LIFE COMPLEXITY & THE PATH TO SUCCESS THROUGH CHINESE AND AMERICAN CULTURAL LENSES

[Tierra P.]

LIFE COMPLEXITY & THE PATH TO SUCCESS THROUGH CHINESE AND AMERICAN CULTURAL LENSES

TIERRA PRICE

“And the Spring Comes” is a Chinese film set in a small town. A young and extraordinarily talented vocal teacher, Wang Cailing, embarks on a journey to become an opera singer at the National Opera house. Cailing meets other artists along the way. The movie reveals their struggle to realize their dreams, and more gravely, to find acceptance and understanding by the society in which they live. The methods used to portray the trauma experienced by societal standards are shown through intense scenes of conflict, physical appearance representations, and filming techniques. The films intense approach to cultural representation demonstrates a comprehensive view of complex human lives and human experiences within a society. In contrast, “Mona Lisa Smile” follows the journey of an American art history teacher, Katherine Ann Watson, who takes a teaching position at Wellesley College to inspire wealthy female students being primed for marriage to find their own life path as she attempts herself. However, the characters’ physical appearances are generally attractive, trivial conflicts suppress success, and the pleasant filming techniques do not evoke the same powerful emotion from the audience as “And the Spring Comes” achieves. Both films have similarities and differences in cultural representation of success and means to achieve it, as well as non-verbal strategies to express the atmosphere of the culture. Nonetheless, “And the Spring Comes” documents more authentic, deeply complex glimpses into a human being’s path to achievement through the Chinese cultural lens.

In “And the Spring Comes”, most characters make desperate attempts to achieve success or to be perceived by society in a particular way. For example, one singer pretends to have terminal cancer so Cailing will help her sing in an opera competition. Additionally, the unaccepted homosexual male dancer perseveres through his dancing career, yet attempts raping a female student to be viewed as a dominant male. Additionally, issues at the forefront of the film’s conflicts relate to rape, terminal illness, poverty, and physical abuse. These scenes are extremely graphic and are particularly things a person in American culture would not wish to imagine. Ultimately, the audience becomes disappointed and discredits the dignity of the characters for the extent of their actions in seeking what they want for themselves. Simultaneously, it reveals truth in the lengths people go to achieve a goal in real life situations. “And the Spring Comes” does not cut corners on the complexity of any given human life. It displays the good, the bad, and the ugly.

In “Mona Lisa Smiles”, Watson’s students are extremely wealthy, and they attending school only as a perquisite to marriage. Suitability for domestication and status of male partners defines their success in life. The cultural confinement these women endure keeps their inner passions supressed, but they stubbornly remain submissive to their predetermined roles. Katherine is persistent with the young women, challenging them to embrace their inner dreams instead of only achieving marriage to eligible men. Watson’s students passively fight back by not going to law school, writing targeting editorials in the papers, and making threats for undesirable grades. The film showcases other conflicts, like cheating and argumentation, but nothing as intensely rich as seen in “And the Spring Comes”. The path to success seems to happen through trial experiences exasperated by personal integrity for these women. Unlike the characters who endure long, traumatizing journeys in “And the Spring Comes”, the American students lives change as soon as they make the conscious decision to make their lives change. The change happens almost effortlessly, presenting western cultural representations of an easily obtainable ‘American Dream’ lifestyle. Pursuit failures are what ultimately cause a change in direction for the students as their romantic relationships fall apart, and it does the same for Watson. Through an American lens, it shows how the fortunes of a culture can hinder one’s desires to achieve a goal, and rather than work to have society accept them for who they are, they live by happily complying to societal standards. For the audience, this creates an image of a somewhat easy and comfortable life regardless of occurring conflicts, and fails to convey a complex journey to achievement.

