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The Joy Luck Club is a film about the lives of four Chinese mothers; Suyuan, Lindo, Ying Ying,

and An Mei, born in china and their relationship with their daughters; June, Waverly, Lena and Rose, who were born in America. Each of the mothers met each other at church and would meet regularly to play mah jong, eat, and tell stories to one another. The film spends its time focusing on each mother and daughter relationship and catches each experience the mother had with their daughters who are not accustomed to Chinese culture because they are born as Americans. Throughout the film each narrator reflects on their inability to explain concepts and feelings from one culture to another. Ive noticed difficulty of understanding the culture of both the mothers and daughters. Theres a disconnect between them which can be caused by the fact the mothers know very little English and the daughters know very little Chinese which can be considered a language barrier. The mothers use storytelling as an easier way for them to communicate with their daughters. The stories they tell can be educational, letting them know what mistakes not to make and just giving basic advice based on their past experiences. I believe that just by speaking of family history, its shows how one was raised and what theyre lifestyle was. The mothers made sure that their lives are remembered and understood from generation to generation so that the story never dies away completely. In telling their stories to their daughters, the mothers try to teach them to have respect for their Chinese ancestors and their pasts. The cultural training of a submissive Chinese woman runs through the older womens stories. They were taught that girls were to be quiet and obedient or they would shame their families. The film shows mothers as wanting their daughters to have a voice,

choices, strength and to know what theyre worth. To me this is a sign of sexism. Living in China must be difficult for women. The film captures these moments where they are to be submissive and abide by the rules that are in place if not they are considered disobedient and unworthy. For example, Lindo is forced to live almost as a servant to her mother-in-law and husband, An meis mother is raped by her future husband, she must marry him to preserve her worthiness; whereas as a man may have many women without being judged. These women are judge and criticized without any prior knowledge of who these women truly are. Sexism is a problem common to both Chinese and American cultures, and as such they are met by most of the characters. The women were looked upon as an inferior being. They had little or no status in society and little was expected from them. When they tried to stand up for themselves, they were discriminated against. The Chinese culture was normally male dominated and was expected to do most of the work, and the woman was expected to stay at home. All the mothers, An Mei, Lindo, and Ying Ying are all women who grew up in a traditional China where there is sexism. They dealt with serious problems that harmed their lives. An Mei is one thats stuck out to me the most. Her mother was invited to spend time at the home of a wealthy man named Wu Tsing. During the night, he went into An Meis mothers room and rapes her. This reveals the lack of respect for a woman in China. An Meis mother is forced into to be his concubine because of her lack of power as a woman Waverly, Rose, and Lena all have white boyfriends and they respect many of their mothers customs but feel that it is old-fashioned and ridiculous. The daughters begin to feel as if they have no identity and become interested in their Chinese culture. The movie

did an excellent job in showing us the culture during that time in China and how they arranged marriages at an early age. Lindo was one of those who had an arranged marriage at the age of fifteen. Even though she knew this was wrong she always showed interest as if she was really happy. Lindo made a promise to her mom that she would always obey and do as she is told. As a young girl she ended up finding a clever way of how she could get out of her arranged marriage and still keep her promise to her mother. She puts the blame on the matchmaker and states that the ancestors came to her in a dream and would curse her if she stayed in the marriage. With fear, the mother-in-law then sets her free. All the women in the film show the amount of love they have for each other and what theyre willing to sacrifice. Many of the characters make great sacrifices for the love of their children or parents. An example of a sacrifice is when An meis mother slices off a piece of her own flesh to put in her mothers soup, hoping to cure her. An meis mothers killed herself by eating pastries filled with opium to ensure An meis happiness in the future. This shows how powerful the bond can be between mother and daughter. Despite being criticized and judged by culture the sacrifices the women make prove that this bond unbreakable. These mothers wanted to show their daughters their struggles as a child born and raised in China as a way to teach them to never lose hope. This taught them how to love themselves, know their worth and to have much strength. A mothers dream is to always guide their child in the right direction and hopes to give them strength, love, and success. Building a bond between each other is very important. It seemed like this was an issue in China. This reflected back by how each daughter processes what she perceives her

mothers lessons to be. As children we can become nave and feel as if mothers do not know whats best for us. From my experience, my relationship with my mother had become much stronger because I learned appreciate her values and aspirations to where she wants me to be. In conclusion, The Joy Luck Club is a great film because it exchanges stories between each character. The film portrayed wonderful stories of eight woman and their lives living with the Chinese culture in China and America by intertwining the past and present, by showing how these womens lives unfolded telling us what women were taught to think and how it shaped their lives.

Jasmine N Mercado Instructor: Perry Levenson Philosophy and History of Asian Medicine

The Joy Luck Club

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