Peaky Blinders and Orientalism
Peaky Blinders (Season 1) follows a British gang in 1919, and the pilot episode begins with the most egregious (exemplary? quintessential?) depiction of Orientalism that I have seen in a while.
In the opening scene, the camera follows a Chinese man rushing through an area that is clearly Chinese (but unclear as to where it actually is—inside a tailor shop? outside on a street?), as he urges a girl carrying a crying baby to hurry in Cantonese. The girl asks another girl, “Do your tits still have milk?” (cc), and then hands the child to her when she nods. The scene is clearly meant to be disorienting—the location is unclear, the characters’ importance is unclear, the language is foreign, and I get the sense that the girls’ young age is thrown in as additional shock factor (the audio description calls the first girl a “woman,” but from a visual perspective, this is wildly inaccurate). The only explanation given is what the man tells an older man: “They’ve asked for her.”
In contrast, the next scene is Tommy Shelby, the leader of the Peaky Blinders, riding a horse in the middle of a deserted street to meet the man and girl, while onlookers watch from within their homes. After Tommy pays them, the girl mutters an incantation and blows bright red powder towards the horse. End of scene.
Later, it is revealed that “the powder trick” is just that—a trick, used to fool people into betting on a certain, magical horse. Narratively, what this does is it taps into the exotic, mystique of “Orientals.” What’s ironic to me is that Tommy is aware of this perception of Asian people, explaining to his brother that “The washerwomen say she’s a witch.” and uses that stereotype to his advantage, therefore (at least somewhat) subverting the trope.
It’s true that during this time period, people had embellished perceptions of “the East” and those from there. Just six years before the setting of Peaky Blinders, English author Sax Rohmer wrote his “Fu Manchu” character, a vilified personification of the “Yellow Peril”—the West’s fears of Asia as a threat to the world (but that’s a topic for another time).
Now let’s compare that to the second to last episode of the season. This episode begins with the same Chinese man, Zhang. The scene is staged with Zhang between Inspector Campbell and several black suits, all labeled “Shelby,” metaphorically showing him caught in the crossfire between the two sides—law enforcement versus gang.
At first it is unclear why Campbell has come to the laundry. But then, it becomes clear that he has come to release his frustration at the fact that Grace, the undercover agent who worked under him, had betrayed him for Tommy. “Men come here for a certain purpose,” Campbell says, after a lot of hemming and hawing.
The next time we see Campbell, he is with a Chinese girl named Chin, who promises to make him young. During this scene, there is a montage, cutting between Campbell with Chin, and Grace, which clearly compares the two women. The camera watches Chin through a red curtain, and Grace through a lacy one. Chin undresses as Grace buttons up her collar. When Chin slides out from beneath Campbell, there is blood on her mouth. She looks uncomfortable as she dresses quickly, brushes away his apology, and leaves. Well. At least she has a name.
Now. Narratively, this scene serves a few functions—firstly, it shows that Campbell has abandoned his virtues, and shows how much he is hurt by Grace’s betrayal (In fact, during the montage, Grace has more screen time than Chin). Secondly, it ensures that Campbell is there to have another face off with Tommy, when the Shelbys go to pick up their suits.
However, this scene also provides subtext that further characterizes the Chinese characters in Orientalist terms. Chin is submissive, serving, and childlike, while Zhang is corrupt and greedy. Campbell has fallen, in part by Chin’s seduction, while Grace maintains her virtue.
Season one of Peaky Blinders came out in 2013, and it is amazing to see that racist depictions from 1919 continued to exist a century later. I really did want to enjoy this show, especially since I find the time period so interesting, but the passiveness of the Chinese characters and lack of their autonomy made this season difficult to get through. For anyone who is interested in international 1920s gangs, I’ll recommend one of my CRs: These Violent Delights, a Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai, where Roma and Juliet, who come from rivaling gangs, must join forces to hunt down a monster.
I’m gonna be talking a little bit more about Peaky Blinders in the next blog post, so if you’ve watched the show, stay tuned for that!
Resources:
These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong
