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AAST355: Asian American Studies - Coggle Diagram
AAST355: Asian American Studies
Films
All Orientals Look the Same
I noticed that over the course of the short film, the male voice doesn't really change in inflection but becomes progressively louder. Perhaps it represents the unchanging societal response to the multitude of cultures captured within the umbrella term "Oriental."
In the short film, the male voice males repeated use of the label "oriental" whereas the female voice uses specific identifiers. I think this creates a dichotomy between the indignation of the male voice and the changing inflections of the female voice.
Daughter of the Dragon
Disconnect between Eastern and Western Cultures
House of Fu Manchu vs. the Petri Family
The conflict between Fu Manchu and the Petri household underlies the entire film.
Even after Fu Manchu is dead, his presence is still felt throughout the remainder of the film.
With few exceptions (namely Ah Kee), the house of Fu Manchu is composed entirely of Asians and the Petri Family entirely of Western people.
Toxicity of Eastern Ideals and Cultural Assimilation
Use of Poison
Ling Moy's Character Progression
Power of the White Male
Ling Moy, Ah Kee, and Ronald
Asian Mysticism
Fu Manchu (I don't know what his deal is)
Yellow Peril
Toll of the Sea
Asian Mysticism/Exoticism
The events of the film are framed as a Chinese legend and there are several attempts throughout the film to mythologize the sea.
(2:15 - 2:33) - The film opens on several blocks of text which explain that "there is a legend of far-away China which tells of the beauty and the treachery of the siren Sea- - whose favors are a mortgage upon the soul- -"
At 5:20, an Asian male warns Lotus Flower that "The sea is treacherous. His coming bodes no good!" This paints the Asian male as superstitious. Lotus Flower is also presented as being superstition when she prays to the sea at 6:09.
Ornamentalism
There are various scenes of Lotus Flower wandering around or being wistful in a garden. Her bright green outfit distinguishes her from the red backdrop. The garden is treated as a metaphor for Lotus Flower's love for Allen Carver. The garden, however, is really only a background element meant for visual appeal. Much like Lotus Flower herself and the Asiatic imagery present within the film, the garden is only present for superficial reasons.
Asian Femininity
Lotus Flower's relationship with Allen Carver
The opening scene paints Allen Carver entering Lotus Flower's life as a favor from the sea. The opening text suggests that her jumping into the sea at 52:40-53:01 is an act of repaying that debt.
Within the scene from 12:11-13:33, Allen Carver talks with some of his colleagues about his intentions with Lotus Flower. While Carver seems to genuinely care about Lotus Flower, his colleagues pass his relationship off as a sexual excursion. They devalue Lotus Flower as being "this Chinese girl."
Within the latter half of the scene, there's a brief cut from a Western woman to an Asian woman. There's a clear contrast presented between the prim and proper Western woman and somewhat tomboyish Asian woman.
Carver reveals that one of his reasons for liking Lotus Flower is that she's "different," and his colleagues reaffirm that "she is different."
Sexual Availability of Asian Women
Outside of the opening scenes, there's a notable lack of Asian males. The ones we do see are largely in subservient roles. This was likely a deliberate decision to prevent any competition for Lotus Flower's affection.
The topic of Lotus Flower's conversation with two Asian women from 9:52-10:32 is their relationships with Western men. One of the women brings up how they're only married "in Chinese fashion," while the other mentions how she's "already been forgotten by four faithful American husbands." The dialogue of the two Asian women supports the idea that meaningful relationships between Western men and Eastern women aren't all that possible, that the only possible relationships are sexual in nature.
West v. East
From 42:37-44:39, Lotus Flower reunites with Allen Carver. However, Allen Carver had already wed a Western woman. The differences between Ling Moy and Allen Carver's wife are visually clear, as Ling Moy is dressed in a vibrant red and green dress while the wife's dress is a subdued green.
Interspersed throughout this reunion are scenes of Lotus Flower's servants washing Allen Carver's son. The implication here is that the son is being washed clean of Asian influence, as his traditionally Chinese clothing is abandoned in favor of a Western suit.
The Cheat
Enter the Dragon
History and Memory: For Akiko and Takashige
Better Luck Tomorrow
Masculinity
Societal Expectations / The Cycle
Readings
Film
In Search of Asian American Cinema
The Other Question - Stereotype, Discrimination, and the Discourse in Colonialism
Romance and the Yellow Peril
Color-as-hue and Color-as-race: Early Technicolor, Ornamentalism, and Toll of the Sea
When Dragon Ladies Die, Do They Come Back as Butterflies?
South Asians and the Hollywood Party
Made-up Asians: Yellowface During the Exclusion Era
Recuperating Suzie Wong
: A Fan's Nancy Kwan-dary
In the Afterglow of Regenerative Cinema and Asian America Media Discourse
Evolution of Cinema
(P. 30) The text outlines three stages of progression within the history of cinema:
First Cinema - synonymous with Hollywood and Bollywood; defined by corporate profits and mass entertainment.
Second Cinema - offers "meaningful challenges" to studio system productions, however ultimately "within the system."
Third Cinema - seeks to inspire a revolutionary transformation of society.
Relationship Between Asian Americans and Cinema
Historical Context
San Francisco's International Hotel
Police Brutality and Nonviolent Resistance
Grassroots Activism
Identity and Memory