I was watching tv the other night and a commercial for the movie "Broken Trail" broke my tv-trance. Summary:
Set in 1897, Print Ritter (Robert Duvall) and his estranged nephew Tom Harte (Thomas Haden Church) become the reluctant guardians of five abused and abandoned Chinese girls (introducing Caroline Chan, Olivia Cheng, Jadyn Wong, Valerie Tian, and Gwendoline Yeo). Ritter and Harte's attempts to care for the girls are complicated by their responsibility to deliver a herd of horses while avoiding a group of bitter rivals intent on kidnapping the girls for their own purposes. Directed by Walter Hill
Basically big, hero cowboys save helpless, abused and abandoned Chinese girls. It's due to come out on AMC, June 25-26. I wonder if they'll end up being adopted. *smack
Had to laugh at your reaction. I’m right behind you with the bitch slapping, call if you need backup.
Well… that is what cowboy movies ARE all about… saving a “weaker” someone (usually a white woman) and killing savage Indians. I wonder what role the “native warriors” play?
If they wanted to highlight the plight of young Chinese women in the late 19th Century in the US why didn’t they just make a movie about Donaldina Cameron’s life? Of a real movie that addressed the real tragedy of the time period? This is a rather lame way to highlight this particularly tragic episode of US history. ICK! (OKAY, well IMO, ALL of US history from the time the Europeans arrived is tragic)
Though… I don’t know if white missionaries “saving” enslaved Chinese girls is any better? At least it is historical truth and shows that there was someone in the US that had a sense of justice.
I can certainly relate to your reaction, Sume. Loved the ‘adopted’ remark.
I saw the preview for that movie in the movie theater this weekend. It was right as hubby and I were sitting down with our popcorn and ginormous Diet Cokes, so I didn’t really see what the story was about — I just caught glimpses of white cowboys and dirty-faced Chinese chicks. At that point, I tuned the preview out and focused on my snacks until the movie started. Because really, my Peanut Butter M&Ms seemed way more worthy of my attention than Robert Duvall in chaps. *Sigh* So much for any Asian actors making a big splash at the box office this summer.
how fat are you?
Oy!
another cheezy movie where white heros save “other” people from themselves a la City of Joy, Dangerous Minds, and countless others. It is such a stupid genre filled with lots of self congradulation and cringe evoking dialogue.
i couldn’t see all the stuff at the link, but are those girls pre-pubescent or are they children? i am just wondering about the fetish factor.
Thanks for your comments.
Haha Jaye, I might just take you up on that.
Diane, I know. You'd think I'd be use to the idea by now. Call me over-sensitive, but I feel insulted by this movie. Why introduce the idea of anyone saving them at all? For one thing, the truth is they weren't always saved. Something like this would have been better done as a documentary, IMHO.
I have to ask myself why was it done this way? To ensure that white cowboys weren't seen in a wholly negative light? To fulfill America's need for happy endings? And what does this movie say about how America views not only itself but Chinese/Asians in general? Maybe I'm making too much of it, but then again, maybe not?
I didn't see any "Natives" in the cast so maybe they just threw in a few drunk Indian extras to keep the whole thing authentic. *smack
Ji-in, it's better you didn't see the entire thing. It might have ruined your appetite. Btw, one of the girls is from Desparate Housewives. I don't watch the show but I think I read she plays the maid.
lol Tiel. Yup.
Fatima, I'm not sure what age they're suppose to be but they actresses actual ages range from 12th grade on up. Anytime I see a movie like this, the fetish factor comes to mind. I guess I'll just have to wait till the movie airs if I can force myself to sit through the entire thing.
Sume,
A documentary would be great! I wonder if anyone is even aware enough of the whole period to approach the subject?
What I gather from the little “how the story came about” marketing tool was that Mr Duval and his screenwritter buddy wanted to make a new western for Mr Duval to star in so that he could make a little pocket change and indulge his “love of the genera”. So they somehow morphed the story of a horse purchase/drive and the story of Donaldina Cameron’s rescue work into this story? What the????
