Compare And Contrast Charlie Chan And Robert Crumb

For the most part, our society is a giant herd of sheep. At the front, celebrities and politicians, and at the back, the young. This is because our society is much more focused on acknowledgement from peers than it is on self-actualization. However, there are nonetheless a variety of individuals who can be regarded as a great example of how self-actualization can be achieved through criticizing the imperfections of a society. This can be seen in Sonny Liew’s The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, and in the movie Robert Crumb, in which the use of unique main characters, important issues presented by the setting, and metaphors criticizing those issues all illustrate how questioning societal values can lead to self-actualization. Charlie Chan and Robert Crumb are two characters, similar because of their uniquity, who showcase …show more content…
Were the book and film to be set in perfect societies, it would be far more difficult to find things to criticize and question. Without the ability to criticize and question, self-actualization would be harder to achieve, and entirely impossible to achieve as a direct result of criticizing. For example, in the film, Robert Crumb lives in America. It is no secret that America is a country with very many things that can be criticized, such as their poor sex culture and racial issues. Had Crumb not grown up in a more perfect society, he would not necessarily have grown up to have the same critical personality as he has now. Setting is even more important in The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, which is set in 20th century Singapore. Singapore’s history of corruption and controversy leaves very much to be criticized by Charlie. Without this historical context, Chan would not have had anything to criticize, and as has been stated previously, he would not have been able to grow without the opportunities he had for social