I chose to watch the Chinese movie "Pushing Hands" directed by Ang Lee. Ang Lee has also directed other Chinese films such as "Eat Drink Man Woman" which we viewed in class, "The Wedding Banquet", and "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" just to name a few. This particular film, "Pushing Hands" happens to be Ang Lee's first directorial premiere film. I chose this film out of all of Ang Lee's many films because some of the traditional Chinese characteristics that we were exposed to in class appear throughout this film, and are significant to the validity of the films overall plot.
The film starts off with the main character, Mr. Chu, adjusting to his move from China to America. Mr. Chu is a retired Tai Chi master and he moves to America to live with his son and his son's wife. Mr. Chu's has a hard time adjusting to this new and foreign country because he is so used to his old customs and traditions in China, his homeland. My opinion is that Mr. Chu has such a hard time adjusting to his new American lifestyle because of his history as a Tai Chi master. In class we learned that Tai Chi is a respectful art that takes a lot of discipline and concentration. Therefore I can understand how coming to America, where Mr. Chu can barely even speak the language, makes him feel like he's handicap. In China I'm sure he was respected and viewed as a highly intelligent man, but in America he is looked at by the American's as an idiot for his cultural differences. For example, when he goes in search of a job and finally finds one in Chinatown restaurant as a dishwasher, he eventually gets fired because he is "too slow" according to the owners. In this scene we can see how heartbroken he is that he is disrespected, taken for granted, and underestimated as an intelligent person.
Another issue that makes Mr. Chu's transition into America so hard is his interactions, or lack there of, with his son's American wife Martha. Martha feels Mr. Chu is a burden to her and her profession as an at home writer and a mother of one. Therefore she doesn't give Mr. Chu the time of day, but instead ignores him completely even though they are living under the same roof. In class we learned that filial piety is an important aspect of Chinese culture.
...become Americanized in a different way. For example, Mrs. Spring Fragrance becomes Americanized through helping Laura and Kai Tzu form a relationship despite Laura’s betrothal to the schoolmaster’s son. The Chin Yuens become Americanized by finally allowing their daughter to marry her true love Kai Tzu. The Chin Yuens are now not only American in appearance, but they are also American through traditions. Mr. Spring Fragrance, however, had a much more difficult time becoming Americanized throughout the story. He had a difficult time accepting that the people around him, including his wife were changing and becoming Americanized. Mr. Spring Fragrance finally came to terms with the fact that though Laura and Kai Tzu achieved a happy marriage through American traditions of marriage, he and Mrs. Spring Fragrance are equally as happy in their through Chinese traditions.
with her husband, who had served in the army during World War II, part of the wave of Chinese who were finally considered more American because of their patriotism. They had also come to Detroit for job opportunities, and lived and worked in a basement laundry operation. Chin’s mother distinctly recalls being harassed by neighborhood kids and people at a baseball game; she and her husband were also physically assaulted because their Chineseness marked them as perpetual foreigners. She could not have children so they adopted a boy from China, Vincent. He had integrated pretty well, establishing himself as an engineer who was popular, made friends easily, and was always laughing and
June-May fulfills her mother’s name and life goal, her long-cherished wish. She finally meets her twin sisters and in an essence fulfills and reunites her mother with her daughter through her. For when they are all together they are one; they are their mother. It is here that June-May fulfills the family portion of her Chinese culture of family. In addition, she fully embraces herself as Chinese. She realizes that family is made out of love and that family is the key to being Chinese. “And now I also see what part of me is Chinese. It is so obvious. It is my family. It is in our blood.” (Tan 159). Finally, her mother’s life burden is lifted and June-May’s doubts of being Chinese are set aside or as she says “After all these years, it can finally be let go,” (Tan 159).
The film I picked is "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly." I first saw this movie about five years ago while a senior in high school. I loved the movie, but now after watching it I took a closer look at the stereotypes and generalizations that are being depicted in various ways like language, names, landscapes and people. I picked this film because the movie is famous and very well known by Italians, Americans, and Hispanics, and not just famous in America Hollywood (and because I had list of required films I had to pick from). While watching the movie my second time around I tried and focus on the location where the movie takes place in order to demonstrate how lands of Mexico, New Mexico and Texas generalized. I also placed attention to the names the characters are given. There is a term used in Hollywood called little man wins' but after watching The Good, The Bad and The Ugly one observe how this cliché is not used.
Chin-kee tries very hard to be friends with his cousin and to fit in. He is always embarrassing his cousin and his race. Jin Wang, being American born Chinese has a hard time fitting in because of all the stereotypes about him and his race. The author is revealing that people will always have stereotypes and be racist, its just human nature. People do this because they are insecure about themselves so they fun of someone else to make themselves feel better. Its hard for people to People try to change who they are but need to stay true to themselves.
The film Red Sorghum was one of the most popular Fifth Generation films in China and Abroad. As an adolescent American kid, probably the average, I got to see a new perspective of China through this class. I wanted to compare the West’s interpretation with Chinas’. One of the first things I did was compare Chinese cinema to well known American cinema.
