Times Square Protest Against the film "Rising Sun" (New York)
Title
Times Square Protest Against the film "Rising Sun" (New York)
Description
On July 30th, 1993, Philip Kaufman premiered his major studio crime thriller entitled Rising Sun. Adapted from Michael Crichton's book of the same name, Rising Sun concerns the murder investigation of a white female escort whose body is found in the Los Angeles headquarters of a large Japanese corporation. [1] Upon its release, however, the film received widespread criticism due to its openly racist and xenophobic depictions of East Asian Americans and Asian nationals.[2] Rising Sun vilified and othered Japanese men in particular, caricaturing them as “venal and sexually deviant” businessmen who sought to not only assault white women, but also weaken and seize control of the American economy.[3]
When Rising Sun opened in the United Artists Theater in Times Square on July 30th, 1993, CAAAV summer interns Jonathon Sung Bidol (featured in photo 046), Ginny Moon, and Julia Wang coordinated with dozens of other groups to stage a demonstration–which was one of many that occurred across the United States–in front of the theater to “educate moviegoers about the film’s insidious stereotyping and the potential for anti-Asian violence its xenophobic messaging promotes.” [4]
The black and white photos presented capture this historic moment. Demonstrators congregate beneath the marquee of the United Artists Theater, brandishing signs and banners inscribed with anti-racist messaging, organizational affiliations and various denunciations of the xenophobia projected by Rising Sun. Front and center in photos 054 and 053, a banner stretched between two poles and emblazoned with the name “Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence” is present. Featured in photos 055 and 056, the same individual can be seen proudly holding up a sign that reads “racist profits”, decrying the fact that Kaufman and the entire entertainment industry would extract revenue from the anti-Asian motifs portrayed in the crime thriller. Kaufman indeed gained significant profits from Rising Sun. Despite its blatant racism, the crime thriller grossed over $107 million in the box office worldwide. [5]
The rally reflected the intergenerationality of CAAAV and the allied groups in attendance. For instance, in photo 045, a youth bearing a sign that reads “Crichton is a racist dinosaur” stands surrounded by a diverse, intergenerational crowd of demonstrators who listen intently to an individual giving a speech.
The multiple organizations that attended the July 30th action are featured in this collection. In photos 045 and 053, a half-out-of-frame banner that reads “American Defense” hovers at the rear of two distinct speakers. What is “American Defense”? By scrutinizing the logo next to this wording, one can deduce that the banner belongs to the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF). The AALDEF was founded in 1974 to “protect and promote the civil rights of Asian Americans through litigation, advocacy, education, and organizing.” [6] An ad-hoc coalition called “New York Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans Against Rising Sun”, represented in the foreground of photo 040, also stood in solidarity with CAAAV and AALDEF at the rally. Evidently, the July 30th protest laid the foundation for the formation of a united, multi-organizational front against not only Rising Sun, but the overarching, racist power structure the film symbolized and reinforced.
The Rising Sun protest exemplifies CAAAV's commitment to not only meet xenophobic rhetoric with direct action, but to also inform the public that anti-Asian media fuels the structural racism that entrenches anti-Asian violence.
Notes:
1. Joshua Moscow. “Rising Son: Race, Women, and Exchange in the Film Rising Sun.” U.S.-Japan Women’s Journal. English Supplement, no. 16, 1999, pp. 87–102. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/42772141. Accessed 21 Oct. 2024.
2. Nisid Hajari. “’Rising Sun’ Stirs Controversy,” EW.com (Entertainment Weekly, August 6, 1993), https://ew.com/article/1993/08/06/rising-sun-stirs-controversy/, Elaine Dutka, “Asian Americans: Rising Furor Over ‘Rising Sun’,”The Los Angeles Times, July 28, 1993, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-07-28-ca-17863-story.html.
3. “Rising Sun! Rising Hate!”CAAAV Voice 5, no. 2 (Fall 1993): Newsletter of the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence.
4. “Rising Sun! Raising Hate!,” 3.
5. "Rising Sun" (1993). Box Office Mojo.
6. “Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund Records (TAM 321).” Apa.nyu.edu, 2024, apa.nyu.edu/the-asian-american-legal-defense-and-education-fund-tam-321/.
