Up the Yangtze

Up the Yangtze and terministic screens so obviously go hand-in-hand. The representation of the Chinese people through the different socioeconomic standpoints, ages, genders, and jobs are all related to identification of the Chinese culture and how it should be represented towards different groups of people. I thought it was interesting the representation they wanted to give to the others - those not of Chinese origin - while on the ship. While there were some Chinese guests, mostly the guests seemed to be from other nations and seeing what it was like to be a real Chinese person, being shown only certain aspects and most certainly a specific representation of that. I do however, think the class sold Cindy short when discussing her representation of the Chinese culture before and after working on the boat. I think it is easy to see in the film, the juxtaposition between before boat Cindy and after boat Cindy and I think it's easy to say that the boat changed her, debatably for the worse.

However, I think, especially in her life after the movie came out, that she was playing the role she had to for the job she was in, and I don't fault her for that. We all do it too, it just isn't filmed and critiqued the way it was for her, we play the role of responsible student versus outlandish weekenders all of the time with no one telling us that we've changed for the weekend. I fully believe in the mentality that you play the hand you're dealt, and I think that's what Cindy was doing. Altering different things in order for the job to work for her rather than to work for the job was a smart way to get ahead and her going back to school as soon as the movie was done is a testament to that.