The Joy Luck Club

[shaffej7070]

Much of Amy Tan's books, even though fictional, are autobiographical accounts of her own life, with certain aspects derived from "Joy Luck Club" based on her mother's previous marriage in China.

 

I don't believe the movie was a ploy to display China in a negative light. Harsh realities are evident in all cultures and societies, past and present, and in Tan's case, her intention was to provide contrast between Eastern and Western cultures.

 

BTW, Amy Tan wrote the screenplay and the movie was directed by Wayne Wang with Oliver Stone producing.

 

Another side note: my sister is a friend of one of the stars, Russell Wong. They were both students of Wushu, and spend an entire summer in Beijing practicing the art.

Edited September 11, 2008 by yimi386 (see edit history)

[Smitty]

I remember watching that movie many many many years ago. I mostly watched it because Ming-Na Wen, and Tamlyn Tomita were in it.

 

I was already aware of the way women were treated in the east so there wasn't so much of an eye opening experience there for me.

 

That's just it. There are many that dispute the claims and premise of the movie, as evidenced by:

 

Wikipedia states:

 

Criticism

 

Though her book has been widely praised by critics, it has been criticized by noted Asian American author Frank Chin for perpetuating racist stereotypes.[1][2][3]

 

see also:

http://www.eskimo.com/~webguy/writings/joysucks.html

 

Everyone should read this review. Here's a snippet...

 

Near the end of the movie I found myself thinking,

 

There is something terribly wrong here!

All the Chinese men are portrayed as bad and weak!

Why is this movie getting good reviews? Are the critics all blind?

Then I started to get angry. What a rip-off! I'm glad I didn't spend money to see the JLC in the movie theater. I only spent 3 hours of my time at home.

 

I noticed there were very few reviews mentioning there were Chinese stereotypes in the movie. (One review even claimed there were none!) I am a first generation Chinese-American male, born and raised in the USA. I am living the reality of the Asian experience. I am not a Militant-Chinese-Power-Fanatic but since none of my Chinese brethren appear to be commenting on the JLC, I feel compelled to write this review. (Why aren't there any well known movie critics of Chinese descent?)

So are you saying that women had it easy in China?

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

So are you saying that women had it easy in China?

 

Hello Smitty,

 

I think if you read the links, and their content carefully, you will see what the critics are saying about the movie, JLC, or Joy Luck Club.

 

The premise of the criticism surrounds the stereotyping of the Asian people and Asian culture.

[shushuweiwei]

So are you saying that women had it easy in China?

 

Hello Smitty,

 

I think if you read the links, and their content carefully, you will see what the critics are saying about the movie, JLC, or Joy Luck Club.

 

The premise of the criticism surrounds the stereotyping of the Asian people and Asian culture.

 

I'm sorry that I'm having a hard time following.

 

You're saying that one couldn't make a movie about Americans who had extremely difficult lives or you'd be stereotyping all Americans as having that difficult life? You'd have to somehow insert other people with other experiences into the story just to show that the story doesn't represent all Americans?

 

You also seem to be saying that if you hadn't experienced the difficulties that the characters faced that you would be unable to empathize or identify with the difficulties those people faced? Your inability to identify with it invalidates that aspect of experience in some way?

 

It would seem that if someone watches a movie about a handful of Chinese people (out of billions) and thinks it somehow represents "Chinese people" that the problem is not with the movie.

 

I'm sorry if I've misunderstood your posts but I did read them several times to try to understand your point.

Edited September 12, 2008 by shushuweiwei (see edit history)

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

 

I'm sorry that I'm having a hard time following.

 

You're saying that one couldn't make a movie about Americans who had extremely difficult lives or you'd be stereotyping all Americans as having that difficult life? You'd have to somehow insert other people with other experiences into the story just to show that the story doesn't represent all Americans?

 

You also seem to be saying that if you hadn't experienced the difficulties that the characters faced that you would be unable to empathize or identify with the difficulties those people faced? Your inability to identify with it invalidates that aspect of experience in some way?

 

It would seem that if someone watches a movie about a handful of Chinese people (out of billions) and thinks it somehow represents "Chinese people" that the problem is not with the movie.

 

I'm sorry if I've misunderstood your posts but I did read them several times to try to understand your point.

 

Please, take a few moments to read the subnotes under the Criticism heading in Wikipedia, and also:

 

Criticism

 

Though her book has been widely praised by critics, it has been criticized by noted Asian American author Frank Chin for perpetuating racist stereotypes.[1][2][3] {what's shown in bold red, is a subnote}

 

subnote 1: http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr...qk8894oVEx3aDhg

 

subnote 3: http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.mo...455e65126606190

 

 

Also, take a few moments to read the following link in its entirety. You will find that the critiques are not by me, but by Chinese people; including Frank Chin.

 

http://www.eskimo.com/~webguy/writings/joysucks.html

 

After reading those, you should better understand those that were troubled by the movie's stereotyping.

 

Now, regarding my own personal opinion, that's a different story. I didn't like the movie for two reasons:

 

1. It was dark and depressing

2. It pandered to a typical Western stereotype of Asian life and culture

 

It's these stereotypes that actively live in the USA today. Most of us with a Chinese partner now know that many of the stereotypes that surround Asian men, women, and families, were founded by Western myth, rather than fact.

 

I asked my wife this morning if she thinks Asian men are an abusive lot, who beat their women and treat them like property? She looked at me in amazement, and said, "Of course NOT! In many ways Asian men are much more caring and sensitive than American men."

 

Perhaps some of the Candle members wives have had difficult experiences in life, and even bad experiences with men and family. At the same time, so have many American women.

 

For those of you who take exception to the critiques of Joy Luck Club, I'm wondering whether your reasons are that you like the movie, author, and content, or whether you actually believe it representative as to the way most Chinese people live in the US and in China? Also, please make an effort not to take personally either my (or the many others) dislike of the movie.

Edited September 12, 2008 by ShaQuaNew (see edit history)