Abstracts Sociology

Changing the script : social scripts as featured on Fresh Off the Boat

by Alison Yeh

Characters on television shows perform social roles while interacting with their environment, responding to social situations, and establishing positions in society. By observing these characters in situation comedies (sitcoms), viewers learn culturally specific social scripts. Primetime television has consistently depicted white social scripts that many have come to accept as ???normal,??? and black sitcoms have also established a presence in entertainment, but this has not been the case for Asian Americans. A black-white paradigm predominant in political and identity dialogue is also seen in entertainment where focus is placed on two racial groups, black and white, with virtually no Asian American presence. Due to entertainment???s role in popular culture, social scripts as shown on television are central to cultural production and the development of racialized identities. Though much has been written on the relationship between television and stereotyping, little has been done to explore how media utilizes social scripts in order to present racial narratives. In this essay, I examine race and diversity in media, discuss the climate of Asian American representation in entertainment, and explore the sitcom Fresh Off the Boat by ABC. I argue that the show incorporates several social scripts, including a white script and black script, while introducing an Asian American script, and discuss the methods used in order to do so, with tools such as sitcom form and othering. This essay discusses how social scripts exemplify ideologies that shape racial and ethnic identity, and explores the discursive techniques that facilitate Asian American representation, experience, and identity on television. Keywords: Asian American, sitcom, television, representation, stereotypes, social scripts Advisors/Committee Members: Winslow, Luke, Goehring, Charles, Kim, Mingjeong.