▶ BCM232 GLOBAL MEDIA AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
Orientalism in American TV shows and films have been very commonly portrayed, this way the audience has a generic idea of how the Eastern countries are typically depicted through the eyes of Western countries and even without having to travel anywhere at all. Although this causes a lot of backlash, as occasionally when using Orientalism in American TV shows and films; stereotypes and cliches of the East tend to shine out as a way to generalise and distinguish the East from the West.
Let’s take one popular comedy series as an example: The Big Bang Theory. In the series there is one character that particularly stands out from the rest, that is Raj Koothrappali — who is an astrophysicist that is originally from New Delhi but lives in California where he works with his group of friends (Pradhan, 2014). The series has a very comedic stance thus allowing the characters to comply in making a various spectrum of jokes; from being very lighthearted to a little controversial. On the spectrum of jokes, Raj has the tendency to joke a lot about his Indian background and the many quirks of his culture (one subject being his possible future of an arranged marriage).
One of the biggest stereotypes of what the character Raj delivers on the series effortlessly is the idea that Indians are depicted as geeky, intelligent and very talkative about their own culture — particularly of the culture in South India. Regardless of the stereotype that Raj presents in the series, his character has some traits that “differ” him from being the ‘typical’ South Indian that he is — what has occurred multiple times in the series, Raj always has a distaste in Indian food; yet all of his friends enjoy it. Ironically, Raj isn’t too fond of his own culture as well — which if his parents or relatives find out; they undoubtedly will get mad at him (with the possibility of even disowning him). However, Raj isn’t one of the only well-known South Indian characters that fit into the stereotype on American television — let’s move on to animation.
The Simpsons also has a South Indian character on their show and that was Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, unlike Raj’s career, Apu is a store owner. Despite the polar difference between their careers, Apu still holds the stereotype that Raj also shares (Marie, 2014). In fact, in the show; Apu graduated with a PhD in Computer Science and is an immigrant in the United States.
From looking more into Orientalism within these specific fields, I can safely say that American TV has done a great job in being consistent when it comes to portraying the East in a particular way. Whether it’s the accent or the stereotypical traits, American TV has painted a perfect picture of how they want to depict the East — which in this case; is the South Indian or Indian subculture.
References:
- Marie, L. (2014, October 6). Edward Said’s Orientalism & The Simpson’s Treatment of the South Asian Subject. Retrieved from https://illiterocracy.wordpress.com/2014/04/01/edward-saids-orientalism-the-simpsons-treatment-of-the-south-asian-subject/.
- Pradhan, A. (2014, May 31). A new form of the “Oriental” stereotype? An analysis of South Asian Indian characters in popular culture through Edward Said’s Orientalism. Retrieved from http://literophile.org/?p=803.
- Simpsons Wiki. (n.d.). Apu Nahasapeemapetilon. Retrieved from https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/Apu_Nahasapeemapetilon.
- The Big Bang Theory Wiki. (n.d.). Rajesh Koothrappali. Retrieved from https://bigbangtheory.fandom.com/wiki/Rajesh_Koothrappali.
Jessica Pauline Camille Ablog Mercado 