History Main / AllAsiansAreAlike

Part of the problem is that many Americans, as in the case of African-Americans and Latinos (and, to a lesser extent, whites), insist on treating "Asian" ''itself'' as one big ethnicity, evidently confusing "ethnicity" with "race" - and even "race" wouldn't be accurate, since, anthropologically speaking, Asia is home to at least four different races. For since at least the dawn of civilization, Asia has been the native continent of four distinct racial groups: Caucasians (Armenians, Georgians, Indo-Iranians), Afro-Asiatic people (Arabs, etc.), Mongoloid people (Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, and all the other groups we're thinking of when we say "Asian"), and the Austro-Asiatic people or Negritos (people from the southern half of the Indian subcontinent as well as many Southeast Asians and New Guineans); [[FacialProfiling in colorist terms, these people can be classified, respectively, as "white," "tan," "yellow," and "brown/black."]] In addition, many Asian groups are actually of mixed race: Turks are mixed Mongoloid and Afro-Asiatic, and Indonesians are mixed Mongoloid and Austro-Asiatic.

Part of the problem is that many Americans, as in the case of African-Americans and Latinos (and, to a lesser extent, whites), insist on treating "Asian" ''itself'' as one big ethnicity, evidently confusing "ethnicity" with "race" - and even "race" wouldn't be accurate, since, anthropologically speaking, Asia is home to at least four different races. For since at least the dawn of civilization, Asia has been the native continent of four distinct racial groups: Caucasians (Armenians, Georgians, Indo-Iranians), Afro-Asiatic people (Arabs, etc.), Mongoloid people (Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, and all the other groups we're thinking of when we say "Asian"), and the Austro-Asiatic people or Negritos (people from the southern half of the Indian subcontinent as well as many Southeast Asians and New Guineans). In addition, many Asian groups are actually of mixed race: Turks are mixed Mongoloid and Afro-Asiatic, and Indonesians are mixed Mongoloid and Austro-Asiatic.

The similarity in appearance between Asian cultures is sometimes taken further, to say that all Asian individuals look the same. This could be partially explained by the commonality of brown eyes and straight black hair in Asia. However, it's a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-race_effect psychological]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out-group_homogeneity fact]] that humans have a harder time distinguishing details in faces from races that are unfamiliar to them. This trope is often turned on its head [[PlayedForLaughs for comedy]] when Asian people will claim, "All [[AcceptableEthnicTargets white people]] look the same!"

Asia is a large and culturally diverse place, but [[FarEast East Asian]] cultures often get lumped together into one general mishmash. This is not unique to Asia, however, as most people will do the same to African and European countries as well. People who are generally unfamiliar with the intricacies of Asian cultures will often confuse the country of origin of various phenomena, such as ''karate'' being a shortcut term for any Asian martial art, when karate is specifically Okinawan/Japanese in origin. In places where the AsianAndNerdy trope exists, Asians from a variety of different cultures will be lumped together in the same stereotype.

* All over the fucking place in "China in her Eyes" by Modern Talking. With an extra dose of AsianGalWithWhiteGuy.

The similarity in appearance between Asian cultures is sometimes taken further, to say that all Asian individuals look the same. This could be partially explained by the commonality of brown eyes and straight black hair in Asia. However, it's a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-race_effect psychological fact]] that humans have a harder time distinguishing details in faces from races that are unfamiliar to them. This trope is often turned on its head [[PlayedForLaughs for comedy]] when Asian people will claim, "All [[AcceptableEthnicTargets white people]] look the same!"

* Vincent Masuka on ''{{Dexter}}'' occasionally does this to himself, referring to all Asians as "my people" and setting up a Buddhist shrine for good luck, only shrugging after Dexter asks if the Japanese are traditionally Shinto. Also, the actor who plays Masuka is [[FakeNationality actually Korean-American]].

* In ''StreetKings'', Ludlow invokes this to goad the Korean gangsters into beating him up and stealing his car.

