Cultural Values of Chinese Americans Portrayed in the Film ‘The Farewell’ (2019)

This study investigates the portrayal of Chinese American and Mainland Chinese cultural values in the media, focusing on the movie 'The Farewell' (2019). Cultural stereotypes persist in today's society, shaping perceptions of different cultures. Despite their shared Chinese heritage, the film portrays the Chinese American and Mainland Chinese characters differently in terms of their values. The study adapts Hofstede's (2011) cultural dimension theory to analyse the data. Through a qualitative content analysis, the study intends to identify the cultural values of Chinese and American cultures. The purpose of this study is to identify and compare the differences in the cultural values held by Chinese American and Mainland Chinese characters in the film ‘The Farewell’. There is a significant difference in the power distance between Chinese Americans and Mainland Chinese, while the uncertainty avoidance index shows that both Chinese Americans and Mainland Chinese share similar low levels of uncertainty avoidance. The implications of the study extend to promoting cultural sensitivity, fostering intercultural dialogue, and influencing future research and media practices to create more inclusive and accurate portrayals of cultural values in cinematic narratives

intercultural, cultural values, communication

1. Bryman, A. (2012). Social research methods (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Cole, N. L. (Ed.). (2017). Defining Culture and Why It Matters to Sociologists. ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/culture-definition-4135409 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Cronk, L. (2017). Culture’s influence on behaviour: Steps toward a theory. Evolutionary Behavioural Sciences, 11(1), 36–52. https://doi.org/10.1037/ebs0000069 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Dai, Y., & Cheng, X. (2022). Global communication of Chinese culture in the digital era: Internal motivation and external challenges. International Communication of Chinese Culture, 9, 127–137. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40636-022-00254-4 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Evason, N. (2021). American Culture - Core Concepts. Cultural Atlas. https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/american-culture/american-culture-core-concepts [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Harrin, E. (Ed.). (2022, December 17). How Culture Can Impact Communication in the Workplace. Rebel’s Guide to Project Management. https://rebelsguidetopm.com/how-culture-affects-communication/ [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Hoff, H. E. (2020). The evolution of intercultural communicative competence: Conceptualisations, critiques and consequences for 21st-century classroom practice. Intercultural Communication Education, 3(2), 55–74. https://doi.org/10.29140/ice.v3n2.264 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Hofstede, G. (2011). Dimensionalizing cultures: The hofstede model in context. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1014 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Kumbakonam, U. (2016, March 30). COMMUNICATION BARRIERS. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304038097_Communication_Barriers [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. McMahon, M. (2023). Cultural transmission. EBSCO Research Starters. Retrieved from https://www.ebsco.com [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Nuandini, S. O., & Kustantinah, I. (2022). A study on cross-cultural shocks experienced by Billy Wang between American culture and Chinese culture in The Farewell (2019) movie. DE_JOURNAL (Dharmas Education Journal), 3 (1), 55–60. https://ejournal.undhari.ac.id/index.php/de_journal [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Scroope, C., & Evason, N. (2017). Chinese Culture - Core Concepts. Cultural Atlas. https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/chinese-culture/chinese-culture-core-concepts [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Wu, C.-W., & Yeh, K.-H. (2021). Self-Sacrifice Is Not the Only Way to Practice Filial Piety for Chinese Adolescents in Conflict with Their Parents. 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.661335 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Ye, H. (2022). The complexity of Chinese figures in Hollywood movies. Wenzhou-Kean University. Retrieved from [Academia.edu] (https://www.academia.edu/85007384/The Complexity_of_Chinese_Figures_in_Hollywood_Movies) [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Yu, H. (2023). The cross-cultural communication strategy of The Farewell. Beijing International Studies University. Retrieved from [ResearchGate] (https://www.researchgate.net/ publication/369561235_The_CrossCultural_Communication_Strategy_of_The_Farewell/fulltext/6422da07315dfb4cceb41061/The-Cross-Cultural-Communication-Strategy-of-The-Farewell.pdf) [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Wei, Z. (2022). Analysis on the interactive embodiment of East and West values in Chinese and American movies. Studies in Linguistics and Literature, 6 (4), 149–160. https://www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/sll/article/view/5439⁽ [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. Zhang, L. (2015). Stereotypes of Chinese by American college students: Media use and perceived realism. International Journal of Communication, 9, 1–20. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• What the Desert Fathers Teach Data Scientists: Ancient Ascetic Principles for Ethical Machine-Learning Practice
• Comparative Analysis of Some Machine Learning Algorithms for the Classification of Ransomware
• Comparative Performance Analysis of Some Priority Queue Variants in Dijkstra’s Algorithm
• Transfer Learning in Detecting E-Assessment Malpractice from a Proctored Video Recordings.
• Dual-Modal Detection of Parkinson’s Disease: A Clinical Framework and Deep Learning Approach Using NeuroParkNet