Golden Hollywood’s forbidden leading man -- XOTV Weekly
Hello folks, I'm excited to share this week's newsletter with you. We have a fascinating deep-dive about Sessue Hayakawa, an article about Japanese war brides, and even a reminder of the best way to honor your community this holiday season.
My hope is you are taking care of your minds, bodies, and hearts during the end of a hectic year. Create some art, consume consciously and take rest when you need it. We're in this together.
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Golden Hollywood's Forbidden Leading Man
Born Kintaro Hayakawa in 1886 Chiba, Japan, the rest of the world would know him as Sessue Hayakawa --- “The Cheat,” “The Dragon Painter” and “The Beggar Prince.” He was a sex symbol of old Hollywood and a gifted actor with an artist’s flair: the first Asian actor to achieve widespread stardom in the United States.
Originally intended to join the Imperial Japanese Navy per the request of his father, Hayakawa failed the navy’s physical exams, preventing him from taking service. Instead, he traveled to the United States, enrolling in the University of Chicago to study banking. By 1912, Hayakawa relocated to Los Angeles, where he began acting at the Japanese Theater in Little Tokyo. Moving from stage productions to silent films, Hayakawa’s first string of movies --- “The Typhoon” and “The Cheat” --- were box-office successes. In both, he played Japanese characters. In “The Typhoon,” Hayakawa is a Japanese diplomat engaged in a tryst with an American wife whom Hayakawa’s character murders in a jealous fit. In “The Cheat,” he plays a Japanese businessman who holds a white woman in debt in exchange for affection. Hayakawa’s roles reflected the era’s prevailing anti-Asian sentiment. Hayakawa was pigeonholed into playing...read more here.
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'Tis the season to support artisans by shopping local for holidays. While lockdown makes online shopping an easy solution, the mom and pop shop down the street will need your business to survive the season.
And lastly, we are partnered with the wonderful Culturs to create this newsletter. Culturs is the home for people who straddle the intersections of Race, Ethnicity, culture, home and more. You can read about Japanese war brides, Japanese women who married American soldiers in WWII, and their immigration to the United States here.