Chez Manuel and Chinese Laundry

I’ve always been one of those few Asian people who doesn’t really like Asian food. It’s slowly grown on me as I’ve gotten older, but after watching the videos this week on “Chinese Restaurants,” I started to realize exactly how interesting Asian food really is. Watching Part II of the series introduced me to Colette and Manuel living in Mauritius who own and run Chez Manuel. Colette is responsible for all of the cooking as she combines Creole, Indian, and Hakka Chinese styles to create new dishes while Manuel doesn’t really seem to do much. I thought it was intriguing how we as viewers are transported into their mom-and-pop family business that is full of history and cultural pride. The relationship between Colette and Manuel was fascinating to me because although Colette did all the work, the restaurant was still called Chez Manuel and not Chez Colette. I think that this illustrates the gender hierarchy often seen between men and women in Asian culture because the female is expected to be humble and hardworking while the male has a lot more flexibility and freedom. This is similar to discussions we had while watching “Flower Drum Song” because again, the Asian male (the father) determines the future of his daughter Mei Li and she is expected to simply comply with whatever her male superior tells her to do.

Looking at the reappropriate.com blog about the Chinese Laundry is a significant departure from the video on Colette and Manuel. I am shocked by the advertisement for the restaurant and think that the writer of the blog makes a noteworthy point that “the advertisement implies that diners of this restaurant will be able to conquer the East, not only gastronomically, but sexually. The female form then becomes an object for sexual consumption.” I was surprised that the owner of the restaurant seemed so defensive about his advertisement and commented fervently that he did not mean any harm. Although I do believe that he has the right to create his advertisement as he wishes under his First Amendment rights, I am amazed that he believed that it would not spark any sort of controversy and that he thought it would be appealing to community members. Independently of the fact that I am part Chinese, I would be slightly insulted by the advertisement. At first glance, it seems like an advertisement for a strip club so I was pretty surprised that it was for a new restaurant. If I were in charge of the marketing and advertising for the restaurant, I would have gone about it in a much different way.

Kudos to whomever in the class wrote to Mr. Elkhay!

Flower Drum Song

Annoying theme songs aside (how long did I have "A hundred million miracles" stuck in my head?), I enjoyed Flower Drum Song, much more than I expected to. Not that I'm normally a big fan of musicals (not that this was a particularly outstanding one from that perspective), and not that the film presented any groundbreaking new ideas. So why did I have such a positive reaction to the film? One line of my notes is particularly telling: "Asians without accents!!!" 

Is it really that easy? If an Asian that doesn't talk all funny is all it takes to get me hooked, then my standards must have sunk pretty low. No, I think it's more than that. Seeing an Asian-American cast that succeeds in acting, singing, and dancing seems to prove that we could have done it all along, if only white Hollywood would let us. Of course, there is also spectator identification, the idea of my Asian-American experience being reflected back to me; in Wang Ta's speech about "the Oriental half" and "the American half", in Wang San's difficulty in communicating with his father, in the conflict between old Asian traditions and new American ones (the terms "old" and "new" open, of course, for discussion). It's also the reversals of familiar stereotypes, such as when Master Wang says that all white people look alike. The Asian-American audience perhaps take this as a nod from Hollywood, a recognition of what we've had to deal with all these years.

Really, it's not much more than a nod, because Flower Drum Song is just as problematic as the next movie, perhaps even more so because the problems are less visible. Though Wang Ta seems to ride that hyphen gracefully, the film is sorely lacking in strong female characters. Instead, the Asian female is presented in two extremes: the glamorous, exotic, dragon lady who's manipulative and obsessed with her own sexuality; or the naive, submissive china doll who's so weak she allows men to stand her up on a stool and examine her mouth.

I found it interesting that both Master Wang and San, the younger son, were both sources of comic relief, one because he refused to assimilate, the other because he tries to assimilate more completely than he possibly can. Flower Drum Song is another example of a supposedly radical Asian-American work that nevertheless continues to draw on the foreigner as a source of comedy (Margaret Cho's impression of her mother comes to mind).

Although what does assimilation within the world of Flower Drum Song really mean? After all, the only white people in the film are a few extras at the restaurant. The policeman, the principal of the citizenship school, the bank teller, Ta's friends, and all of the waiters at Celestial Gardens are Asian or Asian-American. How does one measure assimilation/foreignness when everyone looks foreign and even those "fresh off the boat" speak grammatically perfect English? To me, the absence of white characters suggests that anything groundbreaking about the film can only exist in an alternate, all-Asian universe (then again, I don't know whether this is in fact just an accurate representation of life in San Francisco's Chinatown). It would have been interesting to see how certain interactions in the film would have changed if the story of Mei Li and the Wang family had played out against a white majority background.

