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let's make him dance." That's just not how Chinese audiences
see the character. The "performing monkey" label is something
that comes exclusively from Westerners.
This even borders on racism in more extreme cases. The
logic seems to go like this: white guy – speaks Chinese – Chinese
people laugh – he must be making an ass of himself. of
course, the only way a white guy could possibly entertain a
Chinese audience would be to be a complete buffoon.
In some cases, this perception again seems to be based on
resentment. Dashan is perceived as being successful. others
may be prone to ask: "Why him and not me?" The natural conclusion:
Dashan must have sold out and stooped to all sorts of
things that I would never do. It's a psychological reaction that
doesn't require any evidence or serious analysis, and appeals
most strongly to those foreigners who have been the least successful
in China.
typical foreigner? poster Boy?
Several comments mention Dashan as representing Chinese
people's perception of the "typical foreigner." I don't think
that's true either.
All cultures have their own stereotype of the stupid, bumbling
foreigner. (Manuel in “Fawlty Towers” is my favorite
example.) no matter where you come from, foreigners are
often perceived as speaking your native language poorly, as
being out-of-touch, clueless, and inept. That's certainly not
Chinese people's perception of Dashan.
In fact, one way of explaining the Dashan character is
that it’s the flip-side of this universal stereotype: at first glance
he was seen as the typical foreigner, but over time developed
the reputation for being “more Chinese than the Chinese
are.” That’s the whole root of the comedy.
This may have developed into a new stereotype of its own,
the typical China Hand or "Friend of China," but you can’t
claim that Dashan represents the stereotypical token foreigner,
or the stereotypical foreigner in general. If that were
true, how on earth would Dashan ever be differentiated from
the multitude of token foreigners and stereotyped role players
that appear in the Chinese media?
I think in general, a lot of the anti-Dashan sentiment
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