Picture Bride

The film Picture Bride featured some interesting comparisons between Chinese-American and Japanese-American culture. The first comparison I will make is the act in which women come to America. In Eat a bowl of tea Ben goes to his village back in China to meet his prospective wife and they are both given a chance to meet with each other before the marriage. In the film Picture Bride the only communication between the bride and groom are through letters and photos which prove to be unreliable. Additionally, when unhappy with their marriage Ben and Mei Oi have divorce as am option whereas Riyo is forced to stay with her new husband and work on the plantation. Which brings me to another point. Mei Oi does not have to work when she reaches America, which creates problems in their marriage, Riyo on the other hand works two jobs both of which are physical labor. Both films similarly display the need for children to honor their parents. Wah Gay chases ben with a knife when he feels the families honor is in jeopardy. In the end of Picture bride Riyo honors her parents, who shamefully died of tuberculosis, with the lighting of a lantern.
A CRT tenet that I felt applied somewhat universally throughout the film Picture Bride was the first tenet that everyone is racist. First of all the Haole boss of the plantation is appointed over the 20 year veteran Portuguese overseer because he is white, pointing at the racism of the plantation owners. The Portuguese overseer is appointed to discipline the Asiatic workers because he is more fair skinned, although he himself isn't particularly racist towards the workers. The Japanese workers are payed more than the the Filipino workers and seem to flaunt their superiority within the plantation.  These points are also related to the CRT term Accent Discrimination because of the way in which the racial bias is instituted.