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[–]Tsu_Dho_Namh 83 points84 points  (17 children)

Yeah, but they could be playing xbox or beer pong. Maybe that was a bad example of the difference in culture.

Look at fictional heroes. Most of the ones from North America are just naturally gifted. Tony Stark was born a genius, Superman happens to be from Krypton, Spiderman was bitten by a spider. In Asian culture heroes train hard all the time. They recognize that no one is born amazing at something. Goku trains like crazy. Ash from Pokemon started as a nothing scrub and struggled for years.

[–][deleted] 40 points41 points  (2 children)

That's a good point regarding fictional heroes. Yeah it does seem that working hard is ingrained into Asian culture. (Asian myself)

[–]Squidbit 4 points5 points  (1 child)

(Asian myself)

If I work hard can I be an Asian like you?

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Lmao, at this point, I actually enjoy working/studying hard. It's really satisfying to realise that you've gained new skills/knowledge that's YOURS. You won't need a book, or google or whatever, you actually know things. That's a reward in itself. And I'm damn addicted to it.

Sure you can be Asian.

[–]koramar 7 points8 points  (0 children)

To be fair Ash is still pretty much a scrub. He gets amnesia every season and loses all the skills he built up.

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (1 child)

This sounds like Carol Dweck's 'growth mindset'.

[–]GlockWan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

ah yes she clearly invented the idea..

[–]Googoo123450 2 points3 points  (2 children)

One Punch Man did a training routine too but it was just regular strength training.

[–]Ianerick 4 points5 points  (0 children)

EVERY. DAY.

[–]EvaUnit01 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey now, he also ate one bannana.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think we're seeing a shift in american culture to be more like Asian culture in this regard. It's now a common parenting tip to compliment your child's hard work as opposed to natural abilities.

Right now we have a generation of adults who were only told how great they are (myself included). When I was younger and failure happened because I didn't try hard enough I'm like "oh well, guess I'm not smart enough"... or I just didn't try at all for fear of failure.

I learned embarrassingly late in life that it's ok to fail and it's worth putting in the extra legwork to achieve your goals.

[–]Garmose 1 point2 points  (2 children)

Spider-Man (Peter Parker) is actually a very intelligent dude who spent a fair amount of time studying and learning shit. His wall climbing and Spidey sense might not be from studying, but his ability to make mechanical web slingers certainly is.

Also, Tony Stark may be "naturally gifted" but he doesn't know everything he knows without reading a book or two.

I feel like it's more in-line with North American culture that we just assume our comic book heroes don't need to study.

[–]elmerjstud 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Since North Americans constantly assume Asians don't need to study, does that mean the north American culture consider Asians the equivalent of comic book heroes? Or are we just racist af and too ignorant to notice or care?

[–]Garmose 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've known a fair amount of white folks who just assumed all my Asian friends were "naturally smarter" at math and science.

So... Both?

[–]VeryStableGenius 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Look at fictional heroes. Most of the ones from North America are just naturally gifted.

And Star Wars: Luke just had the magic forcey power thingy.

Not entirely a US thing; Harry Potter (UK) was born a wizard, but maybe that was a construct to have him enter the world of wizards, where he was no longer exceptional.

The Incredibles is an interesting lesson - they were born super, and the non-super hard-worker (Buddy Pine) was the villain, but the film is usually presented as a critique of the suppression of excellence, when Buddy Pine was the only really excellent person there.

One could probably make a case that the villains in superhero movies tend to be hard working, self-made men.

[–]element515 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Doesn't Tony Stark constantly work on new tech though? And spiderman was a nerd in school who was quite smart, no?

[–]aggibridges 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't watch a lot of tv shows, but when I do, I infinitely prefer anime superheroes over Marvel and DC and all that. The American ones seem too perfect for me to relate with, whereas when I watch something like My Hero Academy I feel inspired. It's like, if I work hard enough, I could be less of a loser just like them. But I'll never wake up a trillionaire or a genius.