Flower Drum Song

I was a sucker for Flower Drum Song; I loved it. Almost every aspect of the movie seemed to fall in sync with that strangely quaint feeling you get from watching a musical, whether it was Sammy's Sinatra-like demeanor, the youngest son's hip slang, or the musical numbers. Perhaps one of the reasons I was so engaged in this film, was that it chipped away at some of my preconceptions of Asian Americans before the 70's and 80's. I think in the first movie assigned, there was Victor Wong, who claimed he had to define his own meaning of Asian American since there wasn't such an idea back in the 50's. In Flower Drum Song however, that dichotic identity confusion is still represented by Wang Ta, but many of the San Francesco community seems to almost embrace the American way of life. The Asian American community, in this movie, was not as isolated from American culture (if at all) as Wong stated. For some, such as Auntie and Linda, the American way was actually almost dominant to Eastern tradition.

What is the moral? Or more accurately, was there supposed to be one? I was not sure what the significance of Wang Ta's "failure" to make decisions independent of his father meant. It is interesting how both father and son try and rebel against the conventions set out for them (with Master Wang humerously facing the consequences of not trusting the bank with his money and with his son's inability to set up his own marriage). Maybe it is not so much a statement about about which conventions are most fit in an Asian American community as it is about rebellion in general.

Flower Drum Song: Refreshingly Asian American

While I am well aware that “Flower Drum Song” contains many elements that could leave bad tastes in the mouths of Asian Americans—from the typecast characters to the ambiguously disdainful handling of traditional Chinese culture—there was something extremely refreshing and unique, something comfortable about a cast formed (almost) entirely of Asian characters. I honestly felt that Juanita Hill, in the role of Auntie Liang, didn’t do so badly as a Chinese American middle-aged woman either.

In many ways, this musical (or the book from which it was adapted) was a truly Asian American production; it combined elements from both worlds—Chinese and American—that a person not of both spheres could not have produced. Perhaps it is that I spent years learning Mandarin Chinese and am grateful for any opportunity where the skills prove useful. Master Wang, in his super-Chinese glory, curses “son of a turtle” after hanging up the telephone—it is a literal translation of a commonly used Chinese swear, a very old-man sort of exclamation. While a non-Chinese author and playwright could haul in a traditional Chinese bed frame that invokes dynastic legacy, or emulate Chinese dress with a neck-to-ankle qipao, the incorporation of such close-to-home language is invaluable. Auntie Liang and Master Wang use titles of “my sister’s husband,” and “my wife’s sister,” each time they address one another. It may seem excessive, or odd, but it’s Chinese.

And by having every speaking role played by an Asian person, the inherent ethnic tensions or comparisons are bypassed; here, the characters are simply people, who create their own places in society through means not racially defined. It frees me of the propensity to size up the Asian character up to his Caucasian peer, to scrutinize how he is portrayed or why it is so. Of course there are so many things wrong with Chinese representations in “Flower Drum Song,” but I certainly enjoyed the bits that made me feel “at home” in its bizarre Chinatown universe.

Flower Drum Song

As a movie adapted from a musical, I realize that elements of this movie are supposed to require the viewer to acknowledge that this was a musical, and that it's okay for characters to break out into song and take some liberties, but even so, this movie made me physically cringe several times as I watched it. For example, the scene where Mei Li brings Wang Ta's father breakfast, where he said, "Personally I do not agree with the old custom of drowning daughters" - I'm pretty sure I fell off my seat when he said that. Sorry, just had to get that out of my head.

In terms of the actual substance of the movie, I liked that the plot was not completely contrived. It definitely makes use of stereotypes, but I feel that it was done ways that furthered the plot or for humor, rather than to limit the range of the character's personalities. Many characters acted a stereotype, like Wang Ta's father, whose mannerisms and improper verb conjugations marked him as foreign, but through the use of lines like the line about drowning daughters, or "when that day come when you are able to think for yourself, I will let you know!," the characters conveyed the feeling that they were not limited to their stereotypical images through their provoking of unexpected feelings, such as humor. I feel like some parts of the stereotypes still remained strong in my mind after the movie; Mei Li still struck me as the obedient Chinese daughter who followed her father's every order, and Linda, who is not quite the "dragon lady" stereotype, is still reminiscent of that role. In the end though, I felt that their portrayals were far more important to the love story that is the movie. It's interesting that Linda, who acted manipulative and gregarious at times did so because of 5 years waiting for marriage, and Mei Li, who in the traditional search for marriage, learned to break out from traditional roles.

