Universitas Indonesia Fakultas Ilmu Peng

Universitas Indonesia
Fakultas Ilmu Pengetahuan Budaya

HMEN610049
Perkembangan Industri Perfilman Hollywood

Representations of Asia in Hollywood Cinema

Nadia Safwana Omarali
Student Exchange
1306503746

Topik: Representation Asia dalam Film-Film Hollywood
Pilihan film: The Last Samurai (2003) ATAU 47 Ronin (2013)
Pertanyaan:
3. Diawali dengan pembuatan film The World of Suzie Wong maka Asia nan eksotik
mulai ditampilkan demi produksi film-film Hollywood seperti The King and I serta
Memoirs of a Geisha. Dua film yang disebutkan di atas juga menampilkan unsur Asia
(khususnya Jepang) dalam layar, budaya dan tokoh. Pilihlah salah satu judul film di atas
(The Last Samurai ATAU 47 Ronin). Harap mengacu pada film The King and I serta
Memoirs of a Geisha sebagai pembanding atau referensi.


Introduction
Over the years, particularly since the 1960s, there has been an explosion in literary and
historical writing on Asian and Asian American film representation. Representations are
combinations of signs that help us make complex abstract concepts significant and
understandable (Taylor and Willis, 1999). The representations of Asians are mainly
executed through the perspectives of Westerners. Throughout film history, cinematic
portrayals of Asians and Asian Americans have shifted in response to world events and
US foreign policy on the one hand, and have drawn from a legacy of Western attitudes
toward the "Orient" on the other. Traditionally, Hollywood has not offered and presented
optimistic images of Asian or Asian-American characters in its movies. In this paper, I
will be discussing about the representation of Asians in mass media, by specifically
emphasizing on the concept of Orientalism and its relevance and parallel to Hollywood
films, particularly the Hollywood film industry, by analyzing The Last Samurai as the
chosen film, which involves the concept of East and West, and comparing it to two other
films, namely The King and I and Memoirs of a Geisha.

The theory of Orientalism
According to Said (1995), Orientalism is a way of coming to terms with the Orient or the
East that is based on the Orient’s special plate in Western experience. The Orient is an

integral part of European material civilization and culture, thus the Orient has helped to
define the West as its contrasting image, idea, personality, experience. In other words,
Orientalism is a Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over
the Orient. In recent centuries, the rich tradition of Oriental exoticism took a new form as
colonial conquest and rule provided the opportunity in the form of readily available girls,
and encouraged Europeans and Americans to think of the West as active and masculine
and the East as passive and feminine (Wilkinson, 1990). This has affected a large mass of
writers, poets, novelists, philosophers, and political theorists to accept the fundamental
difference between the East and West in many aspects, such as cultures, norms, epics,
social and political descriptions, people and so on. Consequently, it also has an impact on
performing arts, particularly how the mass media of the West perceive the East to be.
However, to what extent is this statement true?
Asian Portrayal in Hollywood Films
The emergence of Asian representation in mass media, especially in Hollywood cinemas
can be largely seen as a result of long history of abusive portrayals and stereotypes
portraying Asians, Asian Americans, and their cultures. Asians who are known as the
Orient have completely contrasting images in terms of how they are represented in
Hollywood. For instance, the West is always seen as civilized, strong, a subject,
representing masculinity, while the East is discerned as uncivilized, weak, an object,
representing femininity. In many Hollywood films throughout the years, Asians are often

portrayed as despicable and barbaric, for examples, fear of Asian immigrants, Post World
War II, where the Japanese were the evil imperialist, the Chinese were innocent victims
and diligent people who worked at the farms, and so on.

According to Benshoff and Griffin (2004), representation is a “process of presenting an
image of something in order to communicate ideas or tell a story”. Asians are often
represented as somewhat mysterious, exotic and cunning. It all started from the film
directed by Richard Quine in 1960 called The World of Suzie Wong. The film illustrates
colonial and post-colonial perspectives of the Orient; what is foreign and unfamiliar is
either exotic or ridiculed. This is one of the examples of a Hollywood film, where a
Chinese woman plays as its leading character; second, this film describes movies
romance between East and West; third, Nancy Kwan as Suzie Wong, a Chinese actress,
who undoubtedly had gained certain acknowledgement in Hollywood in a particular
period of time. Fundamentally, the film is set in Hong Kong, picturing romance between
a Chinese prostitute and American artist who unite across racial and hierarchical
differences. This big-budget Hollywood film arranges its elaborate production around the
Asian Woman lead, considering her life worthy of narration, with her as both desiring
subject and object of desire.

