Crisis of stereotypes

-The Slanted Screen

It shows that Asian American male actors struggled against Hollywood’s ethnic stereotypical and discriminatory practices. Asian American male actors were portrayed as evil against White women and White society. For instance, Sessue Hayakawa had theaters full of women coming to see as Asian male overpower them. Also they played strange person who control White’s minds. Asian American male actors were really suited to a evil role because they look totally different from Caucasians and unusual on Hollywood films.

-Reading “Orientals”

In the book, there are explanations of a few films to see how Asian American were used as Gook in those films. Chinese Americans are described as a universal Oriental otherness in “Year of the Dragon”. It probably influences audiences to think Chinese or Asian communities are awful. The image makes people think Asian American are  distinct from norm.

-Saving Face

Wil’s mother uses ethnic slurs on Wil’s black friend many times. But she does not mean to hate and discriminate against him. I think that she uses them as stereotypical jokes.

Crisis of Identities

“Saving Face” portrays Chinese American lesbian couple and Wil’s  unwed mother’s pregnancy. As this film shows, lesbian couple and unwed mother’s pregnancy among the Chinese American community is not as acceptable as in the American society. Thus, Wil is afraid of telling her mother and Wil’s mother tries to find a man for her baby’s father. But, Wil finally kisses with Vivian in public in oder to identify as lesbian. Also, Wil’s mother admit the man she truthfully loves even though he is much younger than her. These examples express the difference between Asian American and American culture.

Additionally, Lee says in the book, ‘Orientals’ that “The myth presents Asian Americans as silent and disciplined; this is their secret to success. At the same time, this silence and discipline is used in constructing the Asian Americans as a new yellow peril.” (p.190) Yet, as ‘Saving face’, Asian Americans has begun to identify their true selves on their own terms.

These reading and two films are very interesting for me to get to know as Asian female. I like those films. There are four connections  between Reading and two films I found.

• “Film historian Nick Browne writes that ‘the imagery of the movie world linked and intermingled exoticism and consumerism… for cultural possession and incorporation of the ancient wealth of Asian sexual secrets and material life.’ ”(Lee, p.120)

I quote this part because it is related to “Slaying The Dragon”. In the film, Asian American actors say that the film makers required them to be exotic, mysterious, and sexual Asian women as stereotype because consumers wanted to see it.

• According to “The Joy Luck Club” and the reading, I think that both two focus on female roles more than male.

“At the very moment that over-civilization and weightless of middle-class life have weakened the self-confidence of the middle-class male, the New Woman offered a direct challenge to his late-Victorian masculinity.”(Lee, p.120)

Additionally, the leading characters in the film are all women. Chinese mothers had difficulty in China and finally came to the US to success. It really describes women strength. Also,  Chinese mothers and ChineseAmerican daughter are against each other because their culture and identities are different such as Chinese or American. But, mothers teach something important to their daughters and they understand each other after all.

• Orientals were seen as weird and awful people by White people.

“He presents the cosmopolitan world of Empire.Yet this cosmopolitanism masks his evil intent, which, Nayland Smith warns, ‘is to ‘pave the way’ … for nothing less than a colossal Yellow Empire. That dream is what millions of Europeans and Americans term ‘the Yellow Peril!’”(Lee, p.116)

Also, Chinese husbands are described in the film as terrible Chinese men. One has many wive and the forth wife is like sex slave. The other cheated on his wife cruelly.

• According to Slaying the dragon, many films used couples of Japanese wive and White husbands in oder to show consumers mysterious and new stories. The Joy luck club describes these couples too. Japanese wive are often portrayed as reserved and it made stereotype. Before Asian males, Asian females were accepted by White society as new and interesting things.

~p50

“In its ruling, the court recognized the fact that some Asians, including Ozawa, were of a paler hue than many European immigrants already accepted into the nation as ‘White.’ Race, … . being of Japanese ‘blood,’ could not claim to be white, no matter how white his skin”(Lee,p2)

I quote this because I have never thought that Asians have yellow color faces….. But according to this quotation, Yellow means blood and race… Yellow is sometimes used for caution or warning by dangerous.

 “Much as the ‘anomalous’ condition of ‘free’ persons of color in New England at the beginning of the nineteenth century constituted for whites the negative meaning of their blackness, … , and the Chinese were constructed as pollutants.” (Lee,p31)

In my understanding, before Chinese came to the US for gold rush, they were seen as foreigner and their culture were seen as new things for Americans, but after gold rush, they were seen as strangers with different faces and races. So criticism was mounting over Chinese labor immigrants. In the quotation, “pollutants” is used as if Chinese were poison against Americans.

p51~105 

“Furthermore, … ., menial and heavy tasks became identified with racially subordinated peoples. Such heavy work at subsistence wage was deemed suitable for freed Balcks and Chinese or morally degraded ‘white trash’.”(Lee, p57)

 This quotation says that sweated or heavy works fitted on Blacks, Chinese, and ‘White trash’ who did not have skills. Of course, the wages for those works were lower than other jobs needed knowledge or technique. Thus, the employers  made a good use of  unskilled people with cheaper wages. According to the same page, surprisingly, the wages for Irish and Chinese immigrant day labors were cheaper than enslaved Africans having skills. The wages were  set by skills and races at that time.

