In the film "Eat Drink Man Woman", Ang Lee portrays a tale of a master chef and his three daughters in a warm exploration of tradition, modernity, family relationships, love and friendship. By presenting each of their unique character and personality, he shows how a traditional society tries to adapt to the modern world, and westernization affecting the traditions and culture of the once traditional Chinese society.
The eldest daughter, Jia-Jen, is a teacher at her late twenties, teaching chemistry in a school to boys who treat her with a mixture of respect and insolence. She is also a devoted Christian. She appears peaceful, obedient and always resigning to fate, like in the case when the other two daughters announced that they are going to move out of the house and everyone expected her to be the one daughter that is left behind in the house with her father, even herself.
This is a traditional goldfish setting found in Ch...
Eat Drink Man Woman
English: Cityscape from London's East End to illus...But actually, she is rather resentful of other people's lives, yet deep inside, she desires that life. She does not want to be treated as the "old maid" that people think that she is. Eventually, she hides behind her Christian faith, in a life of selfless devotion and prayer, where she can be accepted for who she is, which means that she does not have to reflect on herself or feel that emptiness within and have an excuse to hide from herself, her family and society. She hides her emotional trauma, hoping that running away from reality, unable to face reality. Also, from the way she reacts when she received all the love letters, we can feel her desperation to find back the life that she deprived herself of for so long, and when she finally could not keep restricting herself anymore, Jia-Jen sort of explodes, breaking...