#media or people that portray racist things/behave in a racist manner

[andromedasummer]

honestly the biggest thing for me in this hamilton (the musical) v hamilton (the person) stuff is just the fact that there is still a hamilton (the musical) fanbase in 2023. that is honest to god mindblowing to me. i thought we'd left the slave owner musical in the past.

[goetzjpvis]

4/1/24 "Swallowtail Butterfly" JPT3391

Swallowtail Butterfly was a hell of a movie. In fact, even trying to explain the plot would cause me to go over the 450 word limit easily. I enjoyed many aspects of the movie, but I also had many many gripes with the way things were 'portrayed'. But- I'm going to ignore all of that to discuss what I think the movie was attempting to display with its incredibly convoluted plot.

That being said.... Yentown is the movie's biggest symbol. It is monologued about at both the beginning and end, shown as both something beautiful... and a terrible dump filled with prostitutes, gang members, racism, and heavy crime.

In this society, every race sucks! But also, every race has good people. Japanese people are kind and often taken advantage of, but they are also portrayed as pimps, yakuza, and pedophiles. Glico is a Chinese prostitute turned Diva, who shelters our Japanese main character from the horrors of the world... But then Mao Foo and Ryanki are Chinese men who run the Japanese Cartel cutthroat. They are both the abuser and the abused. There are also some non-Asians in the movie too! Like Caucasian Japanese citizens who feel rejected from society due to their ethnicity, and black people from all over the world (Africa/America).

Swallowtail tries hard to break down racist stereotypes using stereotypes! We see the stereotype of the 'Chinese prostitute', 'Chinese scammer', 'Perverted old Japanese man', 'Black Boxer', etc. in order to thrust the idea of 'human evil and raceless good' into the spotlight. Characters of all races behave in ways that the viewer would expect while displaying the common good, breaking down stereotypes of inferiority to Japan. It also highlights Japan's treatment of Hafu-s, especially in the music industry ("Yentowns cannot purcahse property", "You must change your race") etc., the disturbance of the drug epidemic, the abusive media, and how certain people will go to unethical lengths for clout and money.

I had so much fun listening to many different languages and accents being seen throughout the film. I felt included as a human being, rather than an outside watcher, especially with the Yentown band bit. Even though I am a white person and had never really felt 'excluded' in media (I'm not a minority), seeing people represent me in a Japanese movie, AND in a positive light, made me feel very involved in this experience.

So, is immigration good!? What is Swallowtail trying to say? I... don't know. I felt mixed signals from this movie. As much as I liked the inclusion of all of these characters from different backgrounds, Yentown itself was portrayed as a disgusting dump. Which might make you think that it would be better if it didn't exist in the first place?

Here I added my favorite character, at the bottom! Mao foo! There is actually a couple other characters from my favorite anime, Baki, that reminded me of him. I wondered if they were inspired by him because their behaviors and mannerisms are very similar!