Orientalism in Hollywood

Harper Cline, she/her

The beginning of Western contact with non-European peoples is often portrayed as a polite rap on the door; a knock from well-mannered people into the home of slightly lesser-so cultures. Looking through our history books, novels, and on-screen adaptations, white Europeans are shown as civilized and prim, directly opposing the more crude and fledgling Asian societies. Though it may seem to be the result of more recent history, this half-baked view of Asian people and civilizations under the spotlight of Hollywood is intricately tied back to the theory of Orientalism. 

The definition of Orientalism (the representation of Asian and Eastern peoples in which colonial Western stereotypes of these groups are exaggerated- often to the benefit of Western culture) stems from these interactions.

Negative stereotypes of Asian people differ by region, however. Representing the “classic” face of the Orient, East Asians are often portrayed as studious rule-followers, whereas Southeast Asians are seen as messy, unrefined villagers. Poor Western Asia is associated with terrorism since 9/11 and the “endless wars” in MENA, and Central Asia is often overlooked altogether when Asia as a whole is discussed. 

The dominant theory of cultural hegemony stems from classic Marxist theory later developed by Italian philosopher Antonio Gramsci; the concept explains the relationship between the ruling class and the primary ideologies of civilization. Within this idea of cultural hegemony, the beliefs and presumptions of the predominant group within society set the viewpoints for the remaining groups. The view of race as set by European philosophes of the Enlightenment and beyond has molded who is the dominant class and who is submerged under the waters of their wants: white supremacy reigns supreme, always upheld by our institutions. Racial minorities continue to be painted through a colonial viewpoint and these interpretations create the foundation for our entertainment industry, however subtle.  

The image of Old Hollywood was a sugar-coated land of frills, fun, and decadence, rising to power in the economic regeneration after the decimation of WWI. More money to spend on leisure instead of simple survival gave rise to Southern California as the gleaming heart of our movie-going pleasures. The Gibson Girl of the 1910s faded and shifted power to the golden femme on the silent screens. Porcelain starlets frolicked in the moonlight with dashing heroes as the scene cuts to a white actor in yellowface to relieve the single audience from overdone romance. 

Perhaps the most infamous caricature of the Orient is Dr. Fu Manchu, a long, wispy mustached man with flowing robes, usually speaking in a bad semblance of some kind of Asian-adjacent accent. First seen with the film adaptation of Sax Rohmer’s The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu in 1923, white actors in shoddy yellowface grew in the next dozen years to become a popular trope in the media. East Asian women were the talk of the town as “dragon ladies”- Anna May Wong, one of the first Asian women to come into Hollywood, famously declared, "Why is it that the screen Chinese is always the villain? And so horrible a villain - mean, treacherous, a snake in the grass. We are not like that!". In contrast, East Asian men were emasculated caricatures, from Mickey Rooney’s Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) to Gedde Watanabe’s Long Duk Dong in Sixteen Candles (1984). Even today, we see white actors playing Asian leads, the most discussed of which is probably Scarlett Johannson’s Motoko Kusanagi in the Ghost in the Shell (2017). 

The spread of Orientalism from verbal to written or visual communication over the centuries has played a vital role in the continued fetishization and discrimination toward Asian communities. Despite the rising global popularity of anime and K-pop, violence towards Asian individuals continues to grow. Only by confronting behaviors in both ourselves and the system can we truly ever hope to extinguish the flames of Orientalism long fanned by the shining star that is Hollywood. 

Paner, Isabel, "The Marginalization and Stereotyping of Asians in American Film" (2018). Honors Theses. 36. https://doi.org/10.33015/dominican.edu/2018.HONORS.ST.08 

Cole, Nicki Lisa, Ph.D. "What Is Cultural Hegemony?" ThoughtCo, Aug. 28, 2020, thoughtco.com/cultural-hegemony-3026121.