Read Chapter 1, “Asian American Theatre before 1965,” from the textbook (Esther Kim Lee).
Padlet discussion forum:
Describe the historical contexts and early examples of how Asians and Asian Americans were depicted in popular media;
analyze the reasons behind these popular depictions of Asians and Asian Americans; and
evaluate the works of Asian Americans who participated in the popular media during this historical period, especially in the example of Anna May Wong.
*What are some observations or questions you have about the reading(s) chosen by you for this week? Use examples from the class materials (reading) to explain your observations or questions.
PLEASE PROVIDE THREE PARAGRAPHS, ABOUT 4-6 SENTENCES IN EACH PARAGRAPH. I have already uploaded the reading Lee, Chapter 1 (9 pages) “Asian American Theatre before 1965”.
Also, I have pasted an example of one my classmates (Just to be a guide for you) Carlos D. Garcia’s Post:
A few things struck me when reading this initial chapter, for starters, I was really happy to get an answer to my question from last week. I wondered if Asian-American plays that focused on the perspective of the Westerners watching the shows was dominant and the chapter answered that with a resounding “yes.” What was fascinating to me was how powerful the Americanized idea of “Asian” was versus the actuality and identity of real Asian Americans. For example Anna May Wong starred in The Circle of Chalk in 1929, (which side research said this was an English adaptation of Yuan Dynasty play from China,) but instead of receiving praise, audiences found her “Californian accent” too inauthentic. (Page 16) It’s staggering to me that an actual work from 1290 China was considered not as authentic to it’s often yellow-faced performed counter parts. This in itself is odd, but the chapter went on to explain that idea of Asian-American identity from the American perspective was both homogenized (to just Chinese, or Mongolian) and also contradictory.
In Western plays, Asian American’s men seem to have two contrasting stereotypes Male characters were either wickedly smart and nefariously evil, to ingrain the idea that if Westerners were not careful they (they being Asian-Americans) would soon become of and then take over Western Civilization; or bumbling drunks and lechering and were a waste of space. It seems that idea of “Asian-American” was entirely based on the fear mongering propaganda tactics of a racist government, and whichever image was more successful in convincing people that Asian-American’s were not to be welcomed. It made me realize how terrifying and all too-powerful America’s Soft Power is. For a quick recap, the idea of Soft Power is changing the ideals and preferences of the masses through attracting and entertaining them. By deploying these Asian American stereotypes in media (Movies, Television and of course, Theatre) America was using Soft Power to change its citizens view points on entire group of people. The book even mentions that when Japan was no longer as prominent of a threat (post-war) Theatrical and Movie roles for Asian-Americans had a positive boom.
In spite of this sobering fact, the tenacity of the Asian-American community in fighting back is inspiring. They opened up many performance venues and nightclubs such as Forbidden City (Page 19) where they played up the “fantasy” of being (specifically) Chinese. The acts were all titled things like “Chinese Frank Sinatra/Bing Cosby/Sophie Tucker” in order to cater to the American ideal of what an Asian-American was, despite the fact that a lot of the performers were Japanese, Korean or Filipino.
But all of this made me wonder, what elements of America (or any other nation or organization’s) Soft Power have I fallen into? Candidly, when reading this chapter I was embarrassed by the fact that I knew about Peter Hyun’s Revolt of the Bever but I didn’t know that he directed it…(or who he even was…) It made me realize that the effects of these stereotypes in theatre and media cross the board have a lasting effect in what history books, teachers, and then later on, the students who listen and read them, know and find important. While reading this chapter (and taking in all the other information) I’ve been noting the plays/playwrights mention, and tackling reading their works over time. I hope to, by the end of the semester, have a much larger repertoire of plays under my belt that I feel may have gone unnoticed for too long.
This isn’t quite as attached to the previous sentiments mentioned, but I am curious about the Internment plays performed by Japanese-Americans. The book mentioned it spurned interest in theatre to quite a few people who were in the camps that later went on to be stars: Yuki Shimoda, Jak Soo (though worth noting, Soo changed his name from Goro Suzuki due to having trouble finding work with his original name….) I just wonder about the general history of those plays, what was produced, and if there are detailed, or even any, records of them? I’ve read graphic novels about the camps, but I’d love to know what actual work was created inside them.
