Orientalism

I believe that the Western world views Orientalism in a negative light. It has made a bad impact on American views and society, especially since 9/11 and recent terrorist attacks. Due to the Eurocentric mindset, many people believe in similar versions of one ideology. I believe that all cultures and ways of life should be recognized and respected and no manipulated from Eurocentric mindset. I think that I have some part of an orientalist mindset but I also have some part not and more accepting. Society has, unfortunately, sculpted my point of view into a more Eurocentric, but I have learned from the new changing society to be more open and understanding. Living in a more liberal town has helped me gain a wider span of acceptance.

Orientalism in Modern Pop Culture

Orientalism is the representation of the Eastern World in a stereotyped way. Orientalism can be seen in film, music, art and literature especially from western civilization, like Europe and the United States. These predisposed ideas of people and the culture of the east, like the middle east, dates back to when the Europeans came in contact with the lower class of the east. This has carried on since than and stereotypes about Asia and the Middle East are very present in today's society.

Orientalism has been present in recent hip-hop music, video games like call of duty and many types of movies. I am going to focus in on one movie called The Dictator. The Dictator is a comedic-satirical film that plays on extreme exaggerations and general stereotypes to do with the Middle East. For Example, there were no modern type of buildings in the film and the orientalist idea that Middle East women are mistreated is acted upon, as the wife of "The Dictator" is smothered by the doctor after she gives birth. The Dictator is one of many pop-culture examples of Orientalism.

Orientalism In American Culture

Do we, as United States citizens have an Orientalist mindset toward the rest of the world? To have an Orientalist mindset means to a stereotyped view of certain Middle East and Asian countries. I believe that in hindsight and in the present day, we do have an Orientalist mindset, especially in our American culture.

Here is an example of a Time Magazine article cover from 2010 asking the simple question "What Happens if We Leave Afghanistan? The question seems simple enough, however, it is the picture of the cover of the magazine that really makes me question whether or not we have an Orientalist mindset. The woman in this picture, Aisha, went through a terrible tragedy in which her abusive husband cut off her ears and nose. However, the Time Magazine cover almost portrays the image as if American's leave, Afghan men will start abusing their woman. The magazine cover doesn't even pose a question. It states that this girl's traumatic injury is the direct result of "What happens if we leave Afghanistan." The idea that American troops have the sole power to be the physical and moral protectors these women because all Afghan men are barbaric, is insulting and a prime example of an Orientalist mindset in American media.

The next example is from a movie known as "The Dictator" which stars Sacha Baron Cohen as a Middle Eastern dictator. Throughout the movie, Cohen sends a message that Middle Eastern leaders are barbaric, uncontrollable, unable to control their people, stupid, and simply insane. Outside of the movie, Cohen performed press events and media appearances in character, bringing the character of an insane "oriental" leader to the front row of American media and entertainment. A number of times, jokes were made about terrorism such as when one character suggests Cohen visits the Empire States building before he or one of his cousins "brings it down." He also chants "Death over America" and "Death to the West" during the film.

Finally, for the last example, the film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom represents examples of Orientalism. In the film, Indiana Jones finds himself accidentally arriving in India after fleeing from China. An Indian tribesman discovers the group and brings them back to his village. Upon arriving, the group learns of a Kali-worshiping cult that has taken the village children as slaves, ruling from a palace nearby. After the arrival at the palace, the food served to the right included monkey brains, a snake with beetles cooked inside, and many other foods that are represented as cultural food when in fact, most Indians do not eat anything remotely similar to monkey brains. In the film, the palace is secretly hiding a cult still practicing inhumane rituals involving the removal of a live person's heart for the Hindu goddess Kali. Not only are ritual victim's hearts removed by hand, but they are also then lowered into an underground pit of lava. To portray Indian's in this way unfairly and inaccurately represents the actual lives and beliefs of Indians.

Orientalism Loves Company

It's no secret that the concept of Orientalism has made a large impact on American culture and society. It shows itself heavily in films, a well-known example being Aladdin. The movie, while highly praised and loved by audiences of all ages, is the earliest work I can think of that has influence my own view of Orientalism.

