The View from a Drawbridge

Ugh! I’ve got a song in my head, and this one is embarrassing. As a child I loved the Disney animated movie Lady and the Tramp. For some reason one of the songs from that film, We Are Siamese If You Please, is on this feedback loop in my brain and nothing seems to be able to dislodge it.

The problem with that is that from an adult, twenty-first century perspective, this song is racist as hell. I feel as though I should apologize to the people of Thailand for humming it under my breath. If you watch the video below, you’ll see what I mean. It portrays Asians (in this case, Asian singing cats, but hey, it’s a cartoon) as dangerous, devious, cruel, and deadly. If they don’t kill you, they’ll rob you blind. Those slanty-eyed beasts simply cannot be trusted. Poor Lady, the all American dog, runs around desperately trying to keep her family and property safe from these evil creatures.

And as the film goes on, poor Lady becomes disenfranchised because of Si and Am, after their owner tries to muzzle her. She feels the need to run away. It’s all the cats’ fault, of course.

This film came out in 1955, two short years after the end of the Korean War, and you know, all those countries are exactly the same, right? That was the perspective at the time, anyway. But what disturbs me most about this is that it was a film directed at children like myself, who didn’t know any better. It was basically racist propaganda for the next generation.

So if you pass me on the street and hear me humming this diabolical tune, please don’t slap me upside the head. I’m already doing that to myself. Thanks, Disney, for such a wholesome earworm.