Art and Leisure

Just recently I saw a Chinese film, "Drifters". I was a little skeptical about the film at first considering I had no knowledge about China or it's culture. The movie was about a Chinese family living in China experiencing difficult times. Just recently, in the movie, a son of the family was lost due to immigration overseas in order to travel to America. Immigrating from China was very difficult because it was illegal and also very complicated to pull off. Traveling through boats, space was very limited along with air supply considering the foreigners had to cram in small spaces down below in the boat in order to prevent from getting caught. The Chinese saw America as a place of opportunity and a way for a better life. I felt that this notion of America being so grand and wonderful was a stereotypical view. The other son of the family was contemplating of immigrating to America as well in search of a better life. His plans were put on hold due to the fact that his five year old son was in China also, but he was banned from the mother's family to see his child. Both the family and the older son of the other family had signed a contract stating that the father was unable to visit his son. The contract was signed in America and to the Chinese this seemed very important and was often brought up. Through watching this film I did learn how China is very different than America, not necessarily bad, just different. I did also learn very many rituals and religious notions the Chinese take part in. The religious views of ancestors along with passed relatives was very significant to the Chinese people. In a way, I saw a little connection between the views of religion with America and China. We, as Americans, take religion to be a very important aspect in our lives along with China. Whether we go to church, pray to a religious power, or read the Bible, Americans are take religion very seriously. In China, it is obvious that religion is also very significant to it's people. Whether bowing to high religious figures, using insense as a way to show respect and powerful religious views, or praising and remebering loved ones, the Chinese have very common rituals as Americans in some sense. It was very interesting to see how religiong and faith tied into China. Overall, I did enjoy the movie and enjoyed learning the ways and views of another country.