Understanding the quality of the relationships between parents and children plays an important role in modern society, and various methods are used to deliver the message and share opinions. Contemporary international cinema continues developing and covering multiple issues about social affairs and the impact of media on families. Each country introduces its vision of the chosen topic, and the offered perspectives usually touch human minds and souls. In this essay, I will analyze three movies from different countries. Parasite by South Korean director Bong Joon-ho, My Mother’s Wound by Turkish director Ozan Açıktan, and Life of Pi by a Taiwanese filmmaker Ang Lee are the perfect choices. These stories reflect the situations when childhood memories and parental involvement affect young people and define their future choices and behaviors. In the end, I am inspired to see if this international concept might better explain child-parent relationships in other countries like Saudi Arabia.
Family relationships are never simple; each nation establishes its traditions, rules, and obligations. In addition to certain internal factors, the external impact, like politics, economics, or health, cannot be ignored. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, parents had to deal with individual safety, low socialization, and psychological outcomes like depression and fear to protect their children and vice versa (Toran et al., 2021). However, these characteristics of interpersonal relationships have existed long before the pandemic, probably with not such distinctive features as today. Movies turn out to be one of the most common sources of information that combine certain entertainment and informative elements. International cinema has many fans who want to learn about foreign nations and improve their cultural intelligence. The ways how parents develop their relationships with children and what effects are observed with time are unpredictable, and there is always something interesting to take from each culture. Integrity and loyalty are crucial parts of Indian families; obedience and despair penetrate many South Korean families; national identity and honor are present in Turkish families.
In Turkey, much attention is paid to producing high-quality products, following the necessary atmosphere, makeup, costumes, and musical background. My Mother’s Wound is a dramatic film about Salih, an 18-year-old orphan who begins his trip to find his parents. Açıktan, the director, is careful with the details like the choice of light, the setting, and even the choice of clothes for each character. However, the themes he tries to cover are more significant because they reveal the depth of human relationships. As a rule, Turkish children are raised according to the canons of the authoritative and patriarchal styles (Toran et al., 2021). However, loneliness and abandonment may be preferred because of the country’s social restrictions or military conflicts. Thus, one of the main lessons that Açıktan (1998) wants to share is that “to forgive someone, you must sometimes punish them first.” Even the closest relatives can make mistakes, and the task of younger children is to find the power to forgive and understand but never forget about justice and honor. One parent might not be right, but the male-female tandem is strong enough to enhance family integrity and equality.
The parasite is a modern South Korean variation of family relationships and the dependence of children and parents on social wealth and class differences. The Kim family consisting of a father, a mother, a daughter, and a son, has to deal with poverty, but their relationships do not seem to get worse but become stronger. On the one hand, children’s obedience to their parents and the impossibility of getting rid of the already offered conditions is one of the topics in the movie. Korean parents are harsh and clear in their rules, and children must fulfill their roles. On the other hand, Parasite is the movie that shows how wrong and devastating a family can be when a father teaches that “no plan” is good because “life cannot be planned” and “it doesn’t matter what will happen next” (Joon-ho, 2019). Although this is not the best example of how child-parent relationships are organized, this story explains that family mistakes affect all members positively and negatively.
However, it is wrong to relate modern family affairs with damaging characteristics only because Life of Pi proves that family support is priceless in the most hopeless situations. In many scenes, Lee (2012) underlines the connection between the father and the son and teaches that “believing in everything at once is the same thing as believing in nothing.” The number of lessons the son takes from his family helps him survive in the open ocean, make the necessary choices, and distinguish between hope and reality. Life of Pi concentrates on a distant but meaningful parental impact on the person’s life compared to other international movies. Even if a child does not understand some words or hints at an early age, the true effect will be noticed when it is necessary. Humans are the most dangerous animals, and the task of a parent is to prepare a child for a life where hope and despair, love and hatred, passion and apathy co-exist and fulfill people with emotions and inspiration.
Each movie introduces a significant piece of information about child-parent relationships and discloses the impact of contemporary international cinema on modern society. The stories like Parasite provoke unpleasant attitudes toward parental involvement, while Life of Pi and My Mother’s Wound help recognize the beauty of trauma in comprehending the worth of parental ties. These examples may be used to formulate a perfect explanation of the relationships Saudi Arabia families develop. The culture of the Middle East is my passion and inspiration because it is all about my native roots and personal identity. I choose these three movies because they combine the true essence of Saudi Arabian families: honor despite conflict, obedience despite poverty, and integrity when there is no hope. According to Albeladi and Palmer (2020), parents become mediators between the child and the outer world. I like this word in discussing formal and theoretical perspectives of film and media texts, including historical and cultural concerns. My attention to several countries proves that it is necessary to not only build cultural awareness of differences but also to notice similar elements and bring some historical evaluations into a contemporary context.
International cinema introduces a unique opportunity to share personal experiences and cultural issues from multiple perspectives. The choice of Life of Pi, My Mother’s Wound, and Parasite is explained by the intention to address several national interests and see if they are related to the Saudi Arabian context and child-parent relationships. The movies show that loyalty, honor, respect, obedience, self-sufficiency, and identity integrate families and explain the role of parents as mediators in the child’s life.
References
Açıktan, O. (1998). My mother’s wound [Film]. BKM Film.
Albeladi, N., & Palmer, E. (2020). The role of parental mediation in the relationship between adolescents’ use of social media and family relationships in Saudi Arabia.Journal of Information Technology Management, 12(2), 163-183.
Joon-ho, B. (2019). Parasite [Film]. CJ Entertainment.
Lee, A. (2012). Life of Pi [Film]. Fox 2000 Pictures.
Toran, M., Sak, R., Xu, Y., Şahin-Sak, İ. T., & Yu, Y. (2021). Parents and children during the COVID-19 quarantine process: Experiences from Turkey and China.Journal of Early Childhood Research, 19(1), 21-39.