II. Remembrance & Representation 96 Amerasia Journal 2016 Figure 1.BensonFong, BeulahQuo,andGeorge TakeiSons. onthesetofMyThree Amerasia Journal 42:2 (2016): 96-117 10.17953/aj.42.1.96

The Asian American Next Door Enfiguring the Model Minority on the Domestic Melodrama

Melissa Phruksachart

In the years between the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans (1942-1946) and the 1965 Immigration Act, what prepared the Ameri- can public to recognize and validate the term “model minority?” This essay proposes a televisual genealogy of the model minority as dis- tinct from the 1966 formulation published by The New York Times in William Petersen’s feature “Success Story, Japanese-American Style.”1 Building upon prior scholarship, I inquire into the early Cold War log- ics that precipitated the popular rise of the model minority figure in 1966. In particular, I point to network television as an archive that circulated the structures of feeling necessary for the model minority to take hold. By doing so, I place recent histories of Asian American do- mesticity during the Cold War era into closer conversation with U.S. popular culture, particularly television. While popular media histories lament the rarity of Asian Ameri- cans on television, I identify the trope of the Asian American neigh- bor as increasingly common on television in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Both the television industry and Asian American communities found themselves rapidly growing in size in mid-1950s California. At stake for both the television industry and Asian American commu- nities was the chance to be “domesticated” into the American home. In multiple instances, Asian integration into white suburban Califor- nia neighborhoods met with resistance (and counter-resistance) that drew local, national, and even international media attention. This es- say examines how these stories took fictional shape on two popular

Melissa Phruksachart is an Assistant Professor/Faculty Fellow in the De- partment of Cinema Studies at New York University. Her dissertation, from which this article is drawn, argues for the historically specific significance of television as a medium through which the incorporation of Asian/Ameri- cans into the U.S. imaginary occurred and was made acceptable during the early Cold War era.

97 98 Amerasia Journal 2016 menace of homosexuality.” of communism, the black menace ofracemixing,and the white principal menaces haunting Cold War America: “the red menace Specifically, “Asian the three figure of the the American” resolved “the triumphofliberalismandtheraciallogic Cold War.” According toRobertG.Lee,themodelminoritywasproduced by poused byU.S.culturalproductions, particularlyviaHollywood. minority emerges through anexaminationoftheattitudeses- and a historical model. In the cultural studies model, the model ship couldbesaidtofallintotwocamps:aculturalstudiesmodel during theemergence oftheColdWar. Broadly writ,thisscholar after period and World the II in War origins its placed firmly has nationwide audience. the racialreferent ofthemodelminoritybecamestabilizedfora made. By doing so, these programs offer further insight as to how tions’ claimsassuch,andhowtowhatendsthosewere or realistic, Iammore interested ininterrogating theserepresenta- than assert whether these representations were accurate, positive, alistically astheboundsofsitcomgenre allowed.Butrather portray Asian American lifeina“realistic” way—oratleastasre- bachelor societies.TheColdWar domesticsitcomattemptedto of “the Asian” asanemasculatedmanisolatedinpathological tion of domesticity in contradistinction to prior media portrayals ican-centered plotlineswere manifestasbothacrisisandcelebra- Americans asun-Americanandperpetuallyforeign. Asian Amer ry, which consciously spoke back to decades ofimages of Asian centu- mid-twentieth the in figuration American Asian liberal communities. California’s AsianAmerican Southern to illuminatetheunderstudiedintimacybetweenHollywoodand 1958-1966) andMyThree Sons and long-running Cold War sitcoms, The Donna Reed Show (ABC, tion ofthe Asian American modelminority. in culturalproductions likeFlowerDrumSong tosecure theposi- culation ofsentimentality, friendship,andcross-cultural exchange migrant. er DrumSong(1961)wentfrom excoriatedothertowelcomeim- ism—the Asian American in films such as heterosexuality—all meanttobolsterthesuccessofU.S.liberal- tions toward capitalism, the nation, and reproductive racialized Scholarly work on the emergence of the model minority figure The domestic sitcom is an overlooked archive of politically Christina Klein extends this argument bydelineating the cir 3 By modeling the appropriate orienta- (ABC, 1960-1965; CBS, 1965-1972), (ABC,1960-1965;CBS,1965-1972), Sayonara (1957)orFlow- 4 She points especially Shepointsespecially - - - 2

