How Miss Saigon Ended Up Becoming Controversial

“Miss Saigon”, a musical that premiered in the West End at the Theatre Royal in September 1989, is about an American male GI who falls in love with a young Vietnamese orphan who works as a bar-girl and as a prostitute. As an immediate hit, Miss Saigon ran for 4,264 performances before closing on October 30th, 1999. However, alongside growing popularity, Miss Saigon has also earned a lot of criticism. In today’s video, we will explore the controversy surrounding Miss Saigon, and why attempts to revive it have been met with both harsh pushback and proponents.

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[TheGalWithTheBlueCat]

I wouldn‘t portray Kim as being weak at all. She‘s such a strong, resilient character, trapped in a terrible war, doing everything to survive for her son. If at all, Chris is weak, he‘s a coward, not able to, no not even thinking about fulfilling his promise, lying to his second wife and taking zero accountability when confronted.

[taifghter]

People who think Kim is weak are sorely mistaken, she is the strongest character in the musical by far.

[waymanwong]

My namej's Wayman Wong. I'm the reporter who first broke the story of the ''yellowface''' casting controversy over ''Miss Saigon'' on July 11, 1990 in the New York Daily News. Your video does a good job, but allow me to fill in some forgotten details. ''Miss Saigon'' defended its hiring of Welsh actor Jonathan Pryce as the Engineer, in part, because its casting director claimed a worldwide search had been made to find a capable Asian actor who could play the role, but none could be found. After Actors Equity allowed Pryce to play the Engineer on Broadway, the show admitted that there had been a misunderstanding: No such search had been made to find an Asian man to play the Engineer. As Equity suspected, the producer, Cameron Mackintosh, had wanted to cast Pryce all along, and had no interest in giving that star-making part to an Asian guy (and resented the criticism he was getting).

In 2014, Mackintosh mounted a 25th-anniversary production of ''Miss Saigon, '' in London, and an Asian-American, Jon Jon Briones, was cast as the Engineer, and received raves and an Olivier Award nomination. Only then, Mackintosh expressed regret in how he handled the 1990 controversy and acknowledged that his critics, who blasted his ''yellowface'' casting, had a valid point.

[laaarsu]

The 'yellowface' criticism is warranted, but some of the other points feel like the critics never read about the Vietnam War.

1. Asian characters being presumed to be opportunistic is reflective of how dire the situation is turning during the late stages of the war. Take note that in the early 1970s, with the North Vietnamese Army steadily heading towards Saigon and the constant threat of Vietcong attacks within South Vietnam (which was first experienced during the Tet Offensive of 1969), every South Vietnamese wanted to leave the country by any means necessary. The American GIs being seen as more dominant is sadly the truth of the matter. And this is a truth that the Vietnamese prostitutes in Dreamland have long accepted as they hope for a better life. Modern audiences might see this as paternalistic and patriarchal but in early 1970s Vietnam, these GIs are in fact the potential "white saviors" for these Vietnamese women who wanted to flee the country before it is too late.

2. In Kim's and the other prostitutes' perspective, having "no female ownership whatsoever" and "being small and powerless" are things that they'll willingly disregard if it means living a life free from the looming threat of war. At that point, nothing could be better than being safe.

3. If people think that the Asian characters were victims, it's because they are. Essentially, this just emphasizes the idea that "war is hell", not just for the soldiers but also for the civilians who have lost their livelihoods and are forced into circumstances which they must survive. Humans are not meant to behave this way but for wartime victims, what else is there but to survive. Besides, isn't Kim surviving for her only child already indicative of resiliency?

In conclusion, you cannot apply modern identity politics to a historical event that does not have the same circumstances as us in the 21st century. It's foolish task considering that the norms in the '70s and in an Asian country like Vietnam, is inherently different from the norms of modern Western civilization in the 2000s.

[stevemccoy_]

Miss Saigon is a work of fiction but it is not a fairy tale. There is no happy ending. It is a tragedy. I think the stereotypes capture the awful situation of the Vietnam war of the late 1950s to 70s - Vietnamese women doing everything to survive, American young men taught to be macho white saviours - in different ways both caught up as victims in the prevailing ideology at that time. The Vietnam War changed that generation of America, but along came the the 1980s and 90s 🤦‍♂

[annaolson]

I remember my drama and music teachers in high school constantly floating the idea to put on Miss Saigon as our spring musical, despite the fact that most of us interested in being in the musical were very, very white. Anecdotally, they were thinking of putting one of our best singers in yellowface to play Kim.
Yeah...glad we went with Disney's Beauty and the Beast instead.

[iniuppa]

I think that Miss Saigon is misinterpreted. Chris isn't a white savior. He tries to be one and he fails. He even sings about it. And ultimately that is what this story is about. American exceptionalism failing in a conflict we shouldn't have joined. Critics focus on the love story between Chris and Kim. That is a portion of the story that illustrates a larger point. You start the show thinking that Chris is going to save her from conflict and that Kim is going to be docile. In the end, he cannot save her and she cannot be docile, which she proves when she chooses to survive and also chooses to shoot a man dead when he threatens her child. I think Miss Saigon is more dynamic that critics are willing to credit.

