Asian Films - Essay Example

Asian Films Essay Name: Tutor: Course: Date: Introduction Films represent change and cultural dynamism from the eyes and actions of characters. Most Hollywood films center on the classic white savior narrative and a negative storyline of foreign cultures that do not agree with Western ideologies and cultures. This classic paradigm is reinvented in A Separation (2011) and The Flowers of War (2011) that depict the strong desire to liberate women from male exploitation and oppression as well as suppressive traditions against women. While The Flowers of War explores the tale of a chivalrous rescue of a Chinese woman by a white man, A Separation is an attempt to save the face of Iranian or Muslim women from male chauvinism. Both films depict the West's Orientalist discourse Asian culture and Muslim traditions in a bid to establish the gendered, hierarchical and cultural relationship of the West-Middle-East encounter through submissive yet determined women characters. They showcase the feminist film theory of the modern day where women are central characters with intentions to liberate femininity and their portrayal as equals to men. This essay shows the relentless fight by women, through film, to show the shifting hierarchies of male-female relationships in a dynamic world. Cultural anxieties and shifting gender hierarchies Western films have succeeded in creating an imagination among global audiences of white savior formula with respect to stories from developing nations. A number of developing countries have a record of human rights abuses including violation of women and suppression of their quest for freedom and liberty (Hamelink, 2004). Films embed aesthetic appropriations, transnational flows of talents and network of capitalist exchange. While the theocracy makes decisions as depicted by the characters in A Separation, the Western savior ‘John Miller, in The Flowers of War carries the praise for being a rescuer and liberator of girls in captivity. John Miller has has vested interests as a protagonist while Razieh as a strong character advances religious or idealistic values. The convergence is the cultural differences of the East and West versus the religious followership among Iranian from the perception of Western audiences. Both films show imperfections of character and the aching choices which is a commonality of the human condition. In A Separation (2011), Azar astutely explains the empowerment of the middle-class wife to make a choice about marriage and family life. Similarly, The Flowers of War (2011) is a bold way to liberate women and girls from prostitution and servitude. The films go to an extent of portraying a society under revolution to exonerate women from abuse and exploitation. Women as constructed in the classical film narrative are usually attractive, realistic and natural. According to Jing (2011) feminists take film as a cultural practice that representing myths about men and masculinity and women and femininity. The feminist film theory and criticism underscore the issues of spectatorship and representation (Jing, 2011). A separation (2011) by Asghar Farhadi offers powerful glimpses into women movement in the Iranian society. The secular and religious Iran as well as the modern and traditional Iran is reflected in the contrasts of the two female leads that fight through education to get heard. On the other hand, the description of charismatic Chinese women characters in The Flowers of War is a conventional storyline of the white or Western hero's rescue of Chinese women. They face a constant interruption and intertwine amidst revolution and warfare. While this film purports to showcase a feminist-nationalist potentiality, A Separation counters the Hollywood construction in which contemporary women do not need to look to the West in their fight for fundamental rights. Both films depict a history and culture that emphasizes on determination, will and strength of women to succeed amidst odds. Endless and fixed images of women are objectionable distortions likely to negatively on the female spectators. Zhang Yimou in The flowers of War (2011) calls for positive images of women in film while Ashgar Farhadi in A Separation (2011) seeks conscientious Chinese efforts to eliminate narrative ambiguities to intervene in Western cinematic discourses. Yimou suggests that positive images were insufficient in changing underlying structures in film. With the main characters as prostitutes and schoolgirls, the story is not only fiction but also a literary novel. Several harmful practices have been meted on women such as rape, female genital mutilation, early marriage, and harmful practices. In a negative way, these practices affect the reproductive health women and girls. Yimou and Farhadi compare and contrast the role of women in marriage and society using symbolisms, actions, makeup and costume. The dominant paradigm in feminist film theory is psychoanalysis which differentiates functions of women in society and family. Heroism has slowly drifted away from a binary understanding of sexual difference to possible spectatorships, identities and multiple perspectives. Heroines in film show an increasing concern over issues