Introduction
The film Young and Restless in China is a documentary highlighting the struggle of nine Chinese youths who face different challenges and opportunities in the new China society. The youthful Chinese persons have struggled with their past and have made something for their lives as they positioned themselves in different careers to benefit from the economic boom (Williams, 2008). The nine characters include a lawyer, two businessmen, two immigrant workers, a doctor, and a rapper. This paper responds to the film, Young and Restless in China, in terms of impact on western popular culture and technological advancements.
Impact of western popular culture
As showed in the documentary, Young, and Restless in China, the society in China is changing at a very rapid rate as the economy experiences a boom. The young people in China are becoming more and more westernized as they abandon their conservative Chinese culture. Besides, this group has become very savvy and conscious of the current nature ‘CMof interconnectivity as technological advances replace the traditional methods of interaction (Williams, 2008).
This group is also embracing the western culture of extreme ambition that is often characterized by conflict between personal aspirations and the prevalent culture in society. Same as is the case in the western world, the young Chinese featured in the documentary are all struggling with social and business ethics in order to find a middle ground between family needs and work (Williams, 2008). Irrespective of the choices they make, the consequences have negative and positive effects on their social and economic status.
Interesting, as seen in the documentary, the struggles of the Chinese youths are similar to the struggles that their western counterparts face. These Chinese youths are determined to amass wealth and become as independent as possible in order to break from the bondage of absolute penury in favor of comfort (Williams, 2008). The scope of the ambitions held by Chinese youths can be largely related to their social and economic backgrounds.
For instance, a migrant worker from a peasant farming family is only interested in getting opportunities to make enough money to comfortable take care of her needs. Apart from the apparent struggle to overcome total loneliness, she takes the bold step of dodge the prearranged marriage (Williams, 2008). This means that young Chinese women are becoming aware of their freedom of choice in marriage partners and the need to gain economic independence, which are concepts associated with westernization.
In another instance, the cyber café entrepreneur who is trained in the US is struggling with the bureaucratic and corrupt nature of the business environment in China in his ambition of establishing a trendy cyber café. The entrepreneur is very lonely since his family remained in the US (Williams, 2008). The other person sharing a similar struggle to fulfill his ambition is the business school graduate in China who is at the brink of losing lifetime savings since the risks associated with his venture are very high.
He is only driven by the ambition of self actualization, and he is blind of the magnitude of the risk. Another interesting struggler is the lawyer representing the interests of the homeless Chinese who has to live with constant government scrutiny for having successfully filed a case against the government. In each case, the one trait that is clear is the fact that ambition pushes these young Chinese to change their situation and make something good out of their lives. Each character is appealing in own way and youths in other parts of the society share similar traits (Williams, 2008).
Impact of technological advancement
The paradigm shift from the traditional values to modernization in the new Chinese society is very visible among the Chinese youths. The shift from traditional to modern culture seems to create anxiety among these youths. The youths embrace technological advancements are proactively developing a social media culture which is associated with westernization (Williams, 2008). For instance, the rapper meets a girlfriend online and even thinks of transforming the virtual relationship into a lifetime commitment.
Besides, the cyber café entrepreneur uses technology to introduce trendy internet services with the aim of expanding his business to several regions within China. The use of internet as a communication tool among the young Chinese has developed tremendously as showed in the documentary (Williams, 2008). Reflectively, it has grown to encompass the aspect of information exchange and creation of cultures by special interest groups. The Chinese youths have quickly embraced technology and it has become part of their daily lives. The technology is viewed by these youths as the source of better things in the society and a key ingredient in fueling their ambitions (Williams, 2008).
For instance, the two entrepreneurs are aware of the significance of technology in their quest to develop successful businesses within the new Chinese society to ensure that they reap maximum benefits in terms of creating their own social media culture (Williams, 2008). This culture is characters by creation of a unique identity full of symbols of codes for easy of interaction within the youth culture.
Reference
Williams, S. (Producer), Williams, S. (Director). (2008). Young and Restless in China [Motion picture]. United States: Indie Film.