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Think you're nitpicking, to be honest, and you're worrying too much about stereotyping in what is essentially a fantasy network drama about pretty people surviving a plane crash on a mysterious island. And considering that you can only be bothered to refer to Sun as 'The Korean woman', you're one to talk about perpetuation.
In my defense, I couldn't remember Sun's name and I don't think calling her a Korean woman is perpetuating a stereotype. My point about the herbal knowledge is that, to me, it plays into the opposition between a supposedly superior western, white, masculine, positivistic, medical-scientific model and an 'inferior' eastern/oriental model which equates 'native'/nonwhite people (especially women) with nature, sees them as 'closer to the earth' (i.e. less sophisticated/scientific) and thus more likely to engage in practices such as herbal medicine. I do accept though that this is my reading, and was posting because I wanted to hear what other people thought, and fair doos if you don't agree.
Regarding the nit-picking, I'm afraid I don't agree - for me its vital/critical that we engage with the culture we're immersed in and consider the ways that the images and narratives that surround us contribute to our understanding of and behaviour in the world. Jack, you talk about the constraints of network drama, but I really don't know what you mean. Shows like Lost have a choice in whether to perpetuate or challenge racial/gender/etc. stereotypes and to engage in a more sophisticated dialogue with their audience, and I feel disappointed when they role out the same old cliches. |
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