Women Take Center Stage in 'Joy Luck Club'

I'm surprised that Allen C. Soong had such strong feelings about the portrayal of men in "The Joy Luck Club" that he felt compelled to write an editorial about it. While he refrains from making the outrageously venomous comments that author Frank Chin directed at Maxine Hong Kingston for supposedly maligning Chinese men, Soong similarly mistakes a focus on Asian female voices for the erasure of Asian men's diversity.

On second thought, I'm not surprised. This predictable complaint surfaces whenever men cease to be the center of attention. When will people realize that shifting the spotlight to women is a necessary remedy for egregious neglect over hundreds of years, and not a plot to marginalize men in return?

Although Soong cites one bean-counting male character in the film as an example of a negative stereotype, he himself resorts to a similar kind of bean-counting. True, there are no main male characters in the movie. Nor are there any lesbian or gay characters. Perhaps if there had been, the movie could have been improved. Many all-male movies could certainly have been made more complex and realistic by including female characters. But "The Joy Luck Club" should not have the responsibility of representing all Asians, just as "Dragon" should not have been expected to focus on Asian women.

Several of the Asian male characters that Soong complains about are figures from the past, from a time when men were expected to prove or act upon their maleness aggressively. Certainly, there were men who did not abuse women; there were also women who were complicit in maintaining patriarchy (the film portrays many such women, including a cruel second wife, a mother who gives her daughter away, and a mother who throws her daughter out of the house after she is raped). But the truth is that throughout history, many men have actively kept good women down. Somebody ordered all of those feet bound.

Still, the men in the film are never portrayed as representatives of their sex; in fact, all of the mothers go on to marry decent Asian men. One scene prominently features a tender father poignantly sharing memories about his wife with his daughter. Another scene shows one of the women with her new Asian beau, a man whom another man honors with the ultimate in masculine praise--he calls him a "cowboy" when his girlfriend acknowledges his virility.

All of this is beside the point, for part of the message of "The Joy Luck Club" is that men are not entirely at fault for women's hardship. Women must take an active role in their own lives, not by reducing men to stereotypes, but by asserting their own strength and vitality.

It is understandable if Soong, like practically everyone in the audience, was temporarily blinded by tears at moments. But his comments also seem blind. They do not do justice to the film's power, including the effect of merely seeing a large, fine cast of Asian men and women on the screen.

Most people want to see movies that treat women and men of all races with respect, dignity, and complexity. Unfortunately, if we continue to confuse the affirmation of women with the denigration of men, such movies will cover up the reality of our chauvinistic, unequal society. Lynn Lu '93