An interesting point in M Butterfly is how it plays on the stereotype of how other races "all look the same." In the opera Madama Butterfly, the character of Butterfly is a Japanese woman, yet in the play, Song is Chinese. The substitution of Chinese actor for a Japanese role critiques Western view of Asians and how all of Asia is the same; the East is one single feminine entity that will submit to Western power.
Gallimard mentions that when he sees Song on stage, it is the first time that he truly believes in the play, yet Song is Chinese not Japanese. The mere fact that Song is Asian suffices to fulfill Gallimard's fantasy of the perfect and ideal woman.
This generalization or stereotyping of Asian appearance to Western eyes, despite vast ethnic differences, still continues today. For example, the 2005 film "Memoirs of a Geisha" (which one several Oscar awards) has a Chinese lead even though the plot is about a Japanese girl raised in the lifestyle of a geisha in pre-WWII Japan. Much like the use of non-Puerto Ricans in "West Side Story," "Memoirs of a Geisha" demonstrates the inherent racism or biases in Western media and film.
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I entirely agree with your post on the Western view of seeing all Asians as the same. In the west we do seem to have a common notion that all Asians look the same no matter what nationality they really are. We have all heard the stupid saying, "Chinese, Japanese," when people are corrected on which nationality the Asian they are talking about is really from. It shows that we as a society don't really care if said person is Japanese or Chinese or another Asian nationality, they are all the same in our eyes. Many times when a Westerner is referring to someone from Asia they tend to just refer to them all as Chinese and sometimes Japanese. There is little indication that countries other than Chine and Japan even exist in Asia. It is sad to think how ignorant the Western culture is of Asia and their culture and this play, M. Butterfly, portrays this ignorance quite well through Gallimard and his actions.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely have to agree that racial stereotypes, as they appear in M. Butterfly, are quite interesting. The substitution of a Chinese Butterfly in place of a Japanese Butterfly is something I did not automatically pick-up on, and I feel it is an excellent example of a homogenous expectation of Easterners as seen through Western eyes. I would also add, however, that, although we have most notably discussed the stereotyping of Asian cultures in class via the term “Oriental” and feminine expectations, etc., I would argue that the Asian characters in M. Butterfly rely on an equivalent amount of stereotypes in order to pass judgments on their Western counterparts as well. A fine example of this occurs in ACT THREE, Scene One (page 83) when Song describes the “masculine” West: “The West thinks of itself as masculine-big guns, big industry, big money…” This tangent is no different than Gallimard’s proclamation in ACT TWO, Scene Four (pg 46) that “Orientals will always submit to a greater force.” Both characters are pointing out the other country’s flaws in, ironically, the same way – by relying on stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteIt’s also important to note that while Hwang substituted the Japanese Butterfly for a Chinese Butterfly, he did the same replacing an American Pinkerton with a French Gallimard. In doing so, the homogenous expectations set up for Eastern culture are equally set up for Western culture. Certainly, French men are not the same in their actions, appearances, beliefs, and values as American men, but those details are set-aside by Hwang’s substitution.
To further this discussion, I would stress that, in stereotyping the East and West via gender expectations, Hwang does the same thing with male and female stereotypes as he does with racial stereotypes. Using the previously mentioned quotes, it is important to note that men are stereotyped as “big and masculine,” while women are stereotyped as “submissive, small, and feminine.”
Today, such stereotypes exist in films such as “Memoirs of a Geisha,” but they also exist in day to day life not only between the East and West, males and females, but among more familiar races such as African Americans and Caucasians, Asians and Indians, etc..
By: Sarah Wirth (skwirth)
This is something I didn't immediately notice in the play. I think its a very good way of complimenting Gallimard's butterfly fantasy. In addition to his stereotypes of Asian women as submissive and discrete, Gallimard also sees them as all the same.
ReplyDeleteHwang comments on almost all stereotypes because of how Madame Butterfly incorporated them. Every stereotype that was present in the Opera was exploited and critiqued in M. Butterfly. However, the stereotype of all people of another race looking the same was not as obvious and definitely adds another layer to the play.