The setting of the story creates a better grasp on the intelligence of each character. The narrator of the story goes from her belief that there is no way she is Chinese to understanding her heritage and that she is really Chinese. The narrator states that she doesn’t really know what it means to be Chinese (Tan 133). She progressively learns throughout the story what it means to be Chinese. She mentions of Aiyi and her father knowing Mandarin only while the rest of Aiyi’s family only knows Cantonese (Tan 137). This relates to setting due to the time and areas that Mandarin was spoken compared to where Cantonese is spoken now. The narrator was shocked to see the elegance of the hotel they were scheduled to stay in and the pricing (Tan 138). This can be interpreted as her being inexperienced while the rest of her family were either used to this kind of service or had no outstanding opinions upon it. The narrator starts to see her father in a different manner once he and Aiyi start conversing and onc...
Family became an important aspect in Mah’s life. In the Chinese culture family is typically a vital part of the way of life. Mah may have been ashamed the way her first marriage ended and did not want the same with this man she met named Leon. Leon is a Chinese immigrant and family is his priority. Mah and Leon marry and have two girls, Ona and Nina. They form a family like connection more than ever before. Leon was a fairly stable man and loved his family. Mah and Leon were b...
Amy Tan’s “Fish Cheeks” describes Tan’s upbringing as a Chinese-American caught in between two cultures. In “Fish Cheeks” Tan’s crush Robert and his family were invited to Tan’s house for Christmas, Amy was embarrassed of Robert’s impression of her Chinese relatives, cuisine, and culture (Tan 110). Tan’s situation is not uncommon as millions of first generation Americans encounter similar situations while living within two cultures. Albeit the extreme embarrassment Tan endured throughout the encounter, she contends that her mother taught her a valuable lesson in appreciating her Chinese culture (111). Ultimately, Tan's purpose was to implore first generation Americans to embrace both of their cultures, in spite of its unique traditions (Tan
In the beginning of the story, the author describes the Chin Yuen's as American in appearance yet Chinese in customs. Throughout the story she continues to describe the deterioration of the Chinese customs by American ideal. This is pinpointed when Mr. Chin Yuen decides to let his daughter marry the boy that she loves. The conversation that Mr. Spring Fragrance has with Young Carman explains that only in American culture is it customary to find love before marriage; in the Chinese tradition, all marriages are arranged. This clearly exemplifies the manner in which the Chinese characters are more and more disregarding their Chinese culture and taking on this new American standard of living. Ironically, Sui Sin Far conveys the notion that the American tradition is not necessarily better than the Chinese tradition. More so she demonstrates the struggle of identity between two worlds that both make sense. Though Laura and Kai Tzu have found their happiness in the American tradition of marriage, the reader discovers that Mr. and Mrs. Spring Fragrance are equally as happy even through the Chinese tradition of marriage.
Unlike most other families mine had decided to live with the Chinese rather than in the isolated compound away from them. I and my parents, we saw no need for separation, after all, what bad could it be? The culture and language of China had begun to grab my attention from the moment I started to learn them. I went to
...acters compared above. The book is successful in the narration of the life stories of the three young Chinese immigrants that live in America seeking education to mature their careers and build their lives. The author is also clear in explaining how after the Second World War, during the post war period of economic hardships, how this young man Ralph makes his way to America, a land where his sister went to, to seek his destiny. The book outlines how he met Grover and how this young man greatly influences his life, decisions and way of thinking. We also understand from the book that Ralph gets married and begets two children. We are told of his married life and how he struggles to please five people who have the most influence over his life or we can say control his life. The people are his parents, his wife, his children, his friend and his sister let alone himself.
When Ralph and Helen both tried to stay within their Chinese culture, they did not want to steer towards the typical American values. Ralph studies his countless books during his travels to America trying to avoid being sucked into the beautiful scenery that surrounded. By keeping his Chinese value of studying, he was able to avoid being attached to America. Ralph avoided indulging into the American culture by trying to stick strictly to his Chinese values. He avoids America and only tries to obtain knowledge that is absolutely necessary to live....
Jin Wang, the main character in American Born Chinese transforms in order to deal with stereotypes and prejudice. After moving from Chinatown San Francisco to a new school, Jin realizes he is the only Asian other than Suzy Nakamura (31). Jin immediately faces racial stereotypes and slurs, such as “Chinese people eat dogs”, and arranged marriages (31). Even the teachers have preconceived ideas about Jin’s heritage. His third grade teacher Mrs. Greeder has little understanding of the pronunciation of Jin’s name and from where he moved, thinking he came “all the way from China” (30). In order to integrate in his new environment, he assimilates himself into American culture, transformed into a “regular” American. After stereotyped for eating dog, Jin is seen eating without chopsticks, part of his Asian tradition, and begins to eat “normal” American cuisine, such as sandwiches (37). When Wei Chen arrives, Jin tells him “(he’s) in America” and to “speak English” (37). Even though Jin is fully capable of communicating with Wei-Chen, he decides to abandon his previous culture. Jin chooses to fully transform into an American. He tries to completely dispose of his Asian identity and develop a new one. In order to do this he develops the n...
In essence, he was shunned” (Hongo 4) by the white people who could not believe that he would attack their superior American ways. According to writers such as Frank Chin and the rest of the “Aiiieeeee!” group, the Americans have dictated Asian culture and created a perception as “nice and quiet” (Chin 1972, 18), “mama’s boys and crybabies” without “a man in all [the] males.” (Chin 1972, 24). This has become the belief of the preceding generations of Asian Americans and therefore manifested these stereotypes. Those authors who contest these “American made” stereotypes are said to betray the American culture and white power around them, and to be “rocking the boat” in a seemingly decent living situation.