Hidden Identity And Song's Deception To Rene example essay topic

How is it possible to be in love with a man for 20 years, and believe all the time that he is a woman? Did Rene never see Song unclothed? Did his hand never once wonder beneath her clothing? Is it possible that Rene did not know because he did not want to know? That for nearly two decades, he was in love with the "woman" of his dreams, and permitted no reality to interfere. Rene was blinded by his white western fantasies about the submissive Asian woman.

He wanted the "ideal" woman, but he was blinded by his so-called love of Song to permit himself to see all other evidence. Deep in his subconscious he knew the truth, he was blinded by the love of the "perfect woman", and blinded by his desire. It's impossible to believe that Rene could have been fooled for such a great amount of time. He had to have know Song's true identity after all that time he spent with "her" and must have been in great denial and repressed it in the back of his mind for all those years just to hide the fact, from himself, that he was secretly gay. Entranced by his first sight of Song Living, during a performance at a diplomatic function, he falls immediately in love, forgets his wife and his responsibilities, and embarks on a mad passion. I found Rene and Song's relationship rather sickening.

At no point throughout the movie did I once sense "true love" and happiness shared mutually between the two of them. Their relationship was full of manipulation and deceit. Rene was only in it fulfill his perverse submissive oriental women desires. Every time he asked Song, "Are you my Butterfly?" I wanted to hurl! The way that she submitted to his wants and desires sickened me, she broke her morals and "ancient Chinese traditions" just to please the white western man. Perhaps part of Song's appeal is how she always keeps Rene at arms length away, her mystery and sex appeal, the constant "chase".

Then there is Song, who leads Rene on, and conceals her true identity from him. There is a point at which Song fears her deception will be unmasked and tells Rene that she is pregnant with their child and then she runs off. It wasn't till the end of the movie that I felt some sympathy towards Rene when Song's true identity was revealed. The hurt he must have felt after finding out that his "butterfly" was a man in disguise and on top of that a spy for the Chinese government must have been so tragic and heartbreaking for him. It is viewed by the Chinese as well as other Eastern countries that Western civilization is extremely egotistical and has the view that Western culture is superior to all others. They believe they are more civilized and more educated than the rest of the world and because of this, stems the idea that it is the duty of Western civilization to take other, less developed societies under their wing.

This is accurately portrayed throughout the movie by the French diplomats. Through their dinnertime conversation and casual exchange of words, they often speak of the Chinese people as a society that needs to be colonized and whose habits and customs need to be changed and converted. New Historicism plays a part in M. Butterfly by its approach that pays particular attention to the historical situation, not merely as a decorative backdrop to the "real" work, but as an integral part of it, or even as a kind of text itself. There is heavy historical significance taking place throughout the movie. The movie is set during the time of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, which was a tragic period for the Chinese people and their civilization. The Cultural Revolution was designed to destroy the culture of pre-Communist China.

This is demonstrated in one scene of the film when Rene walks outside of a bar in Beijing, and sees protesters out in the street burning traditional Chinese books, costumes, etc. This plays an important role in the film, because of Rene and Song's love and involvement and love of the Chinese Theatre. Postcolonial China before the Revolution was made up of the China that reconstructed itself after World War II. During this time China suffered from cultural imperialism, the "takeover" over one culture by another. Mao was the Chinese leader after the war and during his reign Western culture started leaking into the China. In one scene in the movie Song's servant confronts her about her western magazines; "Don't you understand how degrading those images are to women?

And why do you have to behave this way when he is not even here? The Chinese perceived the westerners as evil. Several times Song refers to Rene as a "white devil" and one who attempts corrupts her ancient Chinese ways. She has to ask Rene to respect her ancient Chinese culture and traditions by permitting her to leave her clothing on during sex as a sign of her modesty. I found Rene's "Final Performance" to be the most powerful scene in the movie. He striped himself of his pride and dignity, and in the end you could tell he was hopeless and going to go off the deep end.

His portrayal of the death scene from Madam Butterfly was my favorite part of the movie. He broke down every guard and barrier of his emotional state and let his true emotions go in front of all his prison mates. His "poetic" death touched me because I felt that he was truly humbled and humiliated by Song's deceit and he could no longer bear to the burden of living. As he lay on the stage dying, staring at his reflection in the mirror that he slit his throat with, I got chills and felt really bad for Rene.

I felt that he was at peace with his own death as he lay there dying, holding onto no regrets. The hidden identity and Song's deception to Rene made the movie worth watching for me. The ending was definitely a jaw-dropper. I was completely clueless to Song's hidden identity. The direction of the film was very good at fooling its audience. After watching the film a second time, however, there were suttle signs I was able to pick up throughout the film giving away Song's true identity.

Lines such as Song's famous quote, "Only a man knows how a woman is supposed to act" and "men traditionally play women's roles in the Chinese theatre", her, awkward appearances and deep voice, and the fact that we never get to see her unrobe d. All together I enjoyed the film and its complex and twisted plot. It related well to the class and our discussions. It gave me a better understanding of Orientalism and the Cultural Revolution. This movie also accurately portrayed stereotypes very well. The Chinese were portrayed as what Westerners usually envision them to be like as well as the Westerns being portrayed as what the Chinese view the to be like.

If anything this film taught me that love is a powerful weapon and it's not something to be messed with.