MovieChat Forums > The Joy Luck Club (1993) Discussion > Possible plot-hole question

Possible plot-hole question

posted 20 years ago by Shearer_Goddard_Russell
23 replies | jump to latest

Okay. In the beginning of the movie, Jing Mei is playing mah-jongg with all her aunts. Ying-Ying goes "aiyaa!" and starts the others talking in Chinese. Then Jing-Mei goes "hey, no talking chinese! How do I know you're not cheating?" or something. Wouldn't that indicate that she doesn't know Chinese? And in the end she's like...talking to her sisters in perfect Mandarin...
I don't know. Did I miss something?

~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You've chosen a magnificent prison... but it is a prison nonetheless."

[–] cnitsmom 16 years ago

I always wondered that too...

[–] macklin-1 16 years ago

I've seen the movie a few times and never caught that but I did think it strange at the begining of the movie that she didn't know the basics. After all, all the mothers had thick accents so you would think that the children would all know some mandarin.

It is the only flaw (sorta) of the most remarkable movie I have ever seen. I swear everytime I watch it I come back with so much to think about. Often with more questions about my own life than answers to the plots of the fictional characters.

It is by far a masterpiece.

Macklin Crew