However, it is doubtless that Asian cultures have recently begun to be fashionable in

Western society. Despite the Westerner’s portrayals of Asia and Asians themselves in
their production and films as being exotic and unnatural to their world, the differences
they have made or transformed can patently be seen on screen. For instance, it often
involves the main character regard Asians and their cultures as vicious and uncivilized,
but soon he/she will learn to embrace their cultures and their differences, for example, in
the film, The Last Samurai (2003).
The Last Samurai
The Last Samurai (2003) is an epic warm film, revolving around history, action and
drama as its genres, directed and co-produced by Edward Zwick, starring Tom Cruise as
Captain Nathan Algren and Ken Watanabe as Lord Moritsugu Katsumoto, playing two of
the main leads. The film is set in Japan during the 1870s, telling the story of Captain
Algren as a respected American military officer, but becomes a hate-filled alcoholic after
engaging in a mass murder of Native Americans in the Indian Wars. He is recruited by the

Emperor of Japan to instruct and train the country's very first army in the art of modern
warfare to defeat a samurai insurrection. As the Emperor seeks to eliminate the ancient
Imperial Samurai warriors in devising their plans for more Westernized and trade-friendly
government policies, Algren finds himself out of left field awed, impressed and swayed
by his encounters with the Samurai, which places him at the center of a struggle between
two eras and two worlds, with only his own sense of honor to guide him.


In the film, there is a clear polarity that separates the American and Japanese worlds,
particularly foregrounding the culture differences, and of course how significant it is to
take note on how the West portrays the East. This leads back to the idea of Orientalism,
where the Americans are the strong subject, while the Japanese are the weak object, in
which help or assistance is needed from the Americans to train the Japanese with tubular
weapons. The idea that the Japanese need help and drilling from the Americans who are
equipping gunmen to train an army for the Japanese emperor, who wants to develop
Japan into the modern world proves that the Japanese are weak, traditional and reliant on
the Americans to make progress in their own country. Therefore, this is an instance on
how Asians are the Orient and Westerners are the Occident.

One of the settings that genuinely highlights the exoticism of the Asian, specifically the
Japanese culture, norms and values is the strong accent on how they approach and speak
to the Emperor. The Americans are carefully instructed on how to greet the Emperor, with
the help of a British translator, when they first arrive in Japan to meet the Emperor. The
Japanese are monumentally upholding a loyal and dedicated gesture and manner of high,
middle and low statuses because status itself is deemed and viewed as important in the
culture; it can be discerned, where the Emperor who holds a high level or rank, sits in a
higher position compared to the others, and that those who are below him must show

great respect.

Another exotic and unnatural tradition or practice that is being illustrated in the film is
that Japanese or Asians in general are perceived as barbaric and uncivilized by the

Westerners. For example, the Japanese’s practice of decapitation is regarded as savage by
the Westerners, specifically when Algren said, “They don't cut the heads off defeated,
kneeling men”, after witnessing a man being beheaded, while he was seized by the
samurai, and in which in Lord Katsumoto’s defense, “General Hasegawa asked me to
help him end his life. A samurai cannot stand the shame of defeat. I was honored to cut
off his head.” This verifies that the perception of the Orient is uncivilized, while the
civilized is the Occident. However, in the words of Katsumoto, “Many of our customs
seem strange to you. And the same is true of yours.” because although the tradition or
practice of the Asians is believed to be strange and unnatural to the Westerners, it does
not necessarily mean that it is to the Asians, seeing that it is naturally and assuredly
customary to the Asians.
The clothing that these characters wear also defines the cultural differences, between the
American and Japanese clothes. They dress differently; American with their western
clothing and Japanese with their “exotic” kimonos. This extreme difference of the east
and the west finds its way into Hollywood films and exerts a powerful and lasting effect

on social reality. Westerners often regard that these exotic costumes are what that define
the Easterners. This is one of the many features that make us think that although this film
aims to be neutral and present reality just as it was, it is actually a representation that has
been created according to Western/American patterns based on certain stereotypes.
According to Xing (1998), stereotypes generated by the media serve the dual function of
satisfying white self-fulfilling fantasies and blaming the victim. This includes gender
stereotypes, women in particular. Asian female anatomy in Hollywood films has always
been subjected to impose ideals of physical beauty, such as facial features, body shape,
and skin fairness. The ideal beauty is proportional to and based on Western standards of –
again, exotic beauty. Besides that, Asian women are often portrayed as submissive,
obedient and solicitude towards men and children. They are also commonly “put in their
place”, in other words, they usually stay home and do housework like a typical
housewife. There is only one female character that is and can be credited in the film,
Koyuki, who plays Taka – Katsumoto’s sister and a wife to the man, whom Algren killed