of hybrid sexualities, masculinity and femininity (Zoller 2005, p. 349). Film audiences in the West are getting strong images of female literacy soaring since the women revolution of 1960s. For example, the United Nations recognized Iran as a nation that is closing the gender gap in education between females and males (Roesch 2004, p. 47). In A Separation (2011), Razieh is hired as a woman to look after Nader’s father at the time Simin was moving out, but miscarries the 19-week-old fetus. Nader gets upset upon finding her father alone and twisted in some ropes on the floor. Instead, he pushes Razieh out of the apartment causing her to fall after she allegedly stole some money from him. The right of women is hinged on his defense to whether he knew Razieh was pregnant. Hojjat, Razieh’s hot-headed husband, is ironically amusing by questioning Nader’s failure to notice his wife’s pregnancy. Traditions and dress come into play as the entire purpose of the clothing Iranian women in concealing wear could make a body of a pregnant woman invisible to men. On the other hand, Zhang Yimou demonstrated the positive sides of prostitutes in The Flowers of War by showing that prostitutes were not heartless and cold as perceived by the wider society. The film shows them as heroines given their patriotism and the sacrifices they made to protect the young girls. Although it is a woman’s film, The Flowers of War is a relentless fight by women to fight discrimination and exploitation. Moreover, the film shows that women of today can make sacrifices just like the prostitutes who led the schoolgirls to freedom becoming unsung heroines. A Separation and The Flowers of War present an obscure the distinction between interracial romance and national allegory, the individual and the collective and the local and the global. Both films are situated within the framework that constructs a 'new' image of China and Iran to the global audiences. While the reinvention of Hollywood's white savior tale is evident in The Flowers of War, A Separation shows independence and global attention to the importance of women’s rights. There is a cultural anxiety to assimilate China's nationalist in contemporary Chinese cinema. In the film, The Flowers of War, the invading Japanese army in the Chinese city of Nanjing had invited school girls to sing during their Army Victory Celebration. Rather than being raped by the soldiers, they preferred to die. Yet, thirteen flowers of Nanjing came to their rescue with the help of John miller, an American Mortician. Similarly, A Separation shows ethical compromise that women face in the Islamic Republic of Iran. In the film, female characters are constant lying which negation their worth and value. On the contrary, the Muslim wife is willing to seek personal, political or economic freedom even if it means abandoning the family and the nation altogether. The film shows the desperation of women in a position of emergency where Razieh, the pregnant caregiver had to call a fatwa hotline to get permission of touching Nader’s father, a man with no relation. Until prevailed to swear on the Koran, she was also willing to lie. Farhadi captured Iran as a very diverse society while Yimou showcased China as a nation with similar culture and activities as the West. For example, schoolgirls wore plain clothes, acted properly and wore no makeup as prostitutes acted flamboyantly, wore a lot of make-up and dressed in bright colors. The schoolgirls lived on the main church floor symbolizing higher social status while prostitutes lived in cellar.  This shows that the films expressed concerns regarding the conditions of women and children as well as gender equality. Although subtle, the backdrop of A Separation is Iran's troubled social and political environment. The context for characters to make choices is seen in the case of Razieh’s decision to stay or move out of Iran provides choices edged on larger universal themes regarding human nature. The majority of Iran’s university students in the recent years are female. According to White (2004, p. 18), many traditional families after the revolution chose to send their girls for higher education as a means to protect them from the evils of society. Many did not like the regime, but they had a general feeling that the Islamic education system would better their choices. The film shows a dynamic female character shaped through education to take control over their destinies. They are no longer pawns of the state or the men in their lives. Yimou shows a strong ability to engender heroism in the film by looking at the story through a female’s eyes. However, the film demonstrates China as a nation ill-equipped to make its own choices to have a ‘Chinese savior’ with heroic tendencies. It is a divergence from the real issues of women charting their own path in education and life choices. For example, little was told of the achievement of the school girls and prostitutes towards career advancement and growth in the Flowers of War. The state is visible through divorce, manslaughter charge and the money theft epitomized in the judicial system. A Separation showed the contrast between traditional and modern ways of solving family disputes. For