The term that comes to mind when thinking about Orientalism and its effects, is "exotic." We as Americans tend to be fascinated by cultures that are different than ours in the same way we are fascinated by the different exhibits at a zoo. Movies such as Aladdin "cartoonize" Middle Eastern culture into something whimsical and fun, but most importantly exotic.

A more modern example that comes to mind is the tendency for men to fetishize women from foreign countries. Women from Middle Eastern countries, among Latin American, African, and more countries, are labeled as sexier because their background makes them "exotic," and therefore more attractive. We see this on social media, as well as the main focus in the content of a lot of music. It is rare to listen to a mainstream rap song without hearing something related to women from different countries. As far as Orientalism goes in America, it is like most outdated concepts such as racism and sexism. While it may not seem to be at its peak, it is clear that this is not the case. It has simply adapted to the way we receive our information and is prevalent in new ways such as media.

Crazy Rich Asians

The recently extremely popular movie Crazy Rich Asians was a monumental movie release for the asian community in not only America, but for Asian communities all over the world. Hollywoods lack of asian roles and asian presence has been extremely noticeable within their films and has been a growing issue over the years. In 2018, with the release of Crazy Rich Asians, people felt that Hollywood was making a statement that with this movie's release they would change the issue of asian presence and support those communities more. Wrong.

I felt that the movie Crazy Rich Asians was a way to appease the general public on the lack of asian presence in Hollywood films. I personally did enjoy the movie and felt that it was a step in the right direction, however the level of orientalism present within the movie is astounding.

The movie revolves around a couple in love, Nick Young and Rachel Chu, who travel to Singapore to visit his family who are crazy rich asians, extremely family oriented, and very traditional. Throughout the movie there are exotic parties, a tropical wedding, and an array of colors throughout the movie. The movie really highlights the craziness of rich asians and portray it materialistically along with the personality and actions of a crazy rich asian. All in all, throughout the entire movie I felt that orientalism was at work because it made asian culture look bad.

When Nick Young and Rachel Chu break up do to his family's tradition and family oriented beliefs, it makes it seem as if being family oriented is bad and prevents having a full life. In the ending scene when Nick Young does eventually acquire his mother's blessing and there's the scene where he and Rachel are reunited, it's further degrading asian culture and supporting western individualistic beliefs. This is seen in many scenes, not only in the love scenes. Another scene where they're representing asians badly is when Rachel is at the bachelorette party and the girls gang up on her and put a dead fish in her bed and write in blood "Catch this you gold-digging bitch". This scene plays into the theme savagery and portrays the asian women as savages. The orientalism is subtle and well hidden, however it's presence is there.

Once again, I'd like to reiterate that I did enjoy watching the movie Crazy Rich Asians and did appreciate the fact that Hollywood released a movie consisting of mainly an asian cast. However, from my perspective, Hollywood still has a long way to go in portraying Asians correctly and respectfully and breaking away from orientalism.

Orientalism

Orientalism has clearly made a dent in American society. You see it in movies, TV shows, but also in music. One thing that I can think of that shows itself within it is Katy Perry's music video Dark Horse. The video has everyone dressed in Egyptian or Asian like clothing to represent a certain glamour or exotic fashion. Americans are very fascinated and aroused by different cultures. However, by imitating these cultures' looks and styles, it's almost as if they're poking fun without even knowing it.

Other side of Orientalism

Orientalism thrives on word of mouth. Without the generalizations of the Eastern area of the world, the normalized structured thought would have never been passed down through generations. These structured ideologies of being an “orient” are taught as facts, rather than opinions, which allows the western world to maintain their hierarchy which was created with orientalism. By establishing demeaning traits of these oriental people, the westernized culture has been able to create a prejudice view, of the eastern countries of the world. Modernized technology has created an even larger gap between the western world, and the supposedly inferior eastern countries.

American mass media shows the public the bad stories of the middle east. CNN will show the poor living conditions, and constant fighting of the middle east, which makes Americans believe that it is like that everywhere. These media outlets are doing exactly what Edward Said states about Orientalism, which is the power of turning myths to facts, which fuels the stereotypes of oriental people which should have never been established in the first place. After a trip to Lebanon I was able to understand the outside view of orientalism. When I was there, I noticed that none of my preconceived notions of these people that have always been pushed on me where true. I now understand that the myths of orientalism can be changed just from seeing the viewpoint of the other side. I would still have false understandings of their way of life, and other cultural actions they take, in which western media outlets falsely portray.

