Yellow Peril Film Analysis

In addition, in the late 1910’s to 1930’s, Chinese characters began to find their way into pop culture. The caveat was that most Chinese characters were in reality, white actors engaging in “yellowface” and solidifying stereotypes with their portrayals of the characters.21 Yet there were also benefits to simply being in film, namely “Yellow Peril” subsiding as relatively popular Chinese detectives, such as “Charlie Chan,” in movies were depicted alongside American ideals of heroism, sexuality, and action.22 The image of the Westernized Chinese was another example of Chinese integration into American society, and further asserted that the Chinese were people and people that could be good for society.
Despite whatever progress that Chinese immigrants
by the Chinese Exclusion Act that had been passed almost sixty years prior. This barrier did not go unnoticed by the Chinese government nor American citizens, even in the years preceding the direct Japanese assaults. Son of fervent Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, William Lloyd Garrison, warned that the United States would be lucky to not suffer consequences from “astonishing and humiliating” Act’s blatant and “[reasonless]” hostility towards Chinese immigrants, stating that the CEA “is exactly the same thing which has led to many a war between nations.”29 Twenty years after the passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act, Chinese consul general Ho Yow similarly criticized how the Act “practically cut off communication with China,” and depicted the U.S. as “having an attitude of non-intercouse and unfriendliness.”30 Complaints towards the Act hadn’t slowed, even twenty years after its passing, and it’s repeated dragging would not help either the Chinese image of the United States or the country’s general governing capability. Not to mention that during this time, U.S. Secretary of State John Hay’s “Open Door” Policy also sought to enable Western countries to “maintain their positions in the markets of China, and extend their operations in the future.”31 The policy essentially took advantage of a weakened
This propaganda took the shape posters that featured war-torn Chinese families that were the “[first] to fight” or the inclusion of the Chinese in a series of posters that featured a photo of a man from each Allied country labeled with the words “This man is your friend; [he] fights for freedom” stated point blank.37 The firm relocation of the Chinese from “dangerous” to “friend” would cement America’s intentions towards China as hospitable, and to the American people, it would be a clear message that the government supported the Chinese. In turn, the propaganda would encourage the people themselves to be amiable to the Chinese, which would likely the chance of the CEA repeal passing, and ultimately help out the United States government with its foreign