Scraping review

People in America can't help themselves.

People in America can't help themselves. This is my biggest feeling after watching the movie Scraping, which is favored by people in the industry. With the promotion of the picture and the interpretation of the story, what happened to a China family in American society came to light.

Take details as the fulcrum

From an artistic point of view, it is not difficult to see. What the director plays is the narrative potential of the film, not the intentional arrangement of the plot. The cultural differences between China and America are highlighted in every detail. These details are accomplished through the facial expressions, eyes, dialogues and actions of the characters. Support the framework of the whole movie.

At the beginning of the movie, the game software designed by Xu Datong won an award. He excitedly told everyone: "I love America, and my American dream has finally come true!" " "Outside the awards hall, demonstrators accused computer games of being too violent. Quinlan's son clashed with Xu Datong's son Dennis and refused to apologize. Xu Datong slapped Dennis in public. When I picked up my father from the police station and walked into the apartment, the guard gave them a suspicious look. These became evidence against Datong in the subsequent hearing. Xu Datong struggled in the United States for eight years, and the United States gave him success and glory. But China's Chinese medicine scrapping therapy soon pushed him to the opposite side of the United States. Let him want to go back to China with his family and live a "quiet and peaceful life". "This change seems to be a conflict between Chinese and Western cultures, but it actually reflects a more important issue: cultural reflection. China people regard their children as private property, and they can show their respect for their boss Quinlan by beating Dennis, but Quinlan can't understand this "messy logic" of China people. Americans, on the other hand, regard children as social wealth. After mistakenly thinking that scraping is a kind of abuse, they resolutely isolate children from their parents and continue to collect evidence. Its purpose is to ensure that children are not harmed.

Take the family as the starting point

After watching this film, Americans often talk about the relationship between father and son with China's feelings. Datong and his fathers, Datong and Dennis, have deep feelings.

In court, Datong lied about scraping himself in order to prevent his father from getting a green card; In order not to worry his father, he and his wife hid the truth together; In order to give my son a Christmas present, I risked my life to climb the ninth floor. The scene at the airport in the movie is quite wonderful. When I say goodbye in tears, I will go out to the welfare bureau to "steal" my son and venture back to China together. When three generations embraced passionately, his father calmly advised his son to stay. On the way to send Dennis back to the welfare bureau, Datong played a game with the police car that followed, just to let his son enjoy a little more fatherly love.

In the rented hut, the scene of separated Jane and Datong getting drunk and calling themselves assholes exposes their inner pain naked. This kind of pain is only because scraping, a common Chinese medicine therapy in China, has led to the disintegration of a family in the United States.

It is not difficult for us to feel the affection in the film. However, Datong's mistake was to abuse his son. This charge is incredible, reflecting the legal gap in the United States that does not speak with facts. An American lawyer hired by the prosecution described the Monkey King in The Journey to the West in court: "Others planted peaches for 9,000 years, but he picked them without saying hello to his master. When people stopped him, he not only refused to be dissuaded, but also smashed his peach blossom garden. He ate the pill that others worked so hard to refine, ate it, killed its owner, and destroyed its workshop before leaving-such a savage and stubborn monkey was portrayed as a hero by Xu Datong in video games ... ",which proves that Xu Datong, who immigrated to the United States, has a violent tendency. His "dedication" makes people question whether his purpose is to protect children or break up other families.

The contradiction that runs through the whole play always beats the audience's thoughts. Americans, really can't control themselves? Why is a harmonious family so controversial about this matter for no reason? Is this the essence of the American spirit? Or is it just an episode of American social games?

Culture-oriented.

