hi, i'm jenny! i'm from san diego, ca currently living in new york city. the first character i distinctly remember seeing myself in was claudia in "from the mixed up files of mrs. basil e. frankweiler" because i identified with her spirit and resourcefulness, and i desperately wanted to live in the met after that. i would love to know more about anna may wong's feelings of being tokenized in hollywood...did she simply accept her roles or was she resentful or angry about it? i see a lot written posthumously about her importance in hollywood cinema but i wonder if there are any records about the things she said about her own legacy.
Great question about AMW. I will definitely be including material from interviews and articles AMW penned herself in my book, and I will think about how I can include more of her own words in the newsletter too. I think at times she definitely felt angry and resentful, but she was also incredibly diplomatic and resilient and didn't often air those opinions publicly—or when she did so, it was usually through a kind of gallows humor.
For example, in a letter to Carl Van Vechten, who she kept correspondence with for decades, she wrote about losing a Chinese role to a white actress: "I made a test at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios for the leading role in the 'Son Daughter,' the Chinese play David Belasco produced years ago with Lenore. Which, I guess I look too Chinese to play a Chinese, because I hear Colleen Moore is going to do it."
AMW first came to prominence in the 1920s, a century ago, so you can imagine how different people's understanding and attitudes towards race were back then. Calling out Hollywood the way we do today on social media with campaigns like #OscarsSoWhite, etc., was way beyond the pale. AMW knew that if she wanted to keep working, to keep putting her image out there, she unfortunately would have to play by Hollywood's rules (although she found ways to subvert conventions when she could).
Hi, my name is Carole. I'm from Los Angeles, although I have lived in Bonn, Germany for the last 31 years. I was always a big reader, and one of the first books that I read was "Alice in Wonderland." The cover of the book that I had had a drawing of Alice falling down the rabbit hole (in a peaceful sort of way, more like floating down with her dress slowing her descent); she was wearing a aqua-colored dress with puffed sleeves and a white pinafore, and had her hair brushed back with a white hairband. At Halloween, when my mom asked me what I wanted to go as, I replied "Alice." So, my loving mother, who was terrific at dressmaking, looked at the cover of my (non-Disney) book and sewed me an aqua-colored dress with the cutest puffed sleeves and a white pinafore. She brushed back my bangs with a white hairband. My Halloween costume was perfect, except. . . with my black hair and Cantonese face, no one recognized me as the young blonde English girl. So, my clever mom wrote "Alice" on the bodice of my pinafore. In retrospect, I think that a stuffed white rabbit and maybe an old-fashioned gold pocket watch may have helped, but at the time, I was so in love with my Halloween costume that I went as "Alice" two years running, until I grew out of dress. I imagine that this is what Anna May Wong had to do, too, to think of creative ways to assist her audience in transcending her outer Cantonese appearance and think of her as a person or at least as the character role she was playing. In fact, I still do this in my every day life in Germany—help people to accept me as an intelligent Asian person who is well integrated into German culture and speaks the language quite well, despite my Chinese face and hair. More power to AMW! And to you, Katie!
I love this story so much! And I hope you have a picture of you dressed up as Alice somewhere. The connection you draw to AMW is an important one. So many expectations were projected onto her simply because of the way she looked. And to some extent, I think she liked subverting peoples expectations by being so modern and iconoclastic, especially when she was in her twenties and thirties and enjoying the early rush of fame. Reporters were always shocked to hear her speak in the flapper slang of the Jazz Age, to learn that she'd never been to China, to see that she wasn't "diminutive" at all at five feet seven inches tall.
Hi all! I just discovered this substack via the Substack Histories email! Living in the North East of England, but originally from New Zealand (and mixed-race myself, NZ/Pacific).
The first character I remember seeing myself in was Sara in A Little Princess: dark haired and a bit exotic in a strange place (I had the dark hair and unusual genetics, though sadly not the green eyes that Sara did), trying to fight her real urge to just read a lot and instead pay attention to Lottie without getting angry (hence her idea of acting like a little princess, even though her riches had all gone and she was poor). Looking forward to reading more about Anna May Wong!
Hi, everyone! I'm Bernadette, in Brooklyn. The first character I distinctly remember seeing myself in was Princess Jasmine in "Aladdin." She was the first Disney princess and heroine who had dark hair and a complexion like mine. I loved the movie and I dressed up as her for Halloween. I also had an affinity to Felicity in American Girls, for her fierce and independent spirit. I'm curious to learn more about Anna May Wong's formative years and how her relationships with her family members shaped her journey.
