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How is it possible to be in love with a man for 20 years, and believe all the time that he is a woman? Did Rene never see Song unclothed? Did his hand never once wonder beneath her clothing? Is it possible that Rene did not know because he did not want to know? That for nearly two decades, he was in love with the “woman” of his dreams, and permitted no reality to interfere. Rene was blinded by his white western fantasies about the submissive Asian woman. He wanted the “ideal” woman, but he was blinded by his so-called love of Song to permit himself to see all other evidence. Deep in his subconscious he knew the truth, he was blinded by the love of the “perfect woman”, and blinded by his desire. It’s impossible to believe that Rene could have been fooled for such a great amount of time. He had to have know Song’s true identity after all that time he spent with “her” and must have been in great denial and repressed it in the back of his mind for all those years just to hide the fact, from himself, that he was secretly gay. Entranced by his first sight of Song Liling, during a performance at a diplomatic function, he falls immediately in love, forgets his wife and his responsibilities, and embarks on a mad passion. I found Rene and Song’s relationship rather sickening. At no point throughout the movie did I once sense “true love” and happiness shared mutually between the two of them. Their relationship was full of manipulation and deceit. Rene was only in it fulfill his perverse submissive oriental women desires. Every time he asked Song, “Are you my Butterfly?” I wanted to hurl! The way that she submitted to his wants and desires sickened me, she broke her morals and “ancient Chinese traditions” just to please the white western man.
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