Saving Face - Katriel Sahlstrom

The film Saving Face battles with Asian stereotypes. It vividly presents Critical Race Theory tenent five, which explains that intersectional identity and anti-essentialism can be used to present individuals not as stereotyped members of a race, but as humans with complex and compound identities.

Intersectional identity is the idea that individuals are formed by the intersection of many social identities, not just one. These may be factors such as family, religion, education, gender, and socioeconomic status.

Intersectional identity is complemented by anti-essentialism. Essentialism states that there are specific traits of a group that are applicable to each of its members. Anti-essentialism refutes this claim. This is illustrated by the character’s defiance of Chinese stereotypes and expectations in the film.

Wil is a young Chinese-American. In some ways, she appears to fulfill the Chinese-American stereotype. She’s hardworking, intelligent, and strongly tied to her family. However, the film showcase the sides of her personality that are not compliant with the traits that are typically assigned to Chinese women.

Wil’s family is an integral social identity in her life. They have expectations of who she should be as a young Chinese woman; they have a mold that she is expected to fill. When her mother moves in with her, she raids her cabinets and drawers, criticizing her messy habits. Chinese women are supposed to be clean. She dresses in simple, somewhat masculine clothing, but Chinese women are supposed to be feminine and traditional. She is pressured to find a husband. But her confession of her sexual orientation goes sharply against the values of her relatives and culture. Chinese women are supposed to be straight. Wil is gay.

Saving Face highlights Wil’s life as a defiant of racial stereotypes and familial expectations. In the end, she finds resolve with herself, and so does her family. Eventually, she is accepted as who she is-both by her family and by herself. She finds the autonomy and confidence to kiss her female lover in public. No longer afraid of who she is, Wil is able to step into her own identity and future, unfettered.