Another great question/topic, which I will make a note to write about in future dispatches. AMW was fiercely loyal and did so much to help her family. Much of the money she earned as an actress was reinvested in her siblings' educations. But of course, every family has their complexities too. She had to navigate expectations in Hollywood as well as expectations at home around what it means to be a good Chinese daughter. More on that in the future.
Hi, my name is Sunny. I'm from Illinois and Alabama. First character I identified with...maybe Jo as Joanne says below, or Alice in Wonderland. Bored, grumpy, curious, but pretty sure I knew a lot :)
I'm eager to hear whatever you want to share about Anna May Wong, but I'd love to hear the research, writing, figuring out the story parts.
Hopefully as I get more of the book written, I will have more to share on how the research and writing has been coming together. It feels kind of like working on a giant jigsaw where you don't know what the final picture is supposed to look like, which I guess is also what makes it fun.
Hi. I’m Bill, from Arcadia, CA. Tough second question… Dunbar from “Catch-22,” who shoots skeet. All I know about Anna May Wong I learned from you and I look forward to learning more.
I read half of Catch-22 in college, which I really enjoyed, but then the book was due back to the library and I never finished the rest, though I've always wanted to return to it. Speaking of books, Anna May was an avid reader herself and circulated in intellectual circles where she met writers like Somerset Maugham, Zora Neale Hurston, and Lin Yutang. More on that in a future post!
Hi, my name is Joanne and I live in New York. The first time I ever recall relating to someone might be Jo, in Little Women. It made me so upset when little Amy burned her journal in a fire, even if I'm the youngest sister. But I liked writing and started going by Jo myself. I loved Pippi Longstocking also, along with another red-headed girl...Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables.
Thanks for sharing! Jo in Little Women is such a great character and one of my favorites too. But as a kid I could never understand why she didn't accept Laurie's marriage proposal... Of course, the fact that a young Christian Bale played him in the 90s film adaptation probably had something to do with it. He was a teenage girl's dream back then!
hi, i'm jenny! i'm from san diego, ca currently living in new york city. the first character i distinctly remember seeing myself in was claudia in "from the mixed up files of mrs. basil e. frankweiler" because i identified with her spirit and resourcefulness, and i desperately wanted to live in the met after that. i would love to know more about anna may wong's feelings of being tokenized in hollywood...did she simply accept her roles or was she resentful or angry about it? i see a lot written posthumously about her importance in hollywood cinema but i wonder if there are any records about the things she said about her own legacy.
Great question about AMW. I will definitely be including material from interviews and articles AMW penned herself in my book, and I will think about how I can include more of her own words in the newsletter too. I think at times she definitely felt angry and resentful, but she was also incredibly diplomatic and resilient and didn't often air those opinions publicly—or when she did so, it was usually through a kind of gallows humor.
For example, in a letter to Carl Van Vechten, who she kept correspondence with for decades, she wrote about losing a Chinese role to a white actress: "I made a test at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios for the leading role in the 'Son Daughter,' the Chinese play David Belasco produced years ago with Lenore. Which, I guess I look too Chinese to play a Chinese, because I hear Colleen Moore is going to do it."
AMW first came to prominence in the 1920s, a century ago, so you can imagine how different people's understanding and attitudes towards race were back then. Calling out Hollywood the way we do today on social media with campaigns like #OscarsSoWhite, etc., was way beyond the pale. AMW knew that if she wanted to keep working, to keep putting her image out there, she unfortunately would have to play by Hollywood's rules (although she found ways to subvert conventions when she could).
