Review of The Movie M.butterfly: a Real Story with Derisory Orientalism

M. Butterfly, a movie produced in 1993, contains a story based on a real incident. The basic plot of the movie proceeds in the background of Beijing, 1964. Rene Gallimard, an accountant of the French Embassy, acted by Jeremy Irons, is an introverted protagonist who falls in solve with a Chinese opera actress Song Liling. The initial encounter was when Song Liling was singing Madame Butterfly in that opera. Rene, although married, feels a destiny- like love toward Liling. However, Liling would not take off her clothes in front of Rene even if they considered themselves lovers.

So, there were no actual physical intercourse between Rene and Liling. After Rene got promoted to Deputy Consul General, he leaves China and get backs to 1968, after being notified by Liling that she bore his child. Liling still finds Rene in France regardless of the cataclysmic era. Then Rene eventually got arrested, finds out Liling was a man and the child was not even his. Rene serves his time in prison, where he acts in front of the convicts dressed up as a female, half-crazed, eventually slits his throat with a shard of glass.

While the movie is a distortion of the story Madame Butterfly, it is an actual story where a Frenchman Bernard Boursicot went to Beijing at the age of 20, met a 26year-old Chinese opera actor Shi Pei Pu, who Bernard thought of as female until he got arrested in 1983. Bernard also attempts suicide after knowing Pei Pu was a man. Interestingly, both sentenced 6years of prison for espionage in 1986, they were released in a year mostly because the society considered the circumstance laughable. Pei Pu lived in France for the rest of his life with the child he claimed was Bernard’s.

Unlike reality, where the incident was considered stupid and ludicrous, M.Butterfly depicts the protagonist greatly devastatingly. The cinematographic depiction of Rene underscores his already introverted, gloomy side as well as his neediness. Gallimard fell in love as if it were a destiny, loving Liling passionately regardless of how Liling avoided all circumstances of taking clothes off. Even when he never had any intercourse, not even having seen Liling’s naked body, Rene believes Liling having said s/he bore his child. The whole situation can be accounted for Rene’s self-established delusion of Orientalism. Juxtaposed with Liling’s derisory comment on such behavior, already predicting the damnation of the individual who swims in his own fantasy of the East.

Orientalism in M. Butterfly

There have been many definitions regarding Orientalism, where it used to indicate a meaning of Western thought toward the East culture. Now Orientalism is often utilized as a mean to rationalize the superiority and rule over the East. M.Butterfly grossly illustrates and satirizes the Orientalism defined as such.

Although Rene, having admiration for the East, still shows the underlying ideation where the West is in higher status than the East. The subtle depiction is reflected in his approach toward Liling, as he boldly approaches not fully aware of the local culture of female. Moreover, Rene’s lack of understanding of the Chinese culture has been rather exaggerated as he thought all female characters in Chinese operas were depicted by female. The foundational thought of female characters portrayed by females are extremely short-sighted understanding of culture, which holistically delineates the thought process of Rene.

The Orientalism, as depicted, M.Butterfly does not miss out representing Occidentalism. Occidentalism, as was Orientalism, was grossly depicted in M.Butterfly, but rather directly by Liling, who insinuated Westerners are arrogant and selfish, lacking understanding of the culture they are residing on. Interestingly, while Occidentalism stresses “Western culture” as extremely inhumane while “Eastern culture” is human, noble and transcendent, M.Butterfly does not underscores such attribute of Occidentalism but manipulates the blind points Orientalism pertains.

Although the story depicts an actually occurred incident that’s considered hilarious by natiure, M.Butterfly adeptly switches the ludicrous situation into a satiric evaluation on the Orientalism, expertly deriding the stupidity of having confined by preconception of culture: Orientalism.

The movie’s name is greatly misleading for those who do not have the background knowledge of the circumstances the movie is depicting. Rene falling in love with an Asian woman, trying to understand the culture she is exposed to, truly in love, can mislead the audience to believe the whole situation leads to a forbidden international love for an already married man. However, as been mentioned above, the direction which the movie points is not a love story but a dark twist on the Orientalistic view.

Liling comments of Madame Butterfly to Rene that the story is quite misleading in the sense that women from the East is not as inane as told in the song. The opera Madame Butterfly is derided upon as it illustrates an Asian woman killing herself after finding out the love she got from an American man was fake. Madame Butterfly cannot see anything but the unfamiliar American man’s fake love. The time Liling mentions the Madame Butterfly, s/he indicates the protagonist as him/herself. Until the revelation, M.Butterfly is Madame Butterfly.

