The film had wonderful cinematography (the scenes of fighters "flying" across rooftops and running straight up walls was eerie, and the slo-mo fighting in the tips of the trees), but I got the impression that I was watching a mythological Chinese Western (there is even a "saloon fight" scene of sorts -- a little funny if you see the mock Western aspect of it), although a very well done one. Not understanding Chinese, I probably missed some of the plot (as one often misses reading some of the captioning while trying to see, or the reverse).
I get the point that Jade Fox was pissed off that her (male) master didn't teach her the full "mystery of Wu Tan," but didn't pick up a "lesbian feminist" subtext until it was mentioned here. I took it to be the "woman scorned" thing, for sure -- Jade as an old crone training Jen to get revenge on the men who have "excluded" her from full participation in the warrior profession. So "feminist" in some sense. But I still fail to see how "lesbian feminists" who "want to kick butt" (especially male butt) constitute any sort of "radical" alternative. Or for that matter, corporate feminists who want to break the "glass ceiling" so that they can "get the power they deserve" and screw everyone (including other women) who is beneath them.
Jade seems to play the foil of evil and egotistical "resentment" against the "good" warrior ethic of Yu Shu Lien (a woman, by the way) and Li Mu Bai, whose modesty and humility seem to be without bounds (they can't even bring themselves to confess their love for each other because their first devotion is to their duty as good warriors). In such a contextless field as a "historical" (but really stark "good vs. evil") romance, one is probably supposed to presume that "good warriors" support the "good leaders" and the "bad warriors" always ally themselves with the "corrupt leaders" and criminals (as Jade does). One of the "problems" with Jade (as the film seems to characterize her) is that she does not "subordinate" her desire to "the good" (presumably defending the "order" of society) but elevates her own fericious ego (or is it id?) above everything else. One can see that rubbing off on what Yoshie calls Jade's "bratty" student Jen, who simply wants the "adventure," "excitement," and "glory" that she believes comes with being a warrior rather than the young aristocratic lady who is pledged as a bride that she would otherwise be. There seems to be no middle, or no real alternative.
So I'm not entirely sure what to do with the "feminist" subtext.
It ends up like the "gays in the military" issue. Gays want an equal right to go off to foreign countries and kill people. If all that's left is an "equal right" to serve "law and order" (presumably good, but never questioned), it seems that "equal rights" is easily coopted.
Maybe you guys can clarify some more, or sort out my issues better.
Peter Kosenko
Brad Mayer wrote:
>
> While the analysis is accurate, Yoshie is being more than generous in
> conclusion. I found the treatment of Jade Fox stereotypical, offensive
> and, well, reactionary, as can be gathered. Even though her antagonist got
> his in the end. It certainly comes under Empire:
>
> "..The imperial 'solution' will not be to negate or attenuate these
> differences, but rather to affirm them and arrange them in an effective
> apparatus of command.
>
> 'Divide and conquer' is thus not really the correct formulation of imperial
> strategy. More often than not, the Empire does not create division but
> rather recognizes existing or potential differences, celebrates them, and
> manages them within a general economy of command. The triple imperative of
> Empire is incorporate, differentiate, manage." ("The Triple Imperative of
> Empire, Imperial Sovereignty, Empire", 200-01)
>
> But a "celebration" of Jade Fox's difference? I think not. In the end,
> the eminently 'modernist' imperative of an "effective apparatus of command"
> comes lurching up, sharp and jaggedy-edged as ever, out of the
> free-floating swamp of difference.
>
> -Brad Mayer
>
> >_Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon_ has an intriguing _but
> >underdeveloped_ lesbian-feminist class-struggle subtext, mainly
> >embodied in the character of Jade Fox, played by Pei-pei Cheng. Jade
> >Fox killed Li Mu Bai's master because the sexist pig screwed her but
> >refused to teach her the mystery of Wu Tan (a style of martial arts).
> >She takes Jen under her wings, teaches her martial arts, &
> >(symbolically speaking) proposes to her that together they destroy
> >ruling-class patriarchs & build a new world of warrior women; Jen,
> >however, refuses to become a class traitor -- she just wants to do a
> >little slumming, first with an older proletarian woman (Jade Fox) &
> >then a young proletarian boy (Lo). Jade Fox dies at the hand of Li
> >Mu Bai. With her dying breaths, she reproaches Jen for denying her
> >literacy (earlier, Jade fox stole the Book that contained the secret
> >teachings of Wu Tan, which she, illiterate, couldn't read; Jen read
> >it & surpassed her female mentor, without sharing her learning with
> >her).
> >The film should be read as an allegory of "power feminism" of the
> >Empire, rising out of the ruins of radical & materialist lesbian
> >feminism which was once popular during the heydays of second-wave
> >women's movement. Its saving graces are the aforementioned
> >lesbian-feminist class-struggle subtext, the appearance of the
> >dashing Chang Chen (who played Chang in _Happy Together_ [1997], a
> >gay romance & "national" allegory directed by Wong Kar-wai), &
> >spectacular sceneries.
> >Yoshie
-- ============================================================= Peter Kosenko Email: mailto:kosenko at netwood.net URL: http://www.netwood.net/~kosenko Netwood Design Center URL: http://ndc.netwood.net/ ============================================================= "Man is a rational animal. He can think up a reason for anything he wants to believe."--Benjamin Franklin