Non-verbal strategies like lighting, dramatic elongated scenes, and character appearance also work within the cultural contexts of both movies. “And the Spring Comes” is frequently filmed in dark light, and displays characters in vulnerable or unattractive states. Cailing’s appearance is not generally attractive, she wears worn clothing, and lives in run down homes throughout her journey to success. Additionally, the filming technique incorporates dramatic elongated scenes that have no dialogue and focus closely on character emotional expression. These methods create a somber and depressive mood for the audience that is uncomfortable to endure. It takes the audience into the deepest corners of human emotion and the curvy path of a human life. In “Mona Lisa Smiles”, the film is lit more optimistically. The students are beautiful, wealthy, young women who have the privilege of attending college. It is clear to the audience that these women would still lead decent lives free of stress, consequences, and responsibility regardless of whether or not they discovered their own dreams in the end. The non-verbal strategies coupled with differences in means of achieving success portrayed by each film presents two different cultural representations. While the American cultural representation shows an optimistic image of life coupled with a trivial path to one’s dreams, the Chinese cultural representation is better able to reveal truth in the diverse complexities of life. It shows the disturbing and deeply depressing truth in facing and overcoming life challenges. “And the Spring Comes” reminds us that life and ourselves are complex, imperfect, and that our path will not likely follow a straight line.

[Xinlei C.]

Dear,tierra,
Good afternoon. My first repel is in the attachment file, please read it and pay attention to the signs. I am so excited about your right words in different type. I am looking forward to your reply and repel on my essay as well.

[Yijing F.]

I hope it's not too late!! I really enjoy every word while reading your essay.

[Xinlei C.]

Dear Tirra,
Hello. In my essay, I also foucus on some different paths to success chosen by Americans and Chinese. However, I think I just went very light on it. In my learning environment, I exactly don't konw enough those different life styles or ideas between Ameicans and Chinese. Would you please talk something with me on what do you think betweent us. Maybe, a little difficult, but I am waiting for you. Thanks.

[Xinlei C.]

Dear Tierra,
I am so sorry to check your reply for me, please give me some time to look over it and I am sure my essay will be much better under your reply. Thank you.

[Tierra P.]

Hello Yijing and Xinel,

I apologize for not getting back to you. I have been struggling with my school and work load, as well as some family news. I will reply by the end of the day with my comments and revised essay. Thank you for your patience and kindness.

Best,
Tierra

[Tierra P.]

LIFE COMPLEXITY & THE PATH TO SUCCESS THROUGH CHINESE AND AMERICAN CULTURAL LENSES (REVISED)

TIERRA PRICE

“And the Spring Comes” is a Chinese film set in a small town. A young and extraordinarily talented vocal teacher, Wang Cailing, embarks on a journey to become an opera singer at the National Opera house. The movie reveals Cailing and other artists’ struggle to realize their dreams, and more gravely, to find acceptance and understanding by the society in which they live. The methods used to portray the trauma experienced by societal standards are shown through intense scenes of conflict, physical appearance representations, and filming techniques. The films intense approach to cultural representation demonstrates a comprehensive view of complex human lives and human experiences within the Chinese society. In contrast, “Mona Lisa Smile” follows the journey of an American art history teacher, Katherine Ann Watson, who takes a teaching position at Wellesley College to inspire wealthy female students being primed for marriage to find their own life’s path as she attempts so herself. However, the characters’ physical appearances are generally more attractive than those in “And the Spring Comes”, trivial conflicts suppress success as opposed to laws and regulations that prevent Cailing from becoming an opera singer outside of her area of residence, and the pleasant filming techniques do not evoke the same powerful emotion from the audience as “And the Spring Comes” achieves. Both films have similarities and differences in cultural representation of success and means to achieve it, as well as non-verbal strategies to express the atmosphere of the culture. Nonetheless, “And the Spring Comes” documents more authentic, deeply complex glimpses into a human being’s path to achievement through the Chinese cultural lens.

