First:
In your own words using the readings as support, why is the mother-daughter trope so frequently played up in Asian American Women’s Literature and Films? How is the mother-daughter trope underscored in Sola Kim’s essay and the film Zoetic (300 words minimum)? What differences and commonalities can you find?
Zoetic:
Second: Respond 200 words
I think that the Mother daughter trope is so frequently examplified in Asian American literature and films because the relationship between a mother and daughter is very dynamic and heavy, and more commonly a non-verbal relationship, specifically because it’s an Asian family. I think that Asian American writers and producers share this popular theme because it’s a tool for them to express their feelings and perspective, if not directly to their parents, but to the world to share an experience that is unpopular and one that they longed for as a youth. I believe that it’s important to mention that the mother daughter trope is often one where the daughter doesn’t fully understand their mother or where they come from and this can be because of the generational gap, but it is also due to the fact that they are growing up in different worldly environments.
The mother daughter trope that is emphasized in Sola Kim’s essay gave me the impression that the daughters did not want to be like their mother and even rejected her way of thinking. Although there is a distinct change by the end that suggested that everything they did was for their mother’s approval because they knew that she was always watching. This was also done with the least amount of communication shared between them and their mother which created a bigger divide between mother and child. In comparison to Zoetic, the mother and daughter actually shared conversation and were able to speak about their differences. I think another difference between the two examples was the encouragement of feelings to be shared. In Kim’s essays the girls didn’t feel the need to share or relate to their mother, while in Zoetic, the daughter exposed her heart to her mother to really get her to understand, even if it was through a published film. What is consistent in both stories though, is the misunderstanding of each other and the eventual longing to communicate after years of shared silence, and I believe that this is key to the Asian American mother daughter dynamic that is popularly shown through literature and film.
