So Memoirs of a Geisha will be coming out in the Madison area around Christmas. While part of me is very excited to see my homegirls Michelle Yeoh and Zang ZiYi (sorry, I have to do it the traditional Chinese way -- no ZiYi Zang here) and the movie looks absolutely gorgeous, I can't help but have a little shiver of fear.
Blame it on my Asian American studies -- whenever I see stuff that features Asian Americans, I can't help but look at portrayal. Most of the time, Asian women are portrayed as exotic and submissive delicate flowers or insane hyper-sexual Dragon Women. While I know that Geishas are part of Japanese culture and history, I can't help but wonder if the entire movie is going to turn into an exotic buffet of women who know how to please a man.
Maybe it's because it's based on a book written by a white man and the screenplay (as far as I can tell from staring at surnames) consists of white writers -- Robin Swicord and Doug Wright. Now, before I'm accused of reverse racism, I'd like to say that as far as I can tell from a brief IMDB scan, they really don't have any experience with Asian issues. Swicord's worked on Practical Magic (a great sister/sister film in my mind, but not exactly the paragon of Asian American films) and Matilda, while Wright's only credit is this movie.
I could be wrong -- they might have more knowledge about Asian history and culture than I do, but frankly, I'm skeptical. My gut is telling me we'll see another story about the mysteries of the Orient and how Asian women are more feminine and exotic than other women (thanks to Geisha training).
It just gets irritating. If you're Asian and in the media, you're just seen as exotic, foreign, feminine and mysterious. I miss movies like Eat Drink Man Woman or Dim Sum that show a different side to being Asian -- not just Kung Fu killers or exotic beings.
While I also have love for my girls Michelle Yeoh and Zhang ZiYi, I gotta say, they're Chinese actresses playing Japanese women. I can't blame the Asian media for being up in arms about this -- historically, there's not much love between Japan and China. Hell, sometimes I don't have much love for Japan given their World War II actions and their failure to own up to the stuff. I can't help but wonder if some of it is the idea that all Asians look the same. I suppose it could be worse. We could be back to Yellowface and Renee Zellweger, Lindsey Lohan and Angelina Jolie as the lead actresses. At least they're Asian.
6 comments:
I've been wondering about how the portrayals in the movie are going to be done too. The marketing (at least on the book covers front) is entirely playing into the "exotic asian flower" stereotype. On the other hand, I've heard some great stuff about the research and everything that went into the costumes and visuals of the movie. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Word to the Zhang Ziyi. I was so disappointed when she changed it. And word to your entire post. I saw the trailer and was deeply annoyed. This movie has the potential to be stereotype city.
Cosign on you and keidra. That Ziyi Zhang bit pissed me off when I saw it. I didn't realize she had done it herself though. How many assmonkeys are left out there who arent aware surname comes first in chinese naming?
I was also highly disturbed by the lack of Japanese actresses in this one. It is as though they went, "who are the most recognizable asian actresses? It won't matter to western audiences what they are! They won't be able to tell the difference! No-names won't sell this movie, there aren't any white people in it!" Which may be exactly what they did, which is highly unfortunate, considering what an amazing opportunity this would have been to maybe expand the roster of promising asian actresses working in hollywood.
ooh, i blogged in your blog, sorries!
This reminds me a lot of the tv/movie issue that usually upsets me the most. How often do you even see female characters who are not A) sex symbols, B) stone cold bitches, or C) someone's mom (and of no other plot importance)?
I mean is it too much to ask for a mid thirties, slightly overweight, intelligent and mentally well balanced female character? Much more often you end up with the sex object, the caretaker, or "the obstacle" (who goes out of her way to have no emotions at all).
Grrr...
If you read the book - the women as geisha spend their lives trying to show that they are "delicate little flowers", so it is not much of a surprise if they are portrayed that way in the movie...
Anonymous -- I'm not surprised that they're portrayed that way, I'm just saying I'm tired to seeing that exotic angle. It's not just this movie, it's other media portrayals also. While it's getting better (see Sandra Oh and Sideways), we've still got a bit to go.
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