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Race, Sex and the 'Charlotte Sometimes' ControversyDirector Eric Byler addresses APA/hapa schism and boycott threat
1. Resentment August 8, 2003 - Any time there is competition in the sexual arena, questions of masculinity, femininity, and standard of beauty will inevitably boil to the surface. When I cast Michael Idemoto and Matt Westmore as rival romantic leads in charlotte sometimes, I was prepared for varied reactions. To simplify things for those who have not seen the film, Idemoto’s character (Michael) is the good guy and Westmore’s character (Justin) the bad guy. Michael’s approach to sex and relationships is dignified, respectful, and reserved; while Justin’s is straightforward, aggressive and arrogant. Some people, not that many but some, are upset by charlotte sometimes because one of the actors is not like the others. Not only is Westmore half Asian / half Caucasian (a.k.a. Hapa), he is depicted in intimate scenes with women who are full-blooded Asian (Eugenia Yuan as Lori, and Jacqueline Kim as Darcy) which in itself is offensive to some. To complicate matters, I’m Hapa as well, which to an interesting degree made both me and the film easy targets when detractors recently sought to rally support against the film on behalf of “full-blooded” Asian Americans. Now that it’s completed, I find it hard to believe that this $20,000, family-funded film that took six years and a hundred miracles to make is so often discussed within the limited contexts of racial antagonism and sexual myopia. In my view, charlotte sometimes investigates sex and relationships in ways that are so much more complex than ethnic contraposition. How does a woman who is the prevailing standard of beauty approach sex and relationships differently than a woman who bravely redefines it? How does a man who perceives himself at a disadvantage in the sexual arena relate to women differently than a man who has no such disadvantages? Just to name a few. Disadvantages in the sexual arena can include anything from body type to birthmarks, language barriers to social class. In charlotte sometimes, such disadvantages are intended to create dramatic conflict, viewer sympathy and identification. They include body type (for both genders), height (for both genders but in opposite ways), social class (blue collar vs. white collar), and the suspicion that women prefer an Eurasian aesthetic to an Asian one. (At the outset of the film, Lori has two boyfriends who are Asian, but she only has sex with the one who is Hapa.) The fact that race, above all else, is focused upon by certain detractors of charlotte sometimes is attributable to three factors: (1) historical conflicts between Asians and Caucasians, i.e. war, colonialism, racism; (2) sexual stereotypes that are especially insulting to Asian men; (3) the systematic exclusion of heroic and sexual Asian male characters in American mass media.
Oh, and there’s one more: Many Asian Americans do not, or do not always, include Hapas in their definition of Asian American. 2. We Racially Asian People charlotte sometimes is not the only film to create a stir over the question of Hapas and the Asian American community. When the second Charlie’s Angels film revealed that Alex (Lucy Liu’s character) is Hapa, I have to say I was a little annoyed. What would have been wrong with casting an Asian actor in the role of Alex’s father instead of John Cleese? Meanwhile, MANAA (Media Action Network for Asian Americans) president Aki Aleong wrote in a letter to director Joseph McGinty Nichol that a Hapa Lucy Liu, “nullifies the wonderful statement you made by casting her in the first installment…. To now imply that [Lucy's character is] half-Asian belittles the pleasure and relief Asian Americans and fair-minded audiences had when they saw an Asian woman standing up for justice and overcoming great obstacles." By the way, Mr. Aleong and his organization support charlotte sometimes and support Hapas as part of the Asian American community. But I’m not sure how I feel about the idea that mixed blood (implied by casting) somehow negates the pride we can take in a fictional character’s coolness. On the other hand, would any of us be surprised to hear that non-Asian blood in Tiger Woods, Keanu Reeves, and Michelle Branch compromises their worth as role models for our community? Last March, I attended a 2003 Independent Spirit Awards screening of charlotte sometimes at The Anthology Film Archives in New York. The film’s surprising nominations meant precious opportunities for the first ever win for an Asian American film at the Independent Spirit Awards (charlotte sometimes was the fourth such nominee in three decades). Amidst the voting body who would help decide the winners were five non-voting guests, sent to me by fellow Hapa filmmaker Greg Pak. During the oft-mentioned “sex on the floor” scene, an Asian American man, who had only moments ago thanked me for sneaking him in, stormed out of the theater, bursting through the double doors with such intensity that they slammed against the walls beyond.