Orientalism and Media

Orientalism in media has greatly contributed to our society’s view of eastern cultures. Therefore, western media needs to be more careful with how they portray other cultures in order for harmful and racist views to cease. This cannot completely solve the issue of Orientalism, but can certainly help to do so.

Many towns are composed of entirely or almost entirely one race. The people in these towns would therefore have severely limited interactions with people outside of their racial groups. For these people, their interaction with different cultures would take place largely in the media. And when the media perpetuates harmful stereotypes, these stereotypes would be the sort of thing these people would come to understand as truth.

The profound effect media has on people needs to be treated with responsibility. The media should take care to accurately portray other cultures, something they quite often fail to do. In addition, different peoples need to be represented in a positive light. For example, Arabic characters should be able to be a hero instead of just a terrorist. Positive portrayals such as these will help white westerners to see people of color as people not just stereotypes.

Orientalism

Orientalism is the representation of Asia, especially the Middle East, in a stereotyped way that is regarded with a colonialist attitude. Our prejudice interpretation of the east came after European powers came into contact with the lesser developed people of the east. Though we would like to think otherwise, we've all been or are guilty of thinking in an orientalist mindset, which is embedded in our media and way of life. The common conception of Arab life and culture that's presented to us is seen as exotic, uncivilized, and dangerous. We are subjected to single stories about Eastern culture, when most, if not all of us have never fully experienced the culture first-hand. 

When we seen examples of misrepresented Eastern culture in movies, TV shows, magazines, etc., it's usually for entertainment, rather than instruction or actual realization. Unfortunately for our culture, entertainment versions of Eastern culture rather than accurate and informative versions make a deeper and fresher impression on us, which is one reason for thinking the way that we do. Aladdin, a widely known and loved movie, has been criticized for years for its offensive interpretation of Arab culture, through its barbaric lyrics, over exaggerated accents, and visuals. Arab societies are seen as mysterious worlds of barbarism and maybe as far as uninhabitable. Eastern culture is continuing to be inaccurately and offensively portrayed in our society, and some ways to put an end to it is just calling out daily Orientalism when you hear or see it or not supporting companies are manufacturers that present it.

South Pacific the Musical

A couple of months ago, my grandmother brought me, my sister and brother to the musical South Pacific. The musical centers around two relationships between US military and the native southern islanders or Orientals during World War II. Usually, when my grandmother takes us to musicals, I tend to really enjoy what I see. However, I didn't really enjoy South Pacific.

The reason wasn't because there was bad acting or bad music, but that the native islanders were portrayed in a very stereotypical "oriental" way. They were portrayed as mysterious, and seemingly always up to something, and didn't understand the "smarter" US officers. While the musical started in 1940, its success keeps it running to this day. To many including my younger brother and sister, this representation of the East, Asians, and islanders contributes to the Oriental view.

Orientalism or Cultural Appreciation?

Orientalism is used by people in the West to separate themselves from people in other regions of the world, specifically the East. It labels people in the East as “others”, by promoting stereotypes and generalizations about that part of the world and its culture. Many Western Pop Culture artists have incorporated Orientalism into their music and music vidoes by incorporating aspects of Asian culture in a way that makes them out to be exotic, glamorous, and over sexualized instead of representing them in the way they were created for. One specific artist, Nicki Minaj’s 2010 single "Your Love" and her more recent "Chun- Li" give almost undeniable examples and evidence for Said’s theory. Back in 2010, Minaj’s debut album featured lyrics and a costume design that showed just how unaware she was of Eastern cultures and the significance and history behind certain people and items that she was referencing. One of Nicki’s mistakes in her song come in the lyrics “I was a Geisha, he was a Samurai. Somehow I understood him when he spoke Thai”. She is saying that the Samurai mentioned, spoke Thai when In fact samurai’s are part of Japanese culture and would most likely not be speaking that language. This shows that Minaj did not take the time to separate, understand, and appreciate the cultures she was referencing. She took two distinct cultures and histories and categorized them as one. Secondly, Minaj’s costume choice in this music video is another problematic aspect of the way Westerns view Eastern cultures. Minaj dresess as an oversexualized geisha, diminishing the history and its real meaning in their culture. The mistakes shown in this one music video show her goal was not to take the time to use her work as a way to appreciate and acknowledge other cultures because she is referencing them in a way that shows her ignorance to their real customs, beliefs, and way of functioning. It was as if she was using their culture for a storyline because she thought it looked pretty. Our ability to repeatedly misrepresent and possibly offend those of different cultures shows our ignorance and disregard for them because too often we do not take the proper time to explore and honor other cultures and this comes at the expense of actual people.

