Karly-Paige Im February 22, 2020 an Exploration of Yellow Face In

Im 1 Karly-Paige Im February 22, 2020 An Exploration Of Yellow Face In Thoroughly Modern Millie And Its Relevance I remember the first time I saw the hit musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie at my local high school in Ohio. It was 2012 and as a 13 year old loyal Sutton Foster fan, I was beyond excited to see the amazing musical that broke her into stardom. Little did I know my heart would drop to my stomach as I watched multiple white actors walk onstage wearing yellowface and speaking with an incredibly offensive Chinese accent. As the show ended with a standing ovation, I sank lower into my seat wondering if there would ever be a place for an Asian actor like me onstage. Thoroughly Modern Millie tells the story of a young flapper named Millie seeking a job whilst navigating her evil landlord, Mrs. Meers (a white woman who pretends to be Chinese) and Mrs. Meer’s Chinese minions who plan to human traffic Millie. The 2002 hit Broadway musical went on to win multiple Tony awards and in 2007, through Musical Theatre International, the [5] show was opened for licensing as well as a “Jr.” licence for younger performers . Musical Theatre International reports that their annual EdTa list puts Thoroughly Modern Millie as #5 on [5] the list of the most performed musicals in high schools across the United States . At almost every high school with a longstanding drama club, you can see past production photos of Thoroughly Modern Millie. This show is popular among colleges as well, making it financially Im 2 very successful. Although the show is popular to perform, it carries much controversy as experienced in the several high school protests across the country. These protests are particularly seen in areas where there is a large Asian American [10] community. This can be seen in Levittown ( Image 1 below ) where “nearly three dozen Asian-American groups on Long Island said the play disparages Chinese-Americans and is offensive to them — and they plan to take their objections [10] to local and county elected officials” . Long Island is not alone in backlash against high school productions of Millie. “I Love Newton, MA” blogger, Mia Wenjen who goes by “Pragmatic Mom” was shocked and hurt as an Asian American that her city of Newton (that has a large Asian American population), decided to produce this musical at their local high school. Wenjen writes, “Michael Mayer, Jeanine and Dick Scanlan are not Asian Americans nor did they seem to study Asian American history and therefore wrote a 2002 musical that is historically inaccurate with dated Asian stereotypes. They are using the wrong stereotypes and erasing the history of what actually happened to Asian Americans during the [6] 1920s. We, as Asian Americans, don’t need this kind of help” . The all white creative team of Im 3 Mille that Wenjen mentions, Michael Mayer, Jeanine Tesori and Dick Scanlan, disagree that [5] their show perpetuates harmful stereotypes and they argue that it is anything but racist. They Specifically, book writer Dick Scanlan notes in a 2016 Musical Theatre International podcast that he considers the musical to actually be an attempt to end harmful Asian stereotypes [5] often seen in media and even seen in the original movie of the story . Although, Thoroughly Modern Millie the musical was created in 2001, it was based off of the 1967 film of the same name and in which the two yellow faced Asian characters were named “Oriental #1 and #2”. Broadway director Michael Mayer was even hesitant to direct the show that was based off of the [5] racist movie, refusing to sign on it until “[It’s] understood how to attack the Asian characters” . Instead of working with Asian Americans, writer Dick Scanlan insisted that giving the characters of “Oriental #1 and #2” their own names, backstories, and language would “end” the original [5] racist stereotypes of the characters . Although these characters do get the chance to speak in Cantonese, Mia Wenjen points out that the names given to them of “Bun Foo” and “Ching Ho '' [6] aren't even authentic Chinese names . In fact, there is a lot about the show that is culturally inaccurate. This idea that in the 1920s most Asians survived fnancially by selling women into human trafficking is not historically accurate and instead is a recocurring stereotype that causes the fear of and backlash [6] against particuarly Asian and Arab minorities . As Wenjen notes, “While there were some examples of Chinese mafia members engaging in human trafficking during the 1920′s, the sad distortion is that in actuality, many more Asian women and children were and still are trafficked [6] from China and other Asian countries to the United States” . Im 4 In fact, in the 1920s, discrimination against Asians