This is a scan of the cover of an old comic book series, The Shadow, which began in the 1940's when tension between West and East was high. Though the timeframe is not recent, the stereotypes portrayed still apply. In the story, the main character is an American socialite who travels to China to get rich by involving himself in the Opium trade. While he's there, he comes across a hidden temple where a poweful monk teaches him esoteric skills and abilities that he can use to make himself invisible, or control people's minds. This follows right along with the common misconception of Asian people's heightened sense of spirituality, and plays to old beliefs of almost magical abilities certain religious figures or warriors were believed to have achieved after years of instruction and discipline. Here are some screenshots from the movie portraying the temple and the monk that The Shadow was said to have learned from: 
2 comments:
It is so true that movie makers portray asians as people with secret, mysterious powers. Recent movies still show striking abilities of only a few, which leads to common misconception that all asians know how to do martial arts and other "cool" stuffs.
Tinni, I believe that you found a really good image that displays the relationship between the west and the east. I personally think that the fact that the western guy is holding a gun represents some thoughts which people in the west had. While the main story of the comic book is about a western guy learning and getting intrigued by what he encounters during his trip in China, they are also trying to convey the idea that the west is also well-developed society with high level technology.
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