Orientalism - Western Ignorance

Orientalism attempted to answer the question held by individuals in the Middle East - How do we come to understand people that are ethnically, culturally, and socially different than us? Orientalism's physical lens enables an individual from the West to look through and see people from the East indulge in their stereotypes. It also creates an image outside of history that last forever; It creates an ideal other. It's not a description of the context in which Easterners live, but an argument as to why they live in that specific way. Orientalism is the idea that Western people are very quick to make assumptions, judgments, and accusations. The privileged, dominant voice of Western culture reinforces the stereotypes associated with Eastern culture. Therefore, the perpetual use of stereotypes about Eastern culture is unjustified when Westerners are not able to fully comprehend and identify with their way of life.

By default, the lies, and stereotypes that we perpetuate embed themselves into the public mind. As a result, these lies reciprocate themselves into truths because of its embedment into the public mind. As Said described, Westerners get a "book" which they use to compare the different people and cultures they perceive to their own. When our views or beliefs don't align, we then choose to create harmful and hateful stereotypes. However, the solution is simple. If we live looking through the lens that Said described, one that enables a "dynamic perspective" and continues with a "multi-story mindset," then, perhaps, we can abate our own alienating speech.

The Jerusalem Envelope

For my first semester history credit, I chose to enroll in Modern Middle East History, a class that attempts to tackle many of the misconceptions of the Middle East, a region often included in the Orient. One of the very first articles we read was by Edward Said, an author notorious far beyond our AP English class for his writing on the Middle East and the concept of orientalism.

Before I introduce the Jerusalem Envelope, a topic I did substantial research on during the class, it is necessary to make a brief digression. In Said's works, he discusses how a word or concept becomes an "-ism." How could the label "Oriental" or the "Orient" develop into something so much greater than a derogatory term coined to classify an individual from a specific region? The answer lies in repeated oppression of non-western, non-European individuals over the course of hundreds of years. In the same way race has developed into racism, the orient has become orientalism because what started as a classification to describe a group divided by language, culture, and geographic region, developed into a vicious tool to accelerate western dominance. By the time a classification has become an "-ism," there is no longer a simple answer to "how can it be solved?"

The answer must be x, right? 

One clear example of the deep rooted nature of orientalism lies in the border wall on the divide between Jerusalem and Palestine, often referred to as the Jerusalem Envelope. This border wall is nothing like Trump's ideal long wall on the southern border of the United States, and it is nothing like the Great Wall of China. This particular wall is unique because the boundaries it is designed to divide are incredibly intricate; on any road, a family's street may be surrounded by the wall on three out of the four sides...

The history behind the wall's construction is complex and stems from the Arab-Israeli Conflict, starting originally in 1947. Arab nationalism and interest in protecting religious and national homeland has driven the conflict over the last 70 years (this is the extremely condensed version of the story).

On this wall, individuals from both sides have used the wall as a canvas for expressing their distaste for their confinement. The wall is famous for its graffiti that attempts to beautify and in some cases "uglify" the gray blocks. Local artists and often times civilians without any artistic background write messages on the wall that have a range of tone and meaning. On the most optimistic end, messages of love and unity appear in images and words; however the wall is also littered with messages of hopelessness and death. Within the last decade, Banksy, a famous European street artist has attracted tourists to the wall after creating a gallery walk of work depicting artificial cracks in the wall.

