Final SAPSA Video: A02 Group #2

A02 Group #2 SAPSA Video

Michelle Perng

Anna Bamford

Christina Lukban

Link to the Video:

Cultural Appropriation: Appropriation of Asian Culture in American Fashion and Entertainment

https://youtu.be/2wekHIbgoHM

Our SAPSA focuses on the issue of appropriation on Asian culture in America: including popular culture and daily life.  Our objective is to draw attention to and raise awareness for this issue, providing insight into the ongoing and often confusing discussion about what is considered cultural appropriation and what is considered cultural appreciation.  The video looks at the U.S perspective and response to appropriation, both arguing the for or against the presence of appropriation.

Our intended audience includes young adults and students who have likely encountered some form of cultural appropriation in their lives, but may not have had a deeper understanding of the subject.  We hope to make them more aware of the issue and how it impacts Asian Americans and all of America. We used a documentary style video with voice-overs to communicate our main points and uploaded the video onto Youtube.  The video included examples such as discussing whether people consider Nicki Minaj’s song Chun Li and her SNL performance cultural appropriation, and people’s opinions on a teen wearing a traditional Chinese qipao to her prom.  People nowadays seem to simply be oblivious to how much wearing these traditional patterns and clothing can be insensitive and insulting to the culture. People often never intend to offend anyone, but they need to start being more open-minded and aware of the true effects of cultural appropriation and the purpose, meaning, and history behind it.

We focused on social media in our video, because we felt that most people could relate to the experience of seeing people’s reactions to incidences of cultural appropriation on the internet, perhaps without the context of the meaning and effects of appropriation.  As a result, we encountered many different and contradicting opinions about the subject in our research. We did our best to reflect the wide range of responses in our video, however, we found it challenging to define the term cultural appropriation, as each person seems to have a different view on the subject.  Different cases also have factors particular to them, which prevents us from using one umbrella statement to identify cases of cultural appropriation. Instead, we tried to unbox and explain how each situation may reflect appropriation, and used definitions or explanations from other people, such as Amandla Stenberg, to support our claims.  For example, Nicki Minaj’s Chun Li performances could be argued as being culturally appropriative, or simply cosplay. We decided that approaching such cases by diving deeper into the backgrounds and decisions would be more informative than simply seeing if the case fitted the mold of our definition of cultural appropriation.

Looking back on our SAPSA, we could have discussed or proposed more future actions on combating against cultural appropriation. Our SAPSA video did bring social awareness to our intended audience; however, we only briefly discussed in the conclusion how our audiences can take action after they gain this knowledge. In this class a lot of the topics and what we learn about is learning about the injustices our community faces finding ways to take action and make a change. For our video we should’ve emphasized even more how our audience can make an impact and empower them to embrace who we are as a culture despite this misrepresentation in appropriation we face.

We hope our SAPSA inspires people to be more culturally aware and sensitive.  While we may not have defined cultural appropriation perfectly, we hope our video prompts people to discuss with one another what each other’s definitions are, and how people as a whole can avoid appropriation.  Instead of culture being used as a tool for exploitation or simply being recognized for the stereotypes, we wish to see people become well-informed and appreciative about other cultures.

References:

Baty, Emma. “Awk, Ariana Grande Tried to Fix Her Japanese '7 Rings' Tattoo and It's Still Wrong.” Cosmopolitan, Cosmopolitan, 31 Jan. 2019.

Blacky. “Evolution of Chun Li Street Fighter (1991- 2018).” YouTube, YouTube, 9 July 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0Xc4LBi4EM.

Breihan, Tom. “Nicki Minaj Shares ‘Chun-Li’ & ‘Barbie Tingz’ Videos -- Watch.” Stereogum, Stereogum, 4 May 2018.

Chen, Stacy. "Teen defends Chinese prom dress that sparked cultural appropriation debate: 'I would wear it again'." ABC News. 2 May 2018. ABC News Network. 09 Mar. 2019.
“Chun-Li.” Street Fighter Wiki.

General, Ryan. “Nicki Minaj's 'Chun Li Challenge' Accused of Perpetuating Asian Stereotypes Image 2.” Next Shark, Nextshark, 7 May 2018.

Grande, Ariana, director. 7 Rings. YouTube, YouTube, 17 Jan. 2019.

Harriot, Michael. “Was Nicki Minaj's SNL Performance Cultural Appropriation? .” The Glow Up, The Glow Up, 21 May 2018.

Jackson, Gita. “Nicki Minaj Seems Confused About Chun Li In Her New Track.” Kotaku, Kotaku, 12 Apr. 2018.

Minaj, Nicki, director. Chun Li. YouTube, YouTube, 4 May 2018.

Pablo, Juan, director. Katy Perry - Unconditionally (Live at AMA's 2013). YouTube, YouTube, 24 Nov. 2013.

Schmidt, Samantha. "'It's just a dress': Teen's Chinese prom attire stirs cultural appropriation debate." The Washington Post. 01 May 2018. WP Company.
Sisavat, Monica. “20 Nicki Minaj Halloween Costume Ideas Straight Out of Your Barbie Dreams.” Popsugar Celebrity, POPSUGAR Tech, 26 Oct. 2018.

Ungerman, Alex. “Amandla Stenberg, Rue From 'The Hunger Games,' Has An Awesome Message About Cultural Appropriation.” Entertainment Tonight, Entertainment Tonight Online, 15 Apr. 2015.