外国语从电影《刮痧》看华裔美国人.doc

An Analysis of Chinese Americans’ Identity Crisis from the Movie The Treatment
从电影《刮痧》看华裔美国人
的身份危机

Liao Guiling

Under the Supervision of
Yuan Bin

School of Foreign Languages and Cultures
Panzhihua University
May 2009

An Analysis of Chinese Americans’ Identity Crisis from the Movie The Treatment
从电影《刮痧》看华裔美国人
的身份危机

Liao Guiling

Under the Supervision of
Yuan Bin

School of Foreign Languages and Cultures
Panzhihua University
May 2009

Contents

Abstract……………………………………………………………………………Ⅰ
Key Words……………………………………………………………………………Ⅰ
摘要.…………………………………………………………………………….…….Ⅱ
关键词………………………………………………………………………….…......Ⅱ
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………1Ⅰ. An Introduction to Identity Crisis.…………..……………………………….…….2
A. The Concept of Identity...…………………………………………......................2
B. An Introduction to Cultural Identity and Identity Crisis…………….…………..3
Ⅱ. An Introduction to the Movie The Treatment……..…………………………….….4
A. The Background of the Movie.………………...………………………………..4
B. Main Plot of the Movie……………………………………...………………....4
C. Xu Datong’s Identity Crisis…………………...…………………………………5
Ⅲ. Chinese Americans’ Identity Crisis………………………………..……….…8
A. The Current Situation of Chinese Americans….…………………..……………8
B. The Causes of Their Identity Crisis…………………………………………….9
1. The Bitter History of Chinese Immigration and Unfair Treatment…………9
2. Their Sufferings from Cultural Differences………………………….…..…11
3. The Unsuitable Ways to Solve the Conflicts………...………………….…..12
Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….....14
Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………….…15
Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………..16

Abstract

Recently, a piece of news from China News Net shows that although many Chinese Americans significantly get high-paying and stable jobs, and begin to take part in political affairs, they are still not fully accepted as Americans and most of them are still suffering identity crisis. In the movie The Treatment, the identity crisis of Xu Datong, a member of Chinese Americans, is demonstrated incisively and vividly. This paper, based on the introduction of the concept of identity, identity crisis and the movie The Treatment, aims to analyze Chinese Americans’ current situation and the reasons causing their identity crisis, thus calling for more concern, tolerance and help for them, and suggest that they reflect upon themselves to find better ways to solve the conflicts and get out of identity crisis.

Key Words

Chinese Americans; identity crisis; The Treatment; conflicts

摘 要

最近，中国新闻网的一篇报道显示，虽然许多美籍华人在美国有着高薪稳定的工作，并开始参与政治事务，但他们并没有真正被美国人所接受而且他们中的绝大多数正经受着身份危机。在电影《刮痧》中，作为美籍华人的代表，许大同所面临的身份危机被表现的淋漓尽致。本文的目的在于通过对身份和身份危机概念和对电影《刮痧》介绍，来分析美籍华人的现状及引起他们身份危机的原因，从而呼吁人们给他们更多的关注、包容和帮助，并借此希望他们自己也好好反思，以便找到更好的方式来解决冲突，走出身份危机。

关键词

美籍华人；身份危机；《刮痧》；冲突

Introduction

The population of Chinese Americans accounts for 24.5 percent of the Asian immigrants in the United States, and has become the largest Asian ethnic group (China News Net). 150 years ago, most Chinese going to America only found low-salary jobs; now tremendous changes have taken place. Many Chinese Americans become famous now, such as Gary Locke in political circle, Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen Ning Yang in science, Michelle Kwan in sports and so on. Chinese students are among the best in the well-known American universities, more than one-third of the Chinese in the United States have jobs around the managerial and professional class-level and Chinese Americans’ average annual income are more than that of the whites. However, in a large sense, they are still regarded as “foreigners” in the eyes of Americans. No matter what they do and how great their achievements are, they are labeled as Chinese politicians, Chinese scientists and so on, not Americans (China News Net).
The movie The Treatment, a story about Chinese Americans, has become the focus ever since it was shown to the public. Some researchers put emphasis on the differences between Chinese culture and American culture; others focus on cultural conflicts and their settlement, intercultural communication, or cultural meaning of the movie. However, in addition to the research perspectives mentioned above, an analysis of the identity crisis of Xu Datong, the hero of the movie, generates more meaningful and comprehensive studies on Chinese Americans as an ethnic group.