His artwork has inspired countless other European artists to come to the wall and use it for murals or other displays of all sizes and forms in attempt to add color and beauty to the otherwise gray and expansive emptiness. However, this begs the question: Isn't this European art on the wall the EXACT definition of orientalism?

In essence, the European street artists are inserting themselves in a "charity" of artwork that they have no place in. The Arab-Israeli Conflict is a struggle that excludes European interests and military intervention; therefore, in attempting to beautify the wall, European artists show that it isn't beautiful enough without outside intervention. They show that the other is incapable of making light of a decade old struggle. They show that western culture has the upper hand in handling conflicts. They subtly reinforce Orientalism in the same way a microaggression subtly reinforces racism.

In this image of one of Banksy's paintings on the wall, he depicts children looking for a more ideal reality, an escape to a warm beautiful island, maybe even a vacation.

Those kids won't be taking a vacation anytime soon. 

The Theory of Orientalism and Discussion

Orientalism as said by Said is the generalizations one makes about the East specifically, how the West views the East as the strange and unknown and promotes the West as being superior. The idea of the East is that they are the ones who the West can not trust. Just because of the origins of Orientalism, the West still has not changed their views of the East. As Westerners, the general views of the “East” is characterized as being more strict, less tolerable, and more conservative. The stereotypes and characterizations are often portrayed in the mainstream media, entertainment, literature, internet and other forms of creative expression in American society. For example, children's movies specifically Aladdin, comic books like TinTin, and works of art have been accused of supporting the ideas of Orientalism. These stereotypes have been largely and collectively internalized by Western society and have mostly negative associations for Americans. Westerners view themselves as being superior to the East because society has lead people for years to believe so horribly of the East even when the West itself is nowhere near perfect. The population is influence by media which in turn allows Westerners to internalize what they hear from the repetitiveness in the media, literature, and other forms of entertainment.

The idea of Orientalism just emphasizes the privilege Westerners exhibit and take advantage of. The fact that Westerners view themselves as the only ones who are civilized and safe is what promotes the idea of Orientalism; its a way to make sure the West will remain dominant over the East. In all honesty, I find myself permitting to Orientalism primarily because I grew up in the Westernized society and have not fully educated myself. I find that this is the problem for most people, being uneducated about Orientalism. I found that most people do not even know what Orientalism is and that being aware is the first step.

Mulan: Orientalism

Growing up in a family that loved to watch Disney movies, Mulan was a popular movie throughout my childhood. The main issue throughout the movie is that Mulan is trying to hide the fact that she is actually a woman fighting in a war where only men are allowed. In the end, Mulan ends up becoming the hero of China, which she did against the odds, making the theme of the story that woman can work just as hard and perform just as well as men. Although the movie is portrayed as inspirational and uplifting, with the newly learned concept of Orientalism, I am able to notice some concerning moments in the movie.

In the beginning of the movie, Mulan is told that she will never bring honor to her family because she would not able to treat her husband "the right way". As well as she got in trouble to talking back to an imperial messenger. Mulan later took her fathers war order, cut her hair, and went in to train for war disguised as a man. By doing this, her ancestors showed themselves as ghostly figures who felt they needed to protect her. The concerning part about this is that it enhances the stereotype that the Chinese are very spiritual when in reality, although there may be people that speak and pray to their ancestors, most of China is not like that.

After going into the Chinese army disguised as a man, Mulan then gets into her first battle later in the movie with the antagonist, where she ends up saving the captains life. In doing so, she gets injured resulting in people finding out that she is a woman when they treat her for her injuries. When this happens, Mulan is worried that she has ruined her families honor by trying to help. That is another issue, the stereotype that one must uphold the family honor. Yes, every family has expectations for their children, but holding up your families honor is another stereotype that revolves around an Orientalist mindset.

Finally, Although the movie Mulan is able to portray an amazing message of strength, determination, and resilience, ultimately it is held back due to the orientalism behind it all.

Learning about orientalism has helped me in being able to acknowledge it when I see it or hear it. I have heard the term "orient" before but was never certain as to what it was. after learning about what it means to call someone an orient as well as what it means to have an Orientalist mindset, it has helped me become more aware to the sensitivity behind it and how wrong it actually is.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 - "Your hometown is now a battlefield!!1!"

