Loser
If I remember correctly, the problems of this trope have come up here before. I guess they were not solved then, unfortunately. Thanks for your work so far.
Do you think that something like a rename is in order, or should some more examples just be snipped and the description worked on a bit? Either way, I agree that there seems to be misuse here.
This title has brought 84 people to the wiki from non-search engine links since 20th FEB '09.
By the way, is there a reason why the video game folder is there when there are no video game examples? I edited it out, but if for some reason it was supposed to be there, I guess I could edit it back.
edited 3rd Jun '11 8:28:15 PM by LouieW
"irhgT nm0w tehre might b ea lotof th1nmgs i dont udarstannd, ubt oim ujst goinjg to keepfollowing this pazth i belieove iN !!!!!1 d
I find this trope to be so oddly specific that it pretty much shoots its own foot.
Me too. There's a trope here. The offscreen other-racial mother who injects that exotic zip in the protagonist with a side helping of identity angst. Or father, for that matter.
But why put Asian in the title? Why limit it thus?
edited 4th Jun '11 6:17:01 AM by Camacan
-Arise Thread Long Since Dead-
I agree with Camacan, why is this limited to Asians?
It's limited because the real trope here is old and a bit dated. It has to do with the fact that the US had several wars in Asia and there was a stigma to the servicemen there knocking up hookers and marrying Asian women that were pretty much seen as call girls. It was a hugely popular trope in the Vietnam era or things set in that time, but since then the trope has faded a lot. Asian brides no longer have the same stigmas and stereotypes attached to them without setting a work back in that time. The only modern example of the trope I can think of is Watchmen and that's not all that modern.
I think this is a case of old tropes becoming discredited to the point where modern audiences can't even really understand them because they lack the cultural baggage of the era.
edited 31st Oct '11 9:34:28 AM by shimaspawn
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick
I see the Awesomeness.
Should we mention that on the page?
Fight smart, not fair.
Probably. I know you aren't fond of analysis on the main page, but in this case the lack of historical information is directly contributing to the misuse.
This trope has really fallen by the wayside in recent years as mixed relationships have become more accepted and this sort of stereotype has become less politically correct.
edited 31st Oct '11 2:26:49 PM by shimaspawn
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick
This character type, as defined as a trope, has a number of traits such as being a Dragon Lady who conceals the child and raises it for her own purposes.
It does not mean any character who fits into "Asian", "baby", and "mama". It doesn't mean a character who just had a long lost child turn up with an Asian mother, and it doesn't mean anyone from an Asian country who had a child with an American soldier.
I cut a few examples that obviously didn't fit the trope, and I suspect many of the rest are bad as well, but I don't know most of them so I can't tell.