[ZoraTheberge]

Miss Saigon isn’t entirely kosher, but when I went to see the live broadcast from London in cinemas, the audience was almost entirely Asian. It’s certainly had an impact and like you said, the revival addressed the biggest issues. And no other production has ever employed nearly as many Asian actors.

[mimimirie]

Imagine being a teenager as the only asian in the audience, watching my high school put on a production of Miss Saigon with all white kids in thick exaggerated eyeliner, pole dancing provocatively. I left during intermission, not able to articulate how disturbed I was at that age.

That being said, certain songs stand on their own and Lea and Eva are superstars!

[starwarzchik]

Four words: Depiction is not endorsement.

[rodrigomedeiros]

Miss Saigon is great for revealing awesome asian talents like Lea and Eva Noblezada. And that’s it lol

[MiSzTBreezy]

I only heard of Miss Saigon after becoming an Eva Noblezada fan (thank you Hadestown!) I was interested and looked into the story was not surprised by any of the controversy. As a Black woman, I completely understand the danger of white men telling our stories. Thankful that there were some changes but still it’s unfortunate.

[Darkangel-A-cz]

I was adopted from Bangkok in 1976, this musical hit me hard, on a happy note I got to audition at the West End, and I overheard the directors saying "this is the first time we've got someone who was born where the musical takes place", as you know the second part is in Bangkok)

[bargainhuntermama]

You didn't mention how on top of trying to boycott Jonathan Pryce, they also protested the casting of Filipina Lea Salonga as Kim since she's not American or Vietnamese. Those people protesting were probably not aware that it took a long time to find the perfect Kim. Cameron searched all over the world for over a year to find his Kim. And yes he let Asian Americans audition during his search. He finally found his Kims (Lea and Monique) in Manila. Lea's voice is just perfect for the role. It was sweet, pure, innocent, but possessed so much power when needed. Her voice and her portrayal of Kim are two of the reasons why the musical garnered early success and recognition. This role also paved the way for Lea to play Eponine in Les Mis, opening the door for other POC to play that role that has been traditionally only given to white women.

[callalily]

Another interesting review to read is the review in the Village Voice from the original Broadway production. The reviewer, a white American man, was definitely of the generation that was subject to the draft during the Vietnam War, and protested against it. His analysis of the show was just so viscerally angry at the US military being portrayed as the savior in Vietnam.

There was also a new production in the UK a couple months ago that had some interesting casting choices -- they cast Black performers as Chris and Ellen, and a woman as the Engineer. (The woman playing the Engineer had played Kim years ago.) They also edited the script somewhat, but the reaction that I've seen wasn't great -- general consensus seems to be that it got sanitized so much that there's no sense of conflict left, and nobody really has a reason for any of their "I am in a desperate situation, and so I must make hard choices" decisions.

[TwiggyKeely]

Actually most American GIs would have been on average 18-21, so Chris is really only a year or two older than Kim in the show. He's not an "old man" in the slightest.

[mariavanschie]

Kim does not believe she is going to marry Chris when going to the hotelroom where Ellen is. Chris is not pledging in the helicopter his love for her and that he's coming back. It is total chaos. Kim is not in denial when Ellen tells her she's married to Chris. She actually accepts the disappointment and immediately turns it into a plan for the future of their kid.

[ljhcmh]

Regarding the age of the characters, calling Chris a “old man“ is way off base. Keep in mind that the average age of a soldier in Vietnam was 22. And this average is so low because the ranks were filled with 18-year-olds. It’s very likely that Chris was only a year or two older and probably not more than five years older. This isn’t to say it’s OK to have sex with a 17-year-old. But the age disparity isn’t as great as some might assume.

[Anduril]

As a Filipino, I always find tiresome protesters decrying “representation” even though Miss Saigon helped a lot of Asian actors. The thing is, it’s their money, their story, their music. They take the risk. If you have a problem with how a musical is staged, risk your own money and write a story and compose music that audiences will patronize. Stop waiting for the “white man” to give you roles from musicals they create, music they compose and money they risk. They are under no obligation to give you roles to play. The fact that Miss Saigon gave so many Asians roles to play is a good thing, but they owe Asian actors nothing. It’s their musical, their money, their risk.

[kellharris]

People are pissed because some of this crap actually happened. 11:21 For many of these women surrounded in a warzone and pressed to 'service' these men, many looked to the American men to save them only to be abandoned.

And the children that were fathered by these American soldiers were treated badly and often abandoned as well. The story is a tragedy. It's not a 'white savior' movie at all.

If anything it shows how the American dream was a lie. And yes that was one of the songs. People are not willing to look at the story critically.