Saving Face

In the film Eat a Bowl of Tea, I recall Lee Gong telling Ben Loy that his father is a proud man and everything he does is for his son. The idea that the Chinese are very proud people is a very common theme throughout history. In the movie Saving Face, we witness scenes that show us the thought process of the Chinese people. For example, when news that Hwei-Lan is pregnant without husband gets out, her father banishes her from the family. Her father makes it very obvious that her actions will reflect very poorly upon him and his reputation. He claims that Hwei-Lan has disgraced their entire family name.

Similarly, when Wil tells Hwei-Lan she is gay, Hwei-Lan replies, “I am not a bad mother. My daughter is not gay” (Saving Face). The Chinese people take pride in everything they do so they assume responsibility for their child’s problems. In the old way of thinking, a heterosexual child was a “normal” child, so, any child not heterosexual is abnormal and must have been raised wrong. This just shows a bit of homophobia at the time. The Chinese people believed that they are made out to be bad parents for not raising their children right if their child is not the perfect version of the model minority myth.           

Once again, a steady theme throughout the Chinese growth through America is the fact that the younger generation will assimilate with American culture. It is shown in by Hwei-Lan when she wants to be with a younger man but also does not want to upset her father and disgrace the family further. It is also shown in the scene where she tells her mother she is gay and her mother cannot accept it for what it is. As time goes by, traditions will go away, be replaced, or forgotten. The cultural gap between generations will continue to grow.