in combat. As expected, Taka plays a role that fulfills all the stereotypes of Oriental
women; she is passive, shy, delicate, mysterious and loyal to her honor. A segment that
proves her submission and passivity is as much as she dislikes having to take care of
Algren; she still does because that is an order she receives from her brother. Unlike some
of the male characters, Taka does not speak English and only communicates by signals

and motions to Algren. Hence, this represents that Japanese women do not have the
capability to learn and speak English like some of the men do.
Regardless of how Asians are typically represented based on stereotypes and perceptions
in The Last Samurai by Hollywood, it is not entirely true that the whole film illustrates
and complies with the stereotypes. Algren earlier on stated that he is “mostly treated with
a kind of mild neglect, as if I were a stray dog, or an unwelcome guest”, but as the film
progresses, Algren begins to grow interest in learning about the Japanese culture. He
realizes that he is becoming fond of their culture and norms, for instance he finally sees
and learns that the Samurai and their families have a simple yet discipline lifestyle. He
observes the people, the environment and his surrounding and expresses that “Everyone
is polite. Everyone smiles and bows”, giving an idea of the Japanese’s exotic culture. As
time goes by, he blends in and assimilates himself in all respects with the Samurai
society, acquiring skill in samurai martial masteries and the Japanese language. As for
Katsumoto, he is more than willing to have mutual comprehension and appreciation with
Algren, and Katsumoto still strongly sustains his belief because he has pledged his life to
defending the dying code of the samurai, and that he believes that their revolt is only for
the best interest of Japan. This, in which, Algren eventually understands the real meaning
and image of a samurai, that besides it being an art of words, bows and martial arts,
samurai offers service, discipline, compassion and honor, especially in terms of
spirituality.

In other words, The Last Samurai is about two warriors whose cultures make them aliens,
but whose values make them comrades; its power is compromised only by an ending that
sheepishly backs away from what the film is really about (Ebert, 2003). It is perceptible
that there is a complete shift or transformation of how Japan and Japanese are being

represented in the beginning and later in the film, because now Algren views that every
soldier or warrior must be loyal to their comrades, there is an honorable and disciplined
code of samurai, and last but not least, Japanese people have empathy. Nevertheless, the
exoticism, in the perception of the Westerners of the Japanese and Asian cultures in
general still remains, and it does not change the reality that the film has fulfilled the
image of Orientalism.

Comparison and Contrast between The Last Samurai, The King and I and Memoirs
of a Geisha
There is no uncertainty that three of these films, The Last Samurai (2003), The King and
I (1956) and Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) symbolize exoticism of Asia and Asians from
different countries, Japan, Siam (Thailand) and China, and that the concept of
Orientalism is patently met and satisfied in the films. One of the similarities that these
three films have demonstrated is they give a positive yet different image of Asians and its
exoticism.

The Last Samurai, The King and I, and Memoirs of a Geisha share another thing in
common – status is perceived as highly important among the societies, particularly in The
Last Samurai and The King and I, where the rank and position of a person can be
blatantly distinguished. The Emperor of Japan and King Mongkut of Siam stand as the
rulers or the most important persons in their countries. There is a massive and clear gap
between the rulers and civilians, for instance the Emperor and King sit at a higher
position and are treated with utmost respect and honor. This is also much the same with
Memoirs of a Geisha; the higher his/her rank is, the important he/she is. For example,
Okasan/Mother is the “mother” or head of the geisha house, played by Kaori Momoi,
who has a significant rank among others and is feared by others for her status.
As mentioned above, three of the films also fulfill all the stereotypes of Oriental women;
many of the women are passive, obedient, timid, enigmatic, faithful and of course exotic.
Taka in The Last Samurai, Lady Thiang and other wives of King Mongkut in The King

and I, and Sayuri in Memoirs of a Geisha. This is different when it comes to Anna
Leonowens from The King and I, an English schoolteacher with a strong will from Wales.
She has a completely different role and character compared to other women in the film
because she is determined, spirited, brave, and is not afraid to go against King Mongkut.
Once more, the concept of Orientalism is represented in the film because it shows that
women from the east and west are different; Asians women are weak, while Western

