Lucy Liu with Boxer Wladimir Klitschko in 2008,
with one of her paintings
I recently wrote about the Asian (American) actress Lucy Liu, and posted the photo above of her posing with one of her paintings.
I got a response to that posting from a reader:
That painting from the 2008 photo seems to sum it up better than I ever could.I was debating whether to post that photograph or not, but it was pertinent to the discussion.
Liu is of Chinese background, but "Asian" is the term most Chinese/Korean/Japanese use when referring to their ethnic background, as does Liu.
Liu's painting exhibited at the Six Friedrich gallery for modern art in Munich is a Japanese style painting called Shunga. It is not surprising that she chose this style since it is one of the more famous "Asian" styles of painting, and I think it fits with her eroticization of the Asian female, at least in the film roles she has taken on.
Eroticism is a form of power. Rather than show us beauty, Liu shows us sex (or pornography, or "erotica" in more polite society). By putting these paintings aggressively before us, Liu is confronting us and our sense of decorum, partly saying she can do what she wants, and if we complain or find it repulsive, then we are criticizing her and her ethnicity, thus making us racist.
The only way to win back our dignity, and our civilization, is to call out these tactics by disgruntled non-whites, by showing the inferiority of their supposed superiority and by attacking back when they attack us.
Rather than let Liu and her ilk have their say (with art, fashion, literature, film, etc.) without criticism, we should hold them accountable for their words (and works), ask them to explain and substantiate their positions, and let our arguments be the best judge.
Below is the painting behind her in the above photo (there is nothing larger online, and I couldn't find a title for the piece).
Why couldn't Liu look toward Europe, or America, in other words, the West? Why is she running to the East?
It harks back to her victim-tainted statement where she said:
"I can’t say that there is no racism [in America toward Asians] - there’s definitely something there that’s not easy..."Liu "channels" the Japanese Shunga and this cultural background despite it having no relation to her own ethnic history, simply to identify with her "Asianness." It is interesting that she uses eroticism (or porn, to be more blunt) to identify with her "Asianness." There are many more pastoral Japanese and Chinese paintings she could have used, or the aggressive ones of warriors, rather than to resort to Shunga.
But, this is her way of showing us the alternate to "the emotionless Asian girl," a label which seems to haunt her (and which she gave to herself), and which she has to disprove at any opportunity, from her string of boyfriends to her pornographic art.
Is this what we are creating? A whole generation of aggrieved non-whites, who will reject the West, its culture, art and eventually society, to build their own versions of their ethnicity and society?
I think so.
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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