Movies and film have a way of transporting viewers through time and place to experience for themselves what it would have been like to have lived under the political, cultural, and social conditions portrayed in the film being viewed. Through the personal experiences of the characters in The Joy Luck Club and Anna Karenina, the audience is deeply alerted to the role of women and the issue of gender inequality that were customary for the time and place that each of these films examined. Different societies have different perceptions, just as different groups within those same societies may also have varying viewpoints. However, both The Joy Luck Club and Anna Karenina echo the underlying sentiment that women are not on equal footing in these two male dominated societies. Consequently, the women of The Joy Luck Club and Anna Karenina herself, are pioneers that pave the way for future generations of women to live a life of their choosing.
Since The Joy Luck Club takes place in 1980’s San Francisco, the lives of the mothers are witnessed through numerous flashbacks. These flashbacks represent traditional Chinese culture in the early 1900’s when the members of the Joy Luck Club would have been young women. Of these four women, one would have an arranged marriage and, one would marry for love only to be cast aside later for another women. The third of these ladies reveals how her own mother was raped and taken as a Fourth Wife, and finally the fourth member of the club was forced to leave her two infant daughters under a tree while fleeing her war ravaged home. Not wanting their daughters to experience the same prejudice as they themselves did in China, the mothers chose to immigrate to the United States. As narrated in the film, these feelings are expressed with “In America, I will have a daughter just like me. But over there nobody will say her worth is measured by the loudness of her husband’s belch.” (Joy Luck) In choosing a new life in America, the women of the Joy Luck Club made a conscious decision to move to a country where the perceived norms of their chosen country would not punish them solely for being women. In comparison, Anna Karenina is set in 1874 Imperial Russia. Anna is the wife of a government official in St. Petersburg who falls in love with a cavalry officer by the name of Alexei Vronsky. Vronsky eventually asks Anna to leave her husband when he finds out that she is pregnant with his child. She initially …show more content…
Both The Joy Luck Club and Anna Karenina are accurate depictions of the unique social issues that dominated a place and time in history in the countries portrayed. Language, costumes, scenery, dialogue, music, and references to certain historical events all influence the viewer’s awareness of the unique social conditions present during each film. Despite the hardships of which they were keenly aware, the women in these films chose to break the mold and travel the path that would ultimately lead them to their happier selves. They broke the rules, laid the foundation for defiance, and made it easier for future generations of women to challenge other aspects of gender
Since The Joy Luck Club takes place in 1980’s San Francisco, the lives of the mothers are witnessed through numerous flashbacks. These flashbacks represent traditional Chinese culture in the early 1900’s when the members of the Joy Luck Club would have been young women. Of these four women, one would have an arranged marriage and, one would marry for love only to be cast aside later for another women. The third of these ladies reveals how her own mother was raped and taken as a Fourth Wife, and finally the fourth member of the club was forced to leave her two infant daughters under a tree while fleeing her war ravaged home. Not wanting their daughters to experience the same prejudice as they themselves did in China, the mothers chose to immigrate to the United States. As narrated in the film, these feelings are expressed with “In America, I will have a daughter just like me. But over there nobody will say her worth is measured by the loudness of her husband’s belch.” (Joy Luck) In choosing a new life in America, the women of the Joy Luck Club made a conscious decision to move to a country where the perceived norms of their chosen country would not punish them solely for being women. In comparison, Anna Karenina is set in 1874 Imperial Russia. Anna is the wife of a government official in St. Petersburg who falls in love with a cavalry officer by the name of Alexei Vronsky. Vronsky eventually asks Anna to leave her husband when he finds out that she is pregnant with his child. She initially …show more content…
Both The Joy Luck Club and Anna Karenina are accurate depictions of the unique social issues that dominated a place and time in history in the countries portrayed. Language, costumes, scenery, dialogue, music, and references to certain historical events all influence the viewer’s awareness of the unique social conditions present during each film. Despite the hardships of which they were keenly aware, the women in these films chose to break the mold and travel the path that would ultimately lead them to their happier selves. They broke the rules, laid the foundation for defiance, and made it easier for future generations of women to challenge other aspects of gender