ðHgeocities.com/jw372.geo/mbreview.htmlgeocities.com/jw372.geo/mbreview.htmldelayedxÓ[ÕJÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÈ ‰’Ò OKtext/html€ØÊœÒ ÿÿÿÿb‰.HMon, 19 Mar 2001 02:20:20 GMTgMozilla/4.5 (compatible; HTTrack 3.0x; Windows 98)en, *Ó[ÕJÒ mbreview Jennifer Weeks
Professor de Jésus
Spring 2001

    David Hwang's M. Butterfly opened at Gammage Thursday evening.  The play, which is based on a true story, centers around a French diplomat, Rene Galenorn, and the (male) Chinese spy (his "Butterfly") whom he takes as his mistress.  Were this not a true story, it would certainly require a great deal of suspension of disbelief.  As it is, it is still difficult to reconcile one's self to the idea that a man might bed a "woman" for twenty years and be mistaken as to his lover's gender.
    The play was skillfully acted;  John Something's portrayal of Song, the Chinese spy, was particularly adept in gender flipping.  One feels, however, that Westernization has made a faithful rendition almost impossible.  The kind of docile Asian woman Song is intended to become no longer exists, and any attempt to portray her would verge on caricature.  But Something goes too far in the other direction and "Butterfly" comes on like a cheap hooker.
    M. Butterfly is an important part of Asian Pacific American art, mainly because it addresses issues such as Asian masculinity and the objectification of Asian women.  The play dances around stereotypes of the devious Chinese, though never quite lighting on the issue.  In M. Butterfly, the plot seems to conspire with the viewer's deep-set, quietly held prejudices, bringing us ideas we easily accept, until the end, when the fragile erection of stereotypes falls to the ground like a house of cards.
    Anybody who enjoys Asian Pacific Art, or just needs to have their ideas tossed about in their heads for a bit, should go to see M. Butterfly.  Tickets are $12;  the show will be running through March 12th.

For more information on David Hwang's ideas about Asian-Pacific American art, click here