* Subverted in ''{{Help}}'', where Swami Clang can't tell the Beatles apart: "They look all the same in their similarity and language!"
* ''TheKarateKid'' reboot movie is actually about a boy going to China and learning kung fu. The boy never does anything relating to the Japanese karate. It's basically an ArtifactTitle, though the it's at least {{handwaved}} in a TitleDrop where Cheng uses it as an insult.

* An {{Animesue}} ''[[Comicbook/TheAvengers Avengers]]'' cover had [[SpiderWoman Spider-Woman]] dressed as a [[SailorMoon Sailor Senshi]], Cannonball dressed as a SuperSentai character and so on. The problem? The issue is set in ''Hong Kong, not Japan''. The issue's artist, Mike Deodato, even made sure to distance himself and make it clear he did ''not'' [[http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/02/27/mike-deodato-on-that-avengers-cover/ illustrate the cover]].

* A cover for an issue of ''Comicbook/TheAvengers'' had the cast rendered in an {{Animesque}} style, with [[SpiderWoman Spider-Woman]] dressed as a [[SailorMoon Sailor Senshi]], Cannonball dressed as a SuperSentai character and so on. The problem? The issue is set in ''Hong Kong, not Japan''. The issue's artist, Mike Deodato, even made sure to distance himself and make it clear he did ''not'' [[http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/02/27/mike-deodato-on-that-avengers-cover/ illustrate the cover]].

* ''{{Eastenders}}'': The Fereiras. (Granted they were South Asian but still). One member of the family had a Hindu name, another had a Muslim one. This would be the equivalent of Ross and Monica from Friends having a brother named Jamal.

* Mantis is part of the Dragons, a Chinese street gang, in ''HouseOfM: [[Comicbook/TheAvengers Avengers]]''. Mantis is Vietnamese, not Chinese, which makes her inclusion very odd since a major theme of the story is racial strife and difference.

* A cover for an issue of ''Comicbook/TheAvengers'' had the cast rendered in an {{Animesque}} style, with [[SpiderWoman Spider-Woman]] dressed as a [[SailorMoon Sailor Senshi]], Cannonball dressed like a SuperSentai character and so on. The problem? The issue is set in Hong Kong, not Japan. The issue's artist, Mike Deodato, even made sure to distance himself and make it clear he did ''not'' [[http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/02/27/mike-deodato-on-that-avengers-cover/ illustrate the cover]].

* A cover for an issue of ''Comicbook/TheAvengers'' had the cast rendered in an {{Animesque}} style, with [[SpiderWoman Spider-Woman]] wearing a SailorMoon-inspired costume, Cannonball dressed like a SuperSentai character, and so on. The problem? The issue is set in Hong Kong, not Japan. The issue's artist, Mike Deodato, even made sure to distance himself and make it clear he did ''not'' [[http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/02/27/mike-deodato-on-that-avengers-cover/ illustrate the cover]].

* An issue of ''Comicbook/TheAvengers'' had the cast rendered in an {{Animesque}} style, with [[SpiderWoman Spider-Woman]] wearing a SailorMoon-inspired costume, Cannonball dressed like a SuperSentai character, and so on. The problem? The issue is set in Hong Kong, not Japan. The issue's artist, Mike Deodato, even made sure to distance himself and make it clear he did ''not'' [[http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/02/27/mike-deodato-on-that-avengers-cover/ illustrate the cover]].

Related to TheyJustDidntCare. A SubTrope of MistakenNationality. Stepfather to the FarEast.

* In the ''Comicbook/TeenTitans'' tie-in to ''InfiniteCrisis'', Risk ignorantly calls his Japanese teammate Bushido a "Chinese kid." Mirage quickly corrects Risk, but he dismissively replies "whatever."

* During the World War II internment of Japanese-Americans, many Chinese-Americans would wear badges saying "I'm no Jap."

* In the ''JamesBond'' novels:
** In ''Goldfinger'', a Korean describes Karate as "a branch of judo." In the same book, however, a different Korean fights several US servicemen for calling him a "Jap."
** In ''YouOnlyLiveTwice'', Tiger Tanaka insults Bond for talking about Ming dynasty Japanese art.