Joy Luck Club is a deeply moving film that will touch the heart and mind of anyone who opens themselves to it's messages about life.
If someone (such as darkfalz) feels this film speaks more of women's shallow choices, they miss out on humanity for the sake of superficial judgment.
This is a film about hard choices and sacrifice. It's a story of the generation gap that inevitably occurs between immigrant mother's and their daughters who were brought up surrounded by different values. Each mother strives to raise her children in a way that will bring them success and joy in life. Each hopes to free their offspring from the pains they themselves had to endure.
It is also about the Chinese way of pushing a child to be the best, and gives insight into a mother's need to see her own struggles amount to something great in her daughter. However, this is not just about Asians. It is about all parents hopes and all children's frustrations with fulfilling those dreams.
In America the story of the first generational gap is a very real and painful one. It happens for boys as much as girls, and I know a lot of men who relate to this film despite it's inherent chick flick nature. It celebrates the need to keep your roots and history alive, even if you let go of certain traditions that you were not born into.
The women in the film often make hard choices. Many of them folly and sin, but it is not a film about forgiving them so much as it is about the lasting effect of the choices we make.
Everyone should see this film. It's one of the most honest human dramas out there.
