The number of Asian American communities is growing in the United States population, however, these groups of people are often marginalized and misrepresented in mainstream media. In today's mainstream media, there is a visible lack of Asian-American representation in film. Asian actors, when given roles in film and television, are rarely cast in central roles and only make up about 3% of characters in prime time (Ramasubramanian, 2011). Not only is the number of Asian and Asian American candidates low, but the roles of these characters are often portrayed in the stereotypical ideology that has been present for decades. But why are Asians portrayed the way they are? Why has Hollywood maintained its representation practices when it comes to portraying Asians? Why do these representations persist in the face of a growing Asian population and racial diversity? What does the Asian-American segment mean for Hollywood? To what extent does consideration of the Asian-American market influence how Hollywood portrays Asians? These are the questions that come up when watching movies, and in the lens of an Asian American, many Asians and Asian Americans don't fit the mold created by Hollywood. First, I will present the range of common cinematic representations of Asians. This literature review will focus on the negative and positive light of Asian representation, the structure of the Hollywood film industry and its effect on Asian race representation, social acceptance of Asian stereotypes, and theories of Asian American social identity . Positive and Negative Asian Stereotypes The media often exaggerates the characteristics of Asians and Asian Americans. Stereotypes in cinema maintain common ones, such as Asians being martial arts masters and... middle of paper... Enshoff et al. (2009), it is important to remember that the films produced by Hollywood are first and foremost strictly commercial. For Asian viewers, it may be easier to spot these misrepresentations, but whether Hollywood casts a Korean to play a Japanese role, or a Chinese to play a Korean, it's the same because Hollywood uses what works to sell its product well . Furthermore, due to the negative feelings towards Asian Americans prevalent in American culture, Hollywood's attempt to expand its target audience is limited, and despite the growing market value of Asian Americans, Hollywood is perhaps unwilling to portray Asian characters successful for fear of provoking its mainstream. public that harbors prejudice against Asians. There is a dominant white preference on the effects that certain stereotypes can have on Asians and Asian Americans (Park, 2005).