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3 Asian Interracial Love Stories in Classic Hollywood Films · Asian Adjacent

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hello, welcome to another edition of Asian Adjacent. I'm James Nott, Jr.,
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: and this one's going to be a very interesting episode
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  Speaker 1: because we're going to talk about three Asian interracial love
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  Speaker 1: stories in classic Hollywood films. And if they worked or
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: didn't work, this is going to be very, very interesting.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: I picked three films. We may later in this season
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  Speaker 1: pick some more. But these are three I think we
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: should bring to importance. Because they explore interracial romance during
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: a time when it was very controversial. on screen and
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: in real life America. The first one we're gonna talk about,
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: and everyone's heard about this film, Sayonara from 1957. It
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: stars Marlon Brando, Miko Taka, Miyoshi Yumeka, and Red Buttons.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: Set in post-war Japan, an American Air Force officer falls
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: in love with a Japanese performer despite military and social
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: opposition in their initial relationships. Two things why it's important.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: Miyoshi Yumeka It was the first Asian performer to win
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  Speaker 1: an acting Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. And also won
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  Speaker 1: three other Academy Awards. And it really did challenge the
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: racial prejudice of the day. So that's a big one.
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  Speaker 1: I've never seen it. And I think I'm going to
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  Speaker 1: try to see it. Maybe I'll do a review on
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: it myself. I know about Miyoshi winning. I've seen her win.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: You can see her win online for Supporting Actress. And
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: it's just... Crazy to think another Asian performer didn't win until,
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: I think, in the 80s. I mean, just like, it's just,
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: that's not too much. Loves a Many Splendor Thing, right?
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  Speaker 1: That's something very popular, 1955. Starring William Holden and Jennifer Jones.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: An American journalist falls in love with a widowed Eurasian
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  Speaker 1: doctor in Hong Kong. Their relationship faces opposition from family, society,
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: existing marital obligations. Several things. that were wrong. One, it
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: casted white actress Jennifer Jones, which they did back then sometimes,
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: and made her Eurasian, which some could argue, well, that's Eurasian.
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  Speaker 1: She's mixed race, which is one thing. So that's one
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  Speaker 1: thing that could have been a great story because it's like, oh,
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: you already have a mixed race person who is part white.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: So how did that already happen already off screens? You
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: already have that already getting with a white man. that's
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: how you could actually talk about it. Someone's going to go, well,
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  Speaker 1: she's part white, so the whites, doesn't that kind of
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  Speaker 1: bring together? But she also has Asian in her. But
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: it was a major Hollywood romance. That's how it was billed.
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  Speaker 1: And again, in 55, that was not made in this
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  Speaker 1: foreign popularity. So on some level, you're like, okay. But
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  Speaker 1: then if you look back at time, and this is
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: just a different time period, It would have been really
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: hard for them to sell a real Asian actress. Well,
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: they could have gotten a Eurasian actress who looked more whiter,
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: I guess, to kind of whitewash it a bit. But
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: there was several problems with that back then, which happened
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: several times. But they tried. The world of Suzy Wong
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: in 1960. Again, William Holden. Okay, what's going on with him?
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  Speaker 1: And Nancy Kwan. An American artist living in Hong Kong
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  Speaker 1: develops a romantic relationship with a Chinese woman who works
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: as a prostitute. The relationship challenges social expectations and personal prejudice.
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  Speaker 1: Nancy Kwan, I've seen this actually film, was amazing. It
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: made her an international star. Now, of course, there are
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: criticisms that she portrayed herself in a stereotypical way. The
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: submissive Asian woman, which you don't realize they're not submissive
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  Speaker 1: like that. That's not how it works in real life.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: But on screen, they've kind of done that. So it's tough.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: Sayonara will probably be the one, I would say, if
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: you want to watch something and not cringe so much,
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: because it has historical significance. The performances are pretty good.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: It examines interracial marriage. So I would say go for
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: that one. But I liked The World of Suzy Wong.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: I did see that one. I did like that one.
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  Speaker 1: So I wouldn't mind knowing either. So that's your Asia Jason.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: I'm going to, in another episode, cover a certain film
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: for a specific reason. And you'll know that at the
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: next episode. I'm James Law Jr. We're on audio, of course, everywhere.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: We have a few videos on YouTube and JLJ Media.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: Thank you for listening.