For decades since the conclusion of French colonialism in Indochina, many authors, filmmakers, and artists alike have attempted to capture the perspectives and the experiences of both the French and the Vietnamese during this turbulent period of time in Vietnam’s history. Both Régis Wargnier’s Indochine and Marguerite Duras’s The Lover are two notable works that allow the audience to experience the war-torn society at the time through the intimate affairs between lovers as well as the relationships between mother and daughter that transcend the barriers of class and race. While differ in medium, the two works share similar perspectives on the French occupation of Indochina as they both explore the racial and class discrimination between the
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In the period of French colonialism, it was normal and even encouraged for French soldiers and sailors to have a Vietnamese mistress called congaie to do his chores and fulfill his sexual needs. Therefore, in the eyes of society, Jean-Baptiste’s affection for Camille is made less indecent because everyone simply perceives Camille to be his congaie. As a result, in the scene where Jean-Baptiste identifies and guides Camille from the rest of the captured Vietnamese insurgents, all the French officers simply infer that he is picking a Vietnamese mistress. Therefore, reactions to his action are not as immediate and severe. However, their relationship is still controversial because Jean-Baptiste has had an affair with Camille’s mom and also because Camille is already to be engaged to Tanh. On the other hand, in Duras’s The Lover, when a poor white girl is attracted to a Chinese lover because of his wealth, she is perceived as a “little white whore from Sadec” and received biting condemnation from the general public, especially from the Chinese lover’s side of the family (Duras 35). This evident double standard reveals the sexist and discriminatory mentality of colonial society and perpetuates the misogynistic belief that women are merely accessories to men. It also highlights the emphasis on female purity that many Asian cultures share and
In the period of French colonialism, it was normal and even encouraged for French soldiers and sailors to have a Vietnamese mistress called congaie to do his chores and fulfill his sexual needs. Therefore, in the eyes of society, Jean-Baptiste’s affection for Camille is made less indecent because everyone simply perceives Camille to be his congaie. As a result, in the scene where Jean-Baptiste identifies and guides Camille from the rest of the captured Vietnamese insurgents, all the French officers simply infer that he is picking a Vietnamese mistress. Therefore, reactions to his action are not as immediate and severe. However, their relationship is still controversial because Jean-Baptiste has had an affair with Camille’s mom and also because Camille is already to be engaged to Tanh. On the other hand, in Duras’s The Lover, when a poor white girl is attracted to a Chinese lover because of his wealth, she is perceived as a “little white whore from Sadec” and received biting condemnation from the general public, especially from the Chinese lover’s side of the family (Duras 35). This evident double standard reveals the sexist and discriminatory mentality of colonial society and perpetuates the misogynistic belief that women are merely accessories to men. It also highlights the emphasis on female purity that many Asian cultures share and