Hear that Gong? Long Duk Dong?

Long Duk Dong

My assignment is to choose and analyze how a “type of person” is portrayed in the media. I have chosen to analyze the 1984 movie, “Sixteen Candles,” and its portrayal of the character Long Duk Dong played by Gedde Watanabe. I am qualifying my analysis in the way that Bonnie Dow (1996) qualified her arguments in the book “Prime-Time Feminism.”

My opinion is by no means the only interpretation, and it quite possibly is not the best way to portray the film. I invite people to agree, disagree, rethink, reanalyze, and reconsider their own evaluations of the film in light of the arguments I have posed.

“Sixteen Candles” is a disservice to the Asian community because it makes Asians appear less than human. The character of Long Duk Dong is portrayed as childlike or animal-like.

The movie, “Sixteen Candles,” begins when Sam Baker’s family forgets her birthday. The audience is just feeling sorry for Sam, when in steps the comic relief, the Asian, foreign exchange student, Long Duk Dong. To the sound of gong, Long hangs upside down from the top of the bunk bed, and he delivers his most famous line, “What’s happening hot stuff?” Long Duk Dong is instantly childlike and playful, not a person to be taken seriously.

Whenever anyone says Dong’s name you hear the sound of a gong. Also, oriental music plays while he eats with the family. The family watches like he is the most interesting, bizarre individual they have ever seen. He is a zoo animal enjoying its dinner.

The grandparent with whom he is staying says that Dong washes dishes and helps with the laundry. They are enjoying having a foreign exchange student, because he is helping with chores like a slave.

At the school dance Dong meets a girl and nuzzles himself into her chest. She seems content and amused by his name and childish manner. She gives him the nickname “The Donger.” As they drive in the car, the instrumental of “I think I’m turning Japanese” plays loudly. It has been stated throughout the film that Dong is Chinese, not Japanese.

The next morning, Grandpa calls to report Dong as a lost person. He finishes describing what he is wearing, his name, and that he is a foreign exchange student then he says, “No he’s not retarded!” The person assumed that he was retarded, because Dong was Chinese.

When Dong is found, Grandpa claps his hands repeatedly to get his attention. Then, Grandma kicks him after she finds out that he crashed their car. This would be very shocking and not appropriate if she had kicked a different character, but because Dong was portrayed as an animal throughout the film it was played off as comical.

These examples are relevant to the claim, because they show that the character of Long Duk Dong is portrayed as less than human or childish throughout the entire movie. He has no emotions except to be pleased or amazed by the prosperity of America.

You may say that the character is an accurate portrayal of a foreigner who has never been to the United States but in my opinion, people are, or at least should be, respectful, patient, and understanding to the differences of other peoples’ cultures instead of assuming they are “retarded,” “bizarre,” or “weird.”

In my opinion, “Sixteen Candles,” is a disservice to the Asian community, because they not only lump in Chinese and Japanese into one indistinguishable race, but they treat the character of Long Duk Dong as less than human on many occasions.

References:

Dow, B. (1996). Prime-time Feminism: Television, media culture, and the women’s movement since 1970. Philadelphia: University Press.

Green, H. (Producer), & Hughes, J. (Director). (1984). Sixteen Candles [Motion Picture]. United States: Universal Pictures.