Hollywood Early Example of Asian Culture in Broken Blossoms - Essay Example

HOLLYWOOD’S EARLY EXAMPLE OF ASIAN CULTURE IN BROKEN BLOSSOMS By Introduction When Hollywood was born in the early 1900s, most of the produced films were made based on western ideas. This is possible because Hollywood is based in the United States, and for that, only cultures based on the US were mostly available. In addition, cultures different from the western ones were rare in the country so very little was known about them. Again, globalization was still insignificant and so foreign cultures were not appreciated. However, Hollywood at some point needed to be diverse in its production and had to capture everything that was happening in the world as globalization set in. Movies were being made showing both existing and new trends in life. In the light of these, movies such as Broken Blossoms were made with themes or aspects that reflected other cultures. In this 1900s, Hollywood did not offer Asian culture much positivity in their movies. In most cases, they were viewed as outcasts, strange, and mysterious. This does not mean that Hollywood held anything against Asians; rather, it is possible that due to its short-termed experience with the culture, it might have misunderstood or misinterpreted it. All in all, these are examples of the earliest inclusion of Asian Culture in Hollywood. The following study text will evaluate the 1919 American silent film and in it highlight the different examples of Asian culture as applied within it. Film summary The film revolves around Cheng Huan, a Chinese, who leaves for the Anglo-Saxon lands to spread Buddha’s message. Upon getting to London, his dream of spreading Buddhism is endangered by the reality that he finds there; that everyone is too preoccupied with their individual lives. As such, his chances of succeeding are low. He however finds a way through when he meets Lucy Burrows. Burrows is the daughter of a fierce boxer, Battling Burrows. She seems unwanted and mistreated by her father. One evening, she is beaten and sent away by her father and when she is out there, meets Cheng Huan. Huan nurses Miss Burrows and as she recovers, they develop a mutual relationship. They are similar in that both seem misplaced in society. Their relationship is interrupted when Battling hears of their relationship and goes to get her. He drags her home, drunk. Once in her room, she fears her father’s temper and contemptuous behavior and locks herself in a closet to escape him. Battling however finds her and beats her lifeless. Cheng pursues the tow and by the time he accesses her room, it is too late. Coincidentally, Battling bursts into Miss Burrows’ room as he wants to escape and they lock eyes. Battling attacks Cheng with a hatchet but Cheng responds with his gun, shooting him several times. After this, Cheng takes Miss Burrows’ body with him and once at home, builds a shrine for Buddha. He then strikes himself with a knife to his chest and dies (Cookie 2014, n.p.). Evaluation Owing to its time of creation, Broken Blossoms captured the negative perspective offered to Asians by the wider American (white) society. During earlier times, between 1849 and 1882 large masses of Asians had immigrated into the United States in search of green pastures. Most of them were laborers or owners of gold mines. The wider US population did not like the immigrants who were mostly Chinese especially during the economic depression in the 1870s. During this time, the Chinese and Native Americans developed hate between them mostly because Americans discriminated them. Anti-Chinese protests and pressure were observed, leading to the passing of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act (Benshoff & Griffin 2011, p.118). In short, the Chinese were unwanted in the white world. The idea of Asians is evident in that most of the Chinese were Southern Buddhists, meaning they were Asians. Back to the film, Cheng Huan perfectly represents the above revelation. He came from China and went to London just like the immigrants. His aim of spreading Buddhism was met with resistance just like the earlier Asians. The idea that he seemed an outcast is the same way the immigrants were seen. In the film therefore, the rejection of Asian culture in the white world is shown. Additionally, Asian culture was seen as weak in early Hollywood as compared to white culture. Cheng Huan in the film looked weak, soft, and his overall appearance was more feminine than it was masculine. His walking style also showed that he had a weakness because he was bending forwards like a frail old man. His relationship with Lucy Burrows is possible to have been made possible by the fact that both were weak in body and in society’s eyes. To further portray Asian cultures as weak, the film created a conflict between Huan and Battling. In their conflict, Huan was very weak and seemed to fear him. When Huan stood against Battling, the space he took up was minimal as compared to Battling’s. At the end of the film, it even takes him to use a firearm to win over Battling. In yet another instance, Huan had arrived in the west a pure missionary. However later in the film, he is trading and consuming opium. This means that he had seen no good of his original culture and had therefore decided to convert