Renee Tajima Reads Asian Images in American Films: Charlie Chan Go Home

Overview

This video traces the images of Asian women in Hollywood productions from Geisha girl to dragon lady. Film and television help to promote the myth of Asian women as passive, thoughtless beings available for sexual consumption or as obedient servants. Renee Tajima-Pena is currently the Graduate Director of the Masters Program in Social Documentation and an associate professor of community studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Tajima-Peña is an award-winning film director and producer, notable for “Who Killed Vincent Chin?” (PBS), for which she received an Academy Award nomination, and “MY AMERICA…or Honk if You Love Buddha.”