However, the being who is abandoned and laughed at, Madame Butterfly, in this discourse is no other than Gallimard. Gallimard asking Liling “Are you my butterfly?” shows his genuine love for which he would have considered himself the American man in the Madame Butterfly story, but not residing on the false feelings toward Liling. Rene being the abandoned protagonist as of Madame Butterfly, is finally aligned when he dresses up hilariously as a woman acting in front of convicts. To have lost job, love, everything, juxtaposed with Madame Butterfly’s ‘love,’ Rene commits suicide in the end. This context perfectly reasons with the movie’s title M.Butterfly, where the title does represent the Madame Butterfly, but more specifically a Monsieur version of Madame Butterfly.

Opera Madame Butterfly & Orientalism

The Opera Madame Butterfly shows a very singular view on the Eastern Culture. It does not represent a holistic understanding of Eastern understanding, thus resulting in the shortsighted Orientalism. The original drawing of Madame Butterfly, in fact, draws a woman in a Japanese traditional clothing ‘Kimono’ and their unique style of make-up. In the historical context, it is probable that a Westerner who traveled to the East could have seduced a local female, and the extremely traditional Eastern lady could have committed suicide as that Westerner confessed the fake love.

Nevertheless, the story is greatly one-sided, a story that has been told from the Westerners’ view is greatly misguided, giving an impression ‘all women in East are loyal to their love and will kill themselves if betrayed.’ This gross misunderstanding stems from racist views, standardizing a certain culture to the whole Eastern actuality.

It is questionable why the poster for the opera Madame Butterfly to depict a Japanese female. As Japan’s culture stemming from Shintoism beliefs, mixed with the Taoism, rendered females’ expectations for socioeconomic disposition to be low. Though such expectations low, it cannot be taken to account that females would kill themselves for love in Japan. But the devotion a woman would show for her family in a Japanese household can be reflected in the devotion Madame Butterfly had for her love.

Beyond Orientalism and Occidentalism

The shortsighted Orientalism often depicted as is in Madame Butterfly did not at all represent the reality of the Eastern culture, rather made the East defensive toward the Westerners. Occidentalism, as often said, is a countermeasure for the Easterners to protect themselves from circumstances such as Madame Butterfly. In this sense, it could be applied to the ideation perfectly depicted in “Pride & Prejudice” where the male protagonist’s pride represents the Westerners’ Orientalism while female protagonist’s prejudice represents the Occidentalism.

Juxtaposing “Pride & Prejudice” with Orientalism and Occidentalism concepts may not just be the West and the East but the understanding of male and female roles. Feminine figures have always been illustrated weak, fragile, needs love & protection in most of the cultures. M.Butterfly also adeptly looks down on the concept where it has to be a female and male in a relationship. Though the movie does not depict a woman who outsmarts a man, but it does show how biased a human mind can be that it always has to be the female side suffering. In this case, it is the male side who suffers in the loss of love and all societal gains he has accomplished. The movie gives a huge blow on this matter that it does not necessarily debunks the inanity of Orientalism and Occidentalism, but also the biases regarding male and female role, where the male can be the one suffering.

Conclusion

M.Butterfly’s title is perfect in a sense that the protagonist Rene Gallimard, who suffered the loss in love, societal achievements because of that love, was the Madame/Monsieur Butterfly. The movie directly satires the Orientalism based on an actual story, but more dramatically to match the ambience of Madame Butterfly: Devastating. Beyond the Orientalism and Occidentalism the movie M.Butterfly covers, it understands that people who suffer in a relationship could not just be limited to the female figurine, where the male who invests more on the relationship can suffer as much, or even more than a female. The subtle portrayal of emotions by Jeremy Irons, and the dark cinematography enhances the emotion of total loss and hopelessness. The reality, although Bernard Boursicot did not kill himself and the whole circumstance was considered ridiculous, the movie itself carries great number of messages for oneself with biases to revise.

Bibliography

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2. Kondo, D. K. (1990). 'M. Butterfly': Orientalism, Gender, and a Critique of Essentialist Identity. Cultural Critique, (16), 5. doi:10.2307/1354343 Moy, J. S. (1990).
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