I. An Introduction of Identity Crisis

A.The Concept of Identity
The English word identity comes from the Late Latin word identitās and old French word identité, and is influenced by the Late Latin word essentitās (means essence). Since identity consists of the root “idem” and its suffix, which means the same, this terminology is used to express sameness, likeness, and oneness. The basic meaning of identity refers to the same nature or state in material, element, special quality and attribute, identity also means the characteristics, feelings or beliefs that distinguish people from others.
As a popular term in today’s politics, sociology, anthropology, literature, arts and psychology, the currency of identity can be traced no further back to the 1950s, when psychologist Erik Erikson discussed the formation of individual or ego identity in his research. In his research, Erik Erikson regards the formation of individual identity and group identity as taking place primarily during adolescence and early adulthood. As identity formation progresses, adolescents make choice within the constraints that exist in a particular context. In other words, identity refers to the integrity and continuity of individual’s personality, his values and modes of life, and this is called an individual identity. Only when the construction of a society is similar to that of an individual’s personality or character, will identity be acknowledged in community. This social aspect of identity is associated with collective consciousness and social values that people usually attribute to social institution, such as family, nation and work, and in this sense, identity acts as an interaction between a stable self and a stable institution. This interactive identification effort becomes the basis of the gendered inter-subjectivity of an individual living in a society (王光林 2).
In general, identity emphasizes individual differences from vertical perspective, while it lays particular stress on collective sameness from lateral aspect.

B. An Introduction of Cultural Identity and Identity Crisis
When identity is concerned with culture, it is called cultural identity, which may refer to changes between the relationship of the outside world and its inherent characteristics of a community (region, gender groups, interest groups, ethnic communities), or refer to the "cultural" problems on the performance of the individual level. Cultural identity is not something fixed and unchangeable, but “a matter of ‘becoming’ as well as of ‘being’. It belongs to the future as much as to the past. It is not something which already exists, transcending place, time, history and culture. ” (王光林21) To Hall, identity has two forms, one is the identity of being, and the other is the identity of becoming. As a being, identity provides university; as a becoming, identity shows the fragmentation of identification, which more vividly represents the condition of Chinese-American immigrants.
Mercer says “Identity only becomes an issue when it is in crisis, when something assumed to be fixed, coherent and stable is displaced by experience of doubt and uncertainty.”(王光林 2) Who am I, and what is that determines what I am under the sign of “I”? This basic question looms large in present-day identity crisis. For Chinese Americans, when they immigrate to the host country which is quite different from their motherland and they are not accepted by the local people, they feel a sense of doubt and uncertainty. They begin to ask themselves, “Who was I? And who am I? ” When a Chinese American “even admitted as a citizen, remains outsides of the cultural and racial boundaries of the nation,” (王光林13) he begins to doubt his identity. Xu Datong, the hero of the movie The Treatment, is a typical example of the Chinese Americans who suffer identity crisis.

II. An Introduction of the Movie The Treatment

A. The Background of the Movie
The movie The Treatment is directed by Zheng Xiao-long, and its screenwriter is Wang Xiaoping. They are a couple, who live in America for many years. The original intention of the script came from a matter of 1995 about a married couple. The father unfortunately had his child fall into the bathtub and hurt the child when he was taking a bath for his child. After the doctor checked the child, the parents were believed to deliberately abuse their child by means of throw and fall. The Child Welfare intervened, and then the couple were involved in a big lawsuit, lasting more than four years. After reading the news, Xiao-long thought that this was not just a misunderstanding, but a kind of cultural difference which caused the misunderstanding, so he believed that this was a relatively good material, and it was necessary to put it into a movie, then he began to collect the materials and make investigations. In addition, the story also shows a kind of discrimination which presents itself as a cause of Chinese Americans’ identity crisis.