In “And the Spring Comes”, most characters make desperate attempts to achieve success or to be perceived by society in a particular way. For example, one singer pretends to have terminal cancer so Cailing will help her sing in an opera competition. Additionally, the unaccepted homosexual dancer perseveres through his dancing career, yet attempts raping a female student to be viewed as a dominant male. Issues at the forefront of the film’s conflicts relate to rape, terminal illness, poverty, and physical abuse. These scenes are extremely graphic and are particularly things a person in American culture would not wish to imagine although these situations occur all over the world. Ultimately, the audience becomes disappointed and discredits the dignity of the characters for the extent of their actions in seeking what they want for themselves, while sympathizing with the characters’ unfortunate experiences simultaneously. The movie reveals truth in lengths people go to achieve a goal in real life situations. “And the Spring Comes” does not cut corners on the complexity of any given human life. It displays the good, the bad, and the ugly.

In “Mona Lisa Smiles”, Watson’s students are extremely wealthy, and they attend school only as a perquisite to marriage. Suitability for domestication and status of male partners defines their success in life. The cultural confinement these women endure keeps their inner passions suppressed, but they stubbornly remain submissive to their predetermined roles. Katherine is persistent with the young women, challenging them to embrace their inner dreams instead of only achieving marriage to eligible men. Watson’s students passively fight back by not going to law school, writing targeting editorials in the papers, and making threats for undesirable grades. The film showcases other conflicts, like cheating and argumentation, but nothing as intensely rich as what is shown in “And the Spring Comes”. The path to success seems to happen through trivial experiences, exasperated by personal integrity for these women. Unlike the characters who endure long, traumatizing journeys in “And the Spring Comes”, the American students lives change as soon as they make the conscious decision to make their lives change. The change happens almost effortlessly, presenting western cultural representations of an easily obtainable ‘American Dream’ lifestyle. Pursuit failures are what ultimately cause a change in direction for the students as their romantic relationships fall apart, and it does the same for Watson. Through an American lens, it shows how the fortunes of a culture can hinder one’s desires to achieve a goal. Rather than work to have society accept them for who they are, they live by happily complying to societal standards whereas characters in “And the Spring Comes” do not compromise their authentic selves to be successful. The homosexual dancer in “And the Spring Comes”, for example, is ultimately happier in prison where he can freely dance and express is homosexuality, than pretending to be someone he is not in the outside world. For the audience, “Mona Lisa Smile” creates an image of a somewhat easy and comfortable life regardless of occurring conflicts. It fails to convey a complex journey to achievement or retention of oneself and one’s true identity.

Non-verbal strategies like lighting, dramatic elongated scenes, and character appearance also work within the cultural contexts of both movies. “And the Spring Comes” is frequently filmed in dark light, and displays characters in vulnerable or unattractive states. Cailing’s appearance is not generally attractive. She wears worn clothing and lives in run down homes throughout her journey to success. Additionally, the filming technique incorporates dramatic elongated scenes that have no dialogue and focus closely on character emotional expression. These methods create a somber and depressive mood for the audience that is uncomfortable to endure. It takes the audience into the deepest corners of human emotion and the curvy path of a human life. In “Mona Lisa Smiles”, the film is lit more optimistically. The students are beautiful, wealthy, young women who have the privilege of attending college. It is clear to the audience that these women would still lead decent lives free of stress, consequences, and responsibility regardless of whether or not they discovered their own dreams in the end. The non-verbal strategies coupled with differences in means of achieving success portrayed by each film presents two different cultural representations. While the American cultural representation shows an optimistic image of life coupled with a trivial path to one’s dreams, the Chinese cultural representation is better able to reveal truth in the diverse complexities of life. It shows the disturbing and deeply depressing truth in facing and overcoming life challenges. “And the Spring Comes” reminds us that life and ourselves are complex, imperfect, and that our path will not likely follow a straight line.

[Tierra P.]

Reflection:

Thank you for all of your kind remarks about my writing! I really appreciate your feedback. I looked over my essay and corrected the grammar and spelling mistakes you drew my attention to. It is amazing what silly mistakes you fine when rereading your first written draft. This is why both personal reviews and peer reviews are so helpful and important. Additionally, I broke up some sentences, deleted some parts and words I felt made my writing redundant, and tried to incorporate even more explicit comparison between the two movies throughout my writing. I hope you both enjoy your summer!

Best wishes,
Tierra