Up The Yangtze

I have never been on a cruise before, but I've met people who have been and told me of their fun experiences while on the ship, how there are many people from other parts of the country or world and that it's sometimes difficult to communicate with other passengers depending on where they are from as well as where you are headed. But, in the film, Up the Yangtze we are introduced to a teenage girl whose family is poor and are struggling to keep their home because of a flood that takes place as a new damn is being built within the area. However, although there were some interesting aspects to analyze, I noticed some things that stood out to me, that made me feel frustrated.

 For example, the first thing that stood out to me was the relationship between the daughter Yu Shui, who was given the name Cindy on the ship,and her parents is very less affectionate when they come up to the ship to visit her and they say to her supervisor that they apologize if their daughter is being a handful. But, what really struck out to me was how embarrassed she was that her parents were there to visit her. You're there so that you can go continue your education in high school and to help your family make a better living, except it was forced upon you as a kid to go to this cruise ship and have your identity taken away from you. However, What I could not understand is how her co-workers labeled her as "that poor girl," instead of her name, which is not even her name, Cindy, it is the American name she is given along with a boy by the name of Chen Bo Yu, who gets called Jerry, once they arrived on the ship. This to me felt as if the cruise did not simply care about truly sticking to their customs by allowing the staff to keep their names, especially since they are already giving up some of that "factor" that makes up their identity and what distinguishes them form each other as individuals.

 To me personally, I felt as if the boss and the cruise itself, was more focused on trying to appear more Westernized, that it lost so much of its uniqueness that makes it special. It’s not just the terrible  black and white stripped, prison like uniforms, the name changes, the hair, it’s the way in which the cruise was ran and literally being put in that situation is what caused it. Also the tour guides, let’s be honest if a tourist asked if the families that live within the area and in the apartments “are happy?" Of course an individual would lie, while not just on camera but to the guest, this is wrong. How can the tourist really know what’s the main issue if you chose not to discuss it, if they can pay enough money to come see how families have to leave their homes due to the government’s reforms, and then they can spend a few minutes trying to learn and understand why this is happening.

 But hey you don’t hear about that, you hear your parents