MovieChat Forums > The Joy Luck Club (1993) Discussion > Why is Harold Asian?

Why is Harold Asian?

posted 20 years ago by hiphopandheels
17 replies | jump to latest

o_O Beats me.

[–] 20 years ago

[deleted]

[–] kontrolmaster 20 years ago

No...YOU'RE asian.

[–] ZeiramGT 20 years ago

They made him Asian simply because he was a jerk. They couldn't bear to have the default race holding a bad example.

[–] Madgerette 20 years ago

Harold is as Asian as Lena is, which means he's an American who happened to be born to Asian parents. So, he's not really Asian and Lena does not stay any truer to Ying-ying's ideals by marrying him. Appearances aside, Harold is just part of the American problem (and a jerk). The point is, the Asian culture that Ying-ying's generation does not want to lose is not appearances and bloodlines, it is character, and that is what Harold lacks.

[–] OvenLovin 20 years ago

It never said in the book he was asian. I don't think he's that much of a jerk though, I just think he is too money-strict, and doesn't understand Lena enough. Explains why the marriage ended.

[–] LeiaKat 20 years ago

Harold is a jerk. He may be money tight, but he also has no respect for Lena. She tries to talk to him and he waves her out of the way, he treats her more like a child then as his 'equal' and wife. Lena really 'settled' for him, and it is only when she developes spirit that she realizes she deserves much better.

[–] chocolate-elephant 19 years ago

I'm pretty sure that in the book he was caucasian, seeing as his name was Livotny or something like that. Lena was eurasian.

[–] jasonbourneagain 19 years ago

Harold was Chinese in the movie wasn't he? I didn't read the book, so you'll have to excuse. I couldn't believe that guy was so cheap since he made good money.

As for the mother and daughter relationships, they were all so different. But I really hated the way Waverly's mom treated her for all those years.

Put Dirty Harry in the IMDB top 250!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066999/ratings

[–] bgbdsuisue 15 years ago

it ticked me off everytime the mom was a bitch, but she was a good mom to have a counter for everything, that's why mom's win a lot of the time. waverly obviously learned not to quit something for a stupid reason ever again and now works for a good place right.

Thanks for hating, I needed to get to 214 haters before the summer.

[–] juuhachigou8704 19 years ago

I was so glad when Lena left that guy! He seemed to care more about ice cream and TV then Lena.

[–] mintymouse_au 19 years ago

I totally agree that he was a jerk. But jerks come in all sizes, shapes and colours - it is not restricted to one particular race. Then again, gentleman also come in all sizes and colours too. It is good that Lena realises she deserves much better. He was quite patronising :p

[–] Clareyo 19 years ago

Harold reminds me of my ex-boyfriend... an 'abc'.

[–] agatilao 19 years ago

I read some where back when they were making the movie that Amy Tan decided that they didn't want ALL the daughters ending up with white men like they did in the book and Harold's was the only character they could change without messing up the story. It was done to throw Asian men a bone, since there almost no positive Asian men in the original story or the movie (with the exception of June's father).

FYI, Amy Tan ended up marrying a white guy and is not known for positive Asian male characters in her books.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] jessx2001 15 years ago

Well, to my knowledge, most Asian cultures are patriarchal. The older generation tend to hold on to their culture and beliefs more strongly than the younger ones do. Women are generally expected to be submissive towards their husband. Amy Tan is probably a first generation Asian American which makes her transition in America a lot harder - she has to find the delicate balance between holding on to her culture and adopting American ways to fit in. Those two ideals are often contradictory. One major theme I notice is Asian cultures trend to be more group oriented while American culture tends to be individually oriented.

She was probably quite headstrong and individually oriented and was not able to find a man in her own culture who would accept that. I imagine most men of Amy Tan's generation were not ready to let go of their patriarchal authorities let alone marry someone who didn't fully respect it.

That's my guess for Amy not having a "positive Asian male character" in her books. That's probably also why she married a caucasian American.

As each successive generation comes, it's not much of a problem anymore because even the men change in their ways as well. I'm Asian American, and 33 years old so I was 16 when this film came out. I did and do feel the push and pull of both cultures and know there must be some compromise. Howeever, the good thing is that my husband (who is of the same ethnicity and generation as I am) feels the same way as I do. If I was in Amy's generation growing up here in America, I can definitely see how she had to pretty much rebel and hence, had no "positive Asian male character" in her life as she views it.

In any case, that's how I see it from my own personal experiences.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] ariennye 15 years ago

I read some where back when they were making the movie that Amy Tan decided that they didn't want ALL the daughters ending up with white men like they did in the book and Harold's was the only character they could change without messing up the story. It was done to throw Asian men a bone, since there almost no positive Asian men in the original story or the movie (with the exception of June's father).

Then she shouldn't have written the book that way.

I wouldn't say changing Harold's background from vague Caucasian to Chinese really counts as throwing Asian men a bone, seeing as Harold is portrayed as jerk like all the other Asian men in the film (with the exception you noted, June's father).

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