When it comes to Chinese actresses in Hollywood, the first thing that people think of must be Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi. I have to say that Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi do have their own advantages in interpretation, and many of the film works they have starred in are not low in quality. Like Gong Li's "Red Sorghum", "Ju Dou", "Big Red Lantern Hanging High"... Zhang Ziyi's "Ten Faces Ambush" and "Memoirs of a Geisha" have long been unquestionable classics in people's hearts.
But many people don't know that the first person to shine in Hollywood was a Chinese actress named Huang Liushuang. Compared with the Chinese actresses who break into Hollywood today, Huang Liushuang lived in that era and was very unfriendly to Chinese actors. Huang Liushuang was born in the late Qing Dynasty, when China was in a situation of internal and external troubles, and at that time, Chinese were mostly ignorant in the eyes of foreigners. This point is clearly pointed to in the image of China in Hollywood movies in those years.
Most of the Chinese female figures played by Huang Liushuang are scantily dressed, either prostitutes or slaves, not murderers, or people with evil hearts. It is also because most of the images she plays have negative overtones, so even if she can be famous in Hollywood, Huang Liushuang is always a woman with a bad reputation in the eyes of Chinese. People resented her roles, and they saw her roles as a scandal and insult to the nation, so they gave her the name of "traitor". But is that really the case?
In a visit to relatives back to China, Huang Liushuang once responded like this: "That's not my choice. Even if I don't play those roles, there will be other white actors to play. And I will lose the only chance to 'Chinese play Chinese', and I will not have the opportunity to maintain the minimum image of the Chinese; instead of letting them act, it is better for me to act. ”
Sometimes, if you want to stand ahead of others, you have to make some compromises. Bow your head for a moment, just so that one day you can look up with dignity. In such a special era, Huang Liushuang endured not only the discrimination of the United States, but also many misunderstandings of the Chinese people about themselves.
Racial discrimination in American society has always been very strong, even today. As the first Chinese actress to break through hollywood, Huang Liushuang's choice at that time could only be temporarily subservient to the Chinese image created by Westerners. At the age of 14, Huang Liushuang was active in the Hollywood film circle as a child star, and before the age of 20, she had already participated in the shooting of more than a dozen Hollywood blockbusters. Because of her Chinese identity, she did not get the opportunity to play the heroine.
She left Hollywood halfway through and went to Europe to develop, and only returned to Hollywood until Americans' attitudes toward China improved, in addition to seeking better development, but also based on a Chinese some kind of resistance to racial discrimination in the United States. In a sense, linguistic patriotism is only a symptom. Living well, not adding chaos to the motherland, and doing your best to contribute to the motherland can also be regarded as patriotic. Huang Liushuang starred in more than 50 movies in her lifetime, most of which were portrayed in negative images, but this does not represent the image of China as a whole.
As she emphasized at the end of her American stage performance: "No matter how bad the character I play is, it does not represent the whole Chinese, and I hope that everyone will not misunderstand." ” Every country has good and evil, and Huang Liushuang just played a small number of evil characters, but her love for the motherland is no less than some people who spurn her.
She is not only the first Chinese actress to leave her name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but also the first Chinese actress to try to introduce Chinese style into Hollywood. If we cannot change the West's prejudice against China, we must start from the subtleties. From hairstyles, clothing to body movements, Huang Liushuang has reshaped the unique style of Chinese women with a unique oriental mood, and also allowed the Western world to perceive the unique charm of Chinese culture.
It is not an exaggeration to say that she is the first Chinese actress exported from Chinese culture, but do you think that her patriotism is only reflected in this? Non also. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance, knowing that she was not appreciated, she also insisted on calling on the American people to support china's war of resistance at different banquet occasions, and also sold her jewelry for charity, and the proceeds were all remitted to China to support the war of resistance. During World War II, she spared no effort to go to the European front to support the Allies. In 1942, Song Meiling gave a sensational propaganda speech in the United States. This speech also invited many celebrities to participate.