No, all of the girls weren’t always resuced. Many of them died at the hands of ruthless, disgusting white men who used them up for their own purposes. Who thought of them as less than human (same thing with many women in general but women of color in particular). It turns ones stomach to think about it.
In true big, rich white guy fasion, hollywood has taken history and turned it into fiction of the most disgusting and mis-leading kind. Taking something so horriffic as the slave/prostitution trade of Chinese women in the US during the late 1800s and turning it into a fluff cowboy movie is irresponsible and disgusting. (okay! I feel a letter to the powers that be coming on!)
We do a terrible job of teaching history in the country. Its criminal the way that important aspects of our history and how this country was built/created are glossed over or completely ignored. Very few people know about the enslavement of the Chinese or the Native Indians… this is one reason racial issues are so black/white. NO one has a clear picture of the whole story simply because facing what REALLY happened would mean owning up to the GREED. Yep, short memories and happy endings that is what the USA is all about…
O-KAY… I’ve gone off on a rant. Pardon me. This whole thing raises topics that are near and dear to me as a Native American person and an a-parent to an Asian child and a seeker of truth…
I’m sure the Indians will be maurading savages out to steal the girls or horses…or both.
As Tiel so eloquantly stated. “OY!”.
I’ll give you back your blog now… thanks for the soapbox.
Diana, agree with you about how we teach history. Btw, didn’t you just love Disney’s rendition of Pocahantas? I won’t mention what they still teach about Christopher Columbus in the schools. Oops, I just did. It’s no wonder people don’t have their history straight. My kids learn one thing at school and another at home.
After reading BMH@WK and In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, American history takes on a whole new light. The crimes against the indigenous people of America was nothing less than genocide. Just call it for what it is. Urgh. You’re going to get me going on my own rant.
Sume,
I have moments/days/weeks where I think my head will explode because I am so angry about things… then I have to step back and realize that I can’t change what has passed. I can only educate now.
I spend my 20s and 30s being angry about all sorts of things only to discover that no one listens to a raging lunatic anyway…
Now when I find myself angry about these things, I go practice compassion meditation; remind myself that nothing is fixed or permanent; actions have consequences; and change is possible. Then I go compose a kind but stinging letter to whatever power has pissed me off.
Found your posts on Broken Trail.
I bought the novel last week and was looking for a discussion group on it. I can see that you’re pretty pissed off about it – but you might read the book and perhaps be a bit shocked. The plot as you point out sounds pretty a typical. Cowboy saves the poor helpless and abused – all hail the cowboy. In fact the story follows the historical truth that in the late 1800s the chinese were being exploited by the whites. Here the 5 chinese girls were abducted from mainland China and brought to the US to be sold into prostitution. They were bought by a complete bastard of a white man who’s intent is to take them to Wyoming to whore them off. Instead, he can’t get to his final destination without “damaging the goods” and decides it’s better to steal horses and money from the two horsemen he meets along the way and leave them with them. The main characters, whom I assume are played by Duvall and Church in the movie end up trying to do right with them, while the story continues to unfold around how screwed up life in the West was and how immigrants – or in this case kidnapees (sp?) are treated like crap. Anyways – my two cents. I expected something else as well – but was pleasantly surprised by the story.
Diana, I hear ya. Luckily, I have blogging and poetry to vent out all that rage otherwise, I probably would be a raving lunatic. Good for you for turning all that negative energy into something productive. It’s not always easy to do.
Mike, thanks for the heads-up. I know I should hold criticism until I actually see the movie. Because of my experiences with similar subjects, it’s become a knee-jerk reaction when I see movies like these. I don’t have much faith in movies based on books either. Very few have been able to successfully move a story from book to big screen, IMHO. Sometimes, they miss the whole point of the book.
I hate to admit this, but I do enjoy some “old west” series, movies and books. I grew up in Texas, after all. I think it’s always a good idea to read a book first before watching any movie based on it. I still squench at the whole idea but I’ll put the book on my reading list.
