He was eventually forgotten in the United States “as Asian men were no longer considered ‘proper’ romantic leads” (Glenn). Hayakawa was most well-known for his “roles as a romantic leading man” (Glenn) but by the 1930s he had fallen from the ranks. Due to this framework, actors like Warner Oland were able to rise to the top of Hollywood’s elite while many other names like Anna May Wong and Sessue Hayakawa still do not garner the recognition they deserve.įew remember Sessue Hayakawa despite the fact that he was one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood during the 1910s and the 1920s. Take almost any film produced during the early years of Hollywood with Asian characters and they will almost always be played by a white actor mimicking the “melodramatic mannerisms of the otherworldly Chinaman” with “narrowed eyes the delicate, bowing movements the sing-song syntax the relentless politeness, and the suggestion of opium smoked depravity” (Wong 4). This mentality was further reinforced with the help of early films as the entertainment industry produced movies such as Broken Blossoms (1919), The House Without A Key (1926)- the first of many Charlie Chan films, and The Good Earth (1937) all of which star white actors and actresses dressed up in the yellow face. Subsequent impulses from the West ultimately led to anti-miscegenation laws, punishing any kind of interracial relationship and ensuring the eventual return to an acceptable social order. White Americans during and even before the early 1900s believed that the “irresistible, dark occult forces of the East” (Wong) were undeniable threats. Prevalent sentiments at the turn of the century regarding Asians had their origins deeply rooted in yellow peril which is defined by the fear that the racial other would undermine Western values. These images reinforce the ideologies of the dominant white middle-class views on ethnicity, gender, and social class. Hollywood images of Asians in social and sexual roles serve a more invidious service. To have a better understanding of these issues, it is important to first examine its origins in yellow peril. As a Hollywood film, it will always reflect the fantasies of the Asian Diaspora about the mother country rather than the experiences and realities of the model minority which include but are not limited to yellowface and whitewashing. Chu’s film highlights a significant moment for Asian representation but only for those who conform to the model minority myth. Although the release of Chu marks a great moment for East Asian Americans, it lacks the intersectionality to provide an accurate image of the Asian American experience. Chu released his film Crazy Rich Asians, the first Hollywood feature film with an all-Asian cast since Wayne Wang’s The Joy Luck Club which premiered in 1993. Since its infancy, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science has failed to recognize the talents and other works of many actors of color while continuing to praise white actors for roles they have no business playing this is the whitewashed reality of Hollywood. Racial representation, or lack thereof, in the media is not specific to any one ethnic group.
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