to the white culture. All these are therefore examples of how Hollywood represented Asian culture in its films. The “weakness” of Asian culture was created because it was a new culture amongst white concentrated cultures and as such, it was incomparable to them. Additionally, Buddhism in Broken Blossom is suggested as being outdated, modern, and unworkable in modern society. Buddhism, which is the religion most associated with Asians, is a culture because it defines what they have to do towards it. In the film, Cheng Huan is on a mission to spread Buddhism in the white world (Anglo Saxon lands). The journey he takes towards the west however changes his course or objectives. As a religion, Asians apply Buddhism to preach positivity and peace for all. This is the message that he intends to spread in the new world. The new world he goes to is harsh and rough. The encounters he faces throughout the film in fact make him to abandon his way of peace. At the end of the silent film, he has given up his ways of peace and “accepts” violence. This is evident when he goes to rescue Lucy and shoots her father repeatedly. It makes sense that he has defeated the enemy. However, he did not apply the ways of his Buddhist teachings. From this, it is clear that Buddhism had failed, and western ideals had won. The reason is that Buddhism preached peace while the west showed that harshness and negativity was the way to survive. In addition to these, Huan’s act of committing suicide showed that he was indeed weak and could not face western living. In this, it can be said that Hollywood thought that Asian cultures were unworkable and not good enough for survival in their world. At a point in the film, Asian culture is portrayed as not being so innocent or it is guilty to some extent. When Huan took Lucy in for treatment and she lay helpless before him, his lust almost overtook his judgment. He is seen slowly advancing towards her for a sexual encounter that would have otherwise amounted to rape. In that moment of suspense, he seems to come back to his senses and changes his mind. He does not kiss her lips but goes for the hem of her sleeve. In this show, the film might have intended to paint Asian culture as similar to all others. This is because while Lucy lay helpless, Huan could easily violate her purity by raping. A similar case is seen when Battling heard of his daughter’s whereabouts. Broken Blossom at this point made Huan appear guilty of “abducting” Lucy. Immediately Battling learnt that she was living under Huan’s roof, a sign reading “Battling discovers parental rights- A chink after his kid! He’ll learn him!” appears (Marchetti 1994, p.36). In this sign, Huan is painted as being guilty of violating the “parental rights” belonging to Battling. Therefore, this is another example of Hollywood portraying Asian culture as not being as pure. This was the case in mainstream America during the 1900s. The death of Lucy further shows how Hollywood looked down on Asian culture. Cheng Huan was made to look like a missionary in Broken Blossom. His mission was to deliver Buddha’s teachings (representing Asian culture) to the west. Although it is not directly said, the mission suggests that the west was in need of salvation from “bad” culture. Lucy’s father had always mistreated and beaten her but she was still alive. However when she ran away and took refuge at his home, things went from bad to worse. It is possible that the film wanted to show how unchangeable their cultures were. Huan nursed Lucy and treated her well. This was not seen in the whites as shown by Battling. When her father learnt of the Asian’s connection with her daughter, he was furious than he had ever been, and this made him kill Lucy. Asian culture is shown as a spoiler in the film. This is because had Huan not helped Lucy, her father would not have killed her. In short, the film meant that if Asian culture tried to influence or intrude white culture, things would only be worse and not better. In as much as the most of the film portrays Asian culture as subordinate to white culture, a positive side to it is shown as well. White culture is the harsh culture as shown by the opium in the film, in addition to the violence and mistreatment seen in Lucy’s father. Huan is hated by everyone in Broken Blossom until the time he impresses the desperate Lucy with his kindness. The positivity of Asian culture is seen in that Lucy, having had enough from her father or having suffered enough from white culture, runs to Huan. Huan represents Asian culture. He is not harsh or inhumane. In a nutshell, by comparing the two cultures, the Asian is seen as more welcoming. This gives the reason why Lucy ran from her father to the polite or better culture (Huan). As such, Hollywood was implying that Asian culture was still unpolluted when contrasted with western cultures. Broken Blossom in a way revealed the description of Asians as “Orients” by the western people. The term Orient meant that the people were from the East and were everything that the civilized whites could never be. In Orientalism, there were several conceptions about Asians. For example, the Orient males were described as “domesticated and submissive just like their women” (Viruega 2005, p.5). This point reflects the assumption earlier highlighted that