A post having absolutely nothing to do with sex slaves

Because sadly I was not able to see Asuncion, I have the alternate blog topic of comparing and contrasting the themes of immigrant experience in A View From The Bridge and Yellow Face. At first glance, I suppose these plays seem really different. One is about a famous playwright facing racism and hypocrisy in the theater world, and one is about the workings of an Italian family housing illegal immigrants. However because of the theme of immigrant life, the two share some ideas.

Both plays portrayed the hardships of immigrating, legally or not. Characters in both plays faced distrust from others because they were immigrants. In Yellow Face, Henry Hwang’s bank is investigated solely because he is Chinese. In A View From The Bridge, Eddie does not trust Rodolpho because he assumes that citizenship is his only goal. People just trying to lead normal lives are inhibited by their immigrant status.

On a more positive note, both plays also exhibit a beautiful sense of community. Hwang tries showing us the beauty of the Asian community through Marcus and his newfound status. Simply because he was “Asian” he found a place where he seemed to belong and acceptance from the people around him. Similarly in A View From The Bridge, Eddie and Beatrice take in Marco and Rodolpho simply because they’re family. Despite the fact that they have never met these men (clear by Marco’s “Are you my cousin?”), they feel compelled to help them. Because they are Italian, they welcome them with open arms into their home and into their Italian community in New York.

Both plays show us a little bit about being an immigrant in New York. Sure, one features a playwright and one has characters working on ships, but they really do share an important foundation.

It’s interesting to compare these two plays to everything else we’ve read and seen in this unit as well. There is a lot of art about immigrants, and so there is a lot of variation in the arts’ forms, methods, and messages. Each piece will resonate differently with each individual, and I think that’s what makes art so beautiful.

The closest thing I have to a picture with Jesse Eisenberg...