On Yellow Bodies in Media

In the last two weeks I’ve watched a fair few films and they’ve been across genres. Pretty much in all of them the East Asian character has been the stooge. Their yellow body exists on screen to receive insults and be held against the norm. Some of these films were feminist, socially aware, “liberal” and smart films but still, STILL, East Asian men and women’s bodies are used as a source of comic relief and to focus scorn. I keep thinking about why I’m bothering to protest at The Print Room, a small theatre. They quote an article which states there is no “material damage” in what they are doing – negating the existence of a Chinese reality. I cannot stand by and say nothing while my body (or the body of any person of colour) is so blatantly undermined and used by the privileged.

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