banana in a nutshell

Banana in a nutshell
Cultural reading
Rosanne Liang’s 2005 film Banana in a nutshell is a documentary which explores an intimate portrait of a Chinese-European couple in New Zealand, and their journey to get a blessing for marriage from traditional Chinese parents. This film represents the boundaries created by the Chinese culture with regards to a chinese woman falling in love and marrying a New Zealander. In this essay the cultural ‘ reading’ of the film is examined.
At the beginning of the film we are shown archival footage of Rosanne growing up amongst the strict restraints of the Chinese culture. As the film develops we perceive Rosanne Laing’s intended perspective. We see Rosanne’s parents overriding their children’s own desires and preferences. They push Rosanne and her siblings from a young age to learn many hobbies at a high level, such as piano. Laing’s perspective is that of a young westernised chinese woman. This reinforces what I already thought the Chinese culture was like; I formed this opinion because of the portrayal of the Chinese culture in Western film and literature. I feel Rosanne’s portrayal only supports this statement more. Watching this documentary from a Chinese point of view will be completely different as the Chinese may feel many of the accusations are wrong and disrespectful. However Chinese journalist Helen Wong (columnist at the Listener magazine) sees it as “taking the mask off the Chinese culture and exposing it for its true flaws.”
As a European- New Zealander viewing this film we learn a lot about personal experiences to do with the Chinese culture. We learn the strict rules created by Rosanne’s father in order to get his blessing for Steven to marry Rosanne. This included Steven having to learn fluent Chinese and to gain an understanding of the Chinese culture. In comparison her sister had a Chinese European boyfriend who in contrast didn’t have to go through these phases to get the father’s blessing. Rosanne’s father wants the Chinese culture to stay within the family so they don’t lose it.
I believe the behavour shown by Rosannes father potrays a holistic representation of Chinese culture in action. China being a densely populated country of 6 billion people fosters an environment where every individual family is constantly striving just to keep their heads above water. Such attitudes reflect the way Rosannes father is treating Steven. By requiring Steven to learn fluent Chinese, Rosannes father is enchouraging Steven to be the best husband he can be.
Banana in a nutshell is significant for the Chinese society in NZ as the evidence portayed in this documentary can help prevent the cultural demands of raising the ‘perfect’ child. The strict confines of the Chinese culture has been shown to suffocate Rosanne and her sibilings and to stop them from having freedom as they are not allowed to leave home until they are married. The up close and personal interview near the middle of the documentary, shows Rosanne tearfully trying to understand why her parents never show any kind of loving affection. These heartfelt emotions may help to shape the Chinese society from being stuck in the older generation’s way of bringing up Chinese children.
This Documentry has lacked truth and credibility as Rosanne stated that the film was created primarily for Rosannes parents to view. She wanted her parents to understand the emotions she feels about the Chinese culture being overly “strict” and “unfair”, but Rosanne got carried away with her documentary and aired it without showing her parents first. This caused the film in many eyes to loose credibility as Rosanne didn’t even get consent from her parents for using archival footage of them and for showing them and their culture in a negative light. These issues have caused many specific arguments, creating mixed opinions on the documentary.
As a New Zealander watching Banana in a nutshell I feel this documentary made me sympathise with Rosanne and Steven as we are shown raw emotion on camera from the struggle and hurt Rosanne’s parents are causing them. Watching Rosanne and her siblings grow up amoungst a strongly cultural chinese family was an extremely big contrast in comparison to the way I was brought up as a New Zealander. The film made me disagree with the way some Chinese bring up there children. But looking at the film from a Chinese perspective could come across slightly racist an offending. The Chinese are more challenged to watch it compared with the non-Chinese. Even though a few cultural boundaries may have been crossed, I was satisfied with this documentry and happy with the outcome for Rosanne and Steve.