I was a high school and college student during the Vietnam War. At the time, a number of plays, directly and indirectly, dealt with the war. They include: The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel, Sticks and Bones, Streamers, Viet Rock and Hair. Each one made you uncomfortable about the war in some way. In 1989, along came Miss Saigon. No use retelling the history of the original production. There are some problems with the musical.
*Madama Butterfly is set in Japan which has a specific culture. Miss Saigon is set in Vietnam which has a specific culture. You can't take a story from one culture and drop it into the other. Is the attitude about suicide in Japan the same as the attitude in Vietnam?
*Miss Saigon traffics in old worn out tropes about Asians women. They were worn in 1989; they are a single thread in 2017.
*Of course, Miss Saigon is not an every Vietnamese story. On the other hand, I wonder if there are people whose only knowledge about the war come from this show? How many people know the Vietnamese were fighting to save their country long before the U.S. arrived?
*Yes, Miss Saigon has employed many Asian actors, but, in 2017, why should their opportunities be limited? Why should they be stuck playing pimps, soldiers and bar girls?
*In 2017, there should be more plays written by Vietnamese authors. VIETGONE by Qui Nguyen is a terrific kickass, badass play. I learned things I didn't know and it made me think. As I left the theatre, I thought the time for Miss Saigon has come and gone.
Dave28282 endlessly repeats we should see the characters as humans. Based on my experience, people who says this over and over DO NOT see the characters as individuals; they don't see them at all. Dave28282 thinks he it above it all; he's not.
GeorgeandDot - I understand what you are saying. On the other hand, you are undercutting your point of view. You say, " I'm made uncomfortable by seeing Asian women fetishized on stage by white audiences." But, then you say you like Miss Saigon. What?
Dancingthrulife2 - Your comments are confusing. You write, "As an Asian myself and also as a stage director, I can totally relate to the feeling that diasporas want to see themselves represented on stage. However, people sometimes expect so much from a show that it is dismissed as disparaging when it doesn't focus on replicating a certain experience but something else, sometimes something more universal. Indeed, people who are not seen as "white" want to break out of the mold of the socially and culturally constructed racial stereotypes (especially the continuing "model minority" stereotype for an Asian that discounts effort put into work)." What? I am not Asian, but I have read and heard Asian writers and actors who say Miss Saigon is one of the few times Asians are represented on stage. There are many stories waiting to be told. Why is another production of this musical needed? You state, "; it is, instead, a show about war and people screwed over by it." There are many shows that do a better job.
And the home video version has not been released in the U.S., so you have to go to international sellers to obtain it.
