Saving Face

The film saving face, for me personally, was extremely interesting because it shed light on Chinese-American traditions that I had never been familiar with. The expectation of extreme loyalty and respect from children to their parents was most prominent to me. Wilhelmina's mother married her first husband whom she did not truly love to be a model daughter to her father. Her second marriage arranged with Cho is again to please her father who even recruits Wilhelmina to ensure the marriage occurs. After the discovery of Wilhelmina's mother's pregnancy she is thrown out of her parents house and disowned by her father. She isn't even allowed to visit her dying mother in the hospital. Wilhelmina is also temporarily disowned by her mother who berates her for proclaiming herself as a lesbian. All of these experiences that the characters go through in the movie beautifully exemplify the expectations that Chinese-American parents have for their children.
A critical race theory tenet that I think applied very well to the film is the first tenet that everyone is a racist. This is exemplified when Jay eats dinner with Wilhelmina and her mother who says he is "dark and loud" and that he has eaten too much soy sauce leading to his darker complexion. In addition Jay is seen eating fried chicken in multiple scenes questioning the racial bias of the director and writers. Additionally, the Model Minority CRT term is prominent in the film. Chinese-Americans were branded as hard working and a good role model for other immigrants. However, in this film the instability of Chinese-American culture is displayed along with what are arguably unwanted characteristics. When Wilhelmina's grandfather is shouting at her mother following her pregnancy she says "father, please" and he ignores this comment and continues to verbally accost her.