Comedians poke fun at every aspect of life and culture, so it logically follows that those affected by Orientalism write jokes about it. One example is comedian Kumail Nanjiani, who acts in and produces movies and TV shows in addition to being a stand up comedian. Nanjiani grew up in Pakistan, and frequently makes jokes that challenge the media’s assumptions about immigrants and Muslims in general, sometimes to the discomfort of his audiences.

On his comedy album, Nanjiani discusses the version of Call of Duty which has a multiplayer level set in Karachi, Pakistan, where he lived as a child. Aside from the obvious issue of video games consistently portraying Islamic countries as breeding grounds for terrorism and warfare (which Nanjiani does touch on), he was hesitantly excited about playing the game. He hammers in the fact that this game took years and years to produce, and you can see the individual hairs on people’s heads, and you can see their shoelaces bounce when they run, and how he recognizes the specific streets from his home city. But the street signs are in Arabic. Arabic is not the language spoken in Pakistan, their two official languages are Urdu and English. As Nanjiani puts it, “All you had to do was Google ‘Pakistan language’. They were literally like, ‘What language do they speak in Pakistan? I don’t care.’”

While this lack of interest in the accuracy of portrayals of (especially lesser known) Asian countries goes unnoticed by many of us, and many people who played that level in Modern Warfare 2 without noticing the difference between Urdu and Arabic, it obviously does not go unnoticed by those whose cultures are misrepresented. In this particular example, the language mistake is fairly innocuous, but it hurts Pakistanis and only Pakistanis (those misrepresented). By assuming that all Middle Eastern people are the same, Westerners/white people send the message that they don’t care about the the Middle East, its culture, or the individuality of its people. They enjoy the culture, people, and locations as a prop villain or a backdrop for a story, and by using them as such, devalue the people and make them believe that they are valued less by society because a prop villain or backdrop is all that their culture and upbringing is good for.

It’s difficult to correct the images set in place by early Orientalist work that is so ingrained in our society, but creators can do more to check the accuracy of their work, especially when it’s as easy of a fix as a Google search. While it will take a collective effort to reach a solution to the problem of Orientalism, it only takes individual effort to not contribute.

Orientalism, It Is Real

In his article "The Postcolonial Mind – God of Small Things," Amardeep Singh uses ideas proposed by Edward Said about the pattern and roots of Orientalism to make the argument that although actual colonialism is a thing of the past, colonialism is still with us as a society. He suggests that this is true because both the ruler and the ruled to some extent share an experience that is not easy to separate. Although Singh is initially talking about Orientalism, what he describes is similar in many ways to the issues that surround the topic of race in the United States. Like Orientalism, the practice of slavery in the United States used a system of power and dominance to create an “us” versus “them” system between slave owners and slaves. When talking about Orientalism, Singh concludes that there is no simple way to achieve true decolonization and this also seems to apply to slavery. Like colonization, although slavery is a thing of the past in the United States, the history of slavery, including the imagery and vocabulary surrounding it, still continues to exist in the post-slavery world. Racial issues are more recognizable today and have even been publicly addressed there is still and embedded undertone that can be felt in our everyday world.

"Barbaric, But Hey, It's Home"

When I was little I would try to wake up at 6:00am almost every Saturday morning just so I could beat my brother to the TV for his Saturday morning cartoons. Yes, I did love Tom and Jerry, The Jetsons, and The Flintstones but if I ever got to the TV first, I would instead insert a Disney princess movie. My favorites were Mulan, The Little Mermaid, but especially Aladdin. In my five year old mind Jasmine was the best princess. I mean, she lived in a gorgeous castle, rode on a magic carpet, and had a pet tiger!!

However, Aladdin is a clear embodiment of Orientalism. The movie opens with the famous song "Arabian nights" immediately planting heavy stereotypes into the viewers minds. The lyrics state: "Where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face, It's barbaric, but hey, it's home." This depicts the east as "barbaric", completely "uncivilized" compared to the west. The "dangers" of the east are implanted into our minds consciously and unconsciously.

