Hollywood’s Stereotype of the Japanese American
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After Pearl Harbor, Hollywood’s portrayals of the Japanese became even
worse, and films linked them to the Third Reich, calling the alliance “Nazi/
Nipponese”: “Not only were the Nazis and Japanese partners in espionage; they
also knew in advance about Pearl Harbor, which, according to Hollywood, was
one of the biggest open secrets in history” (Dick 231). The numerous movies
characterizing the Japanese as the antagonist during the post-Pearl Harbor years
include We \ ’e Never Been Licked, Remember Pearl Harbor, Salute to the Marines,
Betrayal from the East, Behind the Rising Sun, and Blood on the Sun (Dick).
Hollywood portrayed the average Japanese as “slight of build, smiling,
and — most important — a wearer of horn rim glasses that create a saucer-eyed
look” (Dick 230). These images were cast freely, as noted in the 1942 film Across
the Pacific. Actor Victor Sen Yung played the character Joe in the movie, although
he was not Japanese. “Oriental” actors often shuttled between roles of Chinese
allies and the Japanese enemy due to major casting problems in the 1940s: “the
American authorities had herded all the West Coast Japanese into detention camps”
(Tiana 38). No ethnic Japanese actors were available to portray Japanese villains.
To solve this dilemma, Chinese and Koreans were cast in these roles, since “all
Asians look alike” (Tiana 38).
In his study of racism in World War 11 documentary films, Garrett asserts
that these documentaries, including military training films, followed Hollywood’s
lead in depicting the Japanese stereotype, especially in terms of physical features.
Portrayals of the Japanese as the “enemy” in these films also included the
exaggerated Asian features ofbuckteeth, “bandy” legs, and big spectacles. Coupled
with a prejudice already in place in reality, such films furthered anti-Japanese
sentiment toward those Japanese of U.S. birth and citizenship:
The many derogatory references to the physical differences of
the Japanese have the effect of making everyone of Japanese
descent an enemy; unlike the racially similar Germans, who
could be divided into ‘Nazis’ or ‘good Germans,’ all Japanese
became simply ‘Japs.’This officially sanctioned attitude toward
racial differences explains why those Americans of Japanese
descent were also vilified... (Garrett 75).
Garrett points to the few films that focused on or mentioned the Nisei
soldiers of the 442nd. In 1942, the U.S. government’s War Relocation Authority,
which oversaw the internment, produced a short film on the 442nd, titled Go fo r
Broke (Garrett). However, the documentary did not mention racism (Garrett); rather,
it “seems to have been made to show white Americans the great contributions
made by Japanese-American soldiers in combat,” serving more as a propaganda