The Wedding Banquet

¶ … Wedding Banquet does not deliberately set out to be a "queer film" but rather uses homosexuality as a narrative device; the conflicts that arise from Wei-Tung and Simon's homosexual relationship are mirrored in "Little Mao's" heterosexual relationship as both Wei-Tung and "Little Mao" attempt to break from tradition and are engaged in a relationship with a white man. It is important to note that the marriage arrangement within the film is also a matter of convenience -- the marriage not only enables Wei to get a green card, but also helps Wei-Tung satisfy his parents' desire for him to marry and have children. The Wedding Banquet does not set out to depict the issues that may arise because of an individual's homosexuality, but rather depicts the conflicts that arise when an individual tries to placate others while sacrificing a part of themselves. In this comedy of errors, the main characters all get what they want -- Mr. Gao gets the grandchild he has always wanted, Mrs. Gao gets to see her son married, Wei is on her way to getting a green card, and Simon and Wei-Tung have the family that they always wanted. While it is stressed that Wei-Tung's homosexuality be kept from Mr. Gao, he knows about his son's sexual preferences and secretly accepts Simon as his son. In the case of The Wedding Banquet, Mr. Gao is able to accept the farce that is Wei-Tung's marriage because it is a means to an end -- Mr. Gao simply wants to ensure that his bloodline, which was at risk of being terminated, is able to survive for at least one more generation.

Question 2:

In the article "The Cinematic Representation of Asian Homosexuality in The Wedding Banquet" by Ling-Yen Chua, Chua analyzes how Ang Lee's film, The Wedding Banquet, is able to reconcile different criticisms to be a commercially successful film. Chua makes arguments regarding the film's representation of Asian homosexuality -- citing the lack of cinematic Asian homosexuality depiction, if the film can be considered to be "Western," and the film's depiction of homosexuality as a "white" thing. The Wedding Banquet is able to create a space for most of the arguments to come together within a single film.

The representation of Asian homosexuality in The Wedding Banquet is confined to the protagonist, Wai-Tung Gao. Furthermore, the topic of homosexuality is not fully explored within the film; there are no references to the social and cultural obstacles that are encountered by homosexuals, but rather, homosexuality is used to create conflict within the narrative, more specifically to create a conflict with expected Asian familial and social obligations. While Chua argues that there the representation of Asian homosexuality in cinema is limited, he does not provide information as to the extent of underrepresentation, on the other hand, Chua cites three films, Desperate Remedies (1993), The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (mistitled by the Chua as Priscilla, Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert) (1994), and To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (erroneously referred to as a remake of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) (1995) that were released at the same time or after The Wedding Banquet; Chua also provides a list of films that reference or center around Asian homosexuality that far exceeds the number of films that center around white homosexuals.

Chua also makes the argument that The Wedding Banquet is not "Western" enough. On the other hand, it can be argued that The Wedding Banquet does not set out to be a Western film, but rather a Eastern film with a universal message. Despite being set in the Western city of New York, the film is, for the most part, an Eastern film from the narrative, rituals, social obligations and traditions explored, and the characters to the film's director, Ang Lee. While it may be argued that the film may not appear to be "Western" enough, it may be that Lee did not intend the film to be anything more than the conflicts that may arise when individuals attempt to defy social conventions regardless of whether these conflicts are Eastern or Western. Moreover, the way in which Asian culture is depicted far outweighs how "Western" culture is depicted. The film's narrative, especially the conversation between Wai-Tung and "Little Mao" -- a heterosexual, Chinese woman who is experiencing similar pressures from her family to marry an Chinese man and begin a family of her own -- helps to emphasize the importance of family and tradition within Asian culture. "Western" cultural representations are limited to what the family experiences from their interactions with Simon who has embraced Wai-Tung's culture and has even gone as far as to learn the language and learn to cook traditional Chinese food; it can be argued that the only thing that can be considered to be "Western" about Simon is his sexual preference and his "fractured" family.

The Wedding Banquet does not successfully depict homosexuality as a "white" thing, rather any "whiteness," in general, is seen as a threat. For example, Mrs. Gao, Wei-Tung's mother, is under the impression that Simon has led her son astray with homosexuality, whereas Old Chen points to Simon during Wei-Tung's first wedding "banquet" and encourages Mr. Gao to "save face" by throwing a lavish wedding celebration as opposed to the humble celebration that they are currently enjoying.