“……the Chinese represented a third sex – an alternative or imagined sexuality that was potentially subversive and disruptive to the emergent heterosexual orthodoxy.”(Lee, p88)

“The Oriental in America could be imaged as an erotic threat to domestic tranquillity for two related reason.”(Lee, p88)

 These reasons are interesting for me. Because more than 10,000 Chinese women were brought to the United States as prostitutes, Americans saw the Chinese as odd. In addition, Americans viewed Chinese men as evils toward White women because Americans thought thousands of Chinese immigrant men who worked as household servants threatened White women. I feel like ‘third sex’ is very strange and weird word. Chinese were no longer seen either as female or male.

In the film, Ben is isolated from his Filipino American family.  His elder relatives want to keep their own culture. On the other hand, Ben cannot speak the Tagalog language and do Filipino dance. Generation gap that is the difference in the attitude, priorities, and views among generations exists there. Because Ben is getting along with White friends, Augusto calls Ben “White man” or something ironically.

I was surprised when  Rose says to Ben “Hiroshima. I’m bomb” during playing basketball….

Ben’s family really respect toward Ben’s grandfather. As Ben’s father is mean to Ben until the end of this film, Ben’s grandfather is strict to Ben’s father too. It shows that  Filipino strongly respect for elders. I guess because Ben’s grandfather was especially working so hard to settle down to the US as Asian American, Ben’s family and relatives respect him so much.

This movie is so good. I liked it.

I judge that  Walt has an old idea and he is racist. For instance, he says “Asian girls should be smart,”  ”dragon lady,” ”Asian is good at math,” etc.. It was kind of funny to hear those images toward Asian Walt had.

Korean War has an impact on  Walf a lot even though it is for only three years in his life and long time ago. He does not forget something. He might feel guilty about killing people in the war. It might make him obstinate. He might protect himself by not trusting somebody else. After his wife’s death, Walt has only his dog because he does not trust his sons too.

Walt meets Thao who Walt feels closed as a son, and then he changes a lot. Although he used to distrust Hmong neighbor, he realize his neighbor’s kindness after he goes to Hmong people’s party. At first, Hmong people judge Walt, but finally they serve Walt a lot of foods and become friendly. He is racist unless he understands different culture and races. But, now he knows. At the end of this movie, Walt gives his life to protect Thao and his family from gangs. I was moved very much at that moment.

- Chapters 10&11 -

Although World War II was tragic event for Japanese American, it was also good opportunities for another Asian American such as Filipino American, Chinese American, Korean American, and so on to show their loyalty toward the US and get better economic power.

“Filipinos wanted to get back to the Philippines to fight for the liberation of their homeland.” (Takaki, p360)

“But many Filipino-American soldiers were also fighting for their freedom on the home front.” (Takaki, p360)

According to these quotations, Filipino-American soldiers not only wanted to offer allegiance toward the US but also protect their homeland, Philippines. The latter reason is different from Japanese American soldiers.

” And so, when it came time to strike in 1946, the workers themselves knew they had to have what they called an ‘all race strike.’” (Takaki, p411)

Such as Japanese, Filipino, and Portuguese knew each other that they were under similar situations and the treatments by American. As that quotation, they realized that they need to cooperate not only with same races but also with different races as the minority groups in the USA.

- Chapters 12&13 -

” Today Asian Americans are celebrated as America’s ‘model minority.’”  (Takaki, p474)

It’s strange for me to hear like that because I learned Japanese immigrants’  many struggles in the US last quarter. And now, Asian Americans are ‘model minority’ in the US… Americans emphasize on only the success of Asian Americans that work so hard.  Asian Americans are stereotyped as passive, shy and so on by Americans. In the films we watched in class, there are many stereotypical words.

The 1992 Los Angels Riot is interethnic conflict between African Americans and Korean Americans. I did not know that those two races had battle in the US and was surprised that Korean American looked African American down. In chapter 11, different ethnic groups cooperated each other to happen strike, but there are also discriminations among them.

“Stereotypes influenced their perceptions of each other. ” (Takaki, p494)

According to the book, they had negative images toward each other. It is dangerous to be stereotyped without knowing.