The Interview

Ono and Pham write, “that moment of care that is not represented, especially an accumulation of such moments, may make all of the different in the world.” In The Interview, such moments in regard to representation of Asian and Asian Americans are handled with little attempt at creating authentic, three-dimensional characters and the humor surrounding Asians are written in poor taste. In this essay I argue that through the depiction of North Korean civilians, Sook, and Kim Jung Un, the film promotes fear of North Korean culture, “othering” of Asians, and strengthens prominent stereotypes of hyper sexualized Asian women and emasculated Asian men.

In the opening scene, a Korean girl dressed in traditional Korean clothing is seen singing a song about wanting the United States to “explode in a ball of fiery hell”. Though North Korea is known for songs promoting their support of Kim Jung Un and hatred of Western capitalism, this opening scene seems to project xenophobic fears of American audiences rather than add to the plot. Attempting to find humor in songs about rape and killing almost comes across as a political message about North Korea rather than a comedic portrayal of the nation’s propaganda. The lyrics dismiss any common humanity of the North Korean civilians and the masses gathering around in support make it seem as though the topics being discussed are condoned or at least widely accepted.

Throughout the film the common theme of “othering” Asians from Americans and portraying North Koreans as unobtainable, foreign and distant to American viewers is carried without the afterthought of what it might mean for representations of Asians in general. Though one can argue that at the end when Asian Americans arrive as Seal Team 6, we see the silver lining in that Asian Americans are portrayed as the good guys but this is also at the expense of antagonizing Asians that are not American. This is an implicit statement that there are “good” Asians and “bad” Asians.

The main Asian female lead, Sook, portrays the same Hollywood representation of Asian women by being aggressively sexualized. Sook, whose name sounds more like an onomatopoeia, arrives on a helicopter and leaves with Seth Rogen’s character Aaron Rapaport commenting, “Damn, she was sexy.” Since this initial interaction, Sook’s character is continually developed as the love interest of Rapaport rather than a dynamic lead acknowledged for her government position or the way she commands respect. A parallel can be made between Sook and Agent Lacey who is also a female lead in the film. Though the Agent Lacey is also objectified, she is instead empowered and uses her sex appeal as power to convince Skylark to take on the assignment. I find this to be the stark contrast between the American woman and the Asian woman portrayed in the film. Finally, it seems unconvincing that Sook goes out of her way to shoot down the regime’s closest advisors as if she had no relation with them beforehand and is so willing to take the side of the two Americans. In this scene, there is the repeated colonial theme that the white man needs to save the woman from the third world.

The representation of Kim Jung Un exaggerates the commonly used stereotype that Asian men are impotent and emasculated. His childish behavior, love for Katy Perry, obsession with margaritas and need to gain approval from Dave Skylark adds to the emasculation of his character. Kim Jung Un acts childish on his first encounter with Dave Skylark. He seems almost beholden to Dave, trying to impress him with all his fancy cars and women. This is even more alarming because Dave is not particularly someone who people would go out of their way to impress. The overemotional even at times erratic Un is unthreatening but also one-dimensional as though he has no merits other than his vulnerability. Un’s relationship with Skylark is particularly alarming. Dave Skylark’s profanity and dimwittedness leaves you with mixed feelings about his character because you recognize that he oftentimes goes too far. It makes you wonder if Kim Jung Un’s is only capable of befriending an idiotic and wildly inappropriate American rather than just a charismatic talk show host.

Given the political relationship between North Korea and the United States, it is understandable that the film depicts North Korea in a negative light. The problem I find is not in the attacks on the North Korean political regime but the offensive remarks and portrayals of Asians and humor that groups all East Asians as a homogenous whole. There are many examples of this throughout the film. For example, Skylark argues that he can get an interview with Kim Jung Un because he got in a club with a 3-month waiting list. When Aaron Rapaport says that’s not the same he rebuttals with “there were a lot of Asian girls there.” There is also a montage of Aaron Rapaport traveling in China with ethnically ambiguous background music. Lastly, when Skylark arrives in North Korea he greets everyone with “Konnechiwa”. While these are all made out to be cheap attempts at humor grouping all East Asians together does away with a large part of American culture as well. This film is obviously partial in their representation but it is disconcerting to see that there is not even an attempt to differentiate Asians from one another.

Though this was a parody of North Korean life, as a Chinese American I felt deeply affected as my stomach churned when seeing the way Asians were portrayed. For example, when both characters attempted Asian Accents, not North Korean accents particularly but stereotypical Asian ones, it seemed condescending and disrespectful, especially coming from two Hollywood celebrities rather than intolerant, raunchy films where you’d expect to find them. The whole film seemed like a modern day coping mechanism for dealing with Yellow Peril. For the actors in the film, it is sad to see Asian American actors doing their best to feel empowered or humanized within their roles given the limits of their scripts and the director’s vision. Additionally, the one time Asians get leads are when they have Asian accents and one-dimensional personalities.

As a concept, the movie in which Americans assassinate Kim Jung Un would sound like a hit, but the poor execution showed the dark side of Hollywood when given controversial topics. Opportunities to change stereotypes end up reinforcing ones where Asian women are to be fetishized and men (even leaders) are seen as impotent, immature, and weak. This takes away their sense of empowerment and paints them as one-dimensional characters where their shortcomings mask their better qualities. It seems like even within a comedy, one group’s humor must come at another group’s expense. One group’s empowerment must come by antagonizing another group. It is both sad and eye opening to see a Hollywood movie film produced in 2014 to showcase such backwards representations of a minority group. In a way, it speaks volumes on how much progress must be made. The fact that the reception of this movie received more press about North Korea sending threats to SONY rather than criticism about representation of Asians shows that issues like authentic representation are not on the minds of mainstream America. When thinking about what it means to be American, those who watch this film will think twice about being Asian and how that fits in within American society. It is becoming increasingly difficult as an Asian American to find role models in film and media when expensive Hollywood films are capable of producing offensive representations under the guise of comedy. Ultimately, I find that it reflects poorly on the screenwriters for finding humor at the expense of bad representation for impoverished North Koreans. The film concludes with Skylark saying, “Let’s go home to America where they don’t eat doggies” and with that line, it’s as if they pulled every Asian stereotype out of the hat for this movie.