Jafar, the primary villain, maliciously inflicts harm on others throughout the movie, embodying the stereotype of cruel Arab villains. This extends beyond Jafar into the eastern stereotype that masculinity is defined by violence. The scarce representation of women is shown through a orientalist image of the Arab woman. Either submissive like the servants in the palace or exotic and lustful like Jasmine. To prevent this dangerous mindset, we need to look at eastern countries through an open mindset and not let our preconceived notions cloud our judgment.

Orientalism: Mulan

Mulan has been one of my favorite Disney movies for years due to its depiction of the princess as heroic and tough, which women are not often portrayed as. She proves she can do what any of the men can do by fighting in the army and in the end saves all of China, pretty great right? With the newly learned concept of Orientalism, I can now notice troubling details that completely went over my head before. 

The first troubling thing I noticed was the portrayal of Mulan's ancestors. They were depicted as mysterious, ghost like spirits which is not accurate to the reality of Asian cultures and the respect they have for passed loved ones. Many people associate the concept of spirituality and mystery with the Orient, making it a common stereotype. Furthermore, Asian stereotypes like eating everything with chopsticks, cherry blossom trees, drinking tea after all meals are constant throughout the story. 

Many of the images and scenes in the film don't make sense given the setting at all. Mulan's hair and makeup in the first few scenes is actually a much more Japanese style outfit despite the film taking place in China. This also ties back to the common appearance of cherry blossoms in the film, that flower is the native flower of Japan. It seems as though the filmmakers didn't properly research the material they were putting in their movie and didn't care if multiple cultures were being combined as one. 

The value of collectivism in Asia is misconstrued as upholding one's honor and bringing honor to the family even if it means giving up personal values. This is not necessarily true in China, family is important but it isn't common to give up everything you believe and want for the sake of honor. It is in fact a common Western misconception that all of Asia is obsessed with upholding honor. An example in the film is when Mulan is forced to dress and act a certain way by her family to attract male suitors and bring honor to her family despite the fact that she doesn't want to.

The Problem with the Way We View the East

A little less than a month ago, it was revealed that a man named Seungri, member of the Korean pop group 'Big Bang', was the head of a prostitute ring taking place in a club he owned in Seoul, South Korea. It was discovered the women were being drugged and filmed without consent, and that some of the women involved were underaged. Under many articles about this scandal, many American fans gave their opinion about the situation such as, "What do we expect? Countries like Korea are 20 years behind countries like America" despite the fact that the Korean general public was disgusted with his actions, and Seungri was physically assaulted on his way to the airport. So even though Koreans and other Asian fans have completely turned their backs on him, why is it that we as westerners are so convinced that Asian people would knowingly let this happen? And why do we pretend like the exact same things haven't happened in western media if not worse?

We as westerners are under the impression that "The East" is more inhumane, they are less tolerable, more conservative. They oppress their women, hate gay people, and look down on anyone who goes against the status-quo. We think of ourselves as being so much more morally sound than "The East". Though we don't think of them as "animals" or "savages" as we do Africans or Native Americans, we still view them as people in need of our saving graces. We think they need a lesson in our morality like we're so much better. Because America and Europe, who have colonized 90% of the world whose militaries are arguably the largest terrorist organizations as we know it today, need to teach eastern countries, which are arguably the most developed countries in the world, about humanity. We look at the suicide rates of eastern countries and think "Wow, I'm so glad we're not like that" as if our suicide rate hasn't increased 24% since the turn of the century. We look at countries like China and North Korea and sigh in relief because "We don't have a president like that" when Donald Trump wants to waste $25,000,000,000 on a wall that will ultimately be ineffective. We think that "The East" is so stuck in the past when Neo-Nazi parties and the KKK have more supporters now than they've had in years. So why are we, a country with a myriad of national problems, so focused on how eastern countries need to improve? It's simple really, western countries have a long history of colonialism. And while we may not be landing on the banks of Saudi Arabia or Laos and converting everyone to Christianity and forcing them to learn English like we used to, we maintain a colonizer mindset. Because "The East" doesn't live the same way we do, that they need our help, regardless of how well their citizens are doing or the advancements they're making. Because who wouldn't want to be like a western country?