Director Zheng Xiaolong said: "There is no difference between good and bad cultures of different countries and nationalities. There is not even a distinction between high and low. However, a nation's cultural awareness and tolerance are very important. An American audience told me:' A nation without culture and cultural heritage is a shame.' "

This film explores people's character and dignity from all angles, which conforms to the principle that excellent films pay attention to people. Chaplin always thought that "tragedy and comedy are inseparable." Although Guasha has a happy ending in Hollywood, it is always full of tearful smiles. The element of caring for people in American culture is extremely pale at this time, which can be interpreted from the apartment security guard's sentence "If I had known he could climb, I would have let him in". Jane's puzzled answer to why Quinlan confessed to Datong's scrapping for his father: "Because he is from China" also highlights the cultural differences between China and the United States.

The touching thing about this film is not only that it reminds people of the cultural differences between countries and reminds people to reflect on their own culture, but also that it is a delicate and touching story. When China films generally confuse commercial value with cultural connotation, its appearance indicates the combination of the two.

Some people in the family love watching sports programs, and the NBA must watch them. After a long time, my ignorant Lao Zhang asked me, where is Yao Ming? Lao Zhang often sees China Xinfu sweating profusely on the court. I don't know anything about sports either. After thinking about it, I answered that Yao Ming is the representative of a new generation of China people. I don't know how IQ is, but EQ must be high.

This sentence comes from many clips of his interviews with the media (mostly American journalists). He looks calm and witty, but he is friendly. In the face of tricky questions from paparazzi, he quickly avoided mines and shook off his opponent humorously and fiercely. Yao Ming, who is full of witty remarks, knows well the strategy of pleasing journalists and audiences in front of the media as an American without losing his identity. Perhaps because of long-term experience and the training of brokers, Yao Ming is not only proficient in English, but also has a very localized way of thinking.

Globalization is eroding every corner, including the proud and wealthy United States in the twentieth century. Yao Ming is luckier than the previous generation of immigrants. Growing up in civilized China, they are immersed in European customs and beautiful rain. They don't need to bear too much burden of traditional values, and they don't need to be baptized by too many westerners' surprised eyes, so they don't have the opportunity to taste the painful taste of transformation in a foreign land in order to integrate. In my opinion, the film Scraping is full of this kind of pain.

The protagonist Xu Datong, a new immigrant, came to the United States for eight years and worked hard with the American dream. As a designer of video game project, he finally succeeded and won the recognition and friendship of his boss (a symbol of mainstream American culture). The opening of the film is Datong's acceptance speech delivered in a typical American tone at the industry celebration. It can be seen from the content and tone of his speech that he is grateful to the United States and full of confidence in his future in the United States. In America, as long as you work hard, you are sure to get ahead. Datong thinks that he is still a part of this country and is no longer a stranger in a foreign land. He, his wife Jane, and their son Dennis insisted on speaking English at home, even though their father didn't know English at all, in order to let the next generation enter private schools smoothly and become the elite of American society at an early date. They are as polite as the ordinary American middle class, saying the same love words and joking the same. However, the test followed.

Datong took his father to live in the United States, but Dennis's back was scratched by his grandfather. These shocking "scars" in the eyes of Americans are only the well-known self-treatment of China people. Unfortunately, Xu Datong was accused of child abuse and was not allowed to meet his children. But he can't prove to the court that scraping is a legal medical treatment, because the United States has no time and interest to slowly understand the cultural roots on the other side of the world, and it just acts according to its own judgment.

In the lawsuit to get the children back from the authorities, contradictions are like firecrackers exploding rapidly, leaving behind smoke and pieces of paper, which are the so-called cultural differences, as well as American-style egoism and tough arrogance. They forced Datong to admit that their hearts still came from China.

For example, Dennis hit the boss's child in the game, and Datong failed to make his son apologize. In order to educate the children, and because he could not step down in front of his boss and family, he beat his son. He thinks this is to give face to the boss, to respect his friends and to educate his children. Grandpa saw it and agreed: "Teach your son face to face, teach your wife behind his back", "Beating is pro, scolding is love, and you can't succeed if you don't fight." Americans (including Dennis who grew up in the United States) firmly believe that the father who beat the child is a demon, and it is even more unreasonable to beat and scold the father of the child in order to respect others.