Switching gears, Wang Ta was a character that I liked very much, because he identified strongly with the idea that he was both Chinese and American, as opposed to extremes like his father and his brother. I sympathized with his portrayal of an "Asian American," or specifically "Chinese American," coming into conflict with his father's traditional ideals, but also not assimilating completely into American culture like his younger brother. Throughout the movie, I felt he was the most relatable and down to earth character and in fulfilling this role, he showed an Asian American face to American society that was, at least I felt, realistic and pretty unsterotypical, if not as as outwardly colorful as the other characters.

Fractured Identity: I Enjoy Being a Girl

Having never seen Flower Drum Song before (indeed, I wasn't even aware it was a musical), I was surprised when I recognized the song "I Enjoy Being a Girl." Recorded and performed by everyone from Miss Piggy to drag queens, the unbearably catchy Rodgers and Hammerstein tune is made even more memorable by Nancy Kwan's performance in Flower Drum Song. Frolicking around in a barely-there camisole with pointed toes and long black hair, Kwan definitely makes an impact, at least for this IMDB.com forum member: "I also really enjoy that she enjoys being a girl... I think I was 5 or 6 years old at the time, and I couldn't take my eyes of Nancy Kwan. I've had a thing for Asian women ever since."

A definite product of its time, the staging, lyrics, and performance of "I Enjoy Being a Girl" in Flower Drum Song is rife with 50s era notions of female identity. Linda Low's identity as a "girl" relies on men and their characterization of her:
"When men say I'm sweet as candy, as around in a dance we whirl, it goes to my head like brandy, I enjoy being a girl! When someone with eyes that smoulder says he loves ev'ry silken curl that falls on my iv'ry shoulder, I enjoy being a girl! When I hear the compliment'ry whistle that greets my bikini by the sea, I turn and I glower and I bristle, but I'm happy to know the whistle's meant for me! I'm strictly a female female and my future I hope will be in the home of a brave and free male who'll enjoy being a guy having a girl like me."

Kwan's hyper-sexual posturing (neck stretched, toes pointed) in a no-where-to-hide brightly-lit mirrored bedroom supports this male-gaze fantasy. Linda Low physically exists only as a male projection of the ideal female.

At the same time, however, there is an inadvertant tension/fracturing of identity that occurs in this scene that is particularly interesting, even if it is simply coincidence, and suggests a more nuanced way to read "I Enjoy Being a Girl." The character of Linda Low can be interpreted as a Dragon Lady... who wants to get married, a woman who uses her sex... so that she can "go-steady." This dichotomy is enhanced by the casting of Nancy Kwan, a hapa actress who uses an accent in the film, only to sing in perfect American English (her singing was dubbed by B.J. Baker). The staging also emphasizes a fracturing or multiplicity, as there are 5 mirrors in the set that portray different sides of Linda Low (3 floor to ceiling, one on the vanity, and a small hand mirror).

Does this fractured identity directly oppose the male-gaze fantasy? Is it complicit?

The Idea of Setting

What first struck me about Flower Drum Song were the interesting background selections, particularly the private garden of the Wang family. The visually accurate recreation of a beautiful Chinese garden in San Francisco alludes to the immigrant desire to manufacture familiarity and a connection to the homeland. Whereas Wang-Ta’s father, Mei-Li and her guardian admire the beauty of the garden, the more assimilated characters tend not to reflect or spend a lengthy time in the location. Major social functions are generally the only moments when the younger Asian Americans in Flower Drum Song remain in the garden.

Wang-Ta’s younger brother epitomizes the lack of appreciation for Chinese aesthetics, and subsequently culture. He is always dashing out of the house for American social and cultural activities, ranging from baseball games to marching in a local parade dressed as an American revolutionary. Wang-Ta himself is barely in the house, clearly demarcating the generational divide in terms of mindset and culture. However, as the median between his stubborn Chinese father and American brother, Wang-Ta is forced into the role of mediator between the two extremes. The settings where Wang-Ta is the center of attention are thus either distinctly American or Asian, representing the oftentimes conflicting values of being an Asian American. The date scene with Linda Low on the hill in the Mercedes convertible is distinctly perceived as American, while the wedding scene with Mei-Li resembles a traditional Chinese marriage atmosphere. Interestingly, Helen’s apartment is an arguable safe haven from Wang-Ta’s perspective as an Asian American since the area is situated relatively far and isolated from Wang-Ta’s traditionalist father and the more Americanized Linda Low. Disregarding the romantic agenda of fellow Asian American Helen, the apartment is a temporary haven from the internal identity debate. The peace is short-lived due to Mei-Li’s appearance and Wang-Ta’s hasty departure. The little screen time in the apartment reflects the fact that Asian Americans have little reprieve from questions of identity.

