The Goddess: Tensions Between Tradition And Modernity

THE GODDESS Student’s Name Professor Course Institutional Affiliation Date The Goddess In the early 20tth century, the wave of modernization was sweeping across the world and China was not exceptional. Everything was getting modernized including changes in social, economic, and political aspects. The changes that occurred conflicted with the conservatives who thought that life was already at its best and westernization was destroying the good old order. Some of these changes were communicated through art and literature, which plays a role in educating and informing the society. By 1920s and 1930s, China cinematography started experiencing westernization of its film industry. By this time, China had just come out of war and the new government had done little to address the social issues that were affecting the society. Wu Yonggang’s film The Goddess is a silent film of 1934 starring the actress Ruan Lingyu, a single mother who is a good mother during the day her son and a night street-walker working as a prostitute to secure her son education and also make a living out of selling her body (Harris, K, n.d, p. 16). The title of the movie is a euphemism to prostitution, even though it may as well imply that the woman is a goddess to her son. The Goddess explores tensions between tradition and modernity through a woman to show how the society has failed to help women and instead of helping them, it goes ahead to oppress them. Wu Yonggang is mocking the society and the government as the wave of modernization is approaching to show that tradition might not survive the upcoming modernization. Wu Yonggang was a leftist and was opposed to the traditional approaches that limited social progress (Rick, 2016). When Wu Yonggang produced this film, his goal was to attack and criticize Confucian government whose social conventions were ridicule to the welfare of the society. It is clear that by 1920s, Shanghai was already experiencing modernization as evidenced through cinematic styles in the film. At night, the street appears lit even though some areas appear dark. The twisting of the camera shows the woman finding her way through the busy street trying to find a client for the day. All she wants is to get something for food and secure education for her son. There are lights in the street but the lights appear flickering, symbolizing the conflict between traditions and modernization. Everything in the film is magnified in the image of this single mother whose fortune depends on the number of clients she serves at night. It is not clear whether the traditions (darkness) will win or modernization (lights) will win but from the start of the film, one can comfortably foretell that traditions do not have a future. Wu Yonggang’s cinematic artistry is evident in the way he used the camera to compare the street-life of the woman and the house she lives in. The neon-lit street is the place she spends her night and the house is where she spends her day as a devoted mother. Wu Yonggang wants the audience to see through this picture that there is a difference between what the woman does in the streets and what she does at home. For instance, in minute 3.19, the woman is seen smoking and puffing smoke in the street as she awaits a client to come by. This is not the kind of woman that Wu Yonggang introduced the viewer to in the house. While in the house, the woman has managed to separate street life to that of a parent. She is a good mother at home and her house is filled with makeups and perfume, elegant dresses, a child's toy and food, and a crib. Before she leaves the house for work, she makes sure that everything is okay so that the child can just wake up and take the meals. She is a devoted and loving mother to her son. She keeps everything secret and makes sure that the child is asleep before leaving for work. Indeed, it appears like she knows that what she is doing is immoral and does not want the child to learn of it. The fact that her house has perfumes and elegant dresses is an indication of how modernity has found its way into the Confucian society. In minute 2.36 of the film, Wu Yonggang introduces the viewer to a goddess, a good mother indeed playing with her child. As the day progresses she looks at the clock and realizes that her time with her son is over and she has to make the child fall asleep so that she can report to the work. The clock is also symbolic because it reminds her what she should do and cuts the time that she has to spend with her child. The unnamed son falls asleep and the woman starts preparing to leave for her “normal” duties. She is not a prostitute by choice, but because she did not secure a good education that could land her a good job. All she can do is to work in the streets at night. Her work is considered dubious and this is why the parents at school realize that to save the reputation of the school, her son ought to be expelled. Again, Wu Yonggang introduces this scene to tell the viewer that the society is ignorant of how hard the single mother is working to overcome the social challenges and failure. The attempt to expel the son is an attempt to kill the dreams she has for her son. It is also an attempt by traditions to kill modernity. According to Hildreth, (R., 2004), Ruan Lingyu is just but a representation of struggling women in the society. Ruan Lingyu is not the lone woman in the street and that is the reason she has to go very early to find the first client and beat her competitors. Prostitution is an occupation for women of her type and there is little she can do to escape her destiny. The only thing she can do is to make sure that her son does not become a failure like her. One night when Ruan Lingyu is on her duties, she happens to be cornered by the police because her work is dubious and immoral. She lands in the house of an unnamed character that lures her into a marriage that does not last. After the man has siphoned her cash and savings when was making to secure education for her son, he dumps her because she is of no more value. The attempt by police to arrest her because of her dubious work and her escape from arrest only to land in the house of a man that takes advantage of her is also another conflict between traditions and modernity. The police want to arrest her and she runs away, probably because she is sure that there are no programs that can help her or her son. Police only want to interfere with her source of livelihood. Braester, (Y., n.d.) explains that the woman is a dedicated mother who wants to break the cycle of poverty in the society. The social conventions are not adding any value to her life or that of her son. As a matter of fact, this is the reason why the police want to arrest her. Social conventions also cause the parents to protest admission of her son at school because they have discovered that the mother makes a living from prostitution. The problem is that parents cannot appreciate the efforts of a mother struggling to change the fate of her child. Instead of appreciating the efforts, they fear that the child will influence their children because the mother lives by dubious means. The society considers itself very holy to the extent that it does not want children of dubious mothers in school. Wu Yonggang wants the viewer to predict how long such traditions are to last. The fact that the conservative parents manage to have the child expelled from school is an indication of the difficulties that modernity has to go through for it to be accepted. The boy's expulsion from school also makes the principal resign after losing the argument in defense of the boy to the board of the school. The resignation of the school principal is an indication of what modernists have to go through in the attempt to counter the traditionalists. It appears like it was too early for the principal to defend the son and her mother and he cannot continue heading the school whose social conventions he does not support. Wu Yonggang wants the audience to question the social conventions of the school and the society. By early 1900, Chinese society was still thriving on Confucian principles. Having argued earlier that Wu Yonggang was a leftist and was opposed to the Confucian principles, it is important at this point to note that the character of the school principal is in line with the views of Wu Yonggang. The resignation of the principal is a premonition of the future of narrowed social conventions. It is clear that in future, people will not keep following narrowed principles that do not uplift the status of the society. One of the questions that emanate is whether immoral parents have the right and capacity to raise children morally. If the parents cannot raise children morally, then the moral society has to help them raise the children. Unfortunately, the society is not willing to help and it is ready to pierce the effort of devoted parents with social prejudices. Ruan Lingyu and her dubious life become the victim of narr...