电影《刮痧》英语影评

Movie Review of Guasha TreatmentChinese immigrant, Da Tong, struggle to hold onto their American dream after the disaster comes to him. Da Tong’s father gives a simple Chinese Medicine therapy called Guasha to his grandson, that leaves bright red marks on the skin and the American doctor mistook it as child abuse behavior. And the Children Welfare Bureau started a lawsuit about the behavior of Dennis’ father and they took action to protect Dennis. In the court, Datong loses his mind so that finally he loses custody of his son.I think this scene is shocking and thought-provoking to most of the Chinese audiences.And then this story is about how to clear the air and win his son back. The movie Guasha Treatment is designed to discuss the culture differences between China and America. In this movie, we can see culture shock everywhere.At the beginning of the movie, Da Tong insisted to make Dennis apologize to Paul because Dennis hits Paul. In order to make Dennis say sorry, Da Tong hits Dennis when everybody were there. He wants to show his respect for his boss while what his son do is to show his love to daddy. Da Tong gives his boy a light rap on the head when he refuses to apologize and the boy cries to his mother that the reason he hit his playmate was that the other boy called Da Tong stupid, one of many examples of doing the wrong thing to protect your family.This situation makes the American so confused. American would not hit their children in the public when their children do something wrong. Even they will give their children a chance to explain what happens. But in China, parents always hit their children in the public and make them feel sorry. Even not give them a chance to explain their action.Da Tong is the father who is trying to integrate his Chinese cultural beliefs into his daily American reality, especially when dealing with his son. His education is Chinese way while his wife Jenny wants to educate Dennis in American way. There is conflict within his family because grandfather can’t speak English and is exclude from many conversations because Jenny wants only English spoken in her home for the benefit of her American born son.Da Tong and his wife are very well educated and understand that their child's best chances for success in America, and for him not to experience the same troubles they've had during the past 8 years, are to speak without an accent. They even go so far as to insist the boy use a fork and knife instead of chopsticks, even when it's obvious they are still eating Chinese style food, served in the normal way: communal dishes for the food and smaller, individual rice bowls for each person. Mother seems abit inflexible in her insistence on being as American as possible, while Da Tong's cultural leanings are just as strongly Chinese, although not by conscious choice.The conflict arising from doing the wrong thing out of love or respect for one's family or closest friends continues throughout the movie, and every way Da Tong turns, he finds failure and encounters both obvious and subtle forms of anti-Chinese racism. Even Chinese folklore about the Monkey King (Sun Wu Kong), that Da Tong incorporates into a video game he designed is used to provoke his pride when he's vulnerable and fearing for the loss of his son. Da Tong is misunderstood by everyone, family, friend, and foe, even though he has only the best intentions, and he carries the responsibility quite heavily, making one wrong turn after another.Talking to the different cultures between the East and the West, I have to say American law does play an important role in protecting children. They have laws to force parents to take care of their children. To live their child in home alone, that is forbidden in American law while there is not such law in China. And in America, they have institutions such as Children Welfare Bureau to protect children and to deal with issues about children abuse. Well, in China we concern children not enough. Law are not comprehensive, society power is not enough too.But the most impressing scene in this movie to me is the ending. Datong wants to see his son in Christmas Eve, he has to climb a pipe to the ninth floor which his son lives.I think the pipe is not only a pipe, but also a gap, a deep gap between American and 5000-year Chinese culture. He wants to climb over the gap and he will never succeed, perhaps no Chinese people really could succeed. Person in the United States, it is very difficult to blend into local culture. This is the cultural difference between nation and nation, Chinese people would not live in their own way outside his motherland.shows how a person's cultural beliefs are so deeply set within oneself that it is usually impossible to examine why you do most anything, from how you dress and talk to whom you love and respect and how you show it. The invisible nature of one's cultural beliefs also makes it difficult to impossible to explain yourself to others when questioned.How to avoid such tragedy of this kind of story? We must enhance the culture exchange and culture study. Only with respect and knowledge to different cultures, will it be possible to accept outside culture and avoid conflict.。