Student Responses to the Marvels & Monsters Exhibit

Stony Brook University undergraduates enrolled in Professor Kristina Lucenko’s WRT 102 course shared their responses to visiting the Marvels and Monsters exhibit currently on view at the Wang Center.

After visiting the Monsters and Marvels exhibit in Wang Center of Stony Brook, I feel the stereotype that caused by lack of touching and learning for Asians. People can almost only know how people on the other side of the earth are like. The exhibit divided into several parts with different theme. For example, the manipulator, the temptress, the brute and the brain, etc. But all these are hardly truth for Asian.  Read More

The Monsters and Marvels exhibit was interesting because it gave visual images to the different stereotypes of Asian culture. Each one of the stereotypes were magnified in to separate characters. The brain, the kamikaze, the guru, etc, all represented a different Asian stereotype. The character’s manner as well as the way the specific character looked reflected how society viewed this cultural group. Read More

With Comics being items of major interest and entertainment, especially during the latter half of the 20th century, they tend to have a large effect on the thoughts and perceptions of their readers. That being, the images, icons and even beliefs introduced into the comics were introduced to the minds, and often integrated into the readers’ own beliefs. However, comics are often influenced by the world and the events surrounding the creation of them. Because of this, the latter half of the 20th century produced comics filled with racist stereotypes, providing mass exposure and belief of them. Read More

The Monster and Marvels exhibit was very interesting to me because as a Chinese, I could know about how Asians are perceived by Americans throughout the history and indicated in American comics. What more surprising was that the stereotypes have hardly changed until today. Americans still consider Chinese people as math genius, a.k.a. “The Brain”, or martial arts masters, a.k.a. “The Brute” . Such stereotypes indicates the lack of communication among different ethnical groups, and even today, the communication is far from enough. Read More

Several means have been utilized on many occasions to influence the minds of the public. In the most archaic form of media that has existed since the early twentieth century, comics have been known to bring about ideas that were eventually accepted into certain aspects of society. In fact, those particular ideas that will be mentioned later in this discussion have actually originated from them. Through various characters, one can identify the perceptions that have been inflicted upon our minds, as opposed to the possibility of each individual having their own conception of what another culture, or its people, are typically like. This is what leads to the overall influx of stereotyping in the eyes of citizens that witness those depictions on a daily basis, whether it be based on intellect, motives, or personality. Read More

One of the stereotypes in the exhibit was ‘The Temptress.’ This character was a woman with long black hair, a small waist, a revealing hole in her dress, slits up the side of her dress, and a more feminine face structure. She is also wearing red, which is traditionally known as a more seductive color. She is described as using her body to manipulate people and get her way. I don’t think that this particular stereotype exists today, but it is still found in modern times within video games and some comic series. I believe that this stereotype does not just pertain to Asian culture and it is spread to many women, or it is expressed in media as being found in women of all races and ethnic backgrounds. The visual representation of the character displays exactly what a temptress is and shows the viewer that the temptress uses her body and femininity as a manipulation tool. Also, she looks powerful and independent, as supposed to the lotus blossom, who looks more subservient. She is an independent woman, who will get what she wants.  Read More