The Asian American Next Door 99 - - - - Sayonara, Simpson My intervention intervention My 7 Simpson is also attentive Simpson is also the domestic to Examining films such as 6 5 In what follows, I examine the basis upon which television be- television which upon basis the examine I what follows, In Since the publication of these studies in the late 1990s and ear of these studies in the late 1990s and Since the publication here is in bringing these two bodies of scholarship into conver is in bringing these two bodies of scholarship into here technologies of domestica- sation while also paying attention to America has Asian of Cold War tion, like television. The archive the as such films, Hollywood big-budget to limited primarily been Flower Drum Song and Sayonara . aforementioned These films- al geopolitical tensions between legorized and managed Cold War Asia submissive and feminized a and U.S. dominant and strong a through the trope of romance. film Yet was not the only avenue television, culture: popular in imagined was race which through dif- in integration, albeit and issues of immigration too, dealt with logics, and expecta- ways given the experiential settings, ferent competition from tions particular to each medium. Hollywood’s the television industry led it to produce films that were longer, - tele on be found could what than spectacular more and grander, vision. Forms like the musical or the romance compelled a final refused ending in tragedy or marriage, while television programs their episodic nature. such finality through race and racism after came a site for negotiating meanings around been that has of sitcom via the genre II, in particular War World the domes how then explore I melodrama. the domestic termed ceration during World War II through the redeemable figure of the of figure redeemable the through II War World during ceration Japanese war bride. to the U.S.’s desire to secure an economic and geopolitical position an economic and to secure desire to the U.S.’s and imaginative staging for reason as Asia in postwar power of affective situations of Asian integration. Caroline Chung Simp- son, meanwhile, locates the origins of the model minority figure incar American histories of Japanese to disavow the in a desire sphere, outlining ways in which the fantasy of the integrated war outlining ways in which sphere, - resettle Authority’s failed Relocation over the War bride covered Americans. Japanese incarcerated ment plan for formerly ly 2000s, a number of scholars have more recently moved toward moved toward recently more ly 2000s, a number of scholars have Asian of formations racial changing the of examination historical a by Charlotte period. Work Americans during the early Cold War on the has focused D. Wu Cindy I-Fen Cheng, and Ellen Brooks, limn- it—in to resistance integration—and housing of importance minority. of the model ing the acceptability argues that the early 1950s were characterized by an “unacknowl- characterized were that the early 1950s argues with encounter the off stave to urgency national or political edged of drama the various histories a redeemed of racism in favor of cultural pluralism.” 100 Amerasia Journal 2016 from denselypackedurbanspacestosheltered suburbs. flight” “white to related formations and relations social the about pliance fortheColdWar homeandservedasalocusforquestions cording toLynn Spigel,televisiongrew intothequintessentialap- derstanding thenexusofrace, ethnicity, andfamilyasthey came U.S. racialformations,and itmadeavailablenewmodesofun- timed. Thisswitchinsitcomstyles speaks toa new chapterin hood) were expressed, how plotsandjokeswere constructed and how queernessandnon-normative sexualities(i.e.,singleadult- tation. This changed howfamilies were arranged ontelevision, necessitated anewmode ofrepresencentury mid-twentieth the - have cometounderstandasthemodelofnuclear familyin of whatfamilieslookandfeellike.Theproduction ofwhatwe sitcom wasandisinconversationwithpopularunderstandings ic modebasedaround theconventionoffamily, thedomestic ing discoursesofraceonlocalandnationallevels. As anaesthet- ful, suchthatby1960,90percent ofU.S.homesownedone. They became cheaper, and broadcast programming more plenti- home television sets were available for purchase again by 1946. ment. After the production shutdown caused by World War II, culture afterdecadesofinternationalandcivic-mindedengage- of cinema-going,televisionspoketotheinward turnof American experience public the from different so medium received tically Vietnam) anddomestic(thecivilrightsmovement). As adomes- lic opinionaboutsubsequent wars both international(Korea and of thepostwar nation. It then played a crucial role in shaping pub- gramming, closelyparalleledthematerialandpsychicrebuilding Television’s growth, bothasatechnologyandintermsofpro- Negotiating Raceon Television from themore common“representation.” performs word this work different the to pointed has who Kang, Laura after “enfiguration” term the on rely I so, doing In edge. these programs’ investments inrealism produced racial knowl - during thelate1950sandearly1960s.Ultimately, Iprobe how of Asian Americans intowhitesuburbantelevisualcommunities tic melodramamadeavailablewaysoftheorizingtheintroduction or asafigure. into something legible making or confining of process a indexes is not merely re-presenting that which already exists, but rather the way in which the idea of the gendered and racialized body As such,televisionservedasakeynodalpointfornegotiat - 8 Enfiguration signals signals Enfiguration 10 9 Ac- The Asian American Next Door 101 - According to According 13 The resulting form of television has form of television The resulting 12 George Lipsitz, Vincent Brook, and Nina Leibman, and Nina Leibman, Brook, Lipsitz, Vincent George 11 (NBC, 1929-1936; CBS, 1936-1946), which played with eth- CBS, 1936-1946), which played with (NBC, 1929-1936; It was not until the mid-1960s invention of the fantastic fam fantastic the of invention mid-1960s the until not was It ily sitcom, as Spigel termed it, that scripted television was able toily sitcom, as Spigel termed it, that scripted address racial difference again. Even then, it could do so only by - being Ital family a television of the Other: instead obfuscating ian, such as in Life with Luigi (CBS, 1952-1953), it became one of horses. Martians, monsters, witches, and talking been characterized as “least objectionable programming,” which which programming,” “least objectionable as been characterized featured ostensibly bland, inoffensive domestic sitcoms about white middle-class families in suburbia. Spigel, it was thus through the prism of fantasy that television the prism of fantasy Spigel, it was thus through civil rights movement andsitcoms channeled the turmoil of the such metaphors—a of suburbia. It used the racialization projects a witch—to engender critiquesneighbor is not black; instead, she’s and the hollowness of governmental hypocrisy, of racial prejudice, sitcoms. How- conventional middle-class life portrayed on more American- Asian an looking at this era of television through ever, like My programming,” ist lens shows us that “least objectionable race in interested more , was Show Reed Donna The and Sons Three Despite being and immigration than existent studies recognize. generative sites through blanketed in whiteness, they became through assimilation and racism, race, of issues explore to which scholartelevision which Series like these, Asianness. of rubric the - racial featured melodramas,” “domestic termed Nina Leibman or ized minority characters and storylines that have been ignored conservative, they contained because often by critics, dismissed they suggest that racial lib- rather than radical, messages. Rather, in conceptscirculating and multiculturaleralism diversitywere as early as the 1950s. the mainstream among others, have documented how this transition was aided was aided transition how this documented others, have among Three of My families nuclear with the wholesome by television, the generating and reflecting both Sons and The Donna Reed Show homogenization of the ethnic, racial, and class differences that like in older radio comedies, the primary points of interest were and The Gold- AM, 1943-1955) Andy Show (WMAQ The Amos ’n’ bergs nic and racial stereotypes. to to define thedomestic body politic.According to ethnic studies post- Frye Jacobson, and Matthew Brodkin by Karen histories favor in particularity ethnic of sense their traded families war urban moved from as they all-American whiteness of claiming Anyt- of to the white-picket fence suburbs immigrant enclaves own, USA. 102 Amerasia Journal 2016 moral transgressions, andlessonslearned.” they containedan“emphasisonfamilialloveandrelationships, serious, subduedmodes of performance:according toLeibman, play, slapstick,broad confusion,insultcomedy)infavorofmore chewed louder, more raucous forms of communication (word forms oftelevisionfamilies,too.Thedomesticmelodramaes- mode ofresolution. fourth, byareliance uponperipety[aplottwist]astheunderlying father asthevalidation forasuccessful narrativeresolution; and site ofbothproblem andsolution;third, byanemphasisuponthe issues; second, by an omnipotence placed upon the family unit as family and family of centrality a by first, “predicated, describes, Leibman as was, melodrama domestic The differed. structures 1951-1957). Inadditiontothischangeincharacter, theirnarrative family inBurnsandAllen(CBS,1950-1958)ILoveLucy family inTheGoldbergs andAmos‘n’ Andy,ortheshow-business class familyinTheHoneymooners,theethnicorraciallyothered unlike previous iterationsofsitcomfamilies,suchastheworking- drama was always white, middle-class, andsuburban. This was family-based sitcomsinthatthefamilyunitofdomesticmelo- Cause (1955). The domestic melodrama sitcom differed from other famous through hits likeImitation of Life (1959)orRebelWithout a made melodrama, domestic the of form film popular the sembled ily, more sitcoms track—these alaugh andemploying closelyre- the sitcom—running approximately 30minutes,beingsetinafam- tute thefamilyunit. mid-adolescence, whichwas allthatwasneededtofullyconsti- and twoorthree children whorangedfrom kindergarten ageto ther workinginawhite-collar profession, astay-at-homemother, part ofthedomestic sphere. Rather, thefamilyconsisted of afa- ProgramBenny (CBS,1950-1964;NBC,1964-1965)were nolonger Beulah on(ABC,1950-1952),orRochester The Jack Father elor ized other:live-in Sammee onBach- servants like Asian orblack production wasnotdependentuponaracial- familyunit ofthe ferent relationship todomestic labor. In these programs, the (re) in 1954. In addition, the domestic melodrama articulated adif- getherness,” a term popularized by McCall’s women’s magazine more investedinheteronormative nuclearfamilymodelsof“to- formerly boisterous much moralizing fables sitcomsbecame Affect in the domestic melodrama differed from that in other Despite containingmanyofthetemporal-spatialelements (CBS,1957-1959;NBC,1959-1961; ABC, 1961-1962), 14 14 15 Inotherwords, - The Asian American Next Door 103 As the Asian woman is produced Asian woman is produced As the 17

