The King and I

I asked a couple of my friends prior to writing this blog post if they had ever watched The King and I directed by Robert Lang. All their responses were a prompt, "No?" I was shocked that none of my friends had seen one of my favorite childhood movies. Please watch the trailer below if you have not yet seen the movie.

As a child I watched The King and I for my pure enjoyment. I absolutely loved this movie. I'm slightly upset my innocence blinded the blatant orientalist stereotypes I now thoroughly understand by reflecting upon the movie.

Anna Leonowens is the European schoolteacher whom King Mongkut hired to educate his wives and royal offspring on western education. Immediately the audience sees the westerner coming to the rescue to help save the other main characters. Anna's role is the western figure bringing "stability" to the East.

Not only through educating the wives and children did Anna have an westernized cultural impact on the Mongkut family, but King Mongkut asked her help in changing his image for other western rulers. He asked for Anna's help because the King is largely considered to be a barbarian by western kingdoms and royalty. King Mongkut felt it would be safer for his country and himself if possible western traders took him more seriously, moreover he felt his country would be better equipped to negotiate with westerners trying to colonize South East Asia. This unfortunate centralization around western culture and rule was so prevalent that the ruler King Mongkut felt it would be safer for his entire country to appeal to western civilization. Moreover, we still see this issue in many cultures. The impact our culture has over cultures of different customs and traditions is something we need to be more aware of it we wish to see it change. Maybe the first step is to stop normalizing this erasure through musicals such as The King and I.