Asian American:
Always Be My Maybe
Front Cover
The Joy Luck Club
Soc 350– Spring 2022
Film Analysis Paper
Length: 8-10 pages of text (not including cover or title page and bibliography), 12 pt.
font, double-spaced, 1 inch margins on four sides.
Points: 100 points possible
Due: May 1, 2022
For this assignment, you will be conducting analysis of race and ethnic representations in
mainstream films distributed in the USA. (NOTE: if you are an international student and
have access to films on a particular racial and/or ethnic minority in your home country,
please contact me and we can talk about focusing the assignment with those films.) This
is an individual assignment. As the basis for your analysis, you will review and take
notes on three films representing a specific racial or ethnic group.
The key ideas that must appear in your analysis are:
1) A discussion of the common/stereotypical representation of that group (note:
research separate from the movie review);
2) A detailed identification of the appearance (or not?) of those representations
in the films reviewed; and
3) A concluding analysis indicating whether or not American media images are
working to challenge or change broader social beliefs about this racial or
ethnic group.
The paper is a presentation and analysis of your findings, within the context of
conceptual analysis from intersectional theory in our text. That is, your work too should
focus on:
— the construction of “difference” for this group,
— use and/or abuse of stereotypes, and
— examples of how intersectionality impacts representation within this group—
that is, are women and men in this group presented differently? How is family
represented in this movie? How is religion presented in this movie, if at all? How
is socio-economic class difference portrayed?
Be aware that this paper needs to be constructed as a formal research paper, including
introduction, discussion and definition of concepts to be used in the analysis, the analysis
itself, and a summary conclusion of key findings in your work.
NOTE: Many of the movies below are rated “R”, and include references or
representations of sexual activity, foul language and/or drug and alcohol use. Some also
are not that recent. If you have a personal objection to seeing these movies, please let me
know and together we will find alternatives acceptable to you for completion of the
assignment. Suggested movies from which to pick THREE from a specific group for
your paper, all available on Netflix or other streaming servics, are on the following
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