Reflections on the JoyLuck Club

Cultural differences and nuances are a hot topic for discussion in all circles today. Whether around the office water-cooler ranting about group dynamics, a neighbourhood forum grappling to come to terms with how it's local community has changed, or a low-key chat amongst a few good friends. the truth is that our world has changed, is changing, and more than likely will continue to change as the global village takes over our notion of 'our space.'

With my wife having read Amy Tan's 'Joy Luck Club,' several years ago, our stumbling across a copy in the video store gave us an opportunity to see whether director Wayne Wang had done Tan's work justice. The stark contrast between behaviours in today's post-modern Western society and the way the characters in this story lived life, showed just how much things we might consider peculiar in a culture we did not belong to, might seem not only rational , but very neccessary to the way people live their lives in other cultures.

While the world is filled with stories ranging from the Protestant/Catholic conflict in Nothern Ireland to the Sikh who can't board a plane because his head-gear makes him look suspicious, there are also stories that no doubt we need to hear more of..stories of people going out of their way to understand other cultures, who embrace with open arms those whose traditions might be different from their own, without neccessarily diluting their sense of self or their own unique identity. These people to me represent hope that we can get along, and inspite of our differences, find ground to work for the common good of the communities we live in.