Eat a Bowl of Tea

The film “Eat a Bowl of Tea” is the story of a westernized Chinese American man, Ben Hoy, who brings home a wife from China due to his service in WWII. Although Ben Hoy does not seem to hold the same values and traditions as his parents, he respects their wishes and is matched with a wife in China. Even though he complied with their wish, he struggles to continue to please his family because their Chinese traditional values are not the same as his own. This story relates to the fifth CRT, that “everyone has a compound and complex identity”, as well as the term assimilation.

Even though they are from the same family, Ben Hoy’s father has different views on what it means to be a husband and a man than Ben Hoy. He is pressured by his father and most of the older Chinese American men to have a child. Although Ben Hoy struggles with physical problems, he also does not feel the urgency to have a child that his father does. He believes that it is none of his father’s business, and tries to avoid discussing the matter with his father. This is an example of the fifth CRT because it shows that even people in your own family can be vastly different. Ben Hoy’s life in America has made him prioritize his career, possibly even over family.

Mei Oi also struggles with Ben Hoy for the same reason as Ben Hoy’s father, she is not accustomed to his westernized set of values. Ben Hoy has assimilated to American culture, and the Chinese Americans around him do not understand his way of thinking. Mei Oi also feels the pressure to produce a child, and is most likely why she snaps at him for not being around, as well as why she cheated on Ben Hoy. His lack of prioritization of her and their obligation to have a child is something she is not accustomed to, because that is more highly valued in China. Ben Hoy’s assimilation creates a wedge between himself and his family’s values.