A girl who grew up in the United States, an elder who has always lived in China, and other family members who have settled in different countries meet in a small scene. Everyone discussed a question. Grandma had cancer. Did she hide it for goodwill, or tell her the truth? This process staged a cultural dialogue and conflict between China and the West. The film starts from the perspective of Billie who grew up in the West. Although she is Chinese, the presentation of the film still has a Western perspective. On the one hand, it is this Western perspective that pays attention to many details. Such as the uncle in front of the station, the passers-by with white belly beside the street... But on the other hand, this perspective made the director excessively stack "Oriental" elements in order to reflect the difference between the East and the West, giving me a stereotyped Feel. Is it necessary to mention elements such as cupping as long as the East is mentioned? This is reflected in the popular film and television, one culture is often a stereotyped shaping of other cultures. In my opinion, the film is actually driven by the intertwining of three pairs of contradictions. The first contradiction is Billie's own contradiction. Although she is Chinese, it can be said that she grew up completely in the United States, received education in Western society, and formed a set of values and outlook on life in line with Western society. Although her attitude was to tell her grandmother, and she almost said it many times, she was hiding it, even though her grief was palpable. In the process she needs to try to understand the difference. The second contradiction is that of Billie's parents, who grew up in China with an oriental education and immigrated to the United States. In the face of grandma's illness, they chose to hide it. They are complex cultural bodies, even when integrated into other cultures. But it still retains its own culture. The third contradiction is the contradiction of grandma herself. As a person, does she have the right to know about her physical condition? According to the description of the daughter-in-law, she is a person with a strong desire to control and wants to control everything. She wished she had this right to know, or control, to a large extent, but she had concealed her husband for the same reason and the same way. This forms a paradoxical closed loop. Behind the contradictions of the three generations is the confrontation of two cultures. The younger generation should understand cultural differences, the middle-aged generation should balance the entanglement in their hearts, and the older generation should reflect on their own cultural traditions. Back to the film, a question worth thinking about is whether grandma knows the truth of the matter. It seems to me that she knows. Because of Billie's clumsy presentation, her grandson in agony at the wedding, and she's done it herself. Presumably in the past, she also behaved as her sister today, to comfort her husband "it's nothing, very healthy". Although she did not directly face cultural differences like Billie. But she examines differences from the perspective of "self" and "other", which is actually a cross-cultural communication. In many cases, this kind of cross-cultural communication, active or passive, is actually for us to better reflect on and see our own culture. Behind the lies, the fog of culture is being lifted.
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