‘Sun’ Doesn’t Perpetuate Stereotypes

I wholeheartedly support the right of any minority to protest when they think they’re being slammed by Hollywood. In the article “ ‘Rising Sun, Hollywood, and Asian Stereotypes” (Calendar, May 3), spokesmen for the Media Action Network for Asian Americans claim that the film version of Michael Crichton’s “Rising Sun” will perpetuate stereotypes of Asians. But, in this case, MANAA’s spokesmen slam their own fingers in their own door.

“Rising Sun” is a paranoid thriller concerning the economic and social decline of the United States and the exploitation of this economic decline by certain Japanese business interests. The story is a polemic indicting the laissez - faire approach to international trade issues by our government that resulted in a “fire sale” by many American industries to the Japanese during the ‘70s and ‘80s. The story also raises issues concerning the level of political influence wielded by these foreign investors given their significant stake in our economy.

MANAA states that its sole agenda is preventing the media from fostering inaccurate stereotypes of people of Asian Pacific ancestry, as it says is the case in “Rising Sun.” MANAA says that Asian males are often stereotyped “as nerds, rude foreigners or gangsters.” MANAA’s implication is that this is how Asian males are portrayed in “Rising Sun.”

But actually, a variety of Japanese men are characterized in “Rising Sun,” ranging from honest businessmen to opportunistic lawyers. In “Rising Sun,” there are no nerdish Asian males. There are no rude Asian “foreigners.” In one scene, there is a Japanese yakuza (hoodlum), but in a minor role as a doorman at an apartment complex.

Three of the four “villains” in the story are white American males. And there are no negative portrayals of Asian women in “Rising Sun” whatsoever. MANAA’s letter is simply misleading with regard to the characterizations found in “Rising Sun.”

“Rising Sun” was never intended, as MANAA seems to fear, to incite its audience to violence against people of Asian ancestry or condone or encourage racism or prejudice of any sort. It was intended to make Americans aware of the political chicanery that has allowed our foreign trade policies to become the laughingstock of the global marketplace.

In the future, MANAA might wish to choose its targets as carefully as we chose ours.