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Life And Death Issues In Film The Farewell Essay

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Ethical Issues and Bias in The Farewell

The Farewell (2019) examines the clash between Western and Eastern ideologies and ethics centering on a familys decision to hide from their grandmother her diagnosis of terminal illness. In China, where the film is set, it is customary for the collective to bear the burden, and that is the main idea here in the film. However, one of the main characters grows up in the West and finds this secrecy unethical as it violates the individuals right to know, as she sees it. Throughout the course of the film, she comes to understand the Eastern ethics better, and the end of the film actually gives one the sense that by hiding the illness from the patient, the patient never actually knows she is sick and so lives her life as though she is fineand actually just keeps on living (for another six years and counting!) to everyones surprise. Thus, this film gives a Western audience a look into ethical issues embedded in Chinese...

At the same time, it also incorporates elements of Western beliefs, largely due to the protagonist's upbringing in America. This blend of cultural perspectives gives a good context for the ethical dilemmas presented in the movie.

At the heart of the film is the controversial ethical issue that revolves around a Chinese family facing the impending loss...

…the female characters, who seem to suffer the most (Yu, 2022). Their decision, initially seen negatively from the Western-raised protagonist, comes to be valued as the right one because it is sensitive and protecting of the individual person. It represents self-less collective action for the good of the person.

The Farewell thus juxtaposes Eastern and Western ethical ideologies through the protagonist's struggle and eventual understanding of her family's choices offers a unique lens into the complexities of cross-cultural ethics. It shows the idea that ethical decisions are influenced by the cultural and moral frameworks within which individuals are raised and operate. Overall, the film challenges audiences to consider the impact of cultural context on moral…

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References

Wijdicks, E. F. (2020). Cinema, MD: A History of Medicine on Screen. Oxford University Press,USA.

Yu, H. (2022). The Narrative of Female Trauma in the American Chinese Film TheFarewell. Frontiers in Humanities and Social Sciences, 2(2), 6-13.

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