From the Smoodin article, I suspected that the romantic relationship in The Bitter Tea of General Yen would be a bit more balanced than what was actually depicted in the film. This was my first viewing of the film, and I felt the attraction was quite one-sided. Megan's character was struggling with an attraction for General Yen, more so than General Yen was struggling with an attraction for her. One of the taglines of the film states, "Their forbidden love wrecked an empire!" I find this tagline misleading, as Megan was the one who admitted to being in love. Her admission is also confusing as she was the one that actively led to his downfall.
As seen from the dream sequence, Megan is enraptured with General Yen as he completely penetrates her subconscious. Whether he is a malevolent Nosferatu or a masked "knight in shining armor", Megan still harbors serious unresolved feelings for him. General Yen's behavior is quite flirtatious, but nothing obscenely sexual or disrespectful. If he flirts with her she isn't able to reciprocate in a light-hearted manner. On the contrary, she becomes quite irritable and melodramatic. "WHY DO YOU TORTURE ME?" is one of her most dramatic lines as it represents her exasperation with their unconsummated relationship.
The posters for The Bitter Tea of General Yen paint an entirely different picture than what occurs in the film. One poster has General Yen's body on top of Megan, as she wears a dress that is almost unable to contain her heaving bosom. In another poster Megan is wearing another revealing dress that once again accentuates her bust. In the second poster however, General Yen is placed on the side looking at Megan out of the corner of his eye. These posters are very important to the comprehension of racial stereotypes at this time, because the role of the "exotic" character is demonized and stigmatized as the sexual aggressor even though Barbara Stanwyck's character is wearing sexually suggestive clothing. These posters represent a palpable double standard in regard to the sexual nature of White vs. Other, not only in the film but also in American society (especially in the first-half of the 20th century). The fact that people even call this film a romantic film is intriguing, as Megan is the only one who seems to have romantic feelings. In the end she emasculates General Yen and destroys his empire. His only option to die with dignity is suicide- how quickly romance turns into tragedy!
- Leila Estes
1 comment:
You bring up an interesting contrast between the film's advertising and its content. I think I saw more of a "romantic" aspect to the character dynamics than you did, but I almost felt the relationship between the two main characters, as depicted in the film itself, was too ambiguous or even inconsistent at times, and I can't help but wonder how the script might have been impacted by censorship restrictions.
I'll also add that I found the dream sequence to be an oddly "literal" depiction of the conflict Megan was feeling, and is an usually highly-stylized sequence for Capra.
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