Today Danwei's Joel Martinsen translated an essay titled "Prison Break as a view into American prison administration" by "Top Gudong". Here's an excerpt:
Watching Korean TV, I find that their "ideas about love" are stuck in the middle ages; parents boldly interfere in their children's right to choose a mate. In Japanese and Hong Kong television, there is no lack of similar content. Qiong Yao is even more of a tireless champion of this stuff. And Asian audiences always eat this stuff up, it seems. Willfully or unconsciously, writers indulge these plot points. If the same shows were aired in the US, the first reaction of American audiences would probably be: why don't those children sue? Why don't they care about their own rights?
I sometimes discuss Korean dramas with Jodi, making a similar argument.
posted by Micah Sittig at 10:51,
2 comments
2 Comments:
I dunno, after becoming a parent, part of my understands why parents here do the things they do. It an innate reaction to want to do whats best for your child, sometimes its a bit overpowering... and yes, sadly, considering the age many get married here and the social development of many young people here, I DO wonder if parents making the call for them is the better choice. Sad ain't it?
Oh, I agree that parents all have the instinct to protect their kids. But I think that culturally accepted behavior by parents is different in China and the US, for historical reasons.
As an American, I think the over-protective Chinese parents are acting in a very childish way when they don't let their children do chores, make them study all day/year, and then set-up their lives for them. As adults, we should be disciplined enough to let our kids be independent and make mistakes a few times before we support them, otherwise they never learn to deal with failure. Also, Chinese parents seem to have a need to prove themselves, just like kids: for example, when I played card games with the first-grade kids I was teaching in Tianjin, parents would grab the cards out of their kids' hands and play for them. Is that mature? Is that kind? No, that's selfish and impulsive.
At the same time, I think there are some very good things about Chinese parents: they are infinitely self-sacrificing, and they support their kids through all the stages of their lives.
Of course, these thoughts are all from my narrow little view of the Chinese culture, so please correct me at will.
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