I totally agree with said “knee jerk” reactions. I had one too when hearing about a story about white men saving poor asian girls, but there’s actually a lot of historical context to this story and it does reflect what actually happened to Chinese women in the old west. All the negative stereotypes that exist about Chinese females are rooted in this era when America’s first glimpse of Asian women were of them being marketed and exploited against their will as exotic whores. It’s sad that most of us don’t know about it today. My friend’s in media and I got to attend the NYC pre screening of Broken Trail with him a couple of weeks ago. I went in there ready to grumble and hate it and bitch about another movie that depicts Asian women as mere playthings and was very surprised that I was won over. the film doesn’t delve deep into a history lesson per se, but the women are the central presence throughout the film that drive the story. The biggest thing that struck me was how they come across as human beings, not stereotypes who simply decorate the background. That said, I would’ve liked to know more about them, I think the production should’ve given us more history about these girls and developed their characters more but I guess the point is for us to be intrigued and want to know more about them. Plus, the stars are Robert Duvall and Thomas HAden Church. Gwendolin Yeo (Desperate Housewives) and Olivia Cheng (www.oliviacheng.com, a Entertainment Tonight Canada correspondent and hard news journalist from Canada) are particular standouts among the women. Yeo is very strong as the leader of the girls, and the camera loves Cheng’s stand out beauty and fragility on screen. Actually, all the girls are wonderful and they’re what kept me wanting to see more. It was very bizarre seeing them in person on the red carpet because they’re all North American born and are very articulate and bubbly in person. This isn’t a perfect movie, I’d like to see more development of the Chinese girls but I definitely urge everyone to check it out before making judgements. You may be pleasantly surprised.
I bounced to this page after Google-ing for reactions to Broken Trail. I’m not of Asian heritage, but I was curious about how the film was perceived in its treatment of the Chinese characters. I was a bit blown away by the comments here. But, I guess one purpose of this thread (at least in pre-release speculation) is to vent wildly about your low expectations. I saw the film over these two nights and was quickly drawn into the story. It’s basically a road-picture where you journey with the lead characters through some brutal realities of those times. More importantly, you come to understand how precious genuine acts of humanity under such circumstances really are. It’s not perfect, but I liked the film. I thought the Chinese women were not one-dimensional. In fact, I think some people here would probably revel in the fact that most of the women of European heritage in the film were only set decorations and, in one case, a stereotypical, tried and true plot device. I read an interview with Olivia Cheng and Robert Duvall recently. Olivia was highly sketpical about the plot point regarding families in China selling their daughters into servitude. She researched it extensively herself to confirm it before accepting the role. China was in major civil disruption near the end of the Ching dynasty and that was simply the sad truth (of course, you can believe they were “abducted” perhaps even by “dirty white men cowboys” if it fits your current world-view). Those girls often didn’t live more than five years in America because of horrible conditions in the mining camps, suicide, or worse. Don’t you think it’s at least plausible that someone, knowing the women’s probable fate, would want to help them? Duvall mentioned that he and the film’s writer/producer built the fictional script entirely from historical records, stories, events, diaries, etc. Let’s try getting beyond our cynicism long enough to give it a chance…
Ooooops! Forgot to mention… My only complaint is with the male Chinese character, Lung Hei. I really felt they should have tossed him a big shiny six-shooter so he could plug a few of the bad guys. That character needed to be written with a tad more balls… ’nuff said.
Thanks Nicole and Jim. I’m afraid I suffer from the pain of too many disappointments but as wisdom dictates, I’ll hold further comment until I actually see the film. I missed the first airing due to VCR malfunction. grumble I’ll have to catch the re-airing on the sixth of next month. I intend to come back to this after that. If the show was done well, it deserves due credit.
It would be an nice surprise and I’d be happy to be proven wrong in my skepticism.
Hi,
I’d like to chime in too. While not perfect (it was hard to get into sometimes because of all the commercials, that was really annoying), I think this movie will open up diaglogue in terms of Asian American history. I would’ve liked to see more of the girls because they are the critical element that set this movie apart from other westerns, and it’s a huge credit to all the actresses that they brought so much humanity to their roles as supporting characters. I would’ve like to see more scenes with them, especially once Lung Hay arrives (huge oversight AMC!) but they really do make you stop grumbling about Hollywood’s treatment of Asian females because you just become attached to them.
