I was watching the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix a few weeks ago when I spotted a lotus blossom. Harry's love interest in the movie is Ms. Cho Chen, a girl of Asian decent. The way she is portrayed in the film is synonymous with the Lotus Blossom stereotype. At first, she is only featured in glimpses stolen by Harry. She is seen as delicate and inaccessible. She is exotic because she is the only prominent Asian girl the viewer sees. Later on in the progress of the film, Harry and Cho finally get a moment alone together. She cries during their kiss and basically crumbles under Harry's attempts to make her feel better. Turns out Cho sells Harry and his friends out to the authorities and blows the plot out of the water. Then Harry discards her and refuses to talk to her for the rest of the movie. Cho goes from being a potential love interest and good girl to being a traitor. The Lotus Blossom theme doesn't line all the way up with this but it's similar. Cho doesn't tragically die from a disease in the end but in the world of high school she has committed social suicide. Maybe Cho will see better days in the next Potter movie but for now she's another tragic stereotype.
