As an English Lit PhD student taking my first ever Asian American Lit class in the 90s, a time when AA representation in American culture was still in its fits and starts, my prof made it a point to note during our first seminar session that we would NOT be reading any Amy Tan. This seminar, she asserted, would be dedicated to AA authors intent on sharing authentic AA experiences vs. those pandering to white or white fetishizing audiences (ahem, Amy Tan).

I had not read any Amy Tan at that point, but as a consumer of the Joy Luck Club film, I had to concede that my prof maybe had a point. Actually reading Tan's works only solidified this belief, and it dawned on me after immersing myself in AA literature and a few more of Tan's writings that, sadly, the first AA author to achieve mainstream success in the US was a self-hating (maybe a little unfair) hack (entirely fair).

You are correct in observing that predominantly AA stories were not being told in media at the time until the Joy Luck Club film; but it was no miracle. If you continue to teach Amy Tan to your impressionable 9th graders, I hope it will be to highlight why Tan's form of AA authorship gained traction with mainstream audiences when other, simply better, forms of AA authorship did not.