Chinese Culture In Movies 1t2x2f

Joel E. Lamangan’s Mano Po: Reflections of the Chinese Traditions, Beliefs and Values. (A Content Analysis)

A Research Paper Used for Employing Content Analysis as a Final Requirement in Cross-Cultural Communication

Prepared by: Charmaine C. Carpio

Presented to: Cynthia B. Correo

Introduction

Culture has been commonly defined as collective beliefs, attitudes, and values that guide individuals’ communicative behaviors (Hofstede, 2001). Cultural values refer to a series of standards that people use to make ethical judgments, that is, knowing what is right or wrong, important or unimportant. Movies are said to be a reflection of culture. According to Hyatt and Sanders (1984), “it [movies] also illuminates the climate of opinion in the country at the time of the film's production.” The first talking movies were produced in in the 1900s by Leon Caumont. These were short films in which the movie pictures were synchronized with a gramophone record. In the Philippines, movies were first introduced on January 1, 1897 at the Salon de Pertierra in Manila. The following year, local scenes were shot on film for the first time by a Spaniard, Antonio Ramos, using the Lumiere Cinematograph. Early filmmakers and producers in the country were mostly wealthy enterprising foreigners and expatriates, but on September 12, 1919, a silent feature film broke the grounds for Filipino filmmakers. Dalagang Bukid (Country Maiden), a movie based on a popular musical play, was the first movie made and shown by Filipino filmmaker Jose Nepomuceno. Dubbed as the "Father of Philippine Cinema", his work marked the start of cinema as an art form in the Philippines. Since then movies became popular in the Philppines. One of the most successful film series produced in the history of Philippine cinema is the Mano Po Anthology. The series has now six productions and all the six series focus on the ways and traditions of the Chinese-Filipino community. This is the reason why the researcher decided to do a content analysis on Joel E. Lamangan’s Mano Po. Therefore, this paper aimed to show and discover the traditions and beliefs present in the movies.

Procedure After the success of the first movie series, Mano Po 1: My Family, came the next five series. All six series focus on the different traditions, beliefs and values upheld by the Chinese. However, after reading the synopsis of all the six series, the researcher decided to concentrate on doing a content analysis on three movie series only: Mano Po 1: My Family, Mano Po 2: My Home and Mano Po 6: Mother’s Love, for several reasons: 1) there is a limited time to watch all the six movies and 2) these were the only copies the researcher have. Mano Po 1: My Family is a tale of a Chinese-Filipino family's search for identity and place in Philippine history. t is a story of family struggles amid harsh contemporary realities and the ties that bind them to a land that has been good to them despite the life-threatening circumstances that have now begun to threaten over their lives. The story began in 1949 during the Chinese Revolution, Fong-Huan, a young Chinese copra trader marries a young and pretty Filipina named Elisa. Their children: Daniel and Linda were raised in a mixture of Chinese and Filipino-Hispanic tradition. These are the ancestors of a rich and cultured third-generation family whose daughters tell their stories of joy, struggle and realities in the life of Filipino Chinese families. Mano Po 2: My Home is a story of a wealthy Chinese patriarch's three clans in which a crisis shakes up the over-extended Tsinoy family prompting all the to re-examine their values, their relationships, and confront issues that they have refused to face all these years. Data and Discussion Traditions Chinese Wedding

In Chinese society, marriages are a very important event (Piron, 2002). The wedding culture in China is very unique and a prominent part of the society. Cheng and Schweitzer (1996), Piron and Wang (2001), Piron, Wang and Mai (2000) and Wolf (1999) noted changes in the culture of China since the founding of the People’s Republic of China. In the past, arranged marriages were very common. Usually young people would have their spouse decided by their parents even before the child was born. However, things have changed quite a lot in modern days. Free love prevails and lovers can choose to get married with whoever they love. In Mano Po 1, Chinese men are expected to marry Chinese women. Don Luis Go’s parents said that Chinese should marry Chinese. In later events, Don Luis Go banished Linda from their house because of having a relation with a non-Chinese. Don Luis Go: “…Chinese women are only for Chinese men!” Linda: (crying) Engagement Before getting married, young people have to pay a formal visit to each other’s parents. When visiting the girl’s parents, the boy has to bring betrothal gifts in order to show sincerity. When the gifts are received, the boy and the girl are engaged. Also, the couple will go to a fortuneteller to know whether the two match and to know the best date to get married. Mano Po 1: My Family Before the engagement party, Emerson and Vera went to a fortuneteller to find out the best date to set the engagement party. Fortuneteller: “The best date to set the engagement party is September 14.”

