Yuri Kochiyama Protesting Film Debut of Rising Sun in Times Square
Title
Yuri Kochiyama Protesting Film Debut of Rising Sun in Times Square
Description
The late Yuri Kochiyama, a political activist who dedicated her life to social justice and human rights movements, is pictured protesting the film debut of Rising Sun on July 30, 1993. The protest took place in front of the Criterion Theater in Times Square, and she is seen holding a sign at chest level that reads “ASIAN AMERICANS UNITED AGAINST MISOGYNY.”
While the film became controversial due to its racist and xenophobic thru-line, Kochiyama, by holding this sign, was drawing on an important and oft forgotten theme: the condemnation, exchange, and objectification of women. The film, which is based on the book and screenplay by Michael Crichton, is centered around the strangulation of a white female sex worker, the murder shown in explicit detail, yet none of the characters have a reaction to the woman’s death. Kathryn Koegel in her review of the film aptly points out that “We’re not to feel any sorrow for [the deceased sex worker].” Koegel continues by pointing to a short but critical moment in the film where the female coroner who swabs the escort’s genitals and looks at her bruised throat “quickly pronounces: 'She was into it'" [1]. This off-beat comment exemplifies the way Crichton structures the film to pit the female characters against each other and dissuade sympathy for the victim. The women in the film are used as a “natural resource”, seen as “beautiful, and apparently sexually willing” but their “uncontrolled (by men) female libido is “punished” in the film" [2].
While the primary objective of CAAAV, other political organizations, and independent protestors was to “educate moviegoers about the film’s insidious stereotyping and the potential for Anti-Asian violence”, Kochiyama utilized the protest as a way to both support the Asian community and call attention to the marginalization, sexualization, and hatred of women in the film [3].
Intersectionality was always at the forefront of Kochiyama's activism, as she “fought for Black liberation alongside Malcolm X, for Puerto Rican rights alongside the Young Lords, for better labor practices among the working class, and she was instrumental in building the Asian American movement" [4]. Kochiyama actively attended CAAAV meetings and in 2013, CAAAV sponsored a dinner, a screening of Yuri Kochiyama: Passion for Justice, and a panel discussion to talk about the “legacy of Kochiyama for API activism and organizing today" [5].
1. Koegel, Kathryn. “Summer Snuff Film.” ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post, Aug 14, 1993, page A21.
2. 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. 94. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/42772141. Accessed 22 Oct. 2024.
3. “Rising Sun! Raising Hate!” CAAAV Voice vol 5, no. 2 (Fall 1993): Newsletter of the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence, page 3.
4. Our Own People 2021. Interview by Rund Abdelfatah and Ramtin Arablouei. Washington: NPR. https://www.npr.org/2021/03/29/982274384/our-own-people.
5. “Yuri Kochiyama: Passion for Justice.” Maysles Documentary Center, July 11, 2013. https://www.maysles.org/archive2013/2013/7/11/yuri-kochiyama-passion-for-justice#:~:text=Thursday%2C%20July%2011th%2C%206:00pm.%20Yuri%20Kochiyama:%20Passion,Asian%20Communities%2C%20Brought%20to%20You%20by%20Women.
While the film became controversial due to its racist and xenophobic thru-line, Kochiyama, by holding this sign, was drawing on an important and oft forgotten theme: the condemnation, exchange, and objectification of women. The film, which is based on the book and screenplay by Michael Crichton, is centered around the strangulation of a white female sex worker, the murder shown in explicit detail, yet none of the characters have a reaction to the woman’s death. Kathryn Koegel in her review of the film aptly points out that “We’re not to feel any sorrow for [the deceased sex worker].” Koegel continues by pointing to a short but critical moment in the film where the female coroner who swabs the escort’s genitals and looks at her bruised throat “quickly pronounces: 'She was into it'" [1]. This off-beat comment exemplifies the way Crichton structures the film to pit the female characters against each other and dissuade sympathy for the victim. The women in the film are used as a “natural resource”, seen as “beautiful, and apparently sexually willing” but their “uncontrolled (by men) female libido is “punished” in the film" [2].
While the primary objective of CAAAV, other political organizations, and independent protestors was to “educate moviegoers about the film’s insidious stereotyping and the potential for Anti-Asian violence”, Kochiyama utilized the protest as a way to both support the Asian community and call attention to the marginalization, sexualization, and hatred of women in the film [3].
Intersectionality was always at the forefront of Kochiyama's activism, as she “fought for Black liberation alongside Malcolm X, for Puerto Rican rights alongside the Young Lords, for better labor practices among the working class, and she was instrumental in building the Asian American movement" [4]. Kochiyama actively attended CAAAV meetings and in 2013, CAAAV sponsored a dinner, a screening of Yuri Kochiyama: Passion for Justice, and a panel discussion to talk about the “legacy of Kochiyama for API activism and organizing today" [5].
1. Koegel, Kathryn. “Summer Snuff Film.” ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post, Aug 14, 1993, page A21.
2. 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. 94. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/42772141. Accessed 22 Oct. 2024.
3. “Rising Sun! Raising Hate!” CAAAV Voice vol 5, no. 2 (Fall 1993): Newsletter of the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence, page 3.
4. Our Own People 2021. Interview by Rund Abdelfatah and Ramtin Arablouei. Washington: NPR. https://www.npr.org/2021/03/29/982274384/our-own-people.
5. “Yuri Kochiyama: Passion for Justice.” Maysles Documentary Center, July 11, 2013. https://www.maysles.org/archive2013/2013/7/11/yuri-kochiyama-passion-for-justice#:~:text=Thursday%2C%20July%2011th%2C%206:00pm.%20Yuri%20Kochiyama:%20Passion,Asian%20Communities%2C%20Brought%20to%20You%20by%20Women.
Date
July 30, 1993
Contributor
Digitized by: Frank Chiang and Van Anh Tran
Catalogued by: Sam Marsh
Catalogued by: Sam Marsh
Rights
Copyright is held by CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities.
Format
Photograph
Identifier
Photo060
Files
Citation
“Yuri Kochiyama Protesting Film Debut of Rising Sun in Times Square,” CAAAV Digital Archive, accessed December 22, 2024, https://archives.caaav.org/items/show/2492.