Unfortunately, Huang Liushuang, who was the only Chinese actress in Hollywood at that time, was not among them. Song Meiling's reason for not seeing her, like many Chinese people at that time, thought that she was a representative of the image of insulting Chinese. The prejudice of the Chinese people against her made her feel depressed for a while. What made her even more frustrated was that her family also regarded herself as a disgrace. Huang Liushuang's grandfather's generation, in order to survive, sold his life to a snakehead for money, and then took a cargo ship to the United States as a digging miner.
Fortunately, my grandfather did not die like other miners. Not only did he survive, but he also started a family in the United States and had offspring. Due to the chaos of the war and the inconvenience of transportation, Huang Liushuang's grandfather was not able to return to China until his death.
However, all the homeland is still fresh in my mind. Therefore, huangliushuang in my grandfather's mouth often heard about various customs and customs of China. Even in the United States, Huang Liushuang will go to Chinese school in her spare time.
Huang Liushuang's father is a laundromat, there are eight brothers and sisters in the family, and she is the second oldest. Although she made a name for herself by making movies, her parents have always been disgusted with her as an actress. Although they are in the United States, the traditional thinking in the bones of their parents has never changed, and they agree that good women do not sing. Although after becoming famous, Huang Liushuang alone bore the tuition fees of the remaining 7 siblings, making them lucky to receive higher education, her position in the family was still embarrassing.
At the beginning of her fame, her father wanted her to obey the arrangement and find a reliable person to live in peace and stability. But looking at the Chinese circle at that time, there was no one who was suitable for her. Ordinary men are reluctant to marry a "dramatist" who shows his face all day to go home, not to mention that Huang Liushuang's screen image is not only scantily dressed, but also starred in a prostitute who is regarded by Chinese culture as the lowest of the lower nine streams. Elites often pride themselves on their own highs, and Huang Liushuang is despised by them from their birth background to professional background.
Thinking about it, it seemed that only caucasian people were her destiny. In Huang Liushuang's short life of 56 years, there was indeed a white man who made her fall in love. In order to be with him, she also had many beautiful visions and plans. For example, he wanted to go to another continent with him to register his marriage, but the idea was quickly shattered by reality.
This white man's name is Mickey. Neeland, who was nearly 40 years older than Huang Liushuang, was a famous prodigal son in the circle at that time.
As a little white in love, Huang Liushuang can hardly withstand the fierce pursuit of this veteran of the love field. It wasn't until she fell into it that she realized that she was like a clown in this relationship. All the good future she had painstakingly planned about them only needed his faint words "Chinese women cannot intermarry with white people" and they vanished.
At that time, the laws of California did have a stipulation that white people could not intermarry with Chinese, but there was no provision that marriages could not be registered in other continents. Mickey. The intention of this operation of Nelan is obvious. He was just playing, never wanted to be responsible to the end, tired of finding an excuse to make her dumb. Since the 1950s, Huang Liushuang has gradually faded out of the screen, accumulating a certain amount of savings, and living a life that many people envy. But she has always been at odds with the world.
There is no support from relatives, no understanding from the chinese people, and no one who loves her to accompany her. No matter how colorful the world is, she is also the one who is excluded. So she borrowed wine to dispel her sorrows, paralyzing her extremely sad emotions all day long but with nowhere to release. In the end, at the age of 56, he passed away with endless loneliness and regret.
Looking back on her life, all her experiences are like her confession of her destined celibacy: "Chinese men hate me for making a joke, and American law prohibits me from marrying caucasians." ”
The words were full of helplessness and powerlessness to change.
Whether it is the great love of the family and the country, or the small love, for the yellow willow cream, it is always like the sand in the hand, or loose or tight can not be retained.
I hope that she will have an afterlife, and she can get the most authentic kindness from this world in a plain and happy way!