As a Roger and Hammerstein production, Flower Drum Song is technically created for a white audience, and the presentation of settings and places support such a notion. Echoing Chan is Missing, the “foreign” Chinatown is again the primary setting of the movie. Nevertheless, the Chinatown and Chinese community presented in Flower Drum Song depicts a clean, orderly, civil realm anchored by a middle-class Asian population. The swift robbery scene then shatters the assumed peacefulness of the community fairly early in the movie. The actual setting of the robbery is not a major issue, but the refusal to report the crime to the police by Wang-Ta’s father reveals the preconceptions of institutions of authority from a hardened immigrant point of view. The general misconception that crime in actual Chinatowns was low is briefly confronted in Flower Drum Song. As the real Chinatowns were rather untidy and sometimes dangerous places, Roger and Hammerstein attempted to portray an idealized Chinatown that was consistent with a “model minority” community. Settings in the film were thus an essential component to the plot construction of Flower Drum Song.

“Tomorrow we must go to the temple of Ding How and thank the goddess of heaven for television”

Having seen “Sound of Music” and “King and I,” I’m not exactly sure what I expected for an Asian Rodger and Hammerstein musical; I would describe “Flour Drum Song” as a frightening mix of Asian stereotypes, music, and dancing. I wasn’t sure if the use of language like “my father” and “my son” and descriptions of Mei Lee as having “skin like white jade” and being “built like a Ming vase” were intended to be humor or if it was supposed to be a somewhat realistic depiction of Asian Americans. I also found myself laughing a lot at the contrast between the on/off use of the Chinese accents by the un-Americanized characters like Mei Lee (“lotus blossom”) juxtaposed against the fluent English characters such as Linda Low (“dragon lady”). In the opening scene Mei Lee sings the song “One Hundred Million Miracles” (the theme song of the movie) but for me the disappearance of FOB Mei Lee’s faux accent once she started singing was the biggest miracle of all. I guess presenting an all Asian American cast was a miracle too.

Despite the offensive content throughout the movie, there are some truths in the father’s struggle to keep his two sons from becoming too Americanized. The character of the younger brother was intended to serve as comic relief with his use of American slang, yet I felt able to relate to the conflicts that Wang Chi-Yang’s sons have with their father. Phoebe Eng also writes about this conflict between children of Asian American parents in “Warrior Lessons;” the feeling of guilt and tension that accompanies going against our parent’s wishes. Madame Liang (Wang Chi-Yang’s sister in law) also plays an interesting role in the film. Constantly correcting Wang Chi-Yang about American culture, she draws attention to places where the Chinese and American culture clash. Even within the ridiculousness of this movie, there are some honest themes that relate to the experience of Asian American immigrants in the United States and the conflict between maintaining one’s Asian identity and Americanization.

flower drum song. the entire time i was watching this movie, i was seriously conflicted because of a couple of things. for one, i was shocked/pleasantly surprised that a movie with an all asian-american cast like this one was possible in '61. i kept on waiting for the punch line or the yellow face or something to pop up so i can say, 'yeah, of course.' secondly, though produced in '61, this movie did portray a lot of... well, stereotypical images of asians/asian americans that this country can't seem to get enough of out of any culture. my deal was, here we have this semi-breakthrough film with asian actors portraying very asian, specifically chinese, themes. however, there were still many serious flaws with the way we were being portrayed... or were there?

i know that this movie got a lot of beef because it came out during the civil rights period when people had changing views of how to portray minorities in film in a way that was more legit. but still, this was pretty much a breakthrough for asian american film/art... plus, all these themes were portrayed by Asian Americans themselves... so here we have the first all-AAPI cast film displaying stereotypical images in their own way. is it a problem when asians are doing it? we know that the red flag goes up immediately if a white woman in yellow face starts singing chop suey but if an asian american woman does it, is it better? maybe even right? i'm having a hard time liking this movie but completely disliking it at the same time because i can only imagine how excited all the young asian children would have been watching this asian-american-sound-of-music pop up on the big screen. but still, even if it was a 'correctional' film trying to better represent the aapi community in san francisco, they couldve done a better job to resist showing hackneyed images to the white public, repeating them over and over in their head (chinese traditional stereotypes, etc etc). i dont know. i have to admit i enjoyed the film. it was funny and provocative at times, though idealistic and couldve used some work especially with the two "wetback" characters and ta's father.

i especially think it would be interesting to compare and contrast the characters of mei ling and linda in class.. also, i didnt get to talk about this in my post, but speaknig of asian american (especially female) representation for children in modern media, what about mulan? what about disney's mulan works or doesnt work in contrast with flower drum song?

