Short Guardian article on actress Anna May Wong

[spiralsheep]

The Guardian has a short article on the recent reassessments of Anna May Wong's film career, including biographies and a documentary. (Via daegaerAnna May Wong (1933): "Why is it that the screen Chinese is nearly always the villain? And so crude a villain. Murderous, treacherous, a snake in the grass. We are not like that. How should we be, with a

Comments

[skywardprodigal]

Anna May paid so much and worked so hard to act.

[spiralsheep]

She's the newest entry in my list of heroines. I had no idea she spoke out and fought back.

I was sooo relieved when I clicked over to the daily com and it wasn't full of images of her as a dragon lady.

[skywardprodigal]

Oh, yeah. She fought on many fronts. All at once. Members of her family felt shamed by her career too.

Nancy Kwon, too, spoke on stereotypes at times.

[spiralsheep]

It's been much the same or worse for British East Asian actors over here (except that those who spring to mind are mostly men): Bert Kwok, Robert Lee, David Yip. Hmm, I want to rewatch the Chinese Detective now.

I have thoughts but they're not turning into words at the moment so I shall resort to posting Anna May Wong picspam on my journal tomorrow.

[oniko]

Another article on Wong from 2004, when four of her movies were featured at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. The article mentions the lead in The Good Earth going to a white woman, which is something my grandmother is still pissed about.

She's been my Asian Rage icon for ages now.

[spiralsheep]

Thank you for the link. I remember when I first found out that Anna May Wong was denied a major role because there was a white man in yellowface playing the lead and POC weren't allowed to act as romantic partners with white people on screen even when the white people were acting in yellowface... I actually went through disbelief before I got to rage.

::iconlove::

[delux_vivens]

thanks for posting.

[spiralsheep]

You're welcome.