The Donna Reed Show The While certain subjects were unequivocally expelled While certain subjects were 16 American woman—as enfigured by the war bride—is- intro People of color entered the domestic melodrama television melodrama television the domestic color entered People of episode “The Geisha Girl” (February 16, The Donna Reed Show episode “The Geisha Girl” (February (queers, communists, blacks), others (immigrants and internation- (queers, communists, blacks), others to be welcomed. being developed into subjects al visitors) were The Geisha Girl Next Door: The on Umeki Miyoshi In integra- the marriage, interracial immigration, female Asian 1961), American femininity tion of white suburbs, and changing ideals of Asian the of the acceptability about a conversation into converge female body in white suburbia. programs in three principal ways. The first was silent inclusion as inclusion silent was first The ways. principal three in programs - like a delivery i.e., an extra, player, or atmosphere a background man or office worker. This was a then-radical solution for tele- particularly that people of color, to the charge vision producers friendly A not shown on television. Americans, were African door at show up at a white sitcom family’s black policeman might life, for example. unlikely to happen in real a time when this was as temporary do- on programs color appeared Second, people of eth- ambiguously usually were like this Characters labor. mestic working-class men and women withnic, olive-skinned, accents: who just needed some time Americans potential middle-class The plots of these episodes and education to assimilate upward. revolved around helping these immigrants get a firmer hold on English,good in life—helping them write love letters American they were not part of the family; were for example. These laborers but explic- liked by the family, help who were temporary hired ofpeople which by manner prominent third The it. to foreign itly the was through included in the domestic melodrama color were neigh- These the neighbor. character, a new racialized of creation this read might We Americans. Asian infrequently not were bors Asian the reframing in lesson geopolitical a as ways: multiple in Orientalism; as a in Cold War as friend, not foe, as Klein delineates strategy of displacement from black onto yellow; and as inflected of about the arrival municipal controversies Angeles-area by Los imag- objectives are All three Asians into white neighborhoods. enfiguration the and domestication of enactment the through ined the importance of the domestic of the neighbor who reinforces racializedAmericanness and scene or space in the visualization of difference. through the way she performs sexualized and gendered labor, the labor, the way she performs sexualized and gendered through Asian 104 Amerasia Journal 2016 Semple isatimidJapanese woman unfamiliarwith American cul- visit. She discovers that rather than being a worldly snob, Mrs. na decides to pay this woman—Mrs. Semple, played byUmeki—a down atthesesmall-townwomen. Despitehermisgivings,Don- of thiscouple’sworldtravels andfearthewifewillturnhernose the arrival of a new doctor and his wife. They have heard tales friends—all white suburban doctors’ wives—are gossiping about and mother, sheisitsprotagonist andmoralcenter. more complex feminist lens; althoughDonna is “merely” awife a perfectfamily. However, others haveread theshowthrough a high heelsandpearlswhoneverwishesforanything more than 1950s suburbanrepression: motherin Donnaisastay-at-home The DonnaReedShowispopularlyremembered astheepitomeof wife andmother.eryday lifeofDonnaStone,asuburban Today, programming forthenewmedium.Theseriesfocusedonev- sitioning totelevision,Reedhopedcreate respectable quality Donna Reed,whodevelopedandstarred intheseries.Intran- femininity.signaling Asian/American and entertainerMiyoshiUmekitoprovide thegroundwork for ity.” “sexualmodelminor SusanKoshyhascalledthe critic literary lishment ofpost-World War II Asian American femininityaswhat of American domesticity. “The Geisha Girl” exemplifies the estab- duced astheonewhocanreconcile Asian femininitywithnorms In the opening scene of “The Geisha Girl,” Donna and her actress film in engine star a had itself The DonnaReedShow 18 Theepisoderelies onthestarpersonaofpopularactress “The GeishaGirl.” Reed Show episode photo fortheDonna (by Reed)publicity in anautographed and Miyoshi Umeki Figure 2.DonnaReed - The Asian American Next Door 105 - The Japanese-born Umeki was a fitting choice for therole of Yet the women do not catch on to Donna’s evasive hints, and the women do not catch on to Donna’s Yet domestic melodrama, theIn keeping with the contours of the band work for her, rather than vice versa. band work for her, who actress Award-winning Academy an She was Semple. Mrs. - com nature guileless by Mrs. Semple’s Donna is humbled ture. she purposely friends. Thus, scheming, calculating to her pared and the unspeakability her friends, Semple’s race from hides Mrs. an avenue for creates of comedic racial tension.difference For ex- askample, Donna’s friends about her Mrs. Semple’s clothes. “Like Mrs. Semple nothingHilldale,” she replies; you’ve ever seen in had worn a kimono. - Donna orches is piqued even more. in Mrs. Semple their interest by inviting all the women and their husbandstrates a grand reveal is pleased Donna Semple is introduced, As Mrs. over for dinner. see the guests continue silence. Viewers with her friends’ stunned originat- that her social reticence at Mrs. Semple, shocked to stare advantage, but rather her racial disadvantage.ed not in her social aAfter violins. by tense accompanied black, to fades scene The the women have adjusted to that clears the air, break commercial her. befriend to eager are and manner congenial Semple’s Mrs. - din over for group the whole invites Semple when Mrs. However, her husband show up. Mrs.ner at her house, only Donna and Semple Semple is confused, believing everyone to be sick. Dr. thatquite understand doesn’t “She her husband, and Donna tells someone who toward sometimes people have strange attitudes is different from themselves, someone whose dress and customs Dr. racism, others’ to blindness Semple’s Mrs. unfamiliar.” are (or “strange attitudes,” as heSemple suggests, is because racism euphemizes) is a uniquely American practice. of a misunderstanding. the revelation through episode is resolved dinner party not becauseThe other couples skipped Mrs. Semple’s they didn’t Semple it was Dr. they didn’t like Mrs. Semple; rather, allowed Mrs. Semple to waitlike. The wives had observed that he women doteAmerican than upon him hand and foot much more would husbands that their afraid were and their husbands, on Dr. The women don’t protest start to demand similar treatment. do not want merely with his own wife: they Semple’s relationship oflimits the that same, suggesting the expecting their husbands ends episode The home. the in reached are tolerance liberalism’s with Donna teaching a willing Mrs. Semple how to be an “Ameri- her hus having and lunch, to going shopping, wife—going can” 106 Amerasia Journal 2016 wanted hernametostandalone. card indicatesthatthesubtitle“as Yo San”iscrossed out;Umeki tract: “SpecialGuestStarMiyoshiUmeki.” A draftofthetitle required herownuniquetitlecard inthecredits as partofhercon- Report forthisepisodeindicatesthat,perUmeki’scontract, she Daily may havebeenspeciallywritten.The Assistant Director’s script a whom for star guest special a was but role, a fill to ply inhercareer,prime moment sim- not shewascast that suggests fold todomesticatetherubric of Asianness itself. performative laborof Asian American femininityworkedtwo- in aninterracialmarriagefordecades,Umekireminds usthatthe Asian American femininity. Playingtheprototypical warbride door totelevisionviewers.Umeki’scareer madesafetheideaof nority” undeniablyrecognizable inbecomingthegeishagirlnext early 1970s, Umeki had madethepotentialitiesof“modelmi- sitcom bride andhousekeepertoawidowerhisyoungsoninthe secured steadyworkplayingMrs.Livingston,awidowedwar later and films, feature and shows variety on appearances with Academy Award forBestSupporting Actress. Shefollowed this singing. ter somesuccess,movedtotheUnitedStatesin1955continue servicemen. Shesecured arecording contractinJapan,andaf- performed Japanese- andEnglish-language songs for American career inshow business began inJapanese nightclubs, where she understandings ofpre- and postwarU.S.