To Juanita Hall, Thanks for a Great Performance: A Response to Flower Drum Song

Before I begin to critique the Rogers & Hammerstein musical (for the record, I hate this movie), let me praise the film for featuring an all Asian American cast (Hi, Juanita Hall. What did you say? Really? So you’re not Asian American? Sorry about that). Jokes aside (because really, Juanita Hall was really fantastic as the aunt, Madame Liang), such casting is hardly ever seen today whether in film, theater, or television (Sorry Margaret Cho about your show…). I also want to point out that the lack of Asian Americans in mainstream culture is not limited to entertainment but also subjects that are supposed to be factual. For example, I was watching Anatomy of Sex on the Discovery Channel and besides being heteronormative, the only Asian/Asian American that appeared was the waiter in the Chinese restaurant (for about 3 seconds). With this example in mind, Flower Drum Song in its casting was pushing the cultural norms. This cannot be underplayed (especially when compared to, say, the other Rogers & Hammerstein “Asian” movies, South Pacific & Pacific Overture). Furthermore, things could be worse…we could have seen a performance of Miss Saigon.

Now, let me say that I have not experienced such cognitive dissonance than while watching Flower Drum Song. Firstly, who was the protagonist of the movie? Mei Li? Linda Low? Plot Device, er, I mean Helen? Wang Ta? His Venerable, Honorable Father/Madame Liang’s Brother-in Law? What I am trying to say is that women in the film are used as vehicles to examine (read: shove down our throats) assimilation. Perhaps Laura Hyun-Yi Kang’s “The Desiring of Asian Female Bodies: Interracial Romance and Cinematic Subjection” could be expanded to show that not only does the white male go through a transformation while pushing racial/gender/class issues raised but not examined to the background but that the female body is also used to propagandize a certain kind of assimilation: American dressed in Chinese clothing. For example, the New Year celebrated in Chinatown was ambiguous. They may have been dressed in clothing resembling Chinese clothing but the use of “Stars and Stripes Forever” was disorienting. And wasn’t March King John Philip Sousa of Portuguese descent? As a quick side note, I did enjoy the scene between Mei’s father and Ta’s father that alongside the eagle, women’s breasts are an American Icon. Furthermore, the dance numbers are degrading not just for their Asian stereotypes (“Fan Tan Fannie”) but that they are distinctly trying to shape what a woman is supposed to be and to a certain extent denying any other possibilities (“I Enjoy Being a Girl”). (Hi Sarah Jessica Parker. No, I would not like to buy whatever you're hacking from the Gap. No, I mean. For real. I'm going to close the door now...)Is all a woman can do is look pretty and get married? I know the film takes place in the fifties but really? Another example is the way that American slang was used to highlight how assimilated the children are. Does there have to be a choice to be either Chinese or American? Note Wang Ta’s conversation with Linda Low on their first date. He says his father is Chinese but his brother is American. And can we discuss the song “Chop Suey”?

Additionally, despite insinuating that the Flower Drum Song is an ancient Chinese song and dance, the music for “A Hundred Million Miracles” was clearly not Asian, not even a little chinoiserie. And while on the subject of Mei Li, she embodies every characteristic of the Lotus Blossom stereotype.

I am, however, aware that this film is an adaptation of the Broadway adaptation of the novel. In all honesty, I think something got lost in translation.

Lastly, I would like to point out some of the film’s failures as a movie-musical. It is far too long (at 2 hr. 11 min) and some of the dance numbers (that really strange dance sequence) was unnecessary.

Before I end my response, I also want to say that I wished that film had taken everything to an extreme as to go over the edge and become satire. It seemed that as over-the-top as the movie was, it seemed to be begging to be taken to that next level. In that respect, I was going to do my response from Mei Li's point of view, but I decided a more direct and flippant critique would better serve my purpose.

