We are born into this world through our parents. They were also brought up by their own parents, and the lineage ascends further upwards. On its way down certain ideologies are passed down by word of mouth, routines, rules, general behaviour and ceremonies. These are now known as superstitions, traditions and cultural etiquette. We tend to define ourselves through these cultures, seeking an identity in them. It is always nice to hear that history is not lost so we don’t lose the lessons and maintain our diversity: but do we look down on others on the inside?
Very recently, I watched the movie Ip Man 2. It is the sequel about the master of Bruce Lee, who is an avid practitioner of the Wing Chun style of martial arts. Now this story may be typical to a lot of other Chinese movies, and the insight I gained from here has been depicted in thousands of movies. However, the reaction from the audience in the cinema did make me wonder about a few things. To start with, it is a Cantonese (one of the Chinese dialects) movie, meaning that most likely only Asians will bother watching. Without a doubt there are subtitles, but if one is after the whole experience, many jokes do not have nearly have the same effect as many multilingual people out there will be aware of.
As the show unfolds, the depiciton of foreign influence is highlighted as a scum to be dealt with. The local Chinese are heavily insulted, forced to pay them money in a power struggle, and are even greatly physically abused. Obviously this build up the tension in the film itself which unfurls its message towards the climax where there is a direct match between the Chinese and the foreigner. Now, many might consider a spoiler, but which movie ends with the main cast dying? I can hardly name a few. Anyway, the foreigner is heavily beat and what does the cinema audience do? They clap hands!
At the particular point of time I actually found it funny and part of the interesting experience. However, it brought me to wonder how much of this sort of movie influence goes on in our daily lives. Would we stand for another being assaulted because it is not “our kind”? Would we only favour colour when we are faced with a choice?