was a widespread norm and yellowface was a reflection of the cultural feelings toward Asian immigrants, especially Chinese immigrants at the time. It is important to know that during the 1920s, The Immigration Act of [7] 1924 was passed which completely excluded Asian immigrants from America . Through this act, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, and Indians were fully excluded by law, denied citizenship and naturalization, and prevented from marrying Caucasians or owning land/equity which was [7] extremely important at the time . In addition to that law came even more xenophobia and racism towards Asian Americans. This is even when the infamous phrase, “The Yellow Peril” was emerged stereotyping all Asians and classifying them as an existential danger to the Western 7] world and white blood . So although the idea of involving Chinese immigrants in a story about America in the 1920s makes sense, the fact that these Chinese characters revert to the harmful stereotypes of the time instead of overcoming them is problematic. Therefore, the show seems to highlight the Chinese characters in a bad light and they’re seen as characters to laugh at. This stereotype heavy, yellow faced storyline that’s causing productions across the country to close is practically begging for a rewrite. Fortunately, the show itself is getting just that and a rewrite is set for [8] 2021 . In the new Thoroughly Modern Millie, immigrants are showcased overcoming obstacles and stereotypes instead of being defined by them. The main character of Mille will be played by Korean American Broadway star, Ashley Park who says, “It’s one of the characters that I’ve loved, always, but I always figured I’d never play it just because of the race stuff that’s in [the [8] show]” . The original creative is set to work on rewrites and will hopefully take in the Im 5 experiences that many Asian Americans have had with the show. This production has gained a lot of excitement in both the theatre world and Asian American community and there is a lot of pressure for the rewrite to be something Asian Americans can be proud of. As exciting as it is that this musical is getting a rewrite, we must examine why it took so long and why so many theatres across America deem yellowface as acceptable still today. First it is important as it is to understand that the term “yellowface” includes Asian stereotypes and historical inaccuracies, but of course there is also the literal definition which is white actors putting on a yellow face. This means that while the script is inherently a product and enabler of yellowface itself, the physical production of it poses an entire other conversation. Although there is no exact number recorded of yellow faced productions of this show, the very fact that this was a noted concern when putting out the high school/ JR. license for it goes to show that it is a common issue. The Broadway producers/writers agreed that if there’s not a white actor dressing up as an Asian character and the roles are originated by Asian actors, it’s acceptable enough even if the material itself is problematic. The creative team even went as far to say that “A school somewhere in America where they don’t have any Asian performers and they have other performers, probably white performers, playing those two characters but with integrity”, isn’t that problematic even though it's a physical yellow face. Award winning composer Jeanine Tesori responded that there is an unclear “interesting line” if perhaps none of the Asian community “wants” to participate, if they [white actors] understand the character it [5] “feels okay” . She furthermore says that “In the context of a learning institution it should be [5] developed empathy to learn to walk in the shoes of another” . However true this is, it should be noted that there is intense care before showing any performance and the goal is always to tell Im 6 the story. This popular idea that white people can play roles that are people of color is often seen as the basis of acting instead of what it really seems to be which is the absolute opposite--a false misleading narrative. Although it is ignorant to assume that all Asian Americans have the same mindsets and opinions, throughout my research I’ve noticed there seems to be a clear disconnect between the creative team and Asian audiences. In response to Tesori it seems clear to me why many Asian actors would not “want” to participate in a show where their characters are mocked, ridiculed, and portray a harmful stereotype. These stereotypes come from deeply rooted racism in which Asian’s are seen as inferior yet also a threat. Asian theatrical reviewer Toddish McWong said, “I felt uncomfortable watching the perpetuation of racist stereotypes in this way.

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