Table of contentsOrientalism in M. ButterflyMadame Butterfly Opera & OrientalismBeyond Orientalism and OccidentalismConclusionBibliographyM. Butterfly, a film produced in 1993, contains a story based on a true incident. The main plot of the film takes place against the backdrop of Beijing in 1964. René Gallimard, an accountant at the French embassy, ​​played by Jeremy Irons, is an introverted protagonist who falls in love with Chinese opera actress Song Liling . The first meeting took place when Song Liling was singing Madame Butterfly in this opera. René, although married, feels a love of destiny for Liling. However, Liling would not undress in front of René even if they considered themselves lovers. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essayThere was therefore no real physical relationship between René and Liling. After René was promoted to deputy consul general, he left China and returned to 1968, after being informed by Liling that she had given birth to his child. Liling always finds René in France whatever the cataclysmic era. Then René was finally arrested and finds out that Liling was a man and the child wasn't even his. René serves his sentence in prison, where he acts in front of the condemned disguised as a woman, half crazy, and ends up slitting his throat with a shard of glass. Although the film is a distortion of the story of Madame Butterfly, it is a real story where a Frenchman Bernard Boursicot went to Beijing at the age of 20, met a 26 year old Chinese opera actor, Shi Pei Pu, whom Bernard considered a woman until his arrest in 1983. Bernard also attempts suicide after knowing Pei Pu was a man. Interestingly, both sentenced to 6 years in prison for espionage in 1986, they were released a year later, mainly because society considered the circumstances laughable. Pei Pu lived in France for the rest of his life with the child he claimed was Bernard's. Unlike reality, where the incident was considered stupid and ridiculous, Mr. Butterfly portrays the protagonist in a very devastating way. The cinematic representation of René highlights his already introverted and dark side as well as his neediness. Gallimard fell in love as if it were destiny, loving Liling passionately, even though Liling avoided all circumstances of undressing. Although he never had sex, having not even seen Liling's naked body, René believes that Liling said that she gave birth to his child. The whole situation can be explained by René's self-established illusion of orientalism. Juxtaposed with Liling's derisive comment on such behavior, already predicting the damnation of the individual who swims in his own fantasy of the Orient.Orientalism in M. ButterflyThere have been many definitions regarding Orientalism, where it indicated a meaning of Western thought towards the Orient. Oriental culture. Today, Orientalism is often used as a way to rationalize superiority and domination over the Orient. Mr. Butterfly crudely illustrates and satirizes orientalism defined as such. Although René, admiring the East, still shows the underlying idea that the West has a higher status than the East. The subtle portrayal is reflected in his approach towards Liling, as he boldly approaches without being fully aware of the local women's culture. Additionally, René's lack of understanding of Chinese culture was rather exaggerated as he believed that all female characters in Chinese operas were portrayed by women. The fundamental thoughts of the charactersfeminine represented by women is an extremely myopic understanding of culture, which holistically delineates René's thought process. Orientalism, as described by Mr. Butterfly, does not fail to represent Occidentalism. Westernism, much like Orientalism, was crudely portrayed in M. Butterfly, but rather directly by Liling, who insinuated that Westerners are arrogant and selfish with a lack of understanding of the culture in which they live. It is interesting to note that while Westernism emphasizes "Western culture" as extremely inhumane while "Eastern culture" is humane, noble and transcendent, Mr. Butterfly does not emphasize this attribute of Westernism but manipulates the blind spots of orientalism. Although the story depicts an incident that actually happened. Considered hilarious in nature, Mr. Butterfly skillfully transforms the ridiculous situation into a satirical assessment of Orientalism, expertly ridiculing the stupidity of limiting oneself to one preconceived idea of ​​culture: Orientalism. The name of the film is very misleading for those without experience. knowledge of the circumstances that the film describes. Rene falling in love with an Asian woman, trying to understand the culture she is exposed to, truly in love, may mislead the audience into believing that the whole situation leads to forbidden international love for an already married man. However, as mentioned above, the direction the film points to is not a love story but a dark twist on the orientalist view. Liling comments on Madame Butterfly to René that the story is quite misleading in that women from the East are not present. as stupid as the song says. The opera Madame Butterfly is ridiculed because it depicts an Asian woman committing suicide after discovering that the love she received from an American was fake. Madame Butterfly sees nothing but the unknown American's false love. The time Liling mentions Madame Butterfly, he indicates the protagonist as himself. Until the reveal, Mr. Butterfly is Madame Butterfly. However, the abandoned and ridiculed being, Madame Butterfly, in this speech is none other than Gallimard. Gallimard asks Liling “Are you my butterfly?” shows his true love for which he would have considered himself as the American in the story of Madame Butterfly, but not residing on false feelings towards Liling. René being the abandoned protagonist of Madame Butterfly, is finally aligned when he hilariously dresses as a woman acting in front of convicts. For losing his job, his love, everything, juxtaposed with Madame Butterfly's "love", René ends up committing suicide. This context fits perfectly with the title of the film M.Butterfly, where the title represents Madame Butterfly, but more precisely a Monsieur version of Madame Butterfly.Madame Butterfly Opera & OrientalismThe Madame Butterfly Opera shows a very unique look at oriental culture. It does not represent a holistic understanding of oriental understanding, resulting in short-sighted orientalism. The original drawing of Madame Butterfly, in fact, depicts a woman dressed in a traditional Japanese "Kimono" costume and her unique makeup style. In the historical context, it is likely that a Westerner who had traveled to the East could have seduced a local woman, and that the extremely traditional Eastern lady could have committed suicide when this Westerner confessed his false love. However, the story is largely one-sided. , a story that was told from the Western perspective is very wrong, giving the impression that "all Eastern women are faithful to their love and will commit suicide if betrayed." This gross misunderstanding stems from racist views, standardizing a:10.2307/3207557