Two months later, at the Galaxy Theater in San Francisco, a man in the audience voiced similar discomfort with scenes featuring Westmore in intimate situations with the film’s purebred leading ladies. Things heated up soon afterwards on Internet forums. APA men reported on sites like ModelMinority.com and AsianGuy.com that by their count, the number of sex scenes involving Westmore was greater than the number of sex scenes involving Idemoto. (This is true by my count too: although Idemoto stars with Kim in the sexiest scenes in the film, and stars with Yuan in the most romantic, we never actually see him have sex with either woman. I did film such a scene between Idemoto and Yuan, but it did not make the final cut.) Having mislabeled Justin as a “white guy,” the original posters were incensed by the sexual scorecard. Not only does the “white guy” have more sex than the Asian guy— he’s having sex with “our” women. Many APA men (all of whom had yet to see the film) were quick to join the crusade:
Another APA man added:
Once this was brought to my attention, I decided to reply, not to ask them to reconsider assassinating me, or to ask them to support the film, but to clear up some simple misunderstandings. I explained I’m not white. I’m Hapa. I explained that Westmore, the so-called WM, is also Hapa. The WM / AF thing was not the issue because all of the characters in charlotte sometimes are Asian. This distinction between white and Hapa was of little interest to the boycotters. This reply was posted on Asianguy.com:
I decided to ignore that post. But I did reply to others surfacing on ModelMinority.com who asserted that Hapas only count as Asian American if they meet certain criteria, and Matt Westmore and I were simply not up to standards. One important reason was our surnames. One man proclaimed that Hapas should be categorized according to the race of their fathers:
Another boycotter elaborated:
Many joined me in arguing that no criteria should exist that could potentially rob Hapas of their Asian heritage. In fact, dozens of Asian American women and men, both mixed and mono-racial, posted in support of tolerance and inclusion. But the general consensus among the boycotters was that Hapas are only welcome in the community if their fathers are Asian, and if their skin and hair are dark enough. Soon, the forum was littered with several of the worst generalizations about Hapas and interracial marriage I have ever scene. Here are three of my favorites:
3. Acts of Solidarity It’s interesting to point out that half of the supporters, and not one of the detractors were women. Also, I mentioned it earlier, but let me repeat it: not one of the men quoted above had actually seen the film. They were stirred to action by summations provided by full-blooded Asian men who had seen the film, but never advocated a boycott. It goes without saying that deep-seated resentment toward those who are not (fully) Asian contributed to their willingness to condemn a movie they had even seen. They did so as an act of solidarity. Strangely enough, I can recall a situation where I did the same. When the film Pearl Harbor was released, I was skeptical to begin with. Then, I heard some complaints from the Asian American community, and having grown up in Hawai'i, and having been displeased with numerous films set in Hawai'i made by and about Caucasians, I assumed Pearl Harbor was more of the same.
If the director of Pearl Harbor were Asian, I might have been willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, and at least see the film before condemning it. Instead, I decided not to see Pearl Harbor based on my assumption the Asian Americans who criticized the film were right, and the Caucasians who made the film were wrong. There is, of course, one gigantic difference between Pearl Harbor and charlotte sometimes. The authors, the director, the stars, the production designer, and the editors of charlotte sometimes are all Asian American. This makes a blind boycott more difficult to instigate, and it should, shouldn’t it? Perhaps this is why detractors of charlotte sometimes made such a point of my Caucasian traits, and those of Mr. Westmore. Perhaps this is why they made distinctions between “Asian with white blood” and “ white with Asian blood,” and asserted and that Hapas take on the ethnicity of their father. Perhaps this is why they created a new term, “white hapa”—refusing, even, to grant us the ethnic connotations of the term we prefer. They needed to isolate me and Matt Westmore as NOT part of this community, as outsiders who are not to be trusted. The scary thing is, they were on to something. If Hapas were truly accepted as part of this community, would any of this -- the boycott, the in-fighting, the mistrust I am greeted with by individuals and organizations who have heard about the film but not yet seen it -- would any of this have been necessary? The single most important argument against charlotte sometimes was that Hapas and full-breeds are fundamentally different. Maybe so. But is this true to the extent that Hapas should not have sex with full-breeds? I fail to see the logic. We may have different ancestry, but we’re not a different species. When Hapa artists endeavor to tell stories that involve Asian Americans, should we be met with the same criticism and/or skepticism usually reserved for non-Asians who do the same? In thirty-some-odd posts on ModelMinority.com, I refused to answer questions about the film unless they acknowledged my Hapa identity and that of Matt Westmore. The forum ended when one detractor rephrased his question, and asked “Why is Justin Hapa?” instead of “Why is Justin white?” If you want to read my answer, you can find it on page 45 of the ugliest forum discussion you’ll ever want to see. But the more significant discourse had very little to do with charlotte sometimes, and very much to do with the future of Hapas in the Asian American community. I think the answer to this debate-- whenever it comes-- will reflect upon us all. Not only will it define the ethnic make-up of our community; it will also define its character.
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