How's your vacation going, Jingyuan? Glad to have your reply so quickly.
You wrote, 'Brave people take it and normal people just let it pass, and flow into time.' Quite enlightening! I guess you must be a very brave teenager in reality. Otherwise you I don't think you could come up with such a good sentence.
At the beginning of the first paragraph, I drew a conclusion, 'when people believe the freedom to choose liberates us, I personally think it is the variety of choices which is confining us subconsciously and fundamentally.' That is why I asked you the three questions. I wanted to find out whether you were also, to some extent, confined by the variety of choices. It turns out you and me have certainly led very different lifes! My happiest momeries are all about the experiences at kindergarten and primary school. I didn't need to fight or struggle to get in those two, but somehow I was totally satisfied with them. But when I struggled for the freedom to choose a high school or university, I never made a satisfactory choice. Probably I didn't do my best. I should have worked hard enough to get in TsingHua University!
I have always been plagued by thoughts like this. Why are we always climbing the ladder? Why are there always something else that people believe it's better than what they already have?
Alas!
Anyway, as our activity is coming to the end, I hope you have had a good time and found my article or replys helpful!
Stuck in Choosing
We are all humans and we all have to live with other humans in the society. To live peacefully with each other, we make laws. To live colourfully, we make traditions. With laws and traditions, we all should be able to be leading a life which is both peaceful and colourful. Unfortunately, that’s not what happens to Wang Cailing and Katherine.
Wang Cailing has an unattractive appearance but holds a passionate belief in opera singing. She tries to procure a position in Central Academy of Music or residency in the capital city – Beijing - and dreams of getting an opportunity to sing in the National Opera Company. Inevitably, the plain-looking old woman with no networking fails.
Katherine is a non-orthodox Art History teacher, who accepts the challenge of teaching in the conservative Wellesley College. Disappointed with the fact that all the girls are stepping onto a predetermined path, Katherine decides to fight against the status-quo of Wellesley and tries to make a difference. However, it seems that nobody not even herself ends up living the way she’s been hoping for.
In Wang’s case, obviously, social mobility, appearance and even gender are confining her. She always feels inferior because of her disadvantaged background and plain-looking face. However, as far as I’m concerned, the out-dated ideas of art from the outsiders matter most. This constraint has been particularly amplified and contrasted through a wide shot where Wang pours herself into singing when almost all the audience turn away, leaving her alone at the town square. The whole setting of And the Spring Comes is cold and depressing. It looks as if every element of the environment were fighting against Wang Cailing. Katherine is no exception. On the very first day of her very first class, Katherine has learnt her lesson. We can feel how her heartbeats accelerate when the shots are applied in a cut-away form and keep switching faster. She is overwhelmed and totally speechless when the slides come to the end. All the students raise their hands, showing how ‘good’ these girls are. Wang Cailing and Katherine are both holding firm beliefs which, unfortunately, cannot be widely accepted by the majority.
Wang is never even close to her dream. Someone even argues that Wang is not an authentic believer in art at all because she keeps dreaming singing in the golden opera house. That’s not true. A fake will never enjoy singing opera in an empty square.
On the other hand, Katherine does seem to have made a difference. In the end, Betty files for a divorce, giving up the tradition to seek truth. Interestingly, Joan who supports Katherine most becomes a housewife with ‘no depth, no intellect, no interests.’ But Joan is happy. Housewife is ‘the role Joan wants to fill in.’
On our journey to the unorthodoxy, we are constantly influenced and re-shaped by all kinds of constraints. Sometimes they are so powerful that we start to wonder: Will those who choose an unusual path be truly happy? Are those who still stick to the conventions certainly unfortunate?
When people believe the freedom to choose liberates us, I personally think it is the variety of choices which is confining us subconsciously and fundamentally. Our desires surely motivate us, but there’s no denying that, in many cases, they also lead us into a trap. The possibility of singing in the golden house does not always have a positive impact on Wang Cailing. Joan is now content with being a housewife but has Katherine come over, querying her decision. Perhaps, we are not in thrall to the traditions but are stuck in choosing among a dazzling number of paths.