-Christopher Huynh

P.S. Did anyone else find the reference to Connie Chung in Kang's essay on page 78 funny? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiMvXCp2Qvo
Also for your consideration:
http://projectgaypagetwo.blogspot.com/2007/05/musical-monday-flower-drum-song.html

Response to Flower Drum Song

The female characters in Flower Drum Song fit the two categories of Asian women that Renee Tajima talks about: Mei Li as the "Lotus Blossom baby" and Linda as the "Dragon Lady." In this sense, the film does perpetuate the stereotypical portrayal of Asian women, but at the same time it pushes those images outside the boundary of the typical objectification of women by providing females characters with their own voice. Helen's "Love, Look Away," Mei-Li's "I Am Going to Like It Here," and Linda's "I Enjoy Being a Girl" all narrate the story of Asian American females from the perspective of the female characters. The film could have narrated the story from a strictly male point of view, thereby possessing females within their language, keeping them silent and powerless like an object. Although male characters like Dr. Li and Master Wang do treat women like objects from time to time, the movie itself leaves some room for the female characters to speak. I am very surprised by how Dr. Li, although he is supposed to have just arrived from China, does not attempt to dominate every decision and action of his daughter, perhaps as a result of assimilation during his brief time in the United States. I notice that Mei Li's seemingly endless smiling face (which is unnatural and doll-like) finally relaxes its cheek muscles towards the end of the movie as she begins to believe that Wang Ta does not love her, breaking away from the "Lotus Blossom Baby" image. When she does confirms that Wang Ta loves her, however, Mei Li does not hesitate to kiss him, something that also disentangles her from the typical image of the modest Asian woman.

Another point I should mention from the movie is the process of assimilation represented by the Wang family. At one point Wang Ta says, "My father is Chinese, my brother is American, and I am both." Both his brother and Wang Ta are second generation immigrants, yet somehow one is Chinese American and the other is only American. Does this mean that Wang Ta is in the transition bridge between his father and his brother? If Wang Ta should be rebelling against the Asian ways of his father, why isn't he just like his brother? What prevents him from losing that Asian side of him, his age?

Flower Drum Song - "What are these things for?"

Although I’ve seen various Rodger and Hammerstein musicals, I was never aware that they had written a musical about (and featuring) Asian Americans. I was pleased with their overall representation of Asian Americans in Flower Drum Song, as it provided a huge contrast to the representation in Broken Blossoms, where Asian Americans were consistently portrayed as foreign.

One aspect of the movie I found interesting was the use of clothing to make a huge emphasis on the generational gap. In the beginning, the viewer is introduced to Ta Wang’s father as he sits in his Chinese-themed garden, dressed in traditional Chinese clothes. His children are then introduced, with Ta wearing a sweater and tie outfit and his younger brother dressed in a baseball uniform. I felt this generational difference may have been overplayed a bit, with San Wang (the younger brother) using very American slang when talking to his father, while the father is left puzzling over what his son could have possibly said. Clothing is also tied in with the stereotypes of Asian female sexuality seen in the movie, as Linda Low dances around in just a towel while she sings “I Enjoy Being a Girl,” a song in which being a girl is entirely contingent on how other men treat her. The extroverted sexuality of Linda is contrasted with the passivity of Mei Li, who wears traditional Chinese clothing (which “hides everything,” according to her father).

Mei Li and Linda Low also emphasize the two different stereotypes of Asian women (as described in Screening Asian Americans) in their physical actions. Near the end of the movie, when the marriage contract between Mei Li and Sammy Fong is being reviewed, Mei Li willing steps up and opens her mouth, showing her submission as she will allow anyone to physically inspect her to see if she is fit for marriage. On the other hand, when Linda receives an invitation to Mei Li and Sammy’s wedding, she forcibly tries to push Sammy out of the door when he goes to visit her, which I felt emphasized the “Dragon Lady” stereotype.

There is an instance of a stereotype of Asian male sexuality seen when Mei Li’s father and Ta Wang’s father inspect an American dress that they want Mei Li to wear to the graduation party. Mei Li’s father inspects the bra inserts of the dress and asks, “What are these things for?” As noted in Laura Hyun-Yi Kang’s “The Desiring of Asian Female Bodies,” Asian males are portrayed as having “measures of confinement and the sexual abandonment of the oriental female” (75). Thus, their seeming ignorance of an aspect of the dress that expresses female sexuality further drives in this notion that Asian males are unknowledgeable about Asian female sexuality.

