The American Dream in Vietnamese

INTRODUCTION: Private Desires on Public Display

ix Introduction Private Desires on Public Display MO R E T H A N T H R E E DE C A DE S have passed since the fall of Saigon, but the jarring words Viet Nam still haunt many Americans. Known as the unforgettable war lost by the United States, “Viet Nam” was not regarded by the popular media as a nation in its own right. Torn by political conflicts that unleashed massive confusion and tragedy upon its own people, the besieged country was seen as an unfathomable quagmire that divided the American nation and continues to resonate darkly in America’s historical memory, especially in light of our contemporary involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. For the Vietnamese refugees and immigrants who fled the war and their defeated nation, starting a new life elsewhere afforded them countless opportunities as well as insurmountable challenges. From these bleak circumstances, they have constructed for themselves new ways to make sense of their experiences. Metropolitan settings and their surrounding suburbs throughout the world have become new places of resettlement for a significant number of people who fled Vietnam during and since the fall of Saigon in 1975. Vibrant ethnic neighborhoods and communities thrive in global cities, serving not only tourists, but also continuous flows of new immigrants who relocated in the aftermath of empire and colonialism. While these areas of immigrant resettlement serve as gathering places for dispersed members of the Vietnamese community, spatial anonymity in these locations has paradoxically allowed for the proliferation and public display of the most visible signs of diasporic Vietnamese cultural production. In the form of glossy airbrushed posters, hypervisible images of diasporic Vietnamese entertainers cover storefront windows of Vietnamese-owned restaurants and ethnic businesses, advertising the latest concert/entertainment variety show coming to town. The ads contain collages of singers, dancers, and performers where female artists are scantily clad or provocatively posed in form-fitting x Introduction traditional and modern clothing, and male artists appear fashionably hip and ultra cool in flashy colored suits. The images depicted on the posters are often so eye-catching they elicit responses of sexual curiosity and risk potential for narrow interpretationby a general public that does not understand Vietnamese culture in its contemporary form. For instance, one outlandish ad featuring young Vietnamese women in bikinis prompted a non-Vietnamese onlooker I overheard to exclaim lustfully, “What a race full of hotties!” outside a New York City Vietnamese restaurant. The prevalent use of sex to market the diasporic Vietnamese entertainment industry and the very public display of exotic, sexy Asian bodies on the posters capture the attention of people from both inside and outside the community. Nonetheless, such comments made by people unfamiliar with Vietnamese cultural productions not only misconstrue the posters’ immediate functions, but also fail to recognize the cultural cues connected to the images. Because the fine print is written in Vietnamese, the signs of Vietnamese popular culture operate only at the superficial level of racial difference. The arousing images of Asian women grab the attention and heighten the sexual interest of those outside the community while engendering Orientalist assumptions.1 Reducing cultural forms to mere sexual representations, these marketing strategies risk Figure 1. A storefront window in London, England, prominently features a poster advertising Paris by Night 75 “Journey to the Far East.” From Paris by Night 77 “30 Nam Vien Xu”(“30 Years Abroad”), directed by Michael Watt (2005). Introduction xi dangerous potential misreading by those outside the community while reinforcing self-Orientalization. For people familiar with the activities of Vietnamese immigrant communities , however, these posters contain deeper cultural meaning beyond the hypersexualized veneers. The recurring use of sex appeal remains an effective marketing strategy to attract audiences, but the posters featuring exilicVietnamesepopstarsrepresentarareopportunityforlocalVietnamese communities to participate in a social gathering with their compatriots.2 Attendance at the event itself promises to be a special experience not only of nostalgia and remembering but also of glamour and style. Members of the community attend live shows to see their favorite Vietnamese celebrities and to be seen by others. Formal clothing is usually not required, but men often dress in their fanciest suits, while women don the traditional ao dai, the flowing tunic symbolic of Vietnamese femininity, or an evening gown as if they were attending a Hollywood movie premiere or an awards ceremony.Treating the event with such regard, the entertainers themselves reciprocate the performance...