Lucy Liu and the Ling Dynasty

[KATANA]

This article was written by Julia Ko and posted at iistix.com.

[b]LING DYNASTY

The prime time television sitcom, "Ally McBeal" has been the center of much controversial debate concerning media portrayals in the past few years. The second season of the sitcom introduced to the American public the character Ling. Ling, played by Lucy Liu, is a client and friend of Nelle, one of the associates at the firm. Ling is a manager of a steel manufacturing plant and plays the role of the antagonist in the over-arching story plot of Ally McBeal. The sitcom is now in its fourth season and is still continuing to attract much discussion concerning its character portrayals and the effects of such.

The lack of Asian women in the popular media is the exact reason why each representation is so vital. This under representation attaches a greater importance on the few images that are portrayed, and thus these images are of importance in creating a sort of realism about the Asian female. In the case of the Ling, the old stereotypes she brings to mainstream culture play a vital role in creating a sort of "normality" of Asian women in society. Thus leading to societal beliefs about Asian women on the whole. Furthermore, the fact that there are virtually no alternative representations to combat these generalizations, allow Ling and characters similar to Ling to become an absolute... the way they really are.

Although Ling breaks from the traditional role of the submissive and quiet geisha-type character, it still renders other traditional stereotypes about Asian women. For one, she is highly sexualized. According to the online database of characters and plots titled, The Ally McBeal Reference Guide (Season 2): Woo, Ling, Ally, the main character on the sitcom commented that Ling dresses in a way that says, "Look at my body now. But just don't talk about it." Ling herself comments that "she dresses trampy because it gives her an edge," and feels that she could kill any man just by sleeping with him. She says she is "penis-psychic," meaning she can always tell when a man is thinking about his "unit." Ling addresses the issue of sex, women and power in the following manner...

[i]Sex goes to the very essence of a woman. Sex is a weapon. We all use it. We tease, we tantalize, we withhold it, it's something we do in every walk of life, be it marriage, business. God gave us that advantage by giving men the dumb stick.

Ling's display of "sexualness" also plays out in her relationship with a man in the firm named Richard. In her relationship, Ling portrays expected mastery of control and emphatic sexuality that is so often tantalized in Asian women characters. The old stereotype of the geisha still lurks in Ling... that Asian women are masters in the art of sex. For example, Ling goes out with Richard several times before allowing a kiss on the lips, and when the anticipated moment arrives, gives Richard explicit information on how she wants their first kiss to be. She tilts his head and licks his lips for moisture and tells him to "just receive/reciprocate but don't escalate." Then she says, "You may think you have been kissed before, Richard Fish, but you haven't." The scene is a display of the erotic sexual behavior of the character Ling. It displays the expected connotation of Asian women as experts in the field of sex, as often displayed by the media. The role of Ling is one of a great sexual appeal and this sexual appeal is both expected and anticipated by the audience.

Another notable commonality in traits of Asian female characters is the "dragon lady" image. Asian females are often portrayed as the cold-hearted villain, and in the example case, Ling is the antagonist in Ally McBeal. Ling has a permanent scowl on her face and a "take no prisoner attitude." With her narrowed eyes and crooked smile, she often says things like, "I don't like your outfit. Stop bugging me. Do you have a point?" She fits the role of the "dragon lady" perfectly to a point that in one episode, the Wicked Witch music from the "Wizard of Oz" started to play when Ling entered the room.

Jennifer Tung writes her commentaries on the history of Asian women representations by the popular media in an article titled, "Asian It Girls Say So Long to the Dragon Lady"...

[i]But if Asian women are bustling out of the China doll stereotypes, their new image does tend to borrow some of the old cliches. They may no longer be mousy math whizzes, but they're still brainy. Clawed dragon lady might be out, but style queens with sharp tongues and sharp wardrobes are very in.

And Ling Woo is definitely all these things and more. she is incredibly intelligent and never seems to have any failures or mishaps. She wears sharp designer outfits and has a tongue to match to a point where she is considered a "bitch" by the other characters in the sitcom. She definitely fits the role of dragon lady who says what she wants to say and is completely unemotional and inattentive to other people's emotional needs. And she is also very sexual, whether or not it is the image of sexual tension that she radiates or the actual act of sexuality, she is full of sexual energy. She sends the same sort of message to the audience about Asian women as the geisha type women did, reestablishing the image of the scheming, unemotional, brainy, sexual Asian female.

Ally McBeal has been the center of much controversial debate concerning media portrayals in the past few years. The under representation of Asian women in the popular media is the exact reason why each representation is so vital. In the case of the Ling, the old stereotypes she brings to the mainstream culture plays a vital role in creating a sort of "normality" of Asian women in society. Furthermore, the fact that there are virtually no alternative representations to combat these generalizations, Ling and characters similar to Ling become an absolute... the way they really are.

[coagulated fat]

"Normalcy" is bad enough, but "normality"? Ugh. I had to stop reading after that point.

[ChairmanMah]

this is old. Is ally mcb still on the air?

[KATANA]

Originally Posted by ChairmanMah

this is old. Is ally mcb still on the air?

She wrote this two years ago. The Ally McBeal episodes are still on the air, they're playing on the FX Channel.