-Japaneserelations. Her early 1960s,shegainedpopularityprecisely bymediatingU.S. her publicpersonaasasinger. Throughout thelate1950s and in and roles fictional both in ingénue Asian sexual, particularly had plied hertrade playingthesubmissive, feminine, though not this unevenlegalitymade anunusuallyriskyepisode.Inad- by produced tension The unspecified. state Hilldale, town, script Loving v. Virginia. However, theprogram takesplace inanonde- 1967Supreme nationallylegaluntilthe not become Courtdecision between whites and Asians was made legalin1948,butwould marriage filmed, was program the where California, In munities. ing the incursion of the Asian neighbor in white American com what “Asian”couldsignify. agency inthefaceofroles thatlimitedtherangeofpossibilityfor are some oftheonlyextantevidence Asian American actors’ Umeki’s 1961 appearance on The Donna ReedShow, during a “The Geisha Girl” gave viewers a different way of imagin- of way different a viewers gave Girl” Geisha “The The Courtshipof Eddie’s Father(ABC, 1969-1972).Bythe 19 She was cast in the 1957 film 1957 the in cast was She 20 Small power plays like these Smallpowerplayslikethese Sayonara, winningan - The Asian American Next Door 107 - - do- to brave the decision to brave the In the 1952 case of the Sheng family, family, Sheng the of case 1952 the In 21 Yet Asian women’s domestication involves not involves not domestication Asian women’s Yet The rare film to follow the couple’s migration to migration couple’s the follow to film rare The 23 25 Thus, the vast majority of residents rejected the Sheng rejected of residents Thus, the vast majority 22 In these films, the inner struggle to acceptinterracial love 24 However, we However, find that “racism” as such doesn’treally exist The liberal feminist “gift of freedom” narrative was a decid narrative The liberal feminist “gift of freedom” family under the guise of protecting property values. “The Geisha property family under the guise of protecting fo- the economic calculation and explicitly Girl,” though, erased of individual racial prejudice. cused on the specter the women turns out to be a false alarm, as in the episode. It rather to but racial identity, Semple’s Mrs. have no objections to race is Here, “cultural” practice of submission. her presumably identity but as biological understood not as an overdetermined racialization to ethnicization from shift this it is an ethnic culture; In addition, it marks that characterizes modern U.S. liberalism. Thi Nguyen has Asian woman as in need of what Mimi the Semple is already the meek Mrs. called “the gift of freedom”: mesticated and what she needs is an American woman to show woman to show American mesticated and what she needs is an her how to live. dition to the issue of interracial marriage, the episode deals with marriage, the the issue of interracial dition to Lipsitz and as George As scholars such integration. residential neigh- to integrated white resistance have noted, Cindy Cheng relations, market framed through the 1950s was during borhoods relations. race than rather an unleashing on their own terms, but a chance to model their but a chance to model their an unleashing on their own terms, selves on modern white femininity. edly different angle to approach white-Asian interracial romance. romance. interracial white-Asian approach to angle different edly While less common on television, such romances flourished in American on than rather abroad set all nearly were they and film, soil. made up a large portion of the film and the the in the United States was considered and make a home racism happy ending. who wanted to move into a South San Francisco suburb, white suburb, Francisco San South a into move to wanted who the Chinese family moving in would lower that a argued residents because other people (not the value of the neighborhood property residents themselves, they insisted) would now find thearea un- desirable. Japanese War Bride, the United States, such as King Vidor’s 1952 Japanese War fellow neighbors from saw them facing intense discrimination the couple and family members. For the marriage to be happy, Such narratives illus- toxic community. their had to renounce ter difficult extraordinarily an was marriage interracial that trate rain to navigate both for the couple and for spectators, but “The for offer on were models of plethora a that suggests Girl” Geisha to these pairings. Americans might respond how 108 Amerasia Journal 2016 no life:thepurchase ofasuburbansingle-familyhome.” called “perhaps the defining act of mid-twentieth-century Angele- also helped Asian Americans gainaccesstowhatHillaryJenkshas covenants in 1948 and the repeal of the Alien Land Laws in 1952 reproductive families,thestrikingdownof restrictive housing States, whichhelpedtorender bachelorsocietiesintonormative acts thatfacilitatedtheentranceof Asian womenintotheUnited andmanuallabor.tertainment, oflawsand astring with Along tained collegedegrees andmovedupfrom agriculturalwork,en- had ob- who Americans Asian to afforded newly domesticity American domesticity. Theseriesimaginedformsofrespectable can socialrelations, withaparticularfocusonnormative Asian each of its 12 seasons dedicated itself to white and Asian Ameri- cial community wassingularforitstime. At leastoneepisodein legible asaculturaloverlay. can via the heteronormative nuclear family, with “Asianness” what “Asian American” lookedandfeltlike:structurally Ameri- inclusion. Across totheorize 12seasons,theseriesattempted Asian American family and articulated a liberal vision of racial My Three Sonsinsistedonthefruitful heteronormativity of the terracial marriagewas something tobeconditionallyaccepted, While Asian American FamiliesSons onMyThree A Visit tothe Wongs: parted from theconventionaldomestic melodramasetupinthat and inclusion. sition, upholding theUnited States to be a utopia of acceptance New Frontier,nedy’s MyThree amore took Sons po- conservative class values inalliancewiththetechnophilicoptimism ofKen- galactic orcomicallymonstrous familiescritiquedstaidmiddle- sters. Whilethatgenre of“fantastic family” sitcoms featuring though short-lived,sitcoms like MyFavoriteMartianorTheMun- warm style made it seem more square than thematicallystriking, for solongnotbybeingradicalbutbecauseitsbenevolent, This gaveitauniquelylongpurviewoftheera. Yet itsurvived running sitcomsonnetworktelevision,airingfrom 1960-1972. a siteofsuccessfulintegrationandliberalassimilation. side this, My Three Sons theorized Asian American domesticity as My Three Sons’ extended treatment of an Asian-white interra - The Donna Reed Show Reed TheDonna In comparisonto The series is most remembered for being one of the longest- The DonnaReedShowsuggestedthatnon-reproductive in-

