MovieChat Forums > Japanese Story (2003) Discussion > Do Australians still have a problem with...

Do Australians still have a problem with ....

posted 18 years ago by phoenix34
15 replies | jump to latest

....white-Asian interracial marriage?

It's a question I have after watching this movie and Heaven's Burning, the only two Australian movies I have seen on the subject.

SPOILERS

Both end with one or both partners dying. Coincidence? Maybe. But as an American I feel there is something else going on. It's as if open-minded Australians are still ambivalent about interracial marriage and about the whole question of whether Asians are still the unreachable Other.

Both movies seem to challenge the idea that Japanese are "inscrutable" so that's progress. But because the relationship is ultimately doomed, I feel this is sending an subconscious signal that the alienness of Asians is still too great an obstacle to overcome.

I also noticed that both movies portray old timers as talking about how the Japanese have taken over or bought up Australia. I understand that this is meant to signal changing times, and how a younger generation is overcoming prejudice, but it sounds a little quaint to my ears, kind of like American civil rights movies of the 1960s.

Thoughts?

[–] jazzpiano- 18 years ago

Uh... I think you're reading too much into it, if I am to be honest. I, personally, don't have any problems with any race marrying whichever other race, be it white-Asian or whatever. I think love is more important than race. I think this film was actually just meant to be a story about life - that people die, and it is an unforseen thing that just happens. I think it was a cinematic reminder that not everything is as picture-perfect as Hollywood would have us believe. I'm not sure what the filmmaker intended, but I hope it was something profound like that...maybe I am reading too much into Japanese Story as well!

Anyway, about half my friends are Asian, and my parents teach overseas students English so I meet a great deal of Asians, and we've had a friend from Japan stay in our house for two weeks twice before, so I really have no problem with them. I don't think this film had any subliminal messages about interracial marriage, and was just a representation of how harsh reality can be.

Alex =D

[–] fanaticita 18 years ago

See Romper Stomper. It doesn't deal with inter=racial marriage, but with Australian skin-heads and immigrants. Pretty scary stuff.

[–] SpiltPersonality 7 years ago

Yes, and that is a fairly good description of 98% of the Australian population. It wasn't at all a movie about an extremely small sub culture of racist Australians at all.

SpiltPersonality

[–] phoenix34 17 years ago

I do recognize that there are many progressive-minded, cosmopolitan people like yourself living in Australia. It's just that the trending toward cultural tolerance and mixing started later in Australia than it did in the States and some of the dialogue I heard in both Japanese Story and Heaven's Burning reflected that, IMO. Some lines reminded me of the kind of anxiety the dominant white majority in America was feeling back in the late 60s and 70s about non-whites gaining hegemony.

"how harsh reality can be"

Are you talking about the harshness of the situation facing Asian-white couples? Because where I live, there is nothing harsh or unpleasant about it.

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] kevryl 17 years ago

"omg
im aussie"

Did you HAVE to publicise it? Has the Australian education system really slumped so badly?

[–] bsharporflat 17 years ago

omfg, wat's ur problemo wit dis wayta talk? Iz it 2 cool 4u? If all where lik me n x adz x there'd beano war & hate & bad *beep* Old ppl talk= back in da day. Da bad ole days. Let us teach skool and the world wood b cool! Peace out.

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] brendanseeto 17 years ago

Good for you young buddy. I am Australian and half asian. And for some reason when i was your age, people seem to have issue with me wanting to date asian women like I had 'yellow fever' or something. Or maybe because i was neither asian or "white" I had no right to. I wonder then, if I want to see these same people again, whom was i supposed to go out with? Anyway, not having a go at you mate. good luck with it all. But suffice to say my experiences were different from yours when iw as growing up.

[–] MrBigglesworth999 14 years ago

No we don't have a problem.
Two Australian Labor Premiers (Don Dunstan & Bob Carr)married Asian women ........ and politicians tend to reflect public opinion rather than shape it.

[–] tinasparklesau 17 years ago

Australia is a lot more tolerant of all races these days! maybe 10-15years ago there was a generalised racism against asians. Of course there are still skin heads and white supremisist type groups of people around, but thats a universal thing really, not just limited to australia. The scene in the movie where they're on the water and that guy makes a reference to the japanese taking everything over was intended i think to portray that racism is more common with the under-educated rednecks. The main race issues in australia are the gang related ones, not in general. Most people in aus. appreciate what the japanese do for our economy in the tourism industries if anything... Australia is such a multi-cultural society now that racism doesnt make any sense and most aussies see that.

[–] deadfish-5 16 years ago

you guys took sooo long, and are still having problems saying sorry to the abos, after kicking out the old howard. So racism is still an issue, at an institutional level. It's getting better finally, but it's a long road.

[–] coolaree 16 years ago

What?
I don't think most aussies have a problem with interracial marriage-particularly not white men with asian women because I see that
every-where lol

The only racism i've seen agaisnt such a pairing is when an old pensioner started yelling abuse at a teenage couple, white girl with asian bloke

but i spend most of my time in the city so...

[–] diz-syd-63 11 years ago

Aussies don't have a problem at all, plenty of mixed marriages here ( mostly older men with younger asian women)

[–] Celeste_x 11 years ago

In rural parts of Australia and in smaller communities it is uncommon to see Asian-White relationships, however, I don't know whether is is due to racism or whether it's because there tends to be a very small Asian population in these places. However, in Sydney, it's common to see Asian-White marriages. Until quite recently you only really saw White male/Asian female relationships, however, it's becoming more common recently to see White female/Asian male relationships.