2. Both Hamamoto and Fung emphasize the need for API producers and actors in pornography. Does this seem like a valid strategy for broader API and queer representation, or is this merely trying to reform an already corrupt system? Do we need to think about pornography outside of its current corporatist model?
3. Fung connects current representations of submissive/passive queer API men in pornography to historically racist stereotypes of passive API folks, and emphasizes a need for a greater range of representations that include active/top API folks. Do you think Fung is perpetrating a too simplistic dichotomy of active/good and passive/bad? Where might the desires of submissive or masochistic API men be represented?
4. If you were in charge of creating a pornographic movie featuring Asian Americans in interracial sexual encounters, how would you film/write/edit it to ensure equality on set and freedom of stereotypes and power politics in the film?
You can respond to these or with whatever else you are thinking about. Also, be thinking about anything you might want to ask Brandon Lee at dinner.
You can respond to these or with whatever else you are thinking about. Also, be thinking about anything you might want to ask Brandon Lee at dinner.
Whenever engaging in the creation of creative work, it is difficult to balance the representations you are creating with the forces of the narrative and the realities you want to show. I've found this with various writings and short film projects I've done, none of which have included pornography. As is made clear in the readings, the gaze of the viewer and need for identification is perhaps stronger in porn than in other mediums, as these works are intentionally designed to create excitement in the viewer. Because of this, there is a lot of pandering porn out there, because porn follows money. There is also the perception that, due to the inherent capitalist/sexually fantastic engine driving porn, "There is no racism like some might think" (Yellow Porn). If people (read "white men with money") prefer to see Asians as bottoms, then that is what will be filmed because that's what will be bought. In many ways, as we've seen through readings (and I've seen through interactions with others) race has become a taxonomical classfication in the gay male community, similar to categories such as Bears, leathermen, etc. The Asian is a fetishized object.
ReplyDeleteKnowing this, what would my interracial gay porn featuring Asian or Asian-American actors look like? As I said, balancing the political, narrative and realistic necessities would be difficult. I would focus on the sex. Porn is designed to induce excitement in the viewer, and I would try to create a myriad of sexual situations that reflect a myriad of experiences, all of which would have to be incredibly hot such that people would watch it. One of the most important, yet subtle, strategies would be to show all actors as both tops and bottoms in each pairing. I am not going to argue that that would erase the racial power structure of the films, or that everyone would suddenly view all races as potential partners from both sides and we'd all be friends. Rather, a sexual encounter devoid of overriding narrative (even though it's be hard to resist doing the porn set-up scenes) and focussed solely on the sexual acts and the actors ability to switch roles and controls would hopefully increase the viability of such situations.
The thing I would not do is name it "Racial Harmony Hard-Ons" or something as blatantly political. The film would be about sex. The politics would take an overt back seat with the goal of painting a backdrop of positive representations that is partially obscured by great sex, but nonetheless comes through.
3)
ReplyDeleteFung is careful to address the potential reading of his argument that being portrayed as a bottom/passive or in certain fantasy situations is intrinsically a negative portrayal: "It is not the representation of the fantasy that offends, or even the fantasy itself, rather the uniformity with which these narratives reappear, and the uncomfortable relationship they have to real social conditions" (124). This caveat is essential for him to succesfully avoid pathologizing the desires of API men who identify as bottoms/submissive/masochistic through implications that they represent acquiescence to and identification with sexual narratives based in historical racism and colonialism. The problem, Fung asserts, is the pervasiveness of these scenarios, and so API men who are bottoms/submissive/masochistic are not being blamed for it.
It is important to problematize complaints that API men are emasculated and always portrayed as bottoms in porn - as if the two were synonymous and shameful. Perhaps a productive way to frame the issue at hand could be as an erasure of the experiences of API men who identify as tops/dominant/sadist. This serves less to propagate phobia of effeminate men and men who enjoy a receptive role in penetrative sex acts (as well as the conflation of those two groups as identical), and approaches the issue as one of narrow representation of gay API sexual subjectivity. The roles of racism and colonialism in constructing and perpetuating these narratives does not need to be left out of this framing, but they are brought a safe distance away from accusing the desires of API men who identify as bottoms/submissive/masochistic of being inherently assimilationist and tied to self-loathing.