When Vera Go (Maricel Soriano) and Emerson Lau (Jay Manalo) planned to get married, Emerson, together with his family, went to Vera’s house to formally ask the hand of Vera in marriage. Descending the stairs, Vera Go, assisted by Linda – her aunt, walked backwards until she reached the front portion of the room. After reaching the front, the two were given cups of tea to serve to their families. Emerson served the tea to Vera’s family while Vera served [tea] to Emerson’s family. After that the following events took place: 1. Emerson attached a corsage on Vera. 2. Vera got a boutonnière (similar to a corsage) and pinned it on Emerson. 3. Emerson's mother put on the bangles (double bangles tied with red thread)

on Vera. 4. Emerson's father put on the medallion/necklace on Vera. 5. Emerson's elder relative put on the watch on Vera. 6. Vera's father put on the medallion/necklace on Emerson. 7. Vera's mother put on the watch on Emerson. 8. Vera's elder relative put on the bracelet on Emerson. 9. Emerson got the wedding ring and slid this on to Vera's ring finger. 10. Girl got the wedding ring and slid this on to Emerson's ring finger.

After this, Emerson and Vera were officially engaged. Chinese Funeral Etiquette must be observed at Chinese funerals. The colors people wear signify how close they were to the deceased. In the movies Mano Po 1 and 2, the relatives of the deceased wore white and black clothes during the wake. During the funeral walk, the female relatives of the deceased wore white sackcloth or veils on their heads

(Watson, n.d.). Wearing of sackcloth or veil signifies that they grieve the most. Also, the male relatives were the ones who pushed the funeral car. BELIEFS and VALUES Loosing Face: The Value of Shame The Chinese are very conscious of face. Face is very similar to the notion of reputation. Face is a dynamic which applies to both personal and business relationships in China (Melendez, 2007). Also, face is respect in a community and is a crucial underpinning of society. Loss of face means loss of respect. Losing face is often Chinese’ worst fear. Chinese go out of their way to be polite and accommodating, to maintain dignity in a variety of situations and avoid disputes, conflicts and embarrassment in their pursuit to avoid losing face. Mano Po 1 In this movie, the value of face is evident. The characters are very conscious about loosing their face. Every action or decision must not bring shame to the whole clan. During the 80th birthday of Don Luis Go, Richelle went to the party in a very sexy dress –her butt is almost seen. Daniel Go, Richelle’s father, was very disappointed to Richelle. Daniel Go: “See. She has no shame! She’s an embarrassment!” Gina Go: Leave her alone! Another event that showed the value of face in Mano Po 1 was when Juliet reprimanded Richelle for giving a porn movie as gift to their grandfather. Furthermore, Richelle’s being not fluent in Mandarin and Fukien is a shame to their family.

Juliet: You call that decent. You didn’t even show respect to grandpa and dad! How dare you give grandpa a porno video! Richelle: Lagi naman nanonood ng ganyang movie si Angkong at Ama. Juliet: Shame on you! Richelle: I’ll give you a copy. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Juliet: Di ba sabi ko sa’yo na wag mo silang kakausapin ng Tagalog sa bahay. Richelle: Bakit paglabas nila ng bahay ang mga kalaro nila Tagalog, ang mga maid Tagalog din. Juliet: Yun na nga ang problema. Baka matulad sa’yo. Mahina sa Fukien. Mahina sa Mandarin. Nakakahiya! Furthermore, when Richelle got caught in the act of using drugs in a raid, Daniel Go, asked the General Blanco, PNP Chief, to hide it from the press. Daniel: Hello. Si Mr. Daniel Go ito. Pasensya. Basta wag niyong sasaktan yung bata at wag sanang malalaman ng press. The Color Red The color red usually means good luck in Chinese. Red symbolizes the Fire element (shiny element which can chase out all evil). Golden color or sometimes it can resemble a Yellow color, symbolized the Earth element which is the storage money element (wealth) in Four Pillars of Destiny. When attending different occasions, red clothes are usually worn. During the engagement of Emerson and Vera in Mano Po 1, all characters wore red clothes. Red is the color in Chinese weddings. It signifies love, joy and prosperity and is used in a variety of ways in Chinese wedding traditions.

In Mano Po 2: My Home, red is not worn since the setting of the whole movie was during the wake of Antonio Chan, the patriarch. Significance of a Male child Since the beginning, people of China have always praised the boy in the family. A male child usually becomes the head of the family and will replace or took over the family business in the future. The Chinese are very particular to this kind of belief – the male child has to be the first born son. In Mano Po 1 and 2, the importance of having a male child is also evident. The male child or the first born child usually inherits all the wealth of the family. In Mano Po 1, Vera frowns upon Jimmy for not being interested in business. Vera: Alam mo Jimmy, sayang ka. Lalaki ka pa naman. Kung matino ka lang sana binigyan ka na sana ni papa ng negosyo. Jimmy: Hindi ako interesado sa negosyo. Conclusion Watching movies help people become acquainted with other cultures. Just like literature and any other forms of art, it reflects the culture of an individual. Doing content analysis on movies enables people to see the different beliefs, traditions and values by a certain culture. Chinese Culture is very strict in their wedding and funeral traditions. Not following the norms of the culture would mean disrespect to them. Also, Chinese value their face. Face is an important aspect of their culture. They put a high value on their reputation and one single act would make or break their reputation. Also, the movies showed that sons are much more important than boys.

Although Chinese culture is different from the Filipino culture, we could see that we also share similarities. Both Chinese and Filipino value their families. They have strong family ties, every member is equally important.

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