,

My Three Sons 26 Along- de- The Asian American Next Door 109 - - - - My Three Three My Read through an Read through 27 The The Andy Griffith Hillbil Beverly The 1960-1968), (CBS, Show Chinese American actor Benson Fong appeared on seven on seven American actor Benson Fong appeared Chinese ’ ’ Sons Three My of location the Though fictional- communi Asian Americanist Americanist Asian lens, the fictionalBryant Park looks less and to take assumed most sitcoms are Anytown, USA, where less like Angeles Los like a portrait of the southwestern place, and more War an episode about a Korean aside from suburbs. However, American families; it orphan, the series only dealt with Chinese communities, American Japanese rooted to deeply not attend did cultural larger with do to much as have may This example. for Americans to show the integration of Chinese preferring forces, weapon against Commu into the United States as an ideological Americans in the Chinese nist China, as with the centrality of Asian casting pool of Hollywood. between 1963 and 1969 playing Ray Sons episodes of My Three of colleague and engineer American Chinese a Wong, Steve Douglas. Fong was joined by actors Beulah Sons’ patriarch Cherylene Lee (their niece Terri), Tsu Alice), Irene Quo (Ray’s wife whom of Hsueh—all Nancy and Ahn), Lee orphan War (Korean (CBS, 1962-1971), and many others that came both before and before both came that others many and 1962-1971), (CBS, lies didn’t the children suggested that program Despite this, the after. many episodes negotiated the (un)desirabilitylack for anything; - because the pres into the Douglas family, of incorporating women (William male uncle who acted as housekeeper ence of an elderly Uncleas Demarest William and 1960-1965, Bub, Uncle as Frawley thedomesticity of the enough to secure 1965-1972) was Charley, Steve Douglas for protagonist of a wife absence household. The to be contented or less more seemed MacMurray)—who (Fred - po pointfor a conveniententry single—provided and widowed the Because contenders. serious proved never who tential mates foreclosed, already always again was Steve marrying of chance the series took liberties in bringing in many differentwomen into one such subset. Asian women were these roles. ty of Bryant Park is never specified,clues like Asian American southern to point engineering in aerospace jobs and neighbors a County became Angeles Los of California. The South Bay area became also It ascent. its during industry aerospace the for hub families. In the American Asian a popular suburban locale for Amer for example, the population of Japanese town of Gardena, between 1950 and 1960. 490 percent icans rose ther, the family was not a nuclear one: it was motherless. This was one: it was motherless. was not a nuclear the family Fa Bachelor alongside sitcoms single-dad of a tradition part of 110 Amerasia Journal 2016 with theseries’ producer Edmund Hartmann. according toNinaLeibman,prompted byhis“closefriendship” to workalongside them. Fong’sfamiliarityon the program was, producers, directors, writers, and fellow actors who were willing connected them not only to each other, but also to a network of This romance exotic films. and shows, arts martial shows, agent tors crossed paths in detective movies, television westerns, secret her aspecialbillingintheclosingcredits. This underclass of ac- as HeyGirlonHaveGun—Will(most notably Travel) alsoearned ing credits. Likewise,Lu’subiquitousvisibilityonTVwesterns the years went on, his name appeared larger in the show’s clos- episodes. Fong,inparticular, was recognized forhiswork;as various on characters different as recur might actors same the tenure ontheseries,incomparisonto other sitcoms inwhich can actors played the same respective characters throughout their Gloria (credited asCaroline Barrett). friend, andlaterreturned inseasonnineasRayWong’s daughter featured intwo episodes inseasons three and four as aJapanese ally, Caroline Kido, a Japanese American television actress, was also starred asEiko Yamato inaseasonsevenepisode. Addition- Hara parts; bit different in six and five seasons Takeiin returned Soo, whotriedtowoothenewlyarrivedChu Yin Tai (AkiHara). four, asnappyGeorge Takei playedahepcatrestaurateur, Jimmy etress andthepotentialloveinterest ofSteveDouglas.Inseason film 1960 the In season five, Lisa Lu, who had starred opposite James Stewart in Wongs’ daughterSally, andJudyDanas Alice’s cousinMei Peh. ist andpoetH.T. Tsiang asGrandfatherWong, LoriFongasthe nese Americans who appeared on the show included the novel acted withFong inthecast of Flower Drum Song (1961).OtherChi- American culture and gain the best from each. Stage directions loseChineseculture, to was not with it mix to but forexample, tations ofthemasundomesticated andinassimilable.Theideal assimilation into American culture inopposition to prior represen- advocated for the plausibility of Asian American integration and tors had into these storylines andscripts. The overarching themes with importantpeople. hinged uponthepersonalinterests andrelationships onecourted interest,tional aswascommoninHollywood, sometimes but, ofcomprehensive amatter always Asian inclusionwasnot na- Aside from Takei,Hara, andKido/Barrett, the Asian Ameri- This intimacybegsthequestionofwhatkindinput theac- The MountainRoad,playedamysteriouscafepropri- 28 This signals that - The Asian American Next Door 111