In addition, Datong, as a technical elite, may not have many opportunities to fully contact the real society, so that it is at a disadvantage in the subsequent litigation. He is not familiar with legal procedures (that is, the rules of the game), can't provide strong evidence, refuses to hire a professional lawyer in family law, and insists on hiring a copyright lawyer, a trusted friend, to represent the child's case and defend himself. The opposing lawyer is good at this, accusing Datong of violence-the Monkey King, the hero of the video game designed by Datong, stealing Xiantao and destroying the furnace. According to western values, dereliction of duty and wanton infringement of private property are typical hooliganism. In order to win the lawsuit, this skilled lawyer deliberately took the Journey to the West out of context and maliciously misread it, calling the rebellious hero a rogue. Datong didn't know that the other party had designed a trap to provoke him, so he lost his mind, lost a good opportunity and fell into a disadvantage. ...

Although the eight spring and autumn periods can make people learn a lot, even if the film ends in clouds and fog, the bright moon is in the sky, and dzogchen is turned over, the blood relationship of the wanderer in a foreign land has been questioned by others, and his identity has been greatly hit. I don't think it's delicious at all

Scraping is an excellent film. The story is true and pure, which makes people feel grateful and tears. The film interprets human affection, love, friendship and harmonious yearning for society. At the same time, the failure of cross-cultural communication caused by cultural differences is also vividly demonstrated. The story takes place in St. Louis, a city on the Mississippi River in the central United States. Xu Datong, the hero, has been in the United States for eight years and has a successful career and a happy family. As a game developer, the newly developed games sell well. At the annual industry awards conference, he excitedly told everyone: I love America, and my American dream has finally come true. However, what happened next woke him up in his dream. His son Dennis has a fever and a stomachache. Grandpa who just came to the United States, because he couldn't understand the English instructions on the medicine bottle, used China's Chinese medicine to "scrape" his grandson, which just became evidence of child abuse in Xu Datong after a minor accident. Unexpected witnesses and testimonies made him hard to argue in court and eventually lost custody of his son. Xu Datong illegally "stole" his son from the children's welfare home in order to let the old father who was about to go home see his grandson. In order to let his son return to a happy home, he was forced to separate from his wife; In order to get back the gift for his son, he almost frantically struggled with the robbers; In order to reunite with my family on Christmas Eve, I risked being killed and climbed the pipe leading to my home on the ninth floor. ....................................................................................................................................................

The differences between China and the United States shown in Guasha are not only the differences in legal and moral standards between China and the United States, but also the differences in legal principles, concepts and even Chinese medicine theory. Due to the differences in time and space, there are cultural and conceptual differences between China, the United States and the East, which are further manifested as behavioral conflicts. From the time point of view, the difference is mainly manifested in the contradiction between the country's tradition and modernity; From a spatial perspective, the differences between China and the West are caused by the geographical, historical, political and economic reasons of various countries, which are manifested in the spiritual, cultural and philosophical backgrounds of national traditions. Therefore, when analyzing movies, we should not only stay on specific stories, but also analyze them from the cultural background and historical traditions.