Asians are weak and unable to withstand white supremacy. One can learn that Hollywood perceived of Asian cultures as not respecting women. This is because the previous statement defined them as domesticated and submissive. This amounts to gender inequality. In the film, Lucy could not be saved from her beastly father by the “weak” Asian. If Hollywood viewed men in Asian culture as domesticated or submissive, then it is possible that the film intentionally set up Huan as a frail man with feminine qualities. For example, Huan was the only man who pitied Lucy and took her in. In addition by nursing her, this was a way through which Hollywood showed Asians’ submission to their women. Again, the fact that Huan appeared too weak before Battling made him look like a woman. Back to the immigration of the Chinese in white worlds, they were forced to take up illegal and menial jobs for survival when the whites overpowered them. Before this, they had been working in gold mines while a few of them owned gold mines. The representation of Asian cultures appears in two ways. First, the Chinese who had succeeded in securing jobs or owning mines showed that the Asians were daring and hardworking. These characteristics appear because they were foreigners but had managed to find some means of surviving. In the same way, Huan owned a shop. This meant he had succeeded in the white world. The room above his shop was his house. Hollywood therefore recognized the culture of hard work in the Asians. The second note is negative; the Chinese had turned to mugging Americans and smuggling drugs. In the same way, Cheng Huan had converted to a drug user and merchant possibly as a means of survival. According to Danico and Ng (2004, p.124) white people in the 1900s stereotyped the Chinese living at Chinatown as gangs that created havoc within their communities, harassed storefront owners, and dealt with illegal drugs. Following this discovery, it makes sense that Hollywood still held to this concept about Asians represented by the Chinese by painting Huan as a drug dealer. The Asians’ competition with the Americans during the times of the economic depression made the Americans fear them. In addition to their hardworking nature, they were viewed by the Americans as threats. In the same way, most of the above revelations suggest that the whites feared competition from the Asian migrants. In short, the whites understood the Asians as having a culture of competition. Battling was threatened by the “competition” of caring for his daughter that was offered by Huan. Hollywood extended this concept in that Huan was shown as offering competition to the white’s culture. Introducing Buddhism to a Christian country was competing with their original religion. As Kurahashi (2013, p.13) wrote, “When Asian characters survived, they were viewed disdainfully and considered a threat to Anglo American society”. This implies that Broken Blossom could not let Huan survive. Therefore, even if Huan had killed the enemy and could still proceed with his missionary work, the film was directed so he became his own killer. He stabbed himself with a knife and just like Battling and Lucy ended up dead. Concisely, he did not survive since he would be a threat to the Anglo American society by preaching Buddhism. Conclusion Hollywood in its early stages based its films mostly on western concepts. Foreign cultures such as Asian or African cultures were rare. A possible reason for this is that different cultures had not mingled so they lacked information about other cultures. However, after globalization began emerging, people from different cultures were mingling and so it was possible to learn about other people’s cultures. Following these, Hollywood began producing films based on various cultures. When the Chinese immigrated into white countries, they carried their cultures with them and the whites understood them according to them. As the study revealed, the Chinese who were Asians, did not receive welcoming receptions. Rather, they were seen as threatening, inferior, drug dealers, spoilers, and unmatchable with the whites. Hollywood applied the concepts it had received about the Asians in its films in which Huan in Broken Blossoms represented Asians. He was portrayed as inferior, weak, feminine, lacking, and a criminal who was in the white world to compete with their culture. Evidently, all the aspects discussed herein add up to the earliest examples of Asian culture as understood and applied in Hollywood films. Bibliography Benshoff, H, & Griffin, S 2011, America in Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality at the Movies, John Wiley & Sons. Cookie, F 2014, Broken Blossoms (1919)- Lillian Gish, Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_tFnRbzjcA [9 December 2014]. Danico, M, & Ng, F 2004, Asian American Issues, Greenwood Publishing Group. Kurahashi, Y 2013, Asian American Culture on Stage: The History of the East West Players, New York: Routledge. Marchetti, G 1994, Romance and the ‘Yellow Peril’: Race, Sex, and Discursive Strategies in Hollywood Fiction, California: University of California Press. Viruega, I 2005, “Re-presenting Asian Stereotypes in Hollywood Cinema: An Analysis of Race and Gender Representations in Memoirs of a Geisha”, University of A Coruna, 1-13. Read More