Flower Drum Song

November 27, 2018December 10, 2018
film/TV
by Hwee Lin Yeo

Chop Suey, a soundtrack from Flower Drum Song

57 years before Crazy Rich Asians is the first majority Asian cast Hollywood film, Flower Drum Song, a 1961 film adaptation of the Broadway musical and novel of the same name by Chinese American author C.Y. Lee. The film was not only nominated for 5 Academy awards, but was also selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being “culturally, historically or aesthetically challenging”.

Immigration, assimilation and the Asian American identity are significant themes in the movie. Mei Li, the lead female protagonist, and her father immigrate illegally to the United States, and she was set to marry Sammy Fong, who was infatuated with Linda Loh, a showgirl at his nightclub. Mei Li and her father meet Madame Liang, who introduces them to her brother-in-law, Wang Chi-Yang, the patriarch of his family. Wang Chi-Yang becomes convinced that Mei Li would be the ideal bride for his son, Wang Ta, who goes on a date with Linda. The characters later attend a graduation party to celebrate Wang Ta and Madame Liang’s respective achievements, where Linda had been planning to trick Wang Ta into proposing to her by having her fake brother give his blessings to the couple. Wang Ta and his family later see Linda’s performance at the nightclub, which shocks, them, and Wang Ta later gets drunk and falls asleep at Helen Chao’s apartment. Mei Li stops by the apartment to repair a damaged coat, realizes that Wang Ta is there, and leaves. Wang Ta then realizes that his feelings for LInda are superficial and pursues Mei Li, although Helen, who has unrequited feelings for Wang Ta, tries to stop him. Sammy, who had been ready to propose to Linda, is now forced to marry Mei Li because of the binding marriage contract, and he tries to convince her that he would be a bad husband. Mei Li and Wang Ta then realize that they are in love with each other, and during her wedding ceremony to Sammy Fong, Mei Li reveals that she immigrated illegally, the voiding the contract. Mei Li and Wang Ta, along with Sammy Fong and Linda Loh, get married at the end of the film.

The movie also reflected about intergenerational conflict and inner turmoil faced by second-generation Asian Americans about their Asian American identity. While this film gave Asian American representation in Hollywood, it was criticized in later years for miscasting Japanese American actors James Shigeta and Miyoshi Umeki as Chinese American characters. David Henry Hwang, an award-winning American playwright, captured his awe for the movie and its controversy in the later years in a 2001 Los Angeles Times article:

“As a boomer Asian American, you didn’t often see people that looked like you on TV. And the idea that the younger generation, at least, was portrayed as American [in the movie] was unusual. So growing up, the musical represented one of the few positive portrayals of people that looked like me. And then, at another point in my life, it became something to be demonized.”

Citations:

Hung, Melissa. “Six decades ago, ‘Flower Drum Song’ featured Hollywood’s first Asian-American cast”. NBCNews, 13 Aug 2018.