A bit more on the stereotyping in EYES. In response to Edward O'Neill's response to Dennis Bingham's response: The typing of the Asian men plays into a Western vision of them as emasculated. Support for that view: they are apparently dressing as women with wigs and make-up; both grab at-or cover their genitals fearfully; the object of their desire and seduction is an adolescent. All these cues seemed to stereotype them as emasculated Asian men. On Mon, 26 Jul 1999, Edward R. O'Neill wrote: > Among his many interesting suggestions, Dennis P. Bingham > made one ambivalent comment upon which I'd like to comment > (ambivalently). > > That is: I think parts of the comment are off-target, but > I'm not upset about this. Rather, I think looking at the > question provides some insight into interesting aspects of > the film. > > Bingham suggested that part of Kubrick's postmodernism > involves a play with familiar "cultural signs and types." > Amongst these "types" which he identifies as "troubling" > are: "a prostitute's Asian clients, a New York Jewish > tailor (who looks a bit like Kubrick himself), an anxious > gay man." > > All of these descriptions I find slightly off target, which > I think underlines the fact that the types themselves may > not be so fixed. > > [SPOILERS ALERT: IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM STOP READING > NOW.] > > Example one: what Bingham identifies as "a prostitute's > Asian clients." The character is not yet a prostitute when > we first meet them, and they're in drag and in their > underwear (semi-drag? un-drag?). Exactly which Asian > stereotype is this? It's all a bit too mixed up and > perverse to be easily decipherable. > > Later when these two men appear, they do indeed seem to be > the girl's clients (with her father's blessings). At that > point they're dressed in something closer to business > attire, and then we might say they're stereotyped Asian > businessmen--had we not already seen them in wigs and > makeup. > > Example two: why is the tailor "Jewish"--or "New York > Jewish," to be more exact? I read him as middle-eastern or > Arab American. Is he a type? And he isn't really a > tailor: he rents costumes. Does the tailor-ness make him > closer to a type or narrow middle-eastern-ness to > Jewishness? > > Third example: the anxious gay man. Are you thinking of > the hotel clerk? Considering he's describing a hotel patron > with a bruise being rushed out of the hotel by two big > thugs, he doesn't seem nearly anxious enough! It's not > really his anxiousness to me that codes him as gay, but > rather the way he's so complicitous with the Tom Cruise > character. > > The fact that the role is played by an actor I believe to be > gay helps me code him that way. It also seems like one of > the few rational justifications one can come up with for why > he would be so forthcoming with a total stranger--doctor or > no. > > To me this is a delicious scene, because the actor just > seems to want to eat Tom Cruise alive: he's practically > drooling, as I would be if I met Tom Cruise. > > This does also fit with the use of (Proppian) 'helper' > characters in the film and helps lend it a fairy tale > quality. (This is also lifted from _North By Northwest_.) > Everyone the hero meets seems to help him: (a) because he's > a doctor, (b) because he's charming as all getout, and (c) > becaus otherwise the film couldn't happen. > > Try, just try, to find that many people to help you do > *anything* in New York City. (Kubrick's isolation from > reality perhaps takes its toll here--unless you don't want > the film to be about the New York we know but rather a fairy > tale version, which actually makes a bit more sense.) > > Perhaps my point is the same as Bingham's: one needs > certain categories in order to read the film, but the film > also refuses these categories to some extent. > > Sincerely, > Edward R. O'Neill > > ---- > Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the > University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu > ---- Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite http://www.tcf.ua.edu/ScreenSite