Label me imperialist, but I have to be honest, and I'm certain you'll concede; when I saw M. Butterfly for the first time on Monday, my first thought was a phrase from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address: "...It is altogether fitting..."
The story wasn't "beautiful," just as Madama Butterfly really isn't, but it wasn't necessarily the opposite and "ugly." It wasn't an aesthetic beauty that the film had, but a purity of justice done. It was real, moreso by the fact that it was based on a true story.
I wasn't really shaken from a comfort zone concerning the plot and the end. I hope that many of us weren't, as a result of Francis's guidance and our own questing. I would be more upset if the end were still the same as Madama Butterfly, leaning toward absolutely pissed that the director would undermine his whole endeavor, and I was glad that it ended the way it did, if only for plot justice. I'm not one to wish bad things on people generally, so I only say I'm glad for the plot, not the truth of the events. But this film is certainly one to challenge a person, and I sincerely hope more people will be challenged to change their views by watching it.
Where is the hope? There is some satisfaction in Butterfly's achievements as far as she's concerned; limiting the interval of our graph of view, as it were. Despite what she caused for other people, she did what she thought was right for China and for her comrades at home and abroad. That kind of loyalty to a cause has to be admired somewhat - especially to remain loyal after being imprisoned as a free-thinker of the theatre. Butterfly is a beacon of hope to show that Asians, and any race, "minority" or imposed upon in their own country, don't have to be subservient to the white man. They have their own power - they just have to discover and use it. Furthermore, the white man has been brought down to a more real level too. He's just as human as anyone, not above anyone, and can also be enthralled and captivated by others' power. It's really very much what Francis has said before, to apply this more modernly - to shed the burden of the label of being a "minority," don't act like a "minority." Act like you have the authority and the power, the right to be an equal individual - because you certainly do.
"Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one."
"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."
-Eleanor Roosevelt
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