Asian American women have come a long way since the days of Flower Drum Song. If you haven't watched the 1961 Rogers and Hammerstein musical, you really should. Not only was it the first American film to feature an all Asian American cast, it was also met with significant success at the box office and Academy Award nominations. But what exactly is my main gripe with it? There are a lot, but one sticks out like a sore thumb.
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Flower Drum Song (1961)
Flower Drum Song is interesting for a number of reasons-- mainly the way it depicts three API women: Mei Li - the fresh off the boat, naive, stereotypically traditional archetype, Linda Low - the Americanized bombshell, and Helen Chao - the girl that lies in that indistinct line between fresh off the boat and completely Americanized. Throughout the film, the main protagonist, Wang Ta, struggles to decide between Mei Li and Linda Low. Helen Chao on the other hand, is overlooked entirely. The film focuses on the love triangle, but acts as if Helen was never there to make it a square. In a way, Helen represents the Asian American woman-- caught between cultures.
"Love Look Away" from Flower Drum Song. Helen Chao's only musical number, which is equally enchanting and WTF at the same time.
After the scene above, Wang Ta leaves Helen's apartment and any trace of her disappears from the rest of the film. Such a glaring oversight by the filmmakers for someone you would think was a main character. Actually, in the original novel, Helen Chao commits suicide, which makes her character eerily prophetic. You could say the way the novel and film dismisses her entirely becomes a message for API women at the time: either you can only be the subservient Mei Li or the conniving Linda Low in this country if you want to find love.
On a somewhat related note, just what direction have these representations in cinema gone since? Fast forward to today and API women in film are both negative and positive. For every case of Lucy Liu stereotypes or implicit yellow faces of Memoirs of Geisha, there are still other instances of serious empowerment. Here are two polar opposite film trailers depicting API women in American cinema today. One that covers human trafficking and the other your typical martial arts fare:
Eden (2012)
The Man with the Iron Fists (2012)
So while audiences will always have popcorn flicks like The Man with the Iron Fists that aren't exactly eradicating the ripples of Mei Li and Linda Low stereotypes, or hell, Lucy Liu, hopefully films like Eden will continue to shine every once in a while to remind people that API women can be taken seriously on the big screen.
Linkage:
Nothing on the official site. Best to go on IMDB.
I had seen the movie the Flower Drum Song about two years ago and I never thought about it in depth like you did Kevin. I did wonder what happen to Helen after Wang Ta left her on her apartment but it never clicked to me till now. What I liked about your piece was the connection of Helen's disappearance and the issue of suicide for Asian American Women.I guess they made her vanish mysteriously to cover up the suicide. You pointed out that in order to find romance, an Asian women need to be either accepting with hegemony and or be conspire. This two characteristics had been occurring stereotypes for women of Asian descent. I was wondering why would they show the negative stereotypes about Asian women in an Asian movie. Should the movie's purpose be to prove society's prejudiced view towards them false?
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