Cold Asians

Cruel Villain
 
Example: Communists of Red Dawn, Jet Li's Wah Sing Ku of Lethal Weapon 4

The modern-day Asian villain is depicted as exceptionally ruthless and cruel. The villain usually sets his operations in Asian American communities like Chinatown, which are typically shown as a "breeding ground for drug trafficking, illegal gambling, prostitution, and gang wars," adding to the menacing image of Asians (Cheng, et al). When an Asian is the antagonist of a film, there is a more "foreign" aspect to his character. As a result, the audience is never fully able to understand the Asian villain. The Asian villain is almost "less human" than other villains because he is shown as heartless, foreign, unnecessarily ruthless, and unrelatable. In the case of Asian women villains, dragon ladies will also fall into this archetype. One example is O-Ren Iishi, played by Lucy Liu, from Kill Bill Vol. 1. She is depicted as an exceedingly cruel and sadistic villain who "whacks off the head of a Japanese man who questions her authority, [and commits] among other acts of spatter and splatter barbarism" (Prasso 75).

The Cold, Uncooperative Ally

 
Example: Daniel Dae Kim's Jin-Soo Kwon of LOST

Some films or television shows will feature one Asian character who is standoff-ish, distant, and cold. This character is known as the "uncooperative ally." The uncooperative ally speaks little to no English. Whatever English he or she can speak is generally heavily accented or broken. The uncooperative ally, like Jin Kwon of LOST, usually keeps to himself/herself. For much of the first season, Jin Kwon only spoke in Korean and avoided all the other survivors. The uncooperative ally thus "perpetuates the stereotype that Asians are introverted and unaccultured" (Cheng, et al).

References

Cheng, Joy, Charles Hsieh, Scott Lu, and Sarah Talgo. "Asian American Males in the Media." Media Representations of Asians. N.p.. Web. 9 Dec 2012. <http://sitemaker.umich.edu/psy457_tizzle/home>.

Prasso, Sheridan. The Asian Mystique: Dragon Ladies, Geisha Girls, & Our Fantasies of the Exotic Orient. 1st ed. Cambridge, MA: PublicAffairs, 2005. Print.