Olivia Cheng in particular was so moving to watch. She’s not an experienced actor (in fact she’s a news reporter / entertainment correspondent in Canada) but she shines on screen. The despair just radiates from her face and there’s an underlying current of edginess that makes you uneasy because you so want her to emerge from her numb state of devestation. I don’t want to give anything away for those of you who haven’t watched Broken Trail yet but Ye Fung is the one who is most brutalized and has the hardest time struggling to hold it together — probably because she’s the stand out beauty which is a curse in her situation. My eye was drawn to her whenever she was on screen. I’d be really curious to see what Olivia can do in an English speaking role.
Gwendoline Yeo plays her moments beautifully with subtle grace as the oldest of the girls Sun Foy. She naturally becomes the one who holds the group together and acts as a liason with the cowboys. She’s the natural love interest for Thomas Haden Church because the other girls are just babies compared to Sun Foy’s mature wisdom. It’s a real contrast to her role on Desperate Housewives where she goes for over the top comedy in the vein of the show’s humour. Good on her.
Jadyn Wong has a nice edginess about her as the disaffected adolescent Ghee Moon. She’s the angry teen everyone’s been, the skeptical child who’s waiting to be let down again by those around her. We’ve all been her in one point in our lives, even if we can’t understand what it’s like to be an 1800′s Chinese cast off. Jadyn plays the character with a wariness that radaites from her eyes.
Valerie Tian plays Ging Wah, the youngest with the bound feet. She’s so well cast as she’s completey, heartbreakingly endearing in her innocence. The thought of any man harming her brings home the sickening reality of what too many girls faced upon arriving in America. Every scene she has with Duvall is charming and touching in its sweetness as Duvall’s character showers her character the most with his surrogate paternal love. Valerie’s character made me look up some history on Chinese women who were brought over to America and I was sickened to read that some girls were as young as 5 or 6 when they were sold by their families. Most were enslaved as servants until they were old enough to be resold as prostitutes. They were usually gang raped and beaten into submission and so continued their living hell.
Caroline Chan rounds out the group as May Ling, also one of the youngest in the group. She has such an expressive face and her sweetness is a nice balance to Ye Fung’s sullen depression, Sun Foy’s constant worry and Gee Mon’s sarcasm. She tries to hold the group together in her own way, and literally jumps between Gee Moon and Ye Fung in one scene when the two threaten to clash.
I think the Chinese girls do us proud. If we slam anyone, let’s be specific about going after the writers who could’ve given these talented young ladies more to do, but let’s not aim any barbs at these actresses who elevate this movie to a higher level. They brought a lot to their roles, I didn’t expect to be so moved by their performances.
oh by the way:
http://www.gwendolineyeo.com
and
http://www.oliviacheng.com
You can email both directly through their sites.
Just watched the encore presentation, I love the Chinese girls. i related most to ghee moo, played by kristianna wong. I read the novel though, what a disappointment. the girls are complete one dimensional caricatures in the book. it sucks on that level eventhough i’m sure all the cowboys love the attention given toevery other detail in the book
People! Take a chill pill. Movies are not real. For entertainment purposes only. If you want your way…go to BK or prodeuce one your self.
This is a nice story of fiction, but based on very factual historical circumstances. I am dissappointed at the general “politically correct” attitute on this site disparaging white people and white cowboys. Historically speaking at roughly the same time (late 1800,s) China was just recovering from THE most bloody war in history- the Taiping Rebellion.( So much for peaceful Chinese culture.) Yes there were bad whites, just like bad Indians and bad Mexicans and bad blacks, etc. The people who sold these girls were Chinese weren’t they?
Just a note to remember to all you white haters. This country was founded by white men who were more brilliant than you could ever hope to be. If this country and our history is so disgusting to you then MOVE. Do you think people have as much freedom in China or North Korea? Do you think women have more rights in Muslim countries? Would you have enough to eat or have adequete health care in Africa? Would you pay less taxes in Europe? Despite all it’s problems, this is the best place to live; and showing racism to whites is counter to the liberal diversity spirit. You come accross as ungrateful parasites.
