Representational Politics in the Film Series "Asian Americans": The Contestation of Identity Essentialism.

This article analyzes the film series "Asian Americans" to explore how identity essentialism and representational conflations sustain racial hierarchies by portraying Asian/Americans as a monolithic group marked by the "yellow peril" stereotype. It highlights anti-essentialist critiques that challenge binary logics and emphasize the intersectional complexities of Asian/American identities shaped by capitalism, transnationalism, imperialist militarism, and racialized sexual fetishism. The essay also examines the gendered racialization and ambivalence of Asian/American representations, including the model minority myth and queer identities, revealing how these narratives both include and exclude Asian/Americans within U.S. racial and national frameworks. Ultimately, it underscores the importance of deconstructing reductive binaries to understand the nuanced power relations embedded in media portrayals and advocates for counterhegemonic media activism that reflects diasporic and intersectional realities.