Watching a Western movie last night was the prompt for an extended and very interesting discussion of Tibetan values. On this particular occasion we watched a movie called "Failure to Launch" which squarely into the Romantic Comedy category. In this film, Matthew McConaughey plays a 35 year-old man who is in an "extended stall pattern." His parents (played by Terry Bradshaw and Kathy Bates) are concerned by this behavior (though they encourage it by doing his laundry, cleaning his room, doing his shopping, etc... a point that gets overlooked in favor of spurring along the outrageousness of the male protagonist's childish antics) and hire a consultant in the form of Sarah Jessica Parker to get him out of the house by getting him to fall in love with her. Long story short, the male protagonist finds out about the deception, moves out, and when things seem at their worst, he is able to realize his love just in the nick of time through the timely (albeit unconventional) intervention of friends and family.
In the US this may seem like an ok plot. But in Western China, the parents come out as villains, and the entirety of the conflict is completely lost on viewers. Tsomo watched it and completely couldn't understand what the problem was about a 35 year old son living at home. Indeed, this is to be admired in China. It is a sign of being or having a filial son. A son who lives at home is therefore a good thing and no parent should expect to get them out of the house, nor should they ever want to. What to me, had seemed like an innocuous plot, had become a reason for dissatisfaction for local viewership. Ultimately, I found this to be a fantastic experience. There are so many tiny facets to culture that seem so natural as to avoid questioning. And yet, even those facets are frequently underlain by other yet more fundamental cultural ideas. In this case, the notion of filial piety, is paramount. Whereas Western viewers may see parents concerned about their child's stunted development and hoping to help him out of this rut, Chinese and Tibetan viewers see parents who clearly have no idea about how a son should be taking care of them. All
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About TimAs you can see elsewhere on this webpage, I conduct research on ethnic minorities in western China. This blog offers semi-academic musings on the minutiae of daily life out here--the sort of information otherwise destined for footnotes. Categories |