None of the above movies work if Babe, Billy ( Jamie Bell), Jules ( Keira Knightley), and Bliss ( Ellen Page) are only mediocre at what they choose to do. In the Western storyline, even though you’re told to be whoever you want to be, it only works if you’re ultimately validated. Make sure you pronounce your shibboleths correctly. You have to support the same causes as everyone else. It’s both crushing and confining.īut, conversely, in the latest Western storyline, you have to fit in to stand out. You have to be a doctor or lawyer to make your parents happy. In the Asian storyline, you actually have to stand out to fit in. The burden is now upon you-and you alone-to be happy. But this also has its flipside weakness-it is crushing. The strength of this storyline is its freedom. That’s why the Western proverb says, “You’ve got to do whatever makes you happy.” The opposite, of course, is the Western cultural storyline that tells you to stand out and not fit in. You end up as a conformist with no originality, vision, or creativity. But its weakness is that it is confining. The strength of this storyline is its collective responsibility. That’s why the famous Asian proverb says, “The nail that sticks up gets hammered down.” The Asian cultural storyline tells you to fit in and not stand out. I don’t have to be who my parents tell me to be. It means a short little Asian, like me, can dream big and make it on my own terms in the wild West. This is Western individualism at its classic best.Īs an Asian-Westerner-with a foot in both Asian and Western cultures-this warms my heart. But the heroes in the movies bravely defy society-to be true to themselves, chase their dreams, and follow their heart. Society tells us that pigs don’t herd sheep, boys don’t dance, girls don’t play soccer or roller derby.
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