Overall, I really did enjoy this film and thought that it was a great decision on Rodger and Hammerstein’s behalf to have an Asian American cast. One question I had about the movie was about the role of Helen. She doesn’t appear to fall in the two stereotypes of Asian females much like the other young Asian American women do in this film. What is her purpose and representation in this movie?

Response: Flower Drum Song

I found Flower Drum Song enjoyable in the way most 1960s musicals are enjoyable: humorous and entertaining if you look past the implicit racism and sexism. Throughout the movie I felt conflicted. While I found it gratifying to see a predominantly Asian American cast, I worried that it served to isolate Asian Americans from mainstream America even more, casting them as perpetual foreigners who exist in their own little world apart from the rest of the nation. While I was glad to see that not all the Asian American characters were depicted as being "backward" and "foreign" (indeed, Sammy seemed more an American stereotype ala Guys and Dolls than an Asian American one), I was troubled by the way in which many characters were still overtly exotified (the father refuses to put his money in a bank and even goes so far as to push the alarm to test the bank's security; the father's sister's wife places a rather bizarre-sounding [at least to white American ears] grocery order; many characters still believe in arranged picture marriages; etc.). Furthermore, while I admired Linda Low as the liberated, "new" woman, I chafed at how the liberated woman could only exist in the form of someone who was also both manipulative and gold-digging, and I was frustrated by the way this film reinforced the lotus blossom/dragon lady dichotomy and offered no truly desirable roles for Asian American women to fill. Finally, while I am always a fan of a Hollywood happy ending in which everyone ends up with their true love, I found the romance between Wang Ta and Mei Li exceedingly hard to believe (Why does he so suddenly change his mind about her? Why does she so suddenly forgive him?). Their feelings for each other felt contrived, and I think this served to somewhat alienate them from the viewer. As such, while Flower Drum Song represents a huge step forward from Broken Blossoms, it is still in many ways inherently problematic and needs to be questioned and examined.

Flower Drum Song is Chop Suey

I thought it was very refreshing to see a cast entirely of Asian Americans, especially considering that Flower Drum Song was filmed in the pre-civil war era. To put it into a historical context, during this period the U.S. was starting to enter French colonies of Southeast Asia and as the cold war in China was coming to an end, the Chinese Americans in the U.S. had to be portrayed as harmless and assimilated to American culture. For this reason I see why it may have been fitting to have a cast of Asian faces. Flower Drum Song covered the whole gamut of Chinese American stereotypes (the docile immigrant, the traditional father, the assimilated children, the "sex symbol"). What confused me however, were the contradictions in the characterizations that surfaced through the entire movie. How is it that Wang Ta's father is more conservative and traditional than Mei Li's father who is literally "straight off the boat" from China? Depriving Mei Li's father of a distinct voice or role in the movie seems to perpetuate the stereotype of the emasculated and powerless Asian man.

Flower Drum Song, much like the musical number, "Chop Suey", attempts to mix a generally western plot (the obstacle that lovers face but ultimately overcome) with several Asian stereotypes, which consistently reminds us as the audience that we are essentially dealing with "non-Americans". Underlying this is the general notion that assimilation is "good", and traditional Chinese ways are "bad" because the goal of the characters (especially Mei Li) is to learn more about American culture, or, in Master Wang case, realize that the "American way" is not so bad after all (when he opens a bank account). Yet throughout the movie we are reminded that the setting of the film is in Chinatown (with only a handful of White actors), there are seldom if any interactions with non Asians, and the cast is constantly poking fun at or perpetuating Asian stereotypes. The film creates a distinct contrast between those who are assimilated (like "Sammy" Fong), and those who aren't (like Master Wong), yet reminds us that they are still in Chinatown, and are not truly "American". What is the message that this film is trying to send about immigrants and assimilation to American culture? The only message I am getting is mixed.

Flower Drum Song- Two Female Stereotypes

I was very intrigued by the film Flower Drum Song because I hadn’t seen a practically all-Asian cast musical before. I though the film presented a very interesting dichotomy between the two stereotypes of the Asian woman. In Laura Hyun-Yi Kang’s article “The Desiring of Asian Female Bodies: Interracial Romance and Cinematic Subjection,” Kang cites filmmaker Renee Tajima who argues that there are two basic types of Asian women representations. According to Tajima, there is “the Lotus Blossom baby (a.k.a. China Doll, Geisha Girl, shy Polynesian beauty), and the Dragon Lady (Fu Manchu’s various female relations, prostitutes, devious madams)” (Kang 77). Flower Drum Song continues to perpetuate these dual stereotypes in its portrayal of female Asian characters in the film.

