Hollywood’s Stereotype of the Japanese American
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Main landers considered the men from Hawaii inferior because
of their pidgin English and happy-go-lucky ways. Islanders
thought the mainlanders were ‘stuck-up’ because of their correct
English and polite manners (67).
In the film, this dislike is evident in their verbal exchanges: the mainland Japanese
Americans express bitterness about their families being interned in concentration
camps while the Hawaiian Japanese Americans contend with Pearl Harbor.
However, both groups want to prove their loyalty to the United States.
Lt. Michael Grayson (Van Johnson) is a newly commissioned Texan officer
assigned to train and lead the all-Japanese American, or Nisei (second-generation
Japanese born in the U.S.), unit. He displays an overt discomfort as he arrives at
Camp Shelby and sees the Japanese American soldiers. Immediately he asks Col.
Charles W. Pence (the name of the real-life commander of the 442nd, played by
Warner Anderson) to transfer him back to the 36th Infantry Division, comprised of
his fellow Texans. Grayson uses the tenn “Jap” to describe the soldiers, but Pence
sternly informs him that these men are “Japanese Americans or Nisei,” and the
Caucasian officers, like him, are “haoles” and not “white men.” “Haole,” a Hawaiian
term, literally means “foreigner,” but its connotations often point toward only
“white” people. Pence goes on to explain to Grayson (thus, the viewer) the
internment of Japanese Americans: “The Army was facing an emergency at the
start of the war and the possible invasion by Japanese troops. The Japanese
Americans were evacuated from the West Coast. No loyalty check, no screening,
nothing.” But at their initial meeting. Pence fails to convince Lt. Grayson that the
Japanese Americans would make good soldiers.
The movie characterizes the Japanese Americans as “misfits” who,
perhaps, need the guidance of a strong Caucasian figure. They are disheveled and
shown gambling, playing the ukulele, or complaining bitterly about their situation.
Though done in a comical way, their size serves as a means to compare their physical
characteristics to their taller, Caucasian counterparts. Writer-director Pirosh makes
the point in one scene in which Grayson trains the Japanese Americans: marching,
they must walk quickly to maintain their stride to that of their Caucasian leader
because of their height differentiation; they barely clear the obstacle course
waterholes; and they cannot overcome high walls. Eventually, however, the Nisei
soldiers “clean” up their act with the help of Grayson and become soldiers.
While the film focuses on the Nisei soldiers and their Caucasian leader,
several scenes feature the interaction between two characters in particular: Sam
and Tommy. Sam (Lane Nakano) is a mainland-Japanese American whose family
and sweetheart are interned in Arizona. Tommy (Henry Nakamura) comes from