I'd just like to talk briefly about this line: "Gay Asian men are men and therefore not normally victims of rape, incest, or other sexual harassment to which Russ is referring" (125). This kind of erasure of experience does not belong in an article condemning erasure of experience (or anywhere, for that matter). Erasure of sexual violence in gay male communities, especially when the survivors are men of color, is pervasive and harmful. Sexual violence as a way to discipline queer bodies for the perceived threat they pose to normative social structures is not some sort of isolated phenomenon that be conveniently ignored in any sort of responsible manner.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe most impenetrable barrier to producing non-demeaning representations of traditionally oppressed groups -- people of color, women, or transgendered individuals, to name a few -- is the inability to control the viewer's gaze. A scene that might empower such actors during production would do little to dismantle damaging stereotypes if they become reconfigured as fetishized objects during consumption by a more privileged gaze.
ReplyDeleteI would like to see porn that spends less time pandering to the audience and more time constructing actual eroticism between the characters. I realize this sounds completely counterintuitive to the very idea of pornography -- after all, porn is a consumer product that usually tries to involve the viewer as much as possible. But investment in creating authentic emotional relationships would set apart the actors as individuals rather than objects of a problematic sexual fantasy. By rerouting the focus of the pleasure from the viewer to the actors on screen, porn could function to challenge stereotypes that form the basis of fetishization. I might even suggest that the actors be partners off screen as well, thus cultivating more progressive power dynamics on set.
(Tangentially, 2)
ReplyDeleteAs Fung notes, "the race of the producer is no automatic guarantee of 'consciousness' about these issues or of a different product." Thus, first we must take into consideration what kinds of narratives have been normalized through media and how producers--even producers of color--perpetuate white male-centric discourses on desire.
A term that permeates any discussion on porn is fantasy, and ironically, a reimagination of fantasy seems necessary to change how porn is both created and received. Since economic motivations are interlaced within porn, imaginations of sexual possibilities become constructed--and in fact, policed--by the fantasies of dominant (white male-centric) audiences; these audiences articulate a very limited paradigm of what individuals and situations are deemed pleasurable and desirable. While fantasy is intended to be capacious and exploratory, within dominant discourse it reveals its inherent limits. Rendered as emasculated Asians or kinky Orientals, Asian American actors statically role-play in the dominant audience's fantasies; the realm of the sexual imaginary often ends before individuals of color can become fully-fleshed, free sexual agents on screen.
It is difficult to expect radical changes in porn's power politics without an explosion of porn's imaginary. If a broad understanding of erotic experiences of individuals of color can be imagined--and legitimized as veritable fantasies--porn could surface that does not solely present and perpetuate a bound set of sexual possibilities. The reconstruction of desire is not so much related to the race of the producer, but fundamentally depends on dismantling the expectations inherent in fantasy itself, and reconceptualizing what fantasies porn seeks to satisfy.
2)
ReplyDeleteAs Candace has already pointed out, Fung does mention that Asian producing does not necessarily result in "consciousness," as seen in Asian Knights. I think that this is a particularly important thing to note because it really goes to show that porn is a business. The target audience might be white men because of some normative blah blah, or it might be white men because white men are a larger consumer group. Fung does bring up the idea of an independent porno, and I think that that's the only way that business can be dismissed so that deeper issues can be dealt with.
This also brings up a much broader issue of whether or not media reflects society or society reflects media. The stereotypes that exist in porn might influence reality or might just reflect stereotypes that already exist. I tend to believe that media reflects society but magnifies the problem, which tends to then influence society. Basically, what I'm saying is that we can't pin blame on the porn industry for these stereotypes. Other things have to change first.
4)
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kelly's thoughts of the necessity in creating more of an emotional connection between the actors. Although it isn't the focus or purpose of most porn videos if a storyline with actual depth is made, it will not only increase the ease for the viewer to identify with the characters but also decrease the level of objectification that occurs. I would want more than a sexual encounter that results from someone losing a bet, a delivery, or a coach "teaching" members of a team. Something closer to erotic literary fiction but in video form.
