Hollywood Chinese and Indians

Last week I watched a documentary called Hollywood Chinese on PBS. Not surprising, the cinema's portrayal of the Chinese has been similar to its portrayal of Indians. Some reviews:

Hollywood ChineseSan Francisco director Arthur Dong's documentary Hollywood Chinese, which won the Golden Horse Award (the Chinese equivalent of the Oscars) in December, chronicles the contributions Chinese-Americans have made to Hollywood films. But more than just a filmography, Dong interviews a rich range of actors and directors about their experiences, including Ang Lee, Wayne Wang, Amy Tan, Joan Chen and Nancy Kwan. Actress Tsai Chin says she's not proud to have acted in five Fu Manchu movies, but she needed to put food on the table. Nancy Kwan describes how a woman accused her of shaming Asian women by playing a prostitute in The World of Suzie Wong.

While interesting, these themes are not new. One way Dong's film distinguishes itself from other Asian-American films and books is when he interviews white actors who took on “Chinese” roles in the yellowface films of the 1920s-60s. German actress Luise Rainer, who landed the lead role (and an Oscar) as O-lan in The Good Earth (1927), based on Pearl S. Buck's novel, defends the film's yellowface casting, saying that being “true to the character” is “more important than being exactly right on the outside.”And:Dong also reveals clips from the earliest yellowface depictions of Chinese, such as Beheading the Chinese Prisoner (1900), Massacre of the Christians (1900), and The Heathen Chinese and the Sunday School Teachers (1904). All show America's fascination with and fear of the Chinese—issues that are still very relevant more than 100 years later.EUR TV Review:  Hollywood Chinese

PBS-TV Special Set to Explore Asian Stereotypes in CinemaAsians have been portrayed just as unfairly as blacks by filmmakers, and also right from the inception of the movie industry.

While many might think of D.W. Griffith’s “The Birth of a Nation” (1915) as the starting point of the dissemination of such racist images, the Chinese had by then already been smeared by an earlier silent picture entitled “Massacre of the Christians by the Chinese” (1900).

Over the intervening years, Asians have been generally presented in a very limited fashion in accordance with several recognizable stereotypes popularized and perpetuated by Hollywood.

The females tend to be very deferential and sexually available for white men, who they adore and place upon pedestals. Meanwhile, their males are shown to be either desexualized and submissive, or as dangerous and demonic, if they’re at all assertive.Comment:  Western films with Native stereotypes also preceded Birth of a Nation.

You gotta love those old Chinese movie titles. Maybe the studios should've made one movie to cover everyone: blacks, Latinos, Asians, and Indians. To label it accurately, they could've called it Whites Demonize What They Hate and Fear.

There are many parallels between Chinese and Native stereotypes:

Chinese involved in gambling, opium smoking, and Tong wars = barbaric, savage Indians.

Wise Chinese kung fu masters, priests, and elders = wise Indian chiefs, shamans, and elders

Beautiful Chinese maidens and prostitutes = beautiful Indian princesses and chiefs' daughters.

Modern-day Chinese martial artists = modern-day Native military vets, activists, and other fighters.

Thoughts on Hollywood Chinese

Some interesting tidbits from Hollywood Chinese and my reactions:

Actress Tsai Chin on Hollywood's casting policies: "It’s about power of the majority race ... basically to keep the power over the minority race." Exactly.

Besides Luisa Rainier, some of the Chinese actors also excuse the "yellowface" casting. For instance, someone says, "The audience needs to identify with the characters. How are they going to identify with somebody who looks Chinese?"

This is ridiculous for several reasons. First, many people in American audiences are Chinese and other minorities. They aren't all white. Second, who says people identify with skin color more than other characteristics? Maybe they identify with socioeconomic class or occupation before they identify with race. Third, the success of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and other martial artists proves there's no barrier to movies starring the Chinese. Audiences will watch anybody if the movies are entertaining.

As another Asian example, Monsoon Wedding cost $1.5 million to make but has earned $30 million worldwide. Why? Because once you figure out who the characters are, you forget they're (Asian) Indians. They could be any spirited family anywhere.

(Rob's rating of Monsoon Wedding:  8.5 of 10. Check it out.)

Actress Lisa Lu says she spoke to the director of The Mountain Road, a movie she was in: "Mr. Mann, I don’t think Chinese work that way, Chinese behave that way." In other words, she used her position to seek a more authentic portrayal of the Chinese. All actors should do this if they can.

Actor B.D. Wong (Law & Order: SVU) offers the most thoughtful quote: "I had a very high level of self-doubt and self-shame when I was a young boy. I hated myself—partly because of the way I was represented in the media. I also discovered very soon into my childhood that I was gay. And it was a very similar war of self-acceptance that I experienced as a gay person as I did being Asian American."

For those who don't understand what it's like to be a minority in America, this quote is revealing. Being Asian (or Indian) is much like being gay. Prejudice against racial minorities has become somewhat muted and hidden, but prejudice against gays is still widespread and overt. Many gays have problems with self-acceptance, I believe, and so do many minorities.

Anyway, I'd say Hollywood Chinese was broad and comprehensive but not especially deep. The film could've used some historians and scholars to provide more thoughtful analyses. Actors and directors aren't necessarily profound thinkers on cultural issues.

Rob's rating:  8.0 of 10. Worth watching if you care about stereotyping in the media.

For more on the subject, see Native Documentaries and News and The Best Indian Movies.