example, the judge ran a modern court based on French and Belgian law and modeled in the constitution. However, the family used ancient way of compensating wronged parties by preparing to pay ‘blood money’ to settle the case. The setting of both films could happen in dozens of countries but the set-up resonates more with Iranian audiences than with Chinese audience. While A Separation is extraordinary national pride, The Flowers of War is an extraordinary desperation for internal characters to play the chief protagonist roles. Just like A Separation, The Flowers of War are emotional oscillations of feminist dilemmas, male posturing, unspoken desires, sliding values and unfulfilled needs. Yet, no one is a total victim or villain in both cases. To their disbelief, Yimou shows that the once-innocent girls could soon par-take a journey to adulthood once they interact with Japanese soldiers. Similarly, Iranian women are subjects in front of men who manipulate Islamic law and human rights discourses to their advantage. As a good example of hybridization, A Separation draws on Western discourses about human rights where women can defend their right to health care and education. Muslim women are faithful to Muslim traditions at home by wearing veils. This allows them to go out for study or work and makes them less vulnerable to reproaches of westernization (Postel-Coster 1994, p. 9). Elsewhere, Asian and Arab nationalism are not completed assimilated to Western ideologies in terms of behavioral patterns, institutions, worldviews and norms. Both films contort culture as symbolic constructions inside social contexts. Power is at play here where Muslim women seek recognition while the Chinese is compromised by Western protagonists taking advantage of their female characters (Servaes, 2008). A Separation film showed feminist critics as steadfast in point out the all-pervasive power of patriarchal imagery seeking to maintain status quo in the classical narrative. The masculine ‘gaze’ is slowly fading in the clash between innocence and experience. Zhang Yimou sets women bearer of the men’s gaze in this film where young girls coming of age are the most desirable of the conquest yet carries the most vulnerability. Women need protection from physical harm and the reigning paradigm among feminists is protection by law. Japanese soldiers in the film, The Flowers of War, are villains as 'base women' are depicted as angelic. This shows that war can trigger all the goodness and in most cases the darkness of human nature. Viewers see Simin’s point to know about the restrictions on women in Iran. Women no longer have to seek approval and permission from men. In A Separation, the film shows the troubles of women in navigating the capricious whims of men as they seek their permission to work or divorce. The film reveals the universal oppression of economic insecurity and points out at the complicated lives at home and. On a symbolic level, Yimou takes head on the sacrifice than women make to overcome suppression and exploitation while Farhadi underscores sacrifice of young women to oppressive men. Nader’s selfishness and rigid pride in A Separation impedes understanding and sympathy while John Miller espouses concern and willingness to protect the cause of women in the world. Conclusion The two films; A Separation and The Flowers of War are demonstration for the quest by women to liberation, freedom and equality. Although the settings are different, they represent the troubles of women in front of men and institutions. Both cases represent a changing paradigm pushed across by feminists to recognize women as equals in families and work. The films reflect cultural anxieties where women are advancing in spirit and form to seek justice, equality and fairness. Moreover, they provide for men to change their narrative of treating women not just as attractive, realistic and natural but also worth of respect and honor. With the two films having women as central characters, women to a larger extent are representative a dynamic world. The global environment is becoming more inclusive and considerate to diverse cultures and gender. This essay shows that as social relationships among people become more intertwined and convoluted, gender hierarchies will immensely represent a changing world. References Hamelink, C.J. (2004). Human Rights for Communicators. Cresskill: Hampton Press. Jing, Y. (2011). The Reinvention of Hollywood's Classic White Savior Tale in Contemporary Chinese Cinema: Pavilion of Women and the Flowers of War. University Press of Kentucky. Postel-Coster, E. (1994). Women and Culture: An Ambivalent Relationship, Culture Plus, 14(2):7-10. Roesch, J. (2004). Turning Back the Clock? Women, Work and Family Today. International Socialist Review, 6(38):45-60. Servaes, J. (2008). Communication for development and social change. SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd. White, R.A. (2004). Is Empowerment the Answer? Current Theory and Research on Development Communication, Gazette: The International Journal for Communication Studies, 66(1):7-24. Zoller, H.M. (2005). Health Activism: Communication Theory and Action for Social Change, Communication Theory, 15(4):341-364. Read More