I think a lot can be done with utilizing voice-over to narrate the inner thoughts of a character. There would be equal moaning sounds from both people. It also would be good to use some first person perspective shots, from the view of both actors, in order to prevent over identification with one or the other. For non-first person shots it would be important not to use a low angle or monumental composition shot that would elevate the power of one character over the other. The same goes for shots that loom over a person.
I would probably strip all environments within the piece of any ethnic signifier, so both characters are portrayed as regular Americans. To ensure I don't perpetuate the immigrant/foreigner stereotype for AAPI, I would make sure that the actor has no accent and speaks as eloquently as their non-AAPI costar.
It might be safer to just do a group jerk off video, because there aren't really any power dynamics in that (assuming they both "help" each other out, or just keep to themselves), and then I wouldn't have to deal with problems with who is getting penetrated or the stigma that goes with that.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePornography—more accurately, the reform of porn to better represent queer Asian men—as a means to resist the feminization of Asian men in the media disturbs me. I have no moral qualms about pornography as erotic consumption, but I am hesitant to use pornography to advance a social agenda, such as Fung’s prescription of Asian men as active/tops. Although Fung’s proposal of “Asian fucking White” attempts to undermine the poor Oriental/strong White man dynamic, I maintain that that is ineffective, counterproductive, and ultimately dangerous.
ReplyDeleteAn analysis of Brandon Lee
(http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=rdWZ8JD5dkkC&oi=fnd&pg=PA223&dq=brandon+lee+porn&ots=38muI3FbBX&sig=r9hYrhMxTHT4sH9bLtP0-6eelmA#v=onepage&q=brandon%20lee%20porn&f=false)
in a Porn Studies book praises his work as a top for defying "racialized sexual stereotypes." Lee’s films portray him as “just another random (American) gay guy one could easily find cruising in a West Hollywood bathhouse.” Lee indeed exemplifies the progressive pornographic actor for which Fung and other authors advocate. While I have no issues with Lee as a top, I do find faults with academics purporting the good that queer Asian tops generate. To cast Asian men in roles previously dominated by white actors is inherently media assimilation. That objective, I contend, is akin to cultural assimilation in society, which glosses over more relevant issues of sexuality in API/LGBTQ communities. Do Asian tops’ representation in pornography truly reflect the progress that queer Asian men have achieved? Or does it conceal and distract them from greater problems of racial discrimination within the LGBTQ movement?
I believe that the rarity of Asian tops in pornography is an outcome rather than a source of racialized stereotypes. I am indeed skeptical that porn producers maliciously and purposefully perpetuate these stereotypes. Rather, I maintain that viewers express their prejudices; producers respond. Independent and reformed pornography are artificial means to rectify prejudices that can only be redressed holistically.
This is me going on a tangent.
ReplyDeleteSo Brandon Lee is an Asian American gay porn star. When I first heard his name I assumed he was Chinese, Taiwanese, something. Then I found out he was Filipino-American.
Now Fung's article touches on how stereotyping has "focused almost exclusively on what recent colonial language designates as "Orientals"-- that is East and Southeast Asian peoples-- as opposed to the 'Orientalism' discussed by Edward Said, which concerns the Middle East" (116).
I'm not really familiar with Lee's work, but I would be interested to know how often, if at all, he inhabits a particular Asian "ethnicity" as well as how, if at all, that is challenged/problematized/modified by his actual Filipino-American identity. Or, as the Nguyen Tan Hoang article on Brandon Lee suggests, is his racial identity coded as assimilated "American" as relation to his Asian costars?
Fung also reminds us that "within the totalizing sterotype of the 'Oriental,' there are competing and sometimes contradictory sexual associations based on nationality" (116). This is important to consider. What he means by this is a person could be seen both as "kinky" as well as "sexless," depending on which contradictory racial stereotypes are ascribed to them.
I'm interested to know from Lee if he encountered this shifting set of markers, as well as how he navigates his own sense of identity within the industry as well as the totalizing stereotype of "Oriental."