Rentel (619) talks of the internment of the Japanese people during the World War II. During this time, the American government evacuated the Japanese from America due to what was seen as the fear of the Japanese that they would outdo the Americans economically, as well as the projections against their sexual characteristics. Rentel (620) gives the evidence and argues that these acts could have been among the worst discriminatory acts that the American government got involved in.
The film “Snow Falling on Cedar” can be a theatric projection of Rentel’s argument. According to Barbre (2), the film tells the story of a Japanese man, Kazuo, who was accused of killing Carl. The old fisherman was found dead after he was trapped in his fishing nets. Kazuo actually stopped to help Carl, but no one could see the good side of the Japanese. It was argued that Kazuo had let Carl die as a way of revenging against him, based on the pains that Kazuo had gone through in the hands of the Americans, such as the loss of land. In as much as the man was innocent, Barbre (2) observes that the projections in the courtroom were all against the Japanese. The Americans could see no way that the man could have been innocent, or that he could have engaged in a noble act as trying to save Carl.
The film is a true projection of Rentel’s argument. It shows how the American society discriminated against the Japanese and was ready to do anything just so as to make sure that the Japanese suffered, or better still, they were deported back home. Both Rentel’s argument and the film agree on the fact that this was a wrong move by the American society and it should never recur.
Works Cited
Barbre, Claude. “Films.” Journal of Religion and Health, 39.4: 2000. (383-385). (Attached)
Renteln, Alison Dundes. “A Psycho historical Analysis of the Japanese American Internment.” Human Rights Quarterly, 17.4: 1995. (618-648). (Attached).
