Immigration will inject fresh blood and bring different minds; culture exchanges may generate conflicts and tension. And that makes for great storytelling.
The film The Joy Luck Club was based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Chinese American woman author Amy Tan. It demonstrated the clash and integration between American culture and Chinese culture; and the tender and tenacious bond between daughters and mothers.
There were four mothers who came from China and four daughters who were born in America.
The mothers loved their daughters beyond doubt, although something was wrong beneath this love. They wanted an obedient daughter while daughters wanted to be the way they were. Here came conflicts. The daughters felt heartbroken, they shouted, they fought, they resisted their mothers’ attempts. In return, mothers felt more disappointed.
Suyuan, June’s mother, firmly believed that June can be a prodigy. She designed a blueprint to help their daughter become somebody that made a family so pride of. June was pushed to practice piano. She failed to satisfy her mother.
Lindo loved to show off her daughter’s talent of chess. One day, Waverly could not bear the embarrassment and decided to quit chess game. The sneer from Lindo ruined waverly’s confidence and passion.
But love is a power. Many years went by, the daughters were in trouble. The mothers ceased their fire and helped girls go through and find their happiness.
In the film, what impressed me most was mothers’ never-spoken history. They all had miserable lives in China. When they were a little girl or a young lady, they started the struggle against unfair fate. They left the land of sadness; however, they never forgot what they have done, what they have lost and who was sacrificed for their happiness. They could never free their soul.
What the mothers expected most was there were no such pains like they went through on their daughters. But unfortunately, those miserable experiences hurt them so deeply that kind of twisted them. The painful scars of life made them stronger, but on the other hand, made them so sensitive, worried and kind of unreasonable. They placed high hope on her girls and completely disregarded how stressing out and uncomfortable the expectations were for their children.
Only after these girls have grown up and become more mature do they realized how valued the legacy—industry, courage, self-esteem, and penetrating love—left by their mothers. The mothers taught the girls that women should respect and love themselves first, and then they can love and loved by other people.
I cannot agree more. If I regard myself a coward, I am totally a coward. If I want to be
a superwoman, I must recognize my importance and unique from the deepest of my heart. I won’t be obedient to anyone, just follow my heart. Only when I have an independent personality and strong will do I am a soul at large.
