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Megan's AAST335 Map - Coggle Diagram
Megan's AAST335 Map
The Cheat
Portrayed Arakau, the only Asian American man, as sinister and evil.
Sessue Hayakawa's character was originally supposed to be Japanese, but after backlash from Japanese Americans, the character became Burmese.
Shows that different Asian cultures and ethnicities were interchangeable to the general American community, relates to "All Orientals Look the Same".
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Creates a warning for white men: If they don't pay enough attention to their wives, they're going to become possessed by "evil Asian men".
Seemed like there was a character flip in the middle of the film: Edith went from being a whiny housewife that annoyed her husband, to her husband willing to make a huge sacrifice for her and being really loving.
Arakau's character also assumed this evilness very quickly, there were no signs of aggressiveness before he gave money to Edith.
“The Other Question - Stereotype, Discrimination, and the Discourse in Colonialism” (Bhabha, Location of Culture)
The concept of fixity and stereotypes go hand in hand; they put certain groups into a box and don't allow for any uniqueness within that group.
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The Toll of the Sea
Language differences in intertitles, font differences set the Chinese character apart even more.
Lotus Flower becomes "American" when she thinks that she's going to go to America with Carver. She wears a different dress and tells her friends that she is only going to speak the "American language".
Carver seems taken aback by this, maybe because she's no longer "different" and he's uncomfortable with the thought of her assimilating into his culture.
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Lotus Flower is portrayed as submissive and meek. Her character is selfless and she makes the ultimate sacrifice in giving up her child.
This makes it seem like this was Lotus Flower's only choice and the right choice because she thought that the white couple deserved her child more than she did.
When Carver talks to the other white men, they say that he can't possibly think of bringing Lotus Flower back to the US, because she's so "different". When they say this, the camera jumps to a shot of a white woman drinking tea, and then a shot of an Asian woman laughing. It seems like the intention was to show the white woman as proper and dressed-up, while it was portraying the Asian woman as childish and improper.
“Color-as-hue and Color-as-race: Early Technicolor, Ornamentalism, and Toll of the Sea” (Peng)
"Lotus Flower is under the illusion that interracial romance guarantees cultural and racial assimilation." (305)
Critics complained that there wasn't enough distinction between races in Toll of the Sea, because both the white and Asian actors had a "pallid" hue.
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Toll of the Sea showed the racial differences more with setting and clothing rather than with skin color. Lotus Flower and the Chinese landscape was "exotic" and colorful, while the white characters were shown in more of a neutral, toned-down palette.
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Daughter of the Dragon
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Fu Manchu and Lu Chung played in yellowface as undesirable characters. Lu Chung was portrayed as a creep which fits the idea that Asian characters are either undesirable or unable to succeed in their goals. The second stereotype was showed by Ah Kee being unable to enamor Ling Moy, and Petrie being the one to win her over as a white man.
Infidelity: Petrie is willing to leave his fiancée for Ling Moy, AA character is the homewrecker, the evil one who seduces the white man
“When Dragon Ladies Die, Do They Come Back as Butterflies?” (Liu, Countervisions)
Dismantling stereotypes school: using positive-negative image critique to examine Anna May Wong's career as a signifier of AA stereotypes
Removing the positive-negative image critique in order to be able to examine Anna May Wong's full career in a more open-minded sense.
Refunctioning representation school: network of significations, the actor only plays a partial role in pushing these stereotypes, and it's strengthened by fans and critics
My Geisha
Scene where Japanese women are auditioning for the role of Madame Butterfly and Paul gets frustrated because they are "too American" and he mentions that it's like they are fetishizing America
This seems ironic especially since Paul specifically wanted a Japanese woman but gets upset when they don't fit his perfect "oriental" image.
Sense of inferiority of Japanese women, Paul is threatened by Lucy's career and success, so he wants to find a "nobody" to star in his film.
Relation to "All Orientals Look the Same", even though Lucy isn't actually Japanese, she shows that being made up as a geisha is convincing enough for her husband and Moore's Western eyes.
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The World of Suzie Wong
At 12:28, Robert looks disgusted when he walks through a market, perpetuates xenophobic stereotypes that these markets are dirty and disgusting
Of all the movies we've watched so far, this seems the most well-researched and holds up pretty well against the test of time, in my opinion. While it still holds some racist stereotypes and themes, I think it shows a change in Hollywood and their portrayal of Chinese people.
I speak Cantonese so it is pretty cool to see representation of Hong Kong and its culture and language. Also, I feel that Robert utilizes and learns the language in a very respectful way during the course of the movie. There's even whole sections of dialogue in Cantonese that are actually very cohesive.