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Squash! Identity in Swallowtail Butterfly


Good Morning Blog,


One of the first things I noticed in this movie was the collection roles of identities presented. For example, take Glico.Glico was born in China, so part of her identity is Chinese. She now lives in Japan, so another part of her identity is Japanese. And finally, she lives in Yentown, which has its own identity as Yentown. Many other characters in the movie also share this “Third” identity. 

Even though Glico has three cultural identities, she really only identifies with two: Chinese and Yentown. Interestly, Yentown, though it is in Japan, is not considered Japanese by the Japanese natives due to its overwhelming large population of foreigners. Identity is something that is fluid, but the Japanese here have created borders on what it means to be “Japanese.” This is the same thing with one of the other characters in the movie, the man who proposed the idea of “Third Culture.” The man has American parents yet he was born in Japan. He has grown up living in Japan and knowing Japanese culture, however, due to his appearance he is always treated as a foreigner. Even though he is as culturally and nationally Japanese as someone who is racially Japanese, he gets treated as an outcast.
I think this movie brings good topics on what it means to be Japanese. Are you defined by your racial heritage, cultural heritage, what language you speak, or where do you live? The stereotype is that Japan is homogeneous in culture and ethnicities, but that is far from the truth. This movie is a perfect example of how multicultural and multiethnic Japan really is. There are so many languages being spoken here and there are so many different cultures represented alongside Japan.

Bye for now,


Works Cited: Swallowtail Butterfly

Comments

  1. Margot SobotaMay 10, 2020 at 12:45 PM

    This scene left an impact on me as well. It really highlights the second generation immigrants who have ties to their birth country as well as some ties to the homeland of their parents. Yet, if they do not visually pass as the dominant ethnicity, they unfortunately forever get treated as foreigners. It is a very sad, but accurate reality for many.

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  2. MaggieMay 10, 2020 at 3:49 PM

    Hey Allison,

    I like the questions you pose at the end about how multicultural Japan really is. I think the scene you mentioned about the "American" man really answers the question. Although he is culturally and nationally Japanese, he is still outcasted because of his American appearance. This implies that even though Japan is filled with many immigrants and people of different cultures and races, those groups are still outcasted and viewed as the minority group, unaccepted into what is defined as "true Japanese culture". I think it exposes that although Japan prides itself in being a multiethnic society, it is still very monolithic in values and views.

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  3. Fred FengMay 10, 2020 at 9:08 PM

    Great connections you made from the movie to existing stigma in the Japanese society. Japan definitely is a bit more traditional than western countries when it comes to acceptance and identity with foreigners. The analysis you provided from the movie is easy to understand and see.

    ReplyDelete

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