Though brief, Yellowface was an impactful read. Because Asians are minorities in America their struggles are overlooked, an issue that other minorities can relate to. By simply bringing up the issue, David Henry Hwang has already succeeded.
Black face is something that many people in this country are familiar with. The black civil rights movement is something that children are taught about in school, and is also commonly referenced in political/social dialogues. But yellow face is not something that many people are familiar with. That is why I found this play interesting. Hwang does an amazing job of showing readers the irony of yellow face. America has long been able to acknowledge the importance of writing minority characters, but when it comes to casting the roles white Americans choose to give them to the most "qualified": white Americans. This brand of racism seems explicit in our day and age, where most Americans condemn the use of black face, but it is implicit in a way. This brand of racism is implicit in that casting directors and those who consume this form of art don't understand that they are inadvertently trying to keep minorities out of positions of power. This form of racism is very common, I believe. White Americans in the country, even today, often seek to preserve narratives that place minorities in subservient/second-rate positions. We may look at plays, movies, tv shows, and the like, as fiction but our reality reflects what we see on the screen and stage. We produce the ideas that we consume, which creates a vicious cycle; and should any racism enter that cycle, well, it doesn't just go away. Not unless something changes.
The subject matter at hand is important for this reason. Diagnosis is the first step. This is one of the reasons I appreciate this work from Hwang.
In the play, Hwang's father and Marcus G. Dahlman (or Marcus Gee) are key characters in discussing identity. Hwang's father thought that if he envisioned who he wanted to be in his mind, that he could eventually become that person. In the end, cancer was aided by institutional racism in breaking this man down. Marcus, on the other hand, after seeing for himself the unity of the Asian community, sought to pass himself off as an Asian man. In the end, this fictional character had to sacrifice his facade, or "face" to save the people he so dearly loved. Devotion is what these characters have in common. On the other hand Hwang manages to show us two sides of the same coin: the minority trying to emulate the dominate race, and the white person searching for culture through minorities. These are both relevant characters and they say a lot for the complexity of racial issues.
Hwang's personal conflict was one that continued throughout the entire work. In trying to maintain a strong sense of identity Hwang sabotaged himself and lost his way. His journey shows that even for those of us who feel as though we have a strong foundation in our identity, just the sheer weight of trying the balance the complex relationships race has to life in America can sometimes be too much to bear.
The ending message leaves me with what seems to have been intended to be a ray of light. Hwang wants the reader/viewer to find their face, and he would like to find his own. Who are you? Who are you to the world, and to yourself? This all circles back to identity, and Hwang has managed to tell a story primarily about Asians that is relatable, relevant and American.
