Geraldine Farrar as Madame Butterfly (1908). Madame Butterfly is the reference point for future stereotypical portrayals of the submissive Asian “butterfly.” 
Thoroughly Modern Millie Version 2. This play is infamously known for its stereotypical portrayals of two Chinese henchmen/laundrymen. 
Yul Brynner and Gertrude Lawrence in stage musical The King and I. King Mongkut (Brunner) is portrayed as barbaric and feeds into the stereotypical “yellow peril” trope.
Yellowface is the practice of non-Asian actors playing characters from Asia or of Asian descent. It is closely related to other cross-racial performances such as brownface, redface, and blackface.
There is a long history of yellowface performances in American theater and film that begins in the nineteenth century and runs to today. Yellowface is problematic in two main ways. First, it contributes to the racial representation associated with orientalism, in which the “Occident” (Europe and America) is understood as the antithesis of the “Orient” (Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa). Second, it directly affects the employment opportunities, artistic expression, and audience impact for performers of Asian descent in the U.S.
Most often, yellowface performances in stage and film reinforce racial stereotypes of “orientals”: exaggerated characterizations that promoted views of peoples from Asia as exotic foreigners, decorative objects, heathen influences, or unwanted immigrants. While a number of these stereotypes were brought to the U.S. from Europe and Britain, they also took on a particularly American form as the dangerous “yellow peril,” the submissive “butterfly,” or the comic laundryman. Asians and Asian Americans have expressed their continuing concern over the larger impact of these images, especially as they continue to be performed.
This site reflects on a number of key examples that show the widespread popularity of yellowface performance even today. Its purpose is to inspire discussion about the related problems of yellowface acting and oriental stereotypes as well as to share resources on both.
