Apparently, “Slanty Eyes” Photos are The New Pink
by Guest Contributor Jenn Fang, originally published at Reappropriate
A few months back, Miley Cyrus (a Disney Channel ingenue better known for pop-star alter ego, Hannah Montanah, whom she transforms into by donning a blonde wig — wait, isn’t that the storyline of the Jem cartoon?) raised a blogosphere uproar for this picture of her (centre) at a party where she and her friends pulled their eyes back in a ludicrous “imitation” of slanted Asian eyes.
The Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) released a statement criticizing Cyrus.
The photograph of Miley Cyrus and other individuals slanting their eyes currently circulating the Internet is offensive to the Asian Pacific American community and sets a terrible example for her many young fans. This image falls within a long and unfortunate history of people mocking and denigrating individuals of Asian descent.
“Not only has Miley Cyrus and the other individuals in the photograph encouraged and legitimized the taunting and mocking of people of Asian descent, she has also insulted her many Asian Pacific American fans,” said George Wu, executive director of OCA.
Cyrus issued an official apology, but also wrote on her blog that she was only “making goofy faces” and was not intentionally “making fun of any ethnicity”. Clearly, Cyrus did not fully grasp the context of her “goofy face” — yellowface makeup, including prosthetics that have purposely slanted eyes have been used in historical and contemporary media to disguise White actors as villainous or buffoonish Asian caricatures.
In the mid-1960’s, British actor Christopher Lee wore yellow makeup and invisible tape on his eyes to portray the insidious Dr. Fu Manchu, an infamous character who originated many of today’s modern anti-Asian stereotypes. (Inset shows Lee today, without makeup).
Nicholas Cage, whose latest spate of movies seem to have all been mediocre remakes of Asian blockbusters, resurrected this yellowface tradition – complete with slanted eyes – as Fu Manchu in Quentin Tarantino’s Grindhouse two years ago. (It should be noted here that Tarantino fully intended to don yellowface, himself, to play the role of Master Pai Mai in Kill Bill, Vol. 2).
Similar cosmetic techniques were used in Breakfast at Tiffany’s to transform Mickey Rooney into the offensive caricature of Mr. Yunioshi.
Yellowface (and other forms of color-face) makeup is still evident today, with Rob Schneider donning slanted eyes to play an offensive, stereotypically Asian preacher in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.
Beyond these mainstream media examples, any Asian American can recount how their fellow schoolyard children would pull their eyes back, just as Cyrus did, to taunt us about our Asian features, perhaps even singing about “Chinky chinky Chinese” and “dirty knees” as they did so.
In that light, it’s hard to wonder how Cyrus could argue that her “goofy face” was not meant to poke fun at any particular ethnicity? Then again, Cyrus and her friends are clearly over-paid, over-privileged teen socialites, worshipped by pre-teens for the very qualities that make her ignorant of real life race and race relations: she lives a charmed life never having to face the realities of poverty, privilege and race. She is surrounded by paparazzi and gossip rags who know better than to turn on their Cash Cows of The Moment, and who would rather condemn an “over-sensitive” minority community than to chastise a celebrity for offending millions of non-White Americans.
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