Anna May Wong, considered to be the first Chinese-American movie star, was very influential in the rise of Asian-American prominence in film. She was born as her chinese name Wong Liu Tsong, meaning ‘frosted yellow willow’, and told those around her, “I represent one considerable spot of yellow that’s come to stay in the silver of the screen” (Corliss 2, “Anna May Wong: In Her Own Words”). Through her work, Wong has helped to normalize the image of Asian Americans on screen, and proved the significance of Asian Americans in the film industry. She took action to reduce stereotypes held against the Chinese, and strove to go beyond the limit of the selected roles offered to her as an Asian American woman.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, California …show more content…
He had been disappointed in Wong since birth, since she was already the second girl in the family, when he had been expecting a boy. However, she did grow up to be his favorite daughter (Chan 53). He was very opposed to her doing acting, which is why she didn’t tell him when she got her first ever role as an extra in the film The Red Lantern (Corliss 3). He later found out about it. “He told me I was disgracing the family, and I told him I was determined to be independent one day, and that I couldn’t be like those girls in China, and that it’s no use in making me over” (“Anna May Wong: In Her Own Words”). She was described by friends and family as being very independent and outgoing. She started out during the silent film era. Her realistic acting style is what helped her easily transition into sound films. She quickly rose up in Hollywood; however, she was still not widely known because she was given very limited roles. “She knew that the depictions of Asians and Asian …show more content…
Franklin and produced by the Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation. Having been released in 1922, Wong was seventeen at the time. In the film, she plays the character ‘Lotus Flower,’ a young Chinese woman who pursues an American man she finds unconscious in the sea, named Allen Carver. They quickly fall for each other–or so it seems–but shortly after, he returns to America on urgent business, unaware that she is pregnant with their child. She waits for him to come back for years on end until he returns with a childhood friend, who also happens to be his new wife. Lotus Flower lies about who their son actually is, and later on gives it to his wife so that she can raise him in America. She tells her son “Lotus Flower only little Chinese nurse for you till sweet mother comes from America” (“The Toll of the Sea”). To end the film, she throws herself into the sea with her final words being, “Oh, Sea, now that life has been emptied I come to pay my great debt to you” (“The Toll of the Sea”). Wong’s character in this film is nothing unique in its time in terms of how Chinese people were portrayed in Hollywood; however, the fact that it was being played by an Asian American, and not a caucasian person in yellow face, was relatively new to see. Another feature to note is that she is playing a lead character, which was rarely given to people of color in general. This film also contributed to
Born and raised in Los Angeles, California …show more content…
He had been disappointed in Wong since birth, since she was already the second girl in the family, when he had been expecting a boy. However, she did grow up to be his favorite daughter (Chan 53). He was very opposed to her doing acting, which is why she didn’t tell him when she got her first ever role as an extra in the film The Red Lantern (Corliss 3). He later found out about it. “He told me I was disgracing the family, and I told him I was determined to be independent one day, and that I couldn’t be like those girls in China, and that it’s no use in making me over” (“Anna May Wong: In Her Own Words”). She was described by friends and family as being very independent and outgoing. She started out during the silent film era. Her realistic acting style is what helped her easily transition into sound films. She quickly rose up in Hollywood; however, she was still not widely known because she was given very limited roles. “She knew that the depictions of Asians and Asian …show more content…
Franklin and produced by the Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation. Having been released in 1922, Wong was seventeen at the time. In the film, she plays the character ‘Lotus Flower,’ a young Chinese woman who pursues an American man she finds unconscious in the sea, named Allen Carver. They quickly fall for each other–or so it seems–but shortly after, he returns to America on urgent business, unaware that she is pregnant with their child. She waits for him to come back for years on end until he returns with a childhood friend, who also happens to be his new wife. Lotus Flower lies about who their son actually is, and later on gives it to his wife so that she can raise him in America. She tells her son “Lotus Flower only little Chinese nurse for you till sweet mother comes from America” (“The Toll of the Sea”). To end the film, she throws herself into the sea with her final words being, “Oh, Sea, now that life has been emptied I come to pay my great debt to you” (“The Toll of the Sea”). Wong’s character in this film is nothing unique in its time in terms of how Chinese people were portrayed in Hollywood; however, the fact that it was being played by an Asian American, and not a caucasian person in yellow face, was relatively new to see. Another feature to note is that she is playing a lead character, which was rarely given to people of color in general. This film also contributed to