Let's look at the origin of culture first. First of all, Chinese and western philosophies are different. The west advocates rationalism positivism, and its medical-anatomy is also based on this philosophical thought. Therefore, the oral knowledge of "scraping" is incomprehensible. The characteristic of China's philosophy is "the unity of man and nature", that is, to explore the relationship between nature and man. Confucianism attaches importance to humanistic morality and teaches people how to be a man; Taoism emphasizes the evolution of the universe and teaches people to conform to nature. In the film, we can see that in court, when Xu Datong told them the principle of "scraping", the judge couldn't understand his defense, thinking that he was talking nonsense, and even his defense lawyer couldn't understand him in this respect. Secondly, in consciousness, China values group consciousness and overall value, and thinks that people should make contributions to family and society. The west emphasizes individualism and pursues individual freedom, free thinking and choice. In the movie, we can also see how Xu Datong painfully hides the truth from his wife so as not to worry his old father. How to "steal" Dennis from the children's welfare home so that the old father who is about to return to China can see his grandson. China people attach great importance to family ethics. They attach importance to everyone's position in the family society and emphasize family concepts and feelings. Because western culture has always respected personal ideas, they have been educated in the spirit of independence since childhood, and their feelings with their families are relatively weak. American parents respect their children's freedom of movement and allow them to develop freely within the scope of general principles. Third, China people's way of thinking is comprehensive, recognizing the universal connection between the whole and things, and pursuing the perfect unity of man and nature. The western thinking mode is analytical, and the formation of this thinking cultural group is more formal, with orderly distribution of rights, responsibilities and identities. Therefore, for China people, the American thinking seems callous and inhuman; Westerners think that China people are vague.

Let's look at cultural differences, which are deep-seated cultural differences, such as people's values, ways of thinking, social mentality, aesthetic concepts and so on. A person can live in another culture for a long time, master its language, know its customs, but not necessarily understand the values of some parts of it. Xu Datong is a living example. Because in the deep culture, Xu Datong still represents the traditional culture of China, which is reflected in the concept of doing things, family and making friends. On the view of things, Americans like to face facts, express their views and have reliable information. It can be seen that Americans deal with problems and talk about things on the basis of facts. In the face of facts, China's human feelings seem to be more important. In the film, we can see the evidence listed by the Child Welfare Bureau in court and how convincing the witnesses invited are, although it seems incredible to China people; Xu Datong only described how much he loved his son, but there was no strong evidence; Another detail of the film is that two children fight. Xu Datong slapped the child in front of Quinlan. Later, he said to Quinlan, "I hit the child to show my respect for you, not to give you face." This involves the attitudes of the East and the West towards children. Children are regarded as private property in China. If they were born to me, they belong to me. Although Xu Datong thinks that hitting children is a respect for friends, in Quinlan's view, hitting people is illegal, no matter who hits them. Americans believe that parents and children are equal. Parents seldom decide anything for their children, but let them struggle on their own. In the eyes of friends, eastern and western cultures also contain different meanings. When talking about American friendship, Milton Bennet said, "Although Americans maintain many friendly and informal relationships, they rarely have such deep and lasting relationships. The ideal state is American-style friendship, which is based on natural, mutual attraction and warm personal feelings. People choose their friends, at the same time, they separate friendship from social or work obligations. " In China, things are different. Making friends means that the longer the time, the better, and the more obligations you undertake. The ideal state is to do anything for a friend and go through fire and water. China people have high expectations for their friends, so if they are in trouble, they should take out their money to help them. When Quinlan testified that Xu Datong had hit a child, Xu Datong accused Quinlan of "I have always regarded you as a friend, but you betrayed me in court!" "Quinlan felt wronged and puzzled:" I'm just telling the truth. "Honesty is one of the most basic virtues of Americans. You make up an American-style lie, which is equivalent to making him give up his basic values.

The film not only shows the differences between China and the United States, but also expresses the yearning for cultural convergence and cultural integration. Walk through the porcelain shop in Chinatown from Quinlan and try to "scrape" yourself; When Xu Datong was out of danger, the police and residents downstairs broke into thunderous applause. When he climbed to the ninth floor, the Quinlan family and the leaders of the Children's Welfare Institute congratulated him on his happiness. In Welcome Home, the audience seems to see that westerners have crossed the barriers between Chinese and Western cultures and started to approach the traditional culture of China. In the end, the true feelings in the world prevailed. The ending of the story is perfect, but we must not ignore the cultural differences, which requires us to strengthen exchanges and communication. I hope that in the near future, a "Great Harmony" world will really appear in front of us!