Group 5 Blog Post 5

(Inside of the Grandview Theater, now a Buddhist store, showing the high arches of the ceiling where previous spectators could enjoy a cinematic experience)

    As we conclude our group research project in this final blog post, it is with great pleasure to synthesize and share about the hidden gems of the Grandview Theater. There is a unique aspect in researching a historical theater that provided a community space for many Chinese people in America, especially immigrants that traveled to San Francisco Chinatown as a way to achieve the stability and success that perhaps was unattainable in China and its institutions. The Grandview Theater proved to be remarkably attuned to the Chinese community by incorporating more traditional depictions of Chinese culture. While this choice became a barrier to modernity, and later, the doom of the theater, it unveils the beauty of a past history that should not be forgotten. Modernity, though important and treasurable on its own, should not bulldoze over the enriching history of many populations that have passed. This was a personal takeaway that touched all of us. Today, we are surrounded by change, whether it is through technology, relationships, or personal events in our lives. However, we must remember that we came from somewhere, from something; it is similar to admiring the beauty of a flower without recognizing the long roots in the dirt. The Grandview Theater boasted a robust community that attended its show of more traditional cinema to remember not only the country that they emigrated from, but a country that they once called home. It is a theme of “going back” to a place that they eluded, “going back” to their roots. Researching the modernity aspect in Fahlstedt’s work allowed us to reflect on why these people consciously chose to be spectators in this space: to revisit feelings of home or familiarity. 

    Consequently, we began to view spectatorship as a catalyst to discover the self and surrounding relationships. As humans, we are interconnected; we desire to be with others and in relationships with them. Oftentimes when we are asked what our favorite memory is, it is almost always related to another person; rarely do we mention a memory that is solely us. The Grandview Theater, predicted and assumed from our research, was a place to recollect relational memories and be connected with one’s humanity. We were surprised to see the humanizing aspect of a non-human object, a theater, which is a testament to how cinema can enliven and humanize the spectator. Through the content, atmosphere, and experience of a theater, a spectator is able to more fully connect with their past, culture, history, a variety of relationships, and even themselves. It brought another reflection on our own personal lives to actively observe, like a spectator, if we have ever watched a film and felt more connected with ourselves afterwards. The answer we all came to individually and collectively was a resounding yes. Cinema affects the whole being if something about the film relates to us. But this is also only if the theater experience provides the reflective, comfortable, and safe space for spectators to enter into a reflective period while watching the film. This sheds light on the prominence of Grandview Theater and how many details most likely had to be kept up with in order to provide that preferable space. Even in the reality that this theater is not up and running like the Great Star Theater today, it brings a question of what the Grandview Theater must have “missed” for it to go out of business. From a practical standpoint, we believe that money had a lot to do with it. Chinatown rent must be extremely expensive, and with the rising trends of modernity that we discovered the theater did not maintain, alongside the older generations that immigrated long ago starting to pass away, the logical sense is there. However, some questions still linger:

1. What were these details that the Grandview Theater missed, and are these details in the Great Star Theater, the only remaining theater in SF Chinatown? 
2. Was the community aspect of the theater as robust as it is presumed to be? If so, what, besides the theater experience, facilitated that progression and growth of the community? If not, what happened? 
3. How does understanding the self and relationships affect one’s view of Chinese cinema on a more personal level? Does it affect the collective level as well, say, the family?

    Our group would like to thank our readers and instructor, Linda Zhang for the support and feedback. We can say with great confidence that researching the Grandview Theater brought forth numerous revelations about how cinema and the self can be bridged by active spectatorship. Entering a cinematic atmosphere like a theater is more than watching a film and moving along with the day. No, it is the opposite; the theater provides a space for spectators to enter into a deeply pensive conversation with the past, ourselves, or another that we might not have been able to access outside of the theater. In short, theaters like the Grandview allow humanity to become more fully alive.