This is a nice movie. I think you’re jealous because maybe these girls are cuter than you.
you are a ching chong racist!
Damn! Where do I start? I saw the movie but had forgotten the name. So I was searching today because I want to purchase it and keep it in my collection. Then I came across this bullshit page full of a bunch of uneducated a-holes who are the typical reason why we have wars. All talk without having a clue about the movie or story in question.
I could give a shit if the heroes of these unfortunate girls were green! The fact is they had the decency to try to help some young ladies who were sold into slavery. And for the dude who mentions “bitch slapping”. What? Was your mother that cruel to you? Or were you born out of a shit hole instead?
Its a beautiful story. Spend the damn money to rent it or buy it and eliminate your tight ass complaint about commercials.
One more sad thing. I am sure there wouldn’t have been any “cloaked” bashing had the girls been mentioned in the plot as “daughters of the golden west”. Sick.
Just got done watching the movie for the second time. Yes, I’m a cowboy at heart. Am I educated enough to see the historical flaws of the film? Yes. But I am also relaxed American who enjoys a good story with stunning scenes of the Rockies. No amount of bias toward political “correctness” would influence me enough to not watch this movie. Are movie actors overpaid? Probably, but only because society allows it. Even if he is, Duvall is a legend as an actor and from what I read, very down to earth. All of the whiners that rant on this blog are emotional timebombs who wouldn’t have a life if the internet ceased to exist.
except that Broken Trail is a true story. The white rancher you slam married the “dirty” faced Chinese girl ps. saw they whole movie and no one but the dirty white folks had mud on them. anyway, their grandchildren still ranch in Wyoming. sometimes I don’t know who is worse, the bigots or us liberals. either ways it’s all about division, division, division. shame on us all.
I picked this movie up at K-Mart out of the $5 movie bin. Robert Duvall, a western, and saving innocent young girls. Sounded like a way to fill a snowy evening. Turns out the movie was much more than that. If you watch closely, you see the “good” and “bad” West. Life is what it is. Rather than slam the story or all the white people in it, look at all the good. Print Ritter was a noble and heroic character. Why is it so hard to accept that he choose to do a noble and heroic thing? As for the Chinese girls being one dimensional, remember they have been torn from their homes, brutalized, and don’t even speak the language. Given the limitations of the circumstances, the actresses play the part beautifully. With little dialogue they convey the fear and confusion of these poor girls. And pay attention to the end. These girls went on to be successful women. History is not politically correct and it is an injustice to try to make it that way. This movie certainly brought to my attention an part of American and Chinese history that I was not familiar with. I certainly intend to read the novel and to research more about this topic. What is more shameful than the fact this ever happened, is the fact that some people choose to play the victim rather than move ahead as free human beings.
A fluff piece, made by and for white guys, so us Americans can feel so much better about ourselves? As opposed to how the Vietnamese people have treated each other? Gets a little old hearing about how crappy America is, even though that is the trend. My question is, if America is so crappy, why do so many people try to get here?
[...] Movie Alert « Ethnically Incorrect DaughterMay 29, 2006… Caroline Chan, Olivia Cheng, Jadyn Wong, Valerie Tian,… … to rent it or buy it and eliminate your tight ass complaint about commercials. [...]
Oh no, a movie where the good guys are white. What a tragedy. Must be hard carrying that chip on your shoulder. I assume the irony of your location and the language you are blogging in is lost on you.
To all the ladies at the beginning of the blog…..You are talking about sterotyping and bigotry in the movies, but aren’t you doing the same? Your comments were extremely presumptive, bigotted and hateful about a movie you hadn’t even seen…and you were very wrong. To all the people who answered with such class. If you want someone to actually listen to what you have to say leave the crass remarks and profanity out of it. This was a well done movie, it has it’s flaws, but it deserves better than a lot of what I read here.
Moon