- 29 30 ): I kinda like that ancient ancient that like kinda I ): Wong Preston (to DOUGLAS CHIP Who said it, Confucius? Chinese proverb. No, Lenny Ruben. He writes up the fortune cook- PRESTON: ies for my uncle’s restaurant. [Later on] he son, And remember, ): WELCH (to his son, Dave Jr. DAVE who laughs last takes home the bacon. fortune uncle’s your for one good a That’s ): Preston (to CHIP cookies. I’ll tell Lenny. PRESTON: Yet in other situations, the falseness and performativity of of in other situations, the falseness and performativity Yet Preston Wong is shown to be Chip Douglas’s peer—two Ameri- is shown to be Chip Douglas’s peer—two Wong Preston Chip’s innocent assumptions can boys cracking jokes. However, - that Con reveals when Preston broken are culture Chinese about by a Jewish joke-teller who cranks fucian wisdom is manufactured audiences.Anglo-American for proverbs out Chinese-sounding back into the both Chip and Preston The scene later recuperates for the episode “My Fair Chinese Lady” (February 6, 1964) de- for the episode “My Fair Chinese Lady” (February a pleasant is “This room as such: living room scribe Ray Wong’s and convenience and comfort American modern, of combination decor: the match characters The tradition.” and charm Chinese ef- an is He in. breezes Takei] George by SOO [played “JIMMY Chinese.27 or 28. His appearance is completely fervescent man of American.” 100% contemporary attitude are His manner and This episode revolves around a shy girl from China (a relative of relative (a China from girl shy a around revolves episode This Ray’s) who, in a fit of crisis, tries on the identity of an American The girl must accept that one she needn’t choose teenybopper. embrace both, as Jimmy Soo does. but learn how to or the other, which becomes the scene and space through The suburban home visualized, and its idi- are Americanness and racialized difference which gender become the modalities through om of sexuality and is produced. Asianness/Orientalness with which it can to show the ease Chineseness is underscored is culture “traditional” Chinese In other words, be discarded. something to which modern shown to be something of the past, scene no longer beholden. The following Americans are Chinese il 1966) 6, (October Last” Finish Guys “Good episode the from Americans viewers that Chinese lustrates this logic, reassuring they Instead, not ideologically bound to Confucian tradition. are play with it: 112 Amerasia Journal 2016 sponsibilities to America’s tribalpopulation.” re- their about Americans non-Indian among reflectiveness ing cization among the American Indian population and an increas- decades followingWorld War II]markedbothagrowing politi- argued that“newspaperarticlesandtelevision reports of[the programsadults andchildren. aimedatboth PamelaWilson has was held steady inthe1950s bythemany cowboy-and-Indian unusual on television today. Fascination with Native Americans of Native American characters,somethingthatwouldbehighly Americans wasparadoxicallyaccompaniedbytheappearance concept of American indigeneity. Theabsentpresence of African were oftennobetter. on theracismofSouthernaudiences,attitudesbehindscenes an” untilJohnnyhelpsthem devise a supposedly Native Ameri- one canbelievethatChip’s friendJohnnySquantoisa“real Indi- whether “real Indians” can still exist. In theformer episode, no clandoubts Douglas (May20,1965),the Redskins” and the ley ground. his stood Stephens until Simpson, Gene gaffer, Sons production crew refused toworkwithan African American tion managerJohnG.Stephensshared thatmanyintheMyThree but never as full-fledged characters. In a 2010 interview, produc- EMTs, and policemen like figures service public as such parts, icans appeared showsporadicallywithsmallspeaking onthe the expense of portraying African American lives. African Amer will containedinepisodeslikethiscannotbeoverstated. their food is a normal thing to do. The amount of didactic good- ing Asian American friends, socializing attheir house, and eating fun atthisclash ofcultures, but theepisode also suggests thathav- who lappeditup.Boththewhiteand Asian American actorspoke exaggeratedly ethnicmaterial,andthewhite American audiences Hollywood cultural production: coastal Jewish comedy writers, gag isperhaps aself-knowing winktotheracializedmatrixof This affair. communal a it rendering fortunes, the of production from thedocumentarytoWestern tothesitcom. being renegotiated, this became fodder for television in genres surprise, then,thatasrelations settlers andnativeswere between career. tion withtheanti-blackracism he encountered on sets during his ducer Edmundalsomentionshisfrustra Hartmann’sbiography - In addition, the limits to liberal inclusion were tested by the In “Chip’sHarvest”(November 17,1960)and“UncleChar The program’s overallembraceof Asian Americans cameat 32 Whilethelackofblacks ontelevision has beenblamed 33 Itis perhaps no 34 31 Pro - - - The Asian American Next Door 113 - would no longer interest an no longer interest Sons would Three My never uses the words “model minority,” “model minority,” Sons never uses the words My Three may be one of the more successful “political” successful “political” Sons may be one of the more My Three The omission of African Americans on the program and its its and program the on Americans African of omission The ’ coveted Saturday 8 PM time slot. The gentle, The gentle, PM time slot. 8 Sons’ coveted Saturday My Three the Wong family embodies it through the assertion that “real” that “real” the assertion it through family embodies the Wong on the outside, one Asian is, Soo as Jimmy are, Americans Asian that and the inside, on American contemporary percent hundred Asians is both accurate and joyful. this mode of representation through American––paradoxically gained traction as human––as The ideal Other is the ideal their claim to cultural authenticity. but se, per attributes positive have they because not immigrant, As these episodes because they have “authentic” attributes. Asian of logic, the cultural authenticity a circular show through to the melting pot. Without America is what makes it valuable Asianness was of to blackness, the deployment refer needing to of poverty that the 1965 used as a foil to the pathological culture black communities. Moynihan Report would attribute to - unnoticed and unre sitcoms in that its politics went virtually objectionable” manner the “least It considered—in membered. appropriate for a sitcom—how social changes would affect the then, to note how of the suburbs. It’s ironic, domestic realm Silverman Fred eventually ended: CBS president the program that the po so PM 10 at Monday of zone dead the it to moved , the Norman Lear sitcom fea- All in the Family litically charged could air Bunker, Archie O’Connor as the bristly turing Carroll in of pedantic disguises Reed, Donna relevance. and realism social for looking audience can pit-oven in the backyard to cook their Thanksgiving turkey. turkey. Thanksgiving their cook to backyard the in pit-oven can incarnation is a de facto that Johnny Squanto to them This proves the with close a to comes episode The mythical Indian. the of Douglases and Squanto re-staging the firstThanksgiving inco- American a Native the latter episode, In operation and harmony. The backyard. is the Douglas’s claims his tribal burial ground plot is driven by the implausibility—and the unverifiability—of - an invita comes through once again, resolution Yet his claim. that they can so rituals Native observe to the Douglases for tion As neither citizen nor the beauty of these practices. appreciate - a re Americans remained of Native immigrant, the indigeneity Park Bryant of community suburban fictional the for issue sidual be made legible to white eyes. until its veracity could lie in stark contrast to Americans Native ambivalence toward its embrace of what would become termed the model minority. Though 114 Amerasia Journal 2016 ing theimageofmodel minority. 1950s waspurchased bypeopleofcolor. 3.3 percent ofnewhousingbuiltinLos Angeles countyduringthe ban communities at large, but they did so mostly as a fiction: only American charactersandexploringtheirpresence inwhitesubur radical programming. Theywere unusualforcreating Asian gles—among themtheVietnam War. strug- of set different a to speak could who characters ing-class ideological confrontations, imperfectly kept homes, and work- too, hadbowedoutby1966.By1972,audienceswantedbrash 1960s. were imagined on television throughout the late 1950s and early American “realism” wasthedominantmodebywhich Asians Asian claimed, have outlets media popular many as 2015-), flix, Boat (ABC, 2015-) or Master of None (Net- the Off series likeFresh and justice.Ratherthancelebrateitsappearancein2015 through such claimstorealism withliberalnarrativesofprogress, futurity, in popular culture, andsecond,the consequences of associating “realism” race-based desire to means it what first, about, think us help can enfigurations these of analysis my that hope cifically, I away from thedichotomy ofoppression and resistance. More spe - tempt tothickenthehistoriesofracializedmediarepresentation structures ofracism thatunequivocallypersist.Itis,rather, anat- dignity ofself-representation. Thisisnottonegatehistoriesand the of modicum some afforded felt they plots and roles for cate actors collaborated with and participated in Hollywood to advo and These mid-twentieth-centuryexamplesfrom TheDonnaReedShow to self-representation, authenticity, andvisibilityinthepresent. sentation asmovingfrom stereotype and/orocclusioninthepast er tointerrupt historiesthatnarrate Asian American mediarepre- regulate thesocialinawaylawcannot. a testament tothewayinwhich cultural works continually tryto minority” becamelegibleduringthe1960sanditsappearanceis der liberalhegemonicforms ofreality. Inthis way, “themodel do notproduce radicalresistance orcritique;rather, theyengen- they because partially overlooked been have enfigurations These it alsoregisters theirpresence incommunitiessuchasGardena. their (andothergroups’) exclusion. At thesametime,however, whichstructured overthat ofcovering away Americans became Neither I highlight these enfigurations not to celebrate them, but rath- but them, celebrate to not enfigurations these highlight I My Three Sonsillustratethewaysinwhich Asian American 36 This form of realism was its own liberal fiction subtend fiction liberal own its was realism of form This The DonnaReedShownorMyThree called Sonscanbe 35 Theinclusionof Asian - - -

