The Cheat is a film about a woman named Edith Hardy who invested Red Cross charity funds to Wall Street to support her lavish lifestyle and caprices. However, she lost all the money that she invested and to be able to pay back, she turned to a Japanese trader named Tori, whom she was able to persuade by flirting. In exchange for the money she borrowed, she agreed to a tryst. But then, her husbands hard work paid off and they finally had the money to pay for her debts. She tried to break up her agreement with Tori by telling him that she would just pay the amount she borrowed but the latter did not agree. Her persistence annoyed him and as a result, he branded her on the shoulder to show that she already was his property. She reacted by shooting him and left. Her husband, however, did not want her to be humiliated so he confessed to the crime. Then again, during the trial, Edith chose to admit that she was the one who really shot Tori and showed the jury of the branding made on her. Thus, instead of Edith being persecuted, the all-white jury turned the blame on the Japanese, who did humiliate a white woman.
On the other hand, Broken Blossom is a film about a native Chinese named Cheng Huan who left his native land in pursuit of sharing the message of Buddha to the Anglo-Saxon lands. His idealism began to fade as he witnessed the brutality that is happening in the inner city of London. In his quest, he met Lucy, a young girl often beaten by her father. Lucy found refuge in Chengs home, one day as she was escaping from her fathers beatings. As she was nursed by Cheng, they formed a very strong bond that connected them deeply. However, things became complicated when Lucys father found her and forced her to get back to their house. This incident led Lucy to lock herself in the closet to avoid her fathers wrath. When Cheng arrived to rescue her, it was too late. The two guys fought and later on, Cheng shot Lucys father with a gun repeatedly. He went back to his home with Lucys body and built a shrine for Buddha before claiming his own life by stabbing his stomach with a knife.
If we try to compare the two Asian characters in the film, we can say that the first one, Tori was made a villain while Cheng was a protagonist. The irony here is that, Tori was an actual Asian, he was a Japanese but the actor who played Cheng was actually a Caucasian in real life. If we analyze it, it would seem unfair for an Asian character to be played by a person with a nationality other than Asian, however, if we dig deeper, we will see the reasons and consequences behind this.
Initially, when I watched the film, I felt what most Asian viewers at this present time would feel. That is because, I am blinded by the issues that were of concern during the early 1900s. It is admirable that a real Asian a Japanese (Sessue Hayakawa), was able to portray Tori especially during those times because there was actually a real-life discrimination on Asians at that time. Although many critics admired the actor who played Tori for his wonderful portrayal of the character, the people from his homeland actually felt otherwise. In fact, they were so offended that they disclaimed him, his name was changed and his nationality was changed from Japanese to Burmese. They did not appreciate the fact that their race was condemned in a film the way it had happened and perhaps, was greatly embarrassed that someone accepted the role to portray such disgrace to them.
Cheng of Broken Blossom, on the other hand is being criticized because the character was played by a Caucasian (Richard Barthelmess). In the contemporary times, we would certainly feel insulted for the choice of character. Personally, I felt that way when watching the movie. However, as I have said earlier, the conditions of the times were different. Research has lead me to find that miscegenation was illegal during the time that the film was produced. Miscegenation is a relationship (perhaps a marriage or cohabitation) between different races. Both real life relationship and the portrayal of such relationship onscreen was unacceptable. Thus, even though we feel that it is not right, the director of the film had no choice at that time but to do what he did, to cast a Caucasian to play a minority role.
In watching these two films, we have seen the attempts of the two directors to incorporate Asians in their work. The first was able to cast an actual Asian, who eventually received the aversion of the people of his own race, while the other portrayed an Asian role but was played by another nationality. In both films, we would have different feelings towards the characters but as I have stated earlier, the conditions of the times played a great role in the mode of casting. We should be thankful that today, those considerations no longer applied for we have established that our culture is to be proud of. These two films should just serve as a reminder of the long struggles that many of our ancestors have gone through for us to be able to rise above the discrimination. We should just be glad that finally, we can have films that have Asian characters played by real Asians and that our race no longer make us the villains of films.
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