"Memoirs of a Geisha"

Paper Summary:

The paper examines how both the film and the book rely on the exotic beauty of a hidden Japanese culture. The paper further examines how, because of the nature of the medium, the film is more reliant on stereotypes. The writer proposes that, while a book can subvert stereotypes with a humanizing narrative voice and force the reader to see the world through the eyes of 'the other', regardless of the reader's gender or nationality, film finds this more difficult.

From the Paper:

"The book's Cinderella story forces the reader to take on the persona of a marginalized person whose culture, country, and lifestyle is alien to most Americans. In contrast, the film "Memoirs of a Geisha," although made with Asian actors (and directed by an American filmmaker) eschews some of this first-person focus and instead stresses the brilliance of the colors and the exoticism of the geisha world to Western eyes. Thus, despite its visual power and iconography of color and design, the film tends to allow the viewer's mind to conform to stereotypes about Asians to a greater degree than that of the book."

Sample of Sources Used:

• "Asian Cultural Icons--Hot or Not?" Asian Nation: The Landscape of American 2006. Article database available on 2 Mar 2006 http://www.asian-nation.org/asian-icons.shtml
• Golden, Arthur. Memoirs of a Geisha. Random House. New York: Vintage, 1999.
• "Memoirs of a Geisha." 2004.
• O'Barr, William. Culture and the Ad. Boulder: Westview Press, 1994.
• Rogin, Michael. "Making America Home: Racial Masquerade and Ethnic Assimilation in the Transition to Talking Pictures." The Journal of American History. Vol. 79. No.3. 1992.

More papers on "Memoirs of a Geisha":

• Film Review # 116559 : "Memoirs of a Geisha"
• Research Paper # 97404 : "Japanese Geisha: A Disappearing Culture"
• Book Review # 34098 : " "Memoirs of a Very Civil Servant: Mackenzie King to Pierre Trudeau"

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