Smart Asian Stereotype in NBC's "Manifest"

-

 

In the show "Manifest," there are a couple of characters that embody “positive” stereotypes. One of them is Saanvi Bahl, an Indian-American whose entire character is centered around the fact that she is a doctor. Her medical and scientific work contributes significantly to the plot of the show. However, she has no backstory, and whenever she has screen time, she is usually in a lab or doing something related to her research and medicine. Her character is focused around the studious South Asian stereotype as she dedicates all of her on-screen time to her medical research and finding a “cure” to the unusual experiences she and her fellow passengers are having. She even goes as far as testing her research on herself, which lands her in the hospital, almost killing her, which also feeds into the self-sacrificing stereotype. She was prepared to die in order to find a "cure" to the voices and visions the passengers were receiving.

The article titled “Why the ‘Smart Asian’ Stereotype Is Not Flattering” makes some points about how this stereotype “allows people to downplay Asian excellence”(Wong). Throughout the show, Saanvi is praised for her work as her research led to the discovery of a new treatment for children suffering from leukemia. However, throughout most of the show, especially the second half, other characters are trying to stop her from focusing so much on her research. Those characters discouraging her from focusing so much on her research are white, which in turn give into the white savior stereotype.


Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 15, 2021 at 10:34 AM

    I think this is a super interesting topic that I also noticed when I watched the show. Like you mentioned, the show doesn't give us any background information on Saanvi; all we know is that she's interested in science and is willing to sacrifice anything to solve the issue. I wonder what solution could be used to eliminate this positive stereotype. Would this be changing Saanvi and not making her interested in science? Or would this change a major part of the show? - Irene

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownDecember 2, 2021 at 4:10 PM

    I love this topic, especially how it pertains to the essay in depicting "smart Asian" and "asian excellence." You have a lot of examples of positive stereotypes, so if you're choosing to do revisions on this essay, I would narrow down the stereotypes so you can really go in depth about them.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Retrospective

-
Image
Throughout this semester, I was able to continue to improve my writing along with researching topics that I was genuinely interested in. For each of the four essays that I wrote, I chose topics that I either connected with or that I genuinely wanted to learn more about, which made the writing process much easier and more fun. I learned a lot about the topics that my essays focused on, but I learned even more about the writing process and how to better my own process and writing. This course encouraged a lot of collaborative work, and while it was something that I was not entirely comfortable with at first, it turned out to be one of the most helpful ways for me to receive feedback and improve my essays. I feel that my classmates gave really great feedback and asked great questions that made me think more deeply about what I was writing, which led to stronger analysis and an overall stronger essay. In terms of the blog, this was not my first time blogging for a class. However, I did enj
Read more

Were the 1992 Los Angeles Riots Effective?

-
Image
In last week's blog post, I discussed the case that incited the Los Angeles Riots in 1992 and the riots themselves. These riots caused a lot of damage to the city and gained a lot of traction throughout the states. It was a well-known case both in the United States and outside of it. However, there was no real change within the country, state, or city following this demonstration. Throughout this situation, multiple cases of racism within the Los Angeles Police Department came to light, but even with all of that evidence, no changes were made even within the LAPD. It did come as a surprise that no changes happened immediately after this situation. These demonstrations fit into the category of what makes an effective protest. Some key points that make for a protest that will have a lasting impact include a salient demonstration and uniting several causes under one main concern, which this protest did (Resnick). Additionally, the demonstrations lasted five days, which definitely woul
Read more

The 1992 Los Angeles Riots

-
Image
In March of 1991, Rodney King was being pursued by LAPD in a high-speed chase. Eventually he was stopped by police, but when he was detained, the police started beating him with their batons. Police brutality is not something new and was definitely not new at the time either. However, Rodney's case was different because the encounter was recorded, and that recording was broadcasted across the United States and even in other countries. Many people were horrified by the actions they were seeing from these police officers, especially because people believed that police were supposed to work for the people, not against them as this situation showed. Four officers were put on trial for their use of force against King However, in 1992, a jury found all four officers not guilty despite the video evidence of the altercation. This acquittal was what ultimately sparked the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. Three hours after the acquittal was announced, violence broke out throughout South Central Los A
Read more