This scene depicts a Douglas Kim in the position of the one being dominated by Roger Briggs (his "daddy") but then calls Mr. Le his daddy. This scene shows forced assimilation where Douglas Kim represents a group of people (the Vietnamese in this story) as being forced to assimilate. Kim's first "daddy" is the one he is used to and can be represented as the Vietnamese's culture, but as things change (Mrs. Le comes into save Kim) the group must move on to another culture/place because they can no longer go back (Kim cannot go back to Briggs and therefore, he moves onto Mr. Le, calling him his new "daddy" because he has been humiliated). Kim represents the theme of having or being forced to assimilate like the Vietnamese refugees who are forced to assimilate into American culture because they cannot go back to Vietnam.
- Ilene C.
I really like your interpretation of the story on a larger scale in terms of Vietnamese refugees and the new culture they must learn to survive in. Forced assimilation is an interesting concept for this story. When I read this story, I did not see it so much as forced assimilation as a hope for assimilation. There is the idea of leading a normal life, and the questioning of what falls under the category of "normal." I do like your interpretation of this story. Your post was very interesting to read.
ReplyDelete- Paige M.
This is a very interesting perspective in relation to the S/M Gay Leather environment. I think someone mentioned that trust needs to be established in order to be and experience this form of sexual excitement. This Vietnamese young male is attempting to move past his notions of what a gay Vietnamese American is expected to perform in where he is attempting to find a LEATHER DADDY who is willing to accept him for who and what he is - that a gay Asian boi who is into leather and domination. On the flip side, Mr Lee, enters this environment with his own cultural paradigms and restrictions, ironically Kim doesn't want to be saved, Mr. Lee shames him because he feels that Kim is shaming the Vietnamese culture and thus himself. There is a cultural and sexual divide that needs to be addressed, the former notion of male performance as well as the present performance of an Asian male is becoming a submissive to someone who is older and white. This takes on the role of an Asian woman who submits to a man in a patriarchal society. All the while, Mr. Lee reacts to an environment he believes he knows alot about. - Xavier P.
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