i love this answer and her resilience! thank you for responding
Hi, my name is Carole. I'm from Los Angeles, although I have lived in Bonn, Germany for the last 31 years. I was always a big reader, and one of the first books that I read was "Alice in Wonderland." The cover of the book that I had had a drawing of Alice falling down the rabbit hole (in a peaceful sort of way, more like floating down with her dress slowing her descent); she was wearing a aqua-colored dress with puffed sleeves and a white pinafore, and had her hair brushed back with a white hairband. At Halloween, when my mom asked me what I wanted to go as, I replied "Alice." So, my loving mother, who was terrific at dressmaking, looked at the cover of my (non-Disney) book and sewed me an aqua-colored dress with the cutest puffed sleeves and a white pinafore. She brushed back my bangs with a white hairband. My Halloween costume was perfect, except. . . with my black hair and Cantonese face, no one recognized me as the young blonde English girl. So, my clever mom wrote "Alice" on the bodice of my pinafore. In retrospect, I think that a stuffed white rabbit and maybe an old-fashioned gold pocket watch may have helped, but at the time, I was so in love with my Halloween costume that I went as "Alice" two years running, until I grew out of dress. I imagine that this is what Anna May Wong had to do, too, to think of creative ways to assist her audience in transcending her outer Cantonese appearance and think of her as a person or at least as the character role she was playing. In fact, I still do this in my every day life in Germany—help people to accept me as an intelligent Asian person who is well integrated into German culture and speaks the language quite well, despite my Chinese face and hair. More power to AMW! And to you, Katie!
I love this story so much! And I hope you have a picture of you dressed up as Alice somewhere. The connection you draw to AMW is an important one. So many expectations were projected onto her simply because of the way she looked. And to some extent, I think she liked subverting peoples expectations by being so modern and iconoclastic, especially when she was in her twenties and thirties and enjoying the early rush of fame. Reporters were always shocked to hear her speak in the flapper slang of the Jazz Age, to learn that she'd never been to China, to see that she wasn't "diminutive" at all at five feet seven inches tall.
Hi all! I just discovered this substack via the Substack Histories email! Living in the North East of England, but originally from New Zealand (and mixed-race myself, NZ/Pacific).
The first character I remember seeing myself in was Sara in A Little Princess: dark haired and a bit exotic in a strange place (I had the dark hair and unusual genetics, though sadly not the green eyes that Sara did), trying to fight her real urge to just read a lot and instead pay attention to Lottie without getting angry (hence her idea of acting like a little princess, even though her riches had all gone and she was poor). Looking forward to reading more about Anna May Wong!
Thanks for subscribing, Vicky! Glad to have you along for the ride and looking forward to your thoughts on future issues.
Hi, everyone! I'm Bernadette, in Brooklyn. The first character I distinctly remember seeing myself in was Princess Jasmine in "Aladdin." She was the first Disney princess and heroine who had dark hair and a complexion like mine. I loved the movie and I dressed up as her for Halloween. I also had an affinity to Felicity in American Girls, for her fierce and independent spirit. I'm curious to learn more about Anna May Wong's formative years and how her relationships with her family members shaped her journey.
Another great question/topic, which I will make a note to write about in future dispatches. AMW was fiercely loyal and did so much to help her family. Much of the money she earned as an actress was reinvested in her siblings' educations. But of course, every family has their complexities too. She had to navigate expectations in Hollywood as well as expectations at home around what it means to be a good Chinese daughter. More on that in the future.
Hi, my name is Sunny. I'm from Illinois and Alabama. First character I identified with...maybe Jo as Joanne says below, or Alice in Wonderland. Bored, grumpy, curious, but pretty sure I knew a lot :)
I'm eager to hear whatever you want to share about Anna May Wong, but I'd love to hear the research, writing, figuring out the story parts.
Hopefully as I get more of the book written, I will have more to share on how the research and writing has been coming together. It feels kind of like working on a giant jigsaw where you don't know what the final picture is supposed to look like, which I guess is also what makes it fun.
Hi. I’m Bill, from Arcadia, CA. Tough second question… Dunbar from “Catch-22,” who shoots skeet. All I know about Anna May Wong I learned from you and I look forward to learning more.
I read half of Catch-22 in college, which I really enjoyed, but then the book was due back to the library and I never finished the rest, though I've always wanted to return to it. Speaking of books, Anna May was an avid reader herself and circulated in intellectual circles where she met writers like Somerset Maugham, Zora Neale Hurston, and Lin Yutang. More on that in a future post!
Hi, my name is Joanne and I live in New York. The first time I ever recall relating to someone might be Jo, in Little Women. It made me so upset when little Amy burned her journal in a fire, even if I'm the youngest sister. But I liked writing and started going by Jo myself. I loved Pippi Longstocking also, along with another red-headed girl...Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables.
Thanks for sharing! Jo in Little Women is such a great character and one of my favorites too. But as a kid I could never understand why she didn't accept Laurie's marriage proposal... Of course, the fact that a young Christian Bale played him in the 90s film adaptation probably had something to do with it. He was a teenage girl's dream back then!