From: Patricia Niedzwiecki
To: "patricia.beck@bbh.com"
Date: 10/07/2015 08:19 PM
Subject: Zack
Zack Niedzwiecki
COR 330
Professor Esckilsen
October 7, 2015
"The Blue Kite": An Homage to the Unseverable Bonds of Family and Humanity
A Beijing street filled with the bustle and hum of children playing games and kicking up dust from an unpaved courtyard. The excitement of an impending marriage -- a young couple surrounded by relatives and friends coming together to welcome them to their new home and celebrate the union. This opening scene, earnest in its wholesomeness, belies the tumult of the backdrop -- Communist China during the 1950s and 1960s -- some of the most unsettled years in the country's long history. The juxtaposition …show more content…
Consistent with tradition, meals were often shared with extended family and friends -- an homage to the Chinese tradition of communal living and strong family bonds. The movie does seem to depart from the social more that the man or husband is the bread winner and the wife is an obedient homemaker. Tietou's mother, Shujuan is a teacher outside the home and his uncle's girlfriend is in the army. It is not until later, when Shujuan marries Lao Wu that we see more traditional gender roles emerge. Attention is called to the shift when Teitu refers to his mother as "the maid" -- meant, it seems, as an attack on Lao Wu for relegating an strong and courageous woman, who had survived the loss of two husbands, to the role of housekeeper and cook. Perhaps most significant of all is the Chinese value that family bonds are sacred and loyalties are unwavering. We see that time and again throughout the film, right down to the last scene when Tietou and his mother fight to defend Lao Wu, a man that neither truly loved in the way that was proper for a spouse or a stepson, but out of respect for his role in the family
To: "patricia.beck@bbh.com"
Date: 10/07/2015 08:19 PM
Subject: Zack
Zack Niedzwiecki
COR 330
Professor Esckilsen
October 7, 2015
"The Blue Kite": An Homage to the Unseverable Bonds of Family and Humanity
A Beijing street filled with the bustle and hum of children playing games and kicking up dust from an unpaved courtyard. The excitement of an impending marriage -- a young couple surrounded by relatives and friends coming together to welcome them to their new home and celebrate the union. This opening scene, earnest in its wholesomeness, belies the tumult of the backdrop -- Communist China during the 1950s and 1960s -- some of the most unsettled years in the country's long history. The juxtaposition …show more content…
Consistent with tradition, meals were often shared with extended family and friends -- an homage to the Chinese tradition of communal living and strong family bonds. The movie does seem to depart from the social more that the man or husband is the bread winner and the wife is an obedient homemaker. Tietou's mother, Shujuan is a teacher outside the home and his uncle's girlfriend is in the army. It is not until later, when Shujuan marries Lao Wu that we see more traditional gender roles emerge. Attention is called to the shift when Teitu refers to his mother as "the maid" -- meant, it seems, as an attack on Lao Wu for relegating an strong and courageous woman, who had survived the loss of two husbands, to the role of housekeeper and cook. Perhaps most significant of all is the Chinese value that family bonds are sacred and loyalties are unwavering. We see that time and again throughout the film, right down to the last scene when Tietou and his mother fight to defend Lao Wu, a man that neither truly loved in the way that was proper for a spouse or a stepson, but out of respect for his role in the family