‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s May Not Be as Charming as We Remember

The big picture

• Holly Golightly's profession a
  Breakfast at Tiffany's
  it is subtly hinted at, but she probably worked as a sex worker in the 1961 film.
• The character of Mr. Yunioshi, played by Mickey Rooney, is a horrifying example of yellowface, a disrespectful and outdated tradition in Hollywood.
• Despite its enduring status as a classic,
  Breakfast at Tiffany's
  has problematic elements, such as stereotyping and offensive depictions, which may make viewers uncomfortable.

Blake Edwards' Breakfast at Tiffany'sbased on the Truman Capote novel of the same name, is often considered a classic of American cinema. It is often remembered for the sweet love story between its two main characters, Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) and Paul Varjak (George William Peppard); and, of course, for Hepburn's dazzling fashion looks. Who could ever forget Hepburn's soothing voice singing “Moon River” while lightly strumming a guitar through a New York window? However, beneath the glitz and glamor of its exterior hides a dark underbelly, full of problematic elements that render Breakfast at Tiffany's less charming than many fans may remember. On the one hand, there is a horrible case of yellow face in the form of Mickey Rooneythe character of, Mr. Yunioshi. As atrocious as this is on its own, the character of Holly Golightly herself has a darker truth that pulls the cover from glamorous urbanity.

What does Holly Golightly do in 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'?

First, the air needs to be cleared about Mrs. Golightly's profession, which, in 1961, may have had to hide it. In more modern times, it can simply be stated that she is a sex worker of some stature. The profession, which has more recognized forms in today's world, largely does not carry the same stigma as it did in 1961, and it is likely that the film tries to hint at and hint at the blatantly obvious. Today, there is also a whole spectrum of activities covered by “sex work” as a blanket term (all of which would have been discouraged in cinema at the time). Golightly is seen entertaining men of status and wealth as well as known mob associates. He even describes a mysterious type of “photo” that he can agree to take with his neighbor, Mr. Yunioshi (more on him later). Since he has no other declared source of income, the audience must draw their own conclusions about his income stream, as even in 1961, apartments in New York City were not cheap. Whichever view one takes, anything even slightly risqué was unlikely to get past contemporary censors, especially in an era when TV couples generally slept in separate beds.

In an interview with playboy (via The New Yorker), despite this, Author Truman Capote was quoted as saying that the Holly Golightly character was an “American geisha” and that she “wasn't exactly a girl”. While this distinction may carry weight in the novel, the film's depiction of Golightly is not so ambiguous. It is not known whether Edwards intentionally did not make this distinction, or did not think it existed. Since today's society is able to discuss sex (and sex work) more openly, whatever services Golightly provided would still fall squarely within the contemporary spectrum (which is an expansion of what is also 'would have been considered sex work in 1961). We know from examples in the film that strongly hint at this, but the most obvious and appropriate is when Golightly mentions receiving $50 for the “taker.” Even accounting for the rate of inflation, only the most purposefully obtuse viewer will see this as anything but an obvious exchange of money for services rendered.

Why “Breakfast at Tiffany's Hide Holly's Sex Work”?

So why soak the truth in a clandestine metaphor? The obvious answer is that the public is supposed to love Holly Golightly; Holly is the woman every young man wants to marry, and every grown man wants as a daughter. But in 1961, the charming protagonist of a great film could not be a sex worker. Not because it was in short supply in 1961, or less lucrative or well-known than it is today, but because art tends to oscillate between the ideal and the real (The Hays Code was intended to enforce the former). The cultural changes of the 1960s and 1970s paved the way for a more open society (though not entirely) where stories can feature sex workers in any role. This begs the question if Breakfast at Tiffany's were made today, could Holly Golightly be an overt sex worker? We can expect a reboot, but it doesn't matter because today, as it should have been in its day, it can be whatever it wants.

Mickey Rooney's Breakfast at Tiffany's character is a horrible case of Yellowface

However, if the film were made today, It certainly wouldn't count on Mickey Rooney's (a very white man) buffoonish and bafflingly callous performance as Mr. Yunioshi, Holly's anonymous East Asian neighbor. Rooney's impression was not new for the time; in fact, it's part of a tradition known as yellowface, where white actors are made to look East Asian, rather than casting someone of that actual descent. The clearest example of this, besides the part of Rooney Breakfast at Tiffany's, is Charlie Chan's series of films from the 1930s and 1940s, which began with East Asian actors and then switched to a Swedish-born lead for the title character. This, of course, was not due to a lack of East Asian leading men, but stemmed more from the rise of anti-Japanese sentiment among many white Americans in the run-up to and after World War II .

The character of Mr. Yunioshi exists in the novel, but is given relatively little attention, certainly nothing close to what viewers see in the film, and is not detailed in the same way. If there were a complete list of the most insulting East Asian stereotypes, Breakfast at Tiffany's I would check them all in one clean sweep. But rather than being a caricature of Asian Americans, Rooney's baffling performance is also an unnecessarily farcical slapstick that seems to fit in vaudeville, rather than the rest of the film. Intended as a kind of comic relief, the audience is forced to wonder if the rest of the film is even tense enough to need it, given its alcyon and rather bland mood . The appearances of Mr. Yunioshi on screen seem to exist almost in a separate movie, as if the editors lost the original footage on the cutting room floor and jammed two movies together hoping no one would notice.

Going to such great lengths to undeservedly offend an entire group of people, and not even working through the scenes to see if they fit, just adds insult to insult above. It should be noted that the conviction of Mr. Yunioshi is not a recent revelation, as even when it premiered, many viewers, including critics of The Hollywood Reporterpointed out the offensive nature of the character. For this reason, Breakfast at Tiffany's it is often the subject of boycottswith a television network in the United Kingdom, according to The Expresseven airing a version with the Mickey Rooney scenes removed entirely.

Despite the controversy, Breakfast at Tiffany's it endures as a must-see munition of American cinema, and ultimately it's up to viewers to decide for themselves. Each generation judges what is acceptable and what should be chosen for posterity based on its own social and moral norms. In any case, this cannot be denied Breakfast at Tiffany's has made a place in the history of cinema; maybe it's not as sweet and charming as we like to remember it.

Breakfast at Tiffany's is available to stream on Paramount+

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