Better Luck Tomorrow Essay

Minority and disenfranchised groups are often more criticized and analyzed by society especially when it comes to art, even more so when the indicated art also factors race into the meaning and symbolism. In particular, Asian-American film is held to a higher standard than films made by caucasians about caucasians because of the controversy in that it is an Asian-American film therefore it represents the entire Asian-American community. In the cases of documentary Kelly Loves Tony and movie Better Luck Tomorrow, the default thought that these forms of art represent all Asian-Americans holds true. Furthermore, the controversy revolving around these films is that they do not accurately represent the model minority and shine a bad light on the …show more content…
Lin encapsulates the model minority concept in Ben and Virgil who are overachieving Asian-Americans that dream to be accepted into Ivy League universities. However as the plot thickens, the picture-perfect façade dissipates revealing a darker truth behind these characters. From cheating and fights to gang involvement and murder, the thought that Asian Americans are capable of such acts truly goes against the stereotypes of the model minority (Lin). The film challenges these preconceptions of race and by doing so, stirred controversy surrounding whether or not this is an act of defamation against the Asian-American community. Which in and of itself is ironic since Lin’s point is that the model minority stereotype does not apply to the entire Asian-American population when the question assumes that by thwarting off the picture-perfect stereotype is to replace it with another that applies to the whole community. In response to the opponents of the film lies an ideology that “like African-American films that take race for granted and get on with the characters and the story, Lin is making a movie in which race is not the point but simply the given” (Okada