In 2008, Asian Americans make up 5% of the population in the United States. Despite a manageable number, the Asian American community is largely misunderstood (Le). In an attempt to comprehend them, we would look into a material that portrays what their culture is about. With this, the movie that would be discussed in this paper is The Joy Luck Club. The movie is based on the novel of the same name written by Amy Tan. She is an Asian American. The movie portrayed the significant American Dreams of the Chinese Americans and their descendants. This indicated the culture divergence between generations. With this, we argue that although Asian Americans would want to participate in the notion of the American Dream, the response of the American society and in turn, the development of racial discrimination against the Asian American community, is fueling self-contempt that is likely compromising their attempt towards the American Dream.
The Joy Luck Club is a story between two generations of Chinese mothers and their American-born daughters. These four Chinese women members of the club, Lindo Jong, Ying-Ying St. Clair, An-Mei Hsu, and Suyuan Woo, bond over mahjong and their stories. However, June took her mother Suyuan’s place in the club when her mother died. Each of the mothers survived tragedies in China. They then migrated and established their new life in San Francisco, California through remarriage and giving birth. Certainly, these children are exposed to both the Asian and American cultures. Because of this, they have been trying to balance the traditional Chinese culture and the American culture for their daughters (Wang). The center among the four generations is the story of Suyuan and June. These two have a long history of misunderstanding between them. Suyuan pushed June to learn the piano when she was young. However, the young June retaliated by bringing up the story of Suyuan abandoning her twin babies when she was in China. Nonetheless, the bond between the mother and daughter is seen throughout the film. Through this, they learned to understand each other and reconcile their differences. The film ends with June's farewell party before her trip to China where she got reunited with her estranged sisters.
Before giving our two cents, let’s delve into the lives of some Americans such as the Asian Americans who are reaching their dreams on the land of the free. Although they share similar issues, we would particularly discuss the Chinese Americans among them. Many of the Chinese in the 1850s migrated and built their lives in America. This meant that they would have to abide by American laws such as the Exclusion Act. It indicated that Chinese women could not enter the country, but it was lifted in the 1940s. At the time, their sense of identity had also started to become obscure. The younger generations introduce themselves as either Chinese or American, depending on whom they were talking to (Le; Chin 556-557).
Other than the Exclusion Act, they put up stereotypes to psychologically and culturally condition them into self-contempt (Chin and Chan 65-67). This is the reason behind the blurred sense of identity of Asian Americans, which is further depicted in The Joy Luck Club movie.
One of the commonalities between the mothers and daughters in the movie The Joy Luck Club were the insistency with their American dreams, that is, to have a happy and successful life. However, it seemed that they prioritized one goal over the other. All of the mothers wished their daughters to have all of the privilege and success that they could not have. The daughters, on the other hand, wished to do things as they wanted.
The movie implied that the second generation of Chinese immigrants was being assimilated into the major American culture. June warned her aunties not to talk using the Chinese language because she could not understand it. Language is a person’s basic tool for describing and organizing experiences and realities (Chin 557; Chin and Chan 76). With June, it failed to serve its purpose. Moreover, this is where the Chinese part of her is blurred. June is a representation of the many Asian Americans who experience this gap between the two extremely different cultures. Another struggle in reconciling the two cultural parts of the young ladies could be seen when Waverly nearly broke up with her partner because she forgot to tell him some of the Chinese customs. Consequently, it appeared that her partner offended her family during the family dinner.
Most importantly, racial discrimination and self-contempt still acted as a model behavior among Chinese Americans, even among those who are native-born Chinese Americans. This is strongly seen through the character of Rose. Ted’s mother criticized her that she may not be able to cope with them. She even mistook her for another race. This likely affected her. Thus, after the wedding, she started to play the traditional role of a good wife and a good mother, yet her husband still drifted apart from her. When she finally tried letting go of Ted, Ted eventually decided to stay with her. What she lost during her marriage troubles was respect for herself and for her values. She was indeed under the curse of self-contempt. She thought that she had to entirely fit into Ted’s world. However, what made Ted like her was her true self. She achieved her American Dream when she fought against self-contempt.
According to James Tuslow Adams, the American Dream pertains to a better, richer, and fuller life (qtd. in Library of Congress). This is reinforced in the Declaration of Independence of the United States, which indicates that Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness are inalienable rights to all men. Questions were posed against it and whether this notion is achievable by all Americans (Library of Congress). However, based on our analysis of the movie, which represented the experience of the Asian Americans at the time, and on the findings that we gathered from several sources, we can say that the notion of the American Dream is not achievable by all Americans. The exception is the Asian Americans. The Asian American culture is an unclear culture due to its blurred identity. Given that they couldn’t reconcile either parts of their identity, it seemed that they couldn’t fully commit to personal development let alone pursue the American Dream.
In conclusion, the Joy Luck Club can be seen as an epitome of those Chinese immigrants who came to America in the middle of the 20th century. The Eastern and Western cultures came from opposite and clashing directions. However, although it was difficult to find a middle ground, the process brought the characters in the movie together. Certainly, Asian Americans such as the four families in the movie also want to have the good life. However, based on the movie and on history, Asian Americans have more burdens on their shoulders. The Declaration of Independence may pertain to all Americans, yet the authorities who develop these laws think otherwise. The American society, too, has followed into thinking that the Asian American does not equal Americans; therefore, Asian Americans are not fit to achieve the American Dream. Through psychological and cultural conditioning such as racial discrimination and self-contempt, which are brought about by the laws, we have such material reflecting the discouragement and enslavement that exist among some Americans, particularly the Asian Americans. In this regard, America, the land of the free, is not for everyone.
Works Cited
Chin, Frank. “Back Talk.” Counterpoint: Perspective on Asian America. Los Angeles: Asian American Studies Center, 1976. Print.
Chin, Frank and Jeffrey Paul Chan. “Racist Love.” Seeing Through Shuck. New York: Ballantine Books, 1972. Print.
Hall, Stuart. “Culture, Community, Nation.” Cultural Studies 7.3 (1993): 349-363. Print.
Le, Cuong Nguyen.Asian-Nation: The Landscape of Asian America. Web. 10 Nov. 2014. <http://www.asian-nation.org/index.shtml>.
Library of Congress. “The American Dream.”Web. 10 Nov. 2014. <http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/lessons/american- dream/students/thedream.html>
Soylent Communications. “Wayne Wang bio.” Web. 10 Nov. 2014. <http://www.nndb.com/people/287/000044155/>
Wang, Wayne, dir. The Joy Luck Club. Buena Vista Pictures, 1993. Film.