women are strong. However, it is also pivotal to note that these Asian women are given
roles that emphasize on their beauty and exoticism. For example, Taka in The Last
Samurai is fairly beautiful and appealing, and geishas in Memoirs of a Geisha like Sayuri
and Mameha are the epitome of elegance and beauty.
Language has indeed been a matter of controversy in these films, but it is a bit realistic
with The Last Samurai because Japanese is spoken among the Japanese most of the times
and when they speak in English, it is more believable because they have an accent.
Although Katsumoto intends to learn and “practice his English” and has a slight accent,
he actually speaks English very fluently in real life. The Emperor, for example, needs a
translator to translate for him to convey a message in English. The King and I, on the
other hand, uses English but the actors and actresses have such unnatural and
unconvincing accents. In some of the scenes, the Siamese people are talking in Thai, but
it does not sound like Thai language at all – almost as if it is made up, thus it is not very
believable in this mark. In Memoirs of a Geisha, it has been argued that the film could
have been better if it was presented in Japanese with English subtitles, because of the
difficulty in understanding what the characters are trying to say in some scenes; not only
is it because of their lack of language skills, but some of the actors and actresses have
different accents, which makes it unfathomable to understand. However, proper names in
Japanese, such as sakura tree, tatsumora silk, shamisen and so on, are not translated into
English, because it gives an exotic flavor to the dialogs. Nonetheless, English is used as
the main language because it is an international language, spoken in many countries, both
as a native, a second language or a foreign language.

Ken Watanabe plays in both The Last Samurai and Memoirs of a Geisha, but takes the
role of a Chinese man in Memoirs of a Geisha. This has, too, caused casting controversy,
especially in Memoirs of a Geisha and The King and I, because some of the most
prominent roles like Sayuri, Mameha, Hatsumomo, were not given to Japanese acroles
are mainly given to Japanese actors and actresses. It is different to The Last Samurai
because Japanese roles or characters are given to Japanese actors and actresses, which
gives a more commonsensical yet rational value in the film. It is argued that Hollywood’s
orientalist view has once again manifests to be incapable of perceiving the cultural
differences in Asia.
Nevertheless, these three films delineate the processes of modernization in Asia countries
and at the same time, providing positive images of Asian cultures by also incorporating
Orientalism and stereotypes constructed by the Westerners. In The Last Samurai, Algren
who is an American, who at first finds Japanese despicable, now slowly but surely
integrates more into the samurai world and truly understands their norms, culture, people
and the real meaning of samurai, while Memoirs of a Geisha represents that geishas are
not ridiculed at or insulted, but instead are seen and appreciated for their high-class
abilities in doing performances like dance, classical music and games. Sayuri is an
example of a geisha, who values and admires the geisha culture because to be a geisha
requires so much more than just physical appearance Last but not least, the ending to The
King and I depicts a development in the country’s system because Prince Chulalongkorn,
the first son of King Mongkut, puts out a declaration that brings an end to slavery and
assert that all subjects will no longer bow down to him.
Conclusion

In   conclusion,   representation   of   Asian   in   many   Hollywood   films   are   based   upon
stereotypes and The Last Samurai captures a sense of Orientalism, but the film is tweaked
or refined to make it different, untypical and unique, where the culture and people of
Japan are immensely embraced and appreciated by the west, although at first, it was hated
on and looked down upon; and so are The King and I and Memoirs of a Geisha. Indeed,

Orientalism is a fabrication of the West, but although stereotypes of Asia and Asians are
represented and illustrated in the films, they still manage to break the tradition that the
Occident is always superior to Orient. The film represents a positive yet favorable image
of Japan, changing the usual depiction of unconventionality and incongruity. Therefore,
the challenges and obstacles in terms of cross­cultural differences teach the audience that
they can be prevailed over by respecting each other’s customs and trying to have mutual
understanding.

References
Benshoff, H., & Griffin, S. (2004). America on Film: Representing Race, Class,
Gender, and Sexuality at the Movies. Victoria: Blackwell Publishing.
Ebert,

R.

(2003,

December

5).

The

Last

Samurai.

Retrieved

from

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-last-samurai-2003
Said, E.W. (1995). Orientalism Western Conceptions of the Orient. London: Penguin
Books Ltd.
Wilkinson, E. (1990). Japan versus the West: Image and Reality. London: Penguin Books
Ltd.
Xing, J. (1998). Asian America through the Lens. Oxford: AltaMira Press.

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