The Asian American Next Door 115

- (Chicago: University of Chi- Whiteness of a Different Color: European Immigrants and Immigrants European Color: Different a of Whiteness - Hous Americans, Asian Friends: Foreign Neighbors, Alien (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013). (Princeton: Princeton University Press, How Jews Became White Folks and What That Says About Race , January 9, 1966: 20+. - Mat and 1998); Press, University Rutgers Brunswick: (New Living Room Lectures: The Fifties Family in Film and Television (Austin: and Television The Fifties Family in Film Lectures: Living Room Robert G. Lee, Orientals: Asian Americans in Popular Culture (Philadelphia: 1999): 146. University Press, Temple Ibid. New York York New Style,” Japanese-American Story, “Success Petersen, William Magazine Times Cold War Orientalism: Asia in the Middlebrow Imagination, Imagination, Orientalism: Asia in the Middlebrow Christina Klein, Cold War 2003). of California Press, 1945-1961 (Berkeley: University - Japanese Americans in Post Chung Simpson, An Absent Presence: Caroline 2001). Duke University Press, 1945-1960 (Durham: war American Culture, Ibid., 184. - Democ America: Asian of Citizens Cheng, I-Fen Cindy 2009); Press, cago University Press, York New York: (New racy and Race During the Cold War Success: Asian Americans and the Origins of of Color 2013); and Ellen D. Wu, the Model Minority ing, and the Transformation of Urban California of ing, and the Transformation Charlotte Brooks, Brooks, Charlotte Compositional Kang, Compositional Yi Laura Hyun Subjects: Enfiguring Asian/American 2002): 23. Duke University Press, (Durham: Women Janet Wasko, “Hollywood and Television of the 1950s: The Roots of Di of Roots The 1950s: the of Television and “Hollywood Wasko, Janet The Fifties: Transforming the Screen, 1950-1959 the Screen, ed., The Fifties: Transforming Lev, Peter versification,” 2003): 139. (Berkeley: University of California Press, (Durham: Duke University Press, 2001). Duke University Press, (Durham: Brodkin, Karen America in thew Frye Jacobson, 1999). University Press, the Alchemy of Race (Cambridge: Harvard Class, and Ethnicity in Lipsitz, “The Meaning of Memory: Family, George 1:4 (Novem- Cultural Anthropology Programs,” Early Network Television Americanization of Molly: How “The Brook, ber 1986): 355–387; Vincent in Got (And ‘Berg-Iarized’ Mid-Fifties TV Homogenized ‘The Goldbergs’ Cinema Journal 38:4 (July 1999): 45–67; and Nina C. Leib- the Process),” man, 1995). Press, University of Texas My Favorite Martian (CBS, 1963-1966), The Munsters (CBS, 1964-1966), Be- witched (ABC, 1964-1972), or Mister Ed (CBS, 1961-1966). Leibman, 29. Welcome to the Dreamhouse: Popular Media and Postwar Suburbs to the Dreamhouse: Spigel, Welcome Lynn