The film focuses on the life of Mei Li, an illegal Chinese immigrant brought to San Francisco by her father in order to be married off to a stranger. Mei Li follows the stereotype of the shy, submissive, and virtuous daughter, the “China doll,” even as she is forced into marrying a man she does not love. In one scene, she is inspected by her potential father-in-law, Master Wang, who makes her stand on a table to be inspected, almost like she was a show dog at the Westminster Dog Show. Master Wang makes her open her mouth and inspects her whole body while Mei Li passively participates. Her father even says that she is “strong as an ox” to which Mei Li replies, “Thank you father.” While throughout most of the film, Mei Li prescribes to this submissive stereotype, she finds a way to marry the man she loves, although she does it in a way that does not dishonor her father. So although it appears that she is standing up for her beliefs and is bucking the stereotype of the passive daughter, in the end she continues to follow the quiet doll-like role, although at least she can use her brains to her benefit.

Meanwhile, Linda is presented as the opposite as Mei Li and instead is presented as more similarly to the stereotypical “Dragon Lady.” Linda is willing to manipulate Ta and trick him into offering to marry her—all with the ultimate purpose of her making Sammy jealous. Linda’s risqué dance numbers and dirty comments further demonstrate her devious and scheming behaviors as she also lies to everyone about her so-called brother.

Although I was happy to see a film in which Asian people are given star roles (or in this case, the cast of the entire film), I was still upset to see the same stereotypes of Asian women still presented to the audiences, further perpetuating them even more.

Flower Drum Song: West Side Story of the West Coast?

I was surprised that most of the cast of Flower Drum Song was (or at least looked) Asian-American, and that there seemed to be only one Caucasian actor in the film (the mugger). Master Wong's remark that "All white men look alike" seemed rather ironically humorous to me. The characters seemed to run the gamut of Asian stereotypes: the Lotus Flower, the Dragon Lady, the Confucius father figure, etc. The story was rather cliche, but as entertainment, the costume and set designers did an excellent job.

This film reminded me a lot of West Side Story in its themes, choreography, colors, and cinematography. In fact, the two films were both released in the same year, 1961. The colorful costumes, the culture clash, the forbidden love affair are subjects echoed in both movies. I think its interesting how each film treats the immigrant experience in America. Upon Mei Li and Dr. Li's arrival in San Francisco, they discover that many of the Chinese people they encounter can't read or speak Chinese -- they are assimilated. When they go to Sammy Fong's club, Celestial Gardens, for the first time, they discover that most of the patrons are Chinese and that the performances are more Vegas-showgirl than traditional flower-drum song. What's more, the announcer tells the audience that all of the girls performing are "college grads", implying that the "new Chinese woman" is smart, sassy, and talented.

An emphasis on generational clashing was definitely evident throughout the movie, especially in the song "Chop Suey". Master Fong's kids are all "Americanized", playing baseball, dancing the cha-cha, and complaining about their ancient dad. Madame Liong's supermarket order of octopus, seahorse, dried snake meat, "longevity noodles" and a dozen thousand-year-old-eggs ("Make sure they're fresh!", she says), seems to be poking fun at traditional Chinese food. Master Wong complains that he wants a traditional Chinese girl for his son to marry, since the American Chinese girls are "without reverence or filial devotion". The elder characters in the film all cling to their customs and traditional ways, while the younger generation has attached themselves to American culture.

The "picture bride" system, therefore, would obviously seem archaic to someone like Sammy Fong. Sammy looks at Mei Li's picture, and dismisses her by saying "Mom picked her out for me," as if Mei Li was a new suit or pair of shoes his mother had purchased for him I found it difficult to like Mei Li, for all her meekness, deference, and modesty (she only slightly redeems herself at the end by breaking her marriage contract with Sammy). She submits herself to be practically auctioned off to the highest bidder -- one particularly troubling scene is when Master Wong inspects her teeth and comments on her fertility, while Dr. Li declares her "strong as a cow". Mei Li has no problem being treated as an object, because she wants to obey her elders. Linda Lo seemed much more interesting to me, although herself a stereotype of 60s femininity -- she says that although she has hobbies of ". . .singing, cooking, and first aid; the main thing is for a woman to be successful in her gender".

Although I feel that this film was still problematic, pushing Asian stereotypes and objectifying women, it was an entertaining study of a 1960s Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. Its message is not what I'd personally want white American audiences learning about Asian-American culture, but it's nice to see so many Asian actors on the big screen in a movie from the pre-civil rights era.