B. Main Plot of the Movie
In the movie, Xu Datong and his wife Jane, immigrants coming from Beijing, have made extraordinary achievements in their own business. As a successful video game designer, Xu Datong lived a peaceful and happy life with his wife and their American born son—Dennis, as well as the old father just coming from Beijing. However, when Xu Datong believed that he had fulfilled his American dream, something which seemed quite common in China happened, and involved them into a ridiculous lawsuit.
The absurd lawsuit is caused by the grandfather who used Chinese traditional treatment to help Dennis get rid of stomach trouble, because he didn’t understand the introduction of the drugs which was written in English. No one could think that such a common treatment in China was regarded as home abuse. Later when Dennis who accidentally wounded his head was sent to the hospital, the doctor checked Dennis’ back and regarded it as home abuse, then he called the police and Dennis was taken away.
St. Louis Children's Welfare Institute and the local police used legal means to deprive the custody of Dennis from the couple. During the first subsequent informal hearing, Xu Datong not only failed to get the just recognition from the judge, but also triggered a fierce contradiction with his American friend Quinlan, his defense counsel of the first hearing. In order to be able to retake his son Dennis, during the second hearing, Xu Datong chose an extreme angry way to face the judge and prosecution lawyer’s heckles. To make things worse, when the prosecution lawyer vilified the Monkey King, an image of Chinese culture, Xu Datong was so wrathful that he hit the prosecution lawyer with the files, which further made him unable to have his child back.
Then, in order to have their child come back home, Xu Datong agreed to move out of home and kept distance from his own son. Seeing this, the grandfather thought it was me who caused the event, and decided to go back to China. When the grandfather was about to leave, Xu Datong even wanted to go back to China with his father and son, but he was persuaded later, and he sent his son back to the child custody.
Later, his friend Quinlan walked into a Chinese medicine clinic. After a first-hand experience of "Scraping", the ancient Chinese medical treatment, Quinlan found the director of the orphanage, and implored the judge to make an exception of lifting the prohibition order of Xu Datong.
Though at the end of the movie, the family reunited together and spent a happy Charismas Eve, the whole event made them suffer a lot. And from the movie, Xu Datong’s identity crisis was demonstrated incisively and vividly.

C. Xu Datong’s Identity Crisis
At the beginning of the movie, as a successful video game designer, Xu Datong was awarded “the Brightest Star”. In the awarding ceremony, he said, “Eight years ago, I was just an another new immigrant, and found it so hard to earn a living by selling the art in the street, but I believe if I work hard enough, one day I will become one of you, a truly successful American. Today, this award proves that America is a true land of opportunity. I am the living prove of that… I love you! I love America! And this is my piece of American dream. Thank you. ” At that time, he was so proud of himself and believed that he had become a truly successful American and fulfilled his American dream. However, what happened later made his American dream broken and he got into a dilemma of doubting his identity.
When his son Dennis hit Paul, the son of Quinlan, Xu Datong asked Dennis to apologize to Paul. After Dennis refused to say sorry, Xu Datong hit Dennis in front of Quinlan. When asked why he hit his son, Xu Datong said he did so to show his respect to the boss, because, in China, there is a tradition of, “Dang mian jiao zi, bei mian jiao qi”(“当面教子，背面教妻”), which means one should admonish his children in the presence of others, but his wife, in privacy. Xu Datong was influenced by this kind of Chinese value, and acted in this way. What’s more, when they were involved in the lawsuit, Xu Datong still thought in Chinese way and invited Quinlan to be his defense lawyer only because of what he thought “John, you know how much I love Dennis. You are the best layer and my best friend. I mean who’s the best to help me”, without considering that Quinlan was just a copyright lawyer, who was not familiar with or even know nothing about family laws. Xu Datong didn’t understand that in America this kind of law case couldn’t be handled like this, because in the western country, they required evidence and logic analysis, not friendship. Then, when Quinlan found the picture of Dennis with petechiate back, he also thought the child was abused and blamed Datong didn’t tell him the truth. After Quinlan admitted that Xu Datong hit Dennis in front of him once during the second hearing, Xu Datong felt totally disappointed with this friend and later he decided to quit the job. Before his leaving, Quinlan came to persuaded him, but he believed that” Dao bu tong, bu xiang wei mou (in Chinese is ”道不同，不相为谋”, which means those who haven't common goals and causes can't cooperate with each other.)”. In Xu Datong’s mind, it was due to Quinlan’s fault that he could not bring his son back, since he believed his friend so much and counted on him. However, his friend didn’t understand what Datong thought and did. Besides, in the second hearing, when he heard the pro