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Looking at Asian-Americans in Film

Brian Hack

[] Campus

LAS 36673: Teaching Through Film

Professor []

May 19, 2021

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For some reason almost everyone is able to pick out favorite movies which they watch

over and over again, actors who always has their admiration, and certain styles of movies which

they enjoy. For myself, my favorite movies tend to be non-Hollywood movies; if I happen to

remember their names, then the actors I like are more than Jackie Chan, Will Smith, and Tom

Cruise; and as for style of movie, I just wish for the movie to be engaging. My childhood was

mainly cartoons which, given my visual impairment, are something one does not grow out of

when you start watching Japanese cartoons that are expecting an older audience. As such,

reading Benhoff & Griffin (2009) regarding the history of Asian-Americans in film seemed

rather disturbing how until contemporary films are mentioned, the whole history is depicted as

oppressive regarding their roles in the movies that are discussed (p. 123-142). Of the movies

analyzed, only Rush Hour seems to be coming to mind, due to Jackie Chan, as well as once

having watched Memoirs of a Geisha, possibly. Despite this, I think it can be seen that

contemporary history of Asian-American roles has improved drastically, and that maybe the

roles given in the past are not so much of a demonization of the actors playing the characters but

rather a testament to how Hollywood thought their audience were of low intelligence.

Having recently watched Gandhi (1982), if there are still any issues regarding the roles of

Asian-Americans in movies then the arguer is obviously being disingenuous since nearly every

plausible role was filled by someone depicting an Asian individual. Of course, this is from a

shallow observation of the characters and perhaps every person was actual an Anglo-American

wearing make-up and, thus, I am incorrect. People seem to forget that there was a British Empire

that controlled a massive number of colonies around the world until just the last century and, as

such, is there really anything that cannot be blamed on the British? Benhoff & Griffin (2009)

wish to argue that “Asians were relatively unknown in America until” after about the late 1800s
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(p. 124). This is despite there being extensive world history literature about the whole of Eurasia,

including Africa, and that the story of Christopher Columbus was an attempt to find a route to

the Indian people of Asia to gather spices and avoid middlemen along the land route. There were

also the Dutch East Indies and the Dutch West Indies so, despite what has just been said, it is

highly likely that our American ancestors, of only almost a century or two ago, knew about

Asian people. In this kind of world, however, is it really that surprising that the colonizing

nations would feel superior to the people that they cannot communicate with? The Europeans

arrived to these lands before those inhabitants ever landed in Europe though, with all the book

burning that has happened in European history or the lack of care given to documents not related

to Christianity which may have recorded such an event, is it much of a surprise that they would

deduce such stereotypes? If a hyperintelligent alien species were to subjugate the human race,

would we really expect anything other than being taken for fools based on our not having

interstellar vessels? Consider this an apologetic stance meant to explain, absolutely not to

excuse, the history of America’s ancestors. As for myself, I consider myself coming from the

German peoples before and after being oppressed by the Nazi Party and not necessarily

connected to American history except after I was born here. Perhaps being in a family of recent

immigrants, I can feel the sentiment of non-European immigrants yet also be in the same boat

even if I am a European immigrant.

Since Asians did not immigrate as readily to America until after the 1860s, it may not be

too much of a surprise that during World War II there were bad stereotypes given of the

Japanese. As Benhoff & Griffin (2009) point out, “many war films [from this warring period]

demonized the Japanese” yet a few “actually distinguished among different Asian nationalities”

(p. 131). Interestingly the Americans, by the way of Captain (or Commodore) Perry, had been
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the first diplomatic partners of the Japanese to trade directly instead of being forced to go

through Nagasaki like the Russians, English, and the Dutch. While geopolitical reality may not

be foremost on the minds of farmers, there was a lot of respectful correspondence and interest

between American and Japan due to the attempts of Emperor Meiji trying to Westernize Japan,

seeing the subjugation of China to the British. A basic question to ask is, would you make your

mortal enemy and archnemesis to be the savior of your life story or would you make them as

close to Satan as possible? In contemporary America, we seem to forget that the world was not

created when we were born into it and, as such, a lot of stereotypes are due to geopolitical and

cultural reasons that simply an unwarranted sense of superiority or other-ness. Even then, despite

the role of being the enemy, there are many decent movies that show the Japanese to be amazing

people on their side of the conflict. Please grant me my ignorance of World War II movies from

that time, however Pearl Harbor (2001) gave a very respectable portrayal of the Japanese during

this time though, of course, they are the enemy and we are supposed to watch this movie, as

Americans, and get a better sense of American patriotism. In times of war, reality is not as rosy

as we wish it to be.

Another point to make is that although things may be ignored by the film industry, the

American public was not necessarily ignorant of what was happening abroad; this is especially

apparent when their loved ones are dying on foreign lands. Benhoff & Griffin (2009) make a

point about how “popular American film” had “mostly ignored” the Vietnam war during “the

early 1970s” (p. 133). The world does not revolve around Hollywood, though the public’s

recollection of the past may be due to the failure of Hollywood’s purposeful ignorance of

important issues of that time.

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History was horrible for a lot of people, especially the poor and those whose cultures

were disrupted by an invading people. For only being 250 or so years old, can we give America a

little bit of a break? As a visually impaired person, all of this discussion of racism despite so

much improvement in this country gives me a lot of stress when I am in the apparent minority

that we should not be so quick to judge. I do not know how a normal Asian-, Latino-, Black-, or

other American or Amerindian deals with stress; for me, I know I have faced too much stress

when my eye sockets start giving me pains as they are right now. If I can still be kind, smile, and

suspend my judgment for so long as to have eye-aches, then why can the average American not

seem to sit down a little and chill before immediately calling for all movies in history to be

thrown into the burn pit like the Nazis would have wished to do? Can we just stop with the

racism and stereotype talk for two hours and enjoy Rush Hour (1998)? The two main characters

are Black- and Asian-Americans or, at the least, can be seen as such in America. Jackie Chan is

an idol of mine, despite my European history, so the idea that everyone needs to have a starring

role seems preposterous to me: why do people find a category for themselves, other than -

American, and want every movie to star someone of that identity? If you do not like history, why

not make the future a little brighter without ripping down the history we were all handed upon

birth? I wish I were born with a trillion dollars, too.

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References

Attenborough, R. (Director), Briley, J. (Writer). (1982). Gandhi [Film]. International Film

Investors; National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC); Goldcrest Films

International; Indo-British Films.

Bay, M. (Director), Wallace, R. (Writer). (2001). Pearl Harbor [Film]. Touchstone Pictures;

Jerry Bruckheimer Films.

Benshoff, H. M., & Griffin, S. (2009). America on film: representing race, gender and sexuality

at the movies. Wiley-Blackwell.

Kouf, J. (Writer), LaManna, R. (Writer), Ratner, B. (Director). (1998). Rush Hour [Film]. New

Line Cinema; Roger Birnbaum Productions.