When Rising Sun opened in the United Artists Theater in Times Square on July 30th, 1993, CAAAV summer interns Jonathon Sung Bidol (featured in photo 046), Ginny Moon, and Julia Wang coordinated with dozens of other groups to stage a demonstration–which was one of many that occurred across the United States–in front of the theater to “educate moviegoers about the film’s insidious stereotyping and the potential for anti-Asian violence its xenophobic messaging promotes.” [4]
The black and white photos presented capture this historic moment. Demonstrators congregate beneath the marquee of the United Artists Theater, brandishing signs and banners inscribed with anti-racist messaging, organizational affiliations and various denunciations of the xenophobia projected by Rising Sun. Front and center in photos 054 and 053, a banner stretched between two poles and emblazoned with the name “Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence” is present. Featured in photos 055 and 056, the same individual can be seen proudly holding up a sign that reads “racist profits”, decrying the fact that Kaufman and the entire entertainment industry would extract revenue from the anti-Asian motifs portrayed in the crime thriller. Kaufman indeed gained significant profits from Rising Sun. Despite its blatant racism, the crime thriller grossed over $107 million in the box office worldwide. [5]
The rally reflected the intergenerationality of CAAAV and the allied groups in attendance. For instance, in photo 045, a youth bearing a sign that reads “Crichton is a racist dinosaur” stands surrounded by a diverse, intergenerational crowd of demonstrators who listen intently to an individual giving a speech.
The multiple organizations that attended the July 30th action are featured in this collection. In photos 045 and 053, a half-out-of-frame banner that reads “American Defense” hovers at the rear of two distinct speakers. What is “American Defense”? By scrutinizing the logo next to this wording, one can deduce that the banner belongs to the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF). The AALDEF was founded in 1974 to “protect and promote the civil rights of Asian Americans through litigation, advocacy, education, and organizing.” [6] An ad-hoc coalition called “New York Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans Against Rising Sun”, represented in the foreground of photo 040, also stood in solidarity with CAAAV and AALDEF at the rally. Evidently, the July 30th protest laid the foundation for the formation of a united, multi-organizational front against not only Rising Sun, but the overarching, racist power structure the film symbolized and reinforced.
The Rising Sun protest exemplifies CAAAV's commitment to not only meet xenophobic rhetoric with direct action, but to also inform the public that anti-Asian media fuels the structural racism that entrenches anti-Asian violence.
Notes:
1. Joshua Moscow. “Rising Son: Race, Women, and Exchange in the Film Rising Sun.” U.S.-Japan Women’s Journal. English Supplement, no. 16, 1999, pp. 87–102. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/42772141. Accessed 21 Oct. 2024.
2. Nisid Hajari. “’Rising Sun’ Stirs Controversy,” EW.com (Entertainment Weekly, August 6, 1993), https://ew.com/article/1993/08/06/rising-sun-stirs-controversy/, Elaine Dutka, “Asian Americans: Rising Furor Over ‘Rising Sun’,”The Los Angeles Times, July 28, 1993, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-07-28-ca-17863-story.html.
3. “Rising Sun! Rising Hate!”CAAAV Voice 5, no. 2 (Fall 1993): Newsletter of the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence.
4. “Rising Sun! Raising Hate!,” 3.
5. "Rising Sun" (1993). Box Office Mojo.
6. “Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund Records (TAM 321).” Apa.nyu.edu, 2024, apa.nyu.edu/the-asian-american-legal-defense-and-education-fund-tam-321/.
Date
July 30th, 1993
Contributor
Digitized by: Frank Chiang, Van Anh Tran, Doris Chiu, Vivian Truong
Cataloged by: Terrence Freeman
This post was completed as coursework for HIST-GA 3901 Community Archives, taught by Maggie Schreiner, in the Archives and Public History MA program at New York University.
Cataloged by: Terrence Freeman
This post was completed as coursework for HIST-GA 3901 Community Archives, taught by Maggie Schreiner, in the Archives and Public History MA program at New York University.
Rights
Copyright is held by CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities.
Format
Photograph
Identifier
Photo041
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Photo043
Photo045
Photo046
Photo054
Photo055
Photo056
Photo042
Photo043
Photo045
Photo046
Photo054
Photo055
Photo056
Files
Citation
“Times Square Protest Against the film "Rising Sun" (New York),” CAAAV Digital Archive, accessed November 6, 2024, https://archives.caaav.org/items/show/2420.