Case: Guasha
Date: Mar 9th, 2013
By: Wei Shuwei
The movie Guasha’s setting is in America. It tells a story about the conflicts arisen by the culture differences between the Chinese an American. Xu Datong, a Chinese immigrant, had made a great success in the field of video game design. One day, Datong’s little son, Denis had a stomachache. The grandfather, who just came to join the family, used Guasha treatment to cure Denis’ stomachache. The treatment made Dennis’ back black and blue, which later became the evidence of child abuse. Datong took all the responsibilities for his father. Although he tried to explain that Guasha is a traditional Chinese treatment but failed to persuade the judge. He was forced to separate from his wife and son. However, the story had a happy ending. Datong’s boss experienced Guasha and helped the family out of the trouble.
At the beginning of the movie, Datong seemed to have realized his American dream, for he had a successful career, a lovely wife and an adorable child. He believed that America was a true land of opportunities and immigrants could become the truly successful Americans by working hard. However, life is not always full of roses. The American dream broke overnight due to the Guasha treatment to his own child. We can’t tell it is the American or the Chinese that did the wrong things. The cultural differences and local laws shouldn’t be ignored by immigrants.
The main line of the movie was the Guasha treatment. The children welfare organization accused Datong of abusing his child. Like other Chinese, Datong took it for granted that Guasha was just an ordinary medical treatment. However, the American didn’t think so. He tried to defend himself but failed to win the lawsuit. As he didn’t have an effective communication, he failed to persuade the American even his good friend that Guasha was a medical treatment. Later his good friend went to experience Guasha and realized that what he said was true.