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 11. 10. 12. 13. 14. Notes Acknowledgments: I’d like to thank this issue’s special editors, Yến Lê Espiritu for their Pan, Arnold and with Keith L. Camacho along and Cathy Schlund-Vials, especial thank An you to Peter for his X. Feng this opportunity. work in creating the next through seeing generally for more and process this during mentorship gratefulAmerican media scholars. I’m also the for helpful Asian generation of of my article. reader the anonymous and kind comments from

116 Amerasia Journal 2016

31. 30. 29. 28. 27. 26. 25. 24. 23. 22. 21. 20. 19. 18. 33. 17. 32. 16. 15.

Sons: 50 Interview withJohnG.Stephens, etal.,PaleyCenterforMedia, MyThree online at:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayXlzhWZVac. “Good GuysFinishLast,”MyThree Sons(CBS),October6,1966,available Library SpecialCollections,CharlesE. Young Research Library). tion Material,1955-1972,CollectionnumberPASC 50(Los Angeles: UCLA no.152-157, DonFeddersonProductions CollectionofTelevision Produc- “My FairChinese Lady” production materials, volume ser. MTS v.5272 Leibman, 53and169. Ibid., 11. Journal ofUrbanHistory tion andTransnational CitizenshipinSouthernCalifornia’s South Bay,” Hillary Jenks, “Seasoned Long Enough inConcentration: Suburbaniza- lation, seeLee,Marchetti, andSimpson. For more on the war bride as the symbol of thepossibility of ethnic assimi magining the Japanese Enemy See Klein,Marchetti, America’s Shibusawa, andNaoko - Ally:Rei Geisha sages (Durham: DukeUniversityPress, 2012). Mimi ThiNguyen,TheGiftofFreedom: War, Debt,andOtherRefugeePas- Cheng, 77. Press, 1998). Politics(Philadelphia:Temple Identity from UniversityProfit People White Cheng, and George Lipsitz, The Possessive Investment in Whiteness: How tions, William H.HannonLibrary, LoyolaMarymountUniversity). Box 5,File#9(Los of Angeles: Department Archives andSpecialCollec- DailyReport,TheDonnaReedShow collection, 033, Assistant Director’s Won Oscarfor‘ Umeki;Recorded “Miyoshi Adam Bernstein, American PopStandards, (Stanford: Stanford UniversityPress, 2004):16-17. Susan Koshy, SexualNaturalization:AsianAmericansandMiscegenation able onlineat:http://www.hulu.com/watch/357966. “The Geisha Girl,” The Donna Reed Show (ABC), February 16, 1961, avail of Race,Ethnicity, Nation,andEmpire in1950’s America,” SashaTorres, See PamelaWilson, “Confronting‘Indian Problem’:the MediaDiscourses mann, Screenwriterand Producer (Lanham,MD:Scarecrow Press, 2006):72. W.McCaffrey,Donald Basic Books,2008). Bound: AmericanFamiliesintheColdWar Era,revised edition(New York: York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2004); Elaine Tyler May, Homeward War Hothouses: InventingPostwar Culture, from Cockpit toPlayboy (New (Chicago: UniversityofChicagoPress, 1992);BeatrizColomina,etal., gel, For more onthecentralityofdomesticinColdWar ideology, seeSpi- Ibid., 7. Make RoomforTV: Television andtheFamilyIdealinPostwarAmerica th AnniversaryCelebration Sayonara,’” Washington Post,September6,2007. 40:1(January2014):8. Bound andGaggedinHollywood: EdmundL.Hart- (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2006). , June192010. Cold - -

The Asian American Next Door 117 - (New York: (New York: (Durham: Duke Duke (Durham: States United the in Television and Race Color: Living University Press, 1998): 35. 1998): Press, University ed., ed., Wilson notes that NBC’s 1958 documentary The American NBC’s 1958 documentary notes that gener Stranger Wilson Reft for this citation. to Ryan 1990): 168. Thank you Verso, ated so much mail from the public that the Department of the Interior was Department of the public that the mail from much ated so (53). to reply compelled in Los Angeles the Mike Davis, City of Quartz: Excavating Future Kat Chow, “No Longer ‘The Only One’? This Year, Things Changed For Things Changed For Year, “No Longer ‘The Only One’? This Kat Chow, available online 2015, 13, November NPR.org, TV,” On Asian-Americans http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2015/11/13/455902254/ at: no-longer-the-only-one-this-year-things-changed-for-asian-americans-on- on a Shot Finally Got Asian-Americans Year Jung, “2015: The Alex tv; E. http://www. at: online available 2015, 11, November Vulture.com, TV,” Nam- Victoria vulture.com/2015/11/asian-americans-on-tv-2015.html; Vice.com, TV,” on Arrived Finally Have Asian-Americans kung, “Realistic 14, 2015, available online at: http://www.vice.com/read/real- November life-asian-americans-have-finally-arrived-on-your-tv-111.

34. 36. 35.