .n black trench coats, shooting and killing.

In the real world kids do look up to movies and feature films as reality. One only has to look at the Columbine school massacre and wonder if the "trench coat Mafia" members took their cue from what pop culture is defining as "in." Around 11 am Edward Harris and Dylan Klebold entered the Columbine High cafeteria and opened fire on the student body, in Littleton Colorado. Armed with an arsenal of weapons the two members of the "Mafia" then preceded to laugh and taunt students as they run through the halls shooting most of their victims at point blank range. Harris and Klebold then made their way into the school library where they apparently were looking for revenge against the jocks that had taunted them in the past. They made the athletes stand up and tortured their innocent victims with arbitrary slow deaths.

In the case of Harris and Klebold it looks as if life imitated art. You only need to find out who the hero's of the two boys were to obtain a clue of why they did such a thing. Harris and Klebold obviously looked up to characters like Mickey and Mallory. On April twentieth, Harris went to school wearing a shirt that read, "Serial Killer." Harris's profile on an America Online Web site included the quote "Kill them AALL!!" and the boys aspired to gain stature in the Neo-Nazi culture. In fact, the day of the assault was Hitler's birthday 10.

Today's director had made the definition of the role model hazy to children. It is how the child perceives these hero's that can have damaging results. With feature films like Star Wars (1977), The Searchers (1956), Batman ( 1989), and Men in Black (1997), it is easy for the viewer to pick out the good and the bad. It is when the protagonist is an anti-hero, that the young viewer can be confused and mislead. An answer to the problem would be for the movie industry to strengthen their control over the product they are presenting. But this is not that likely to happen due to the fact that Hollywood makes billions of dollars off films with violent content (almost six trillion dollars!)." A more likely proposal would be that harsher ratings are placed on movies with violent content and that theaters become stricter with who they let in to see the movies. Hopefully in the future incidents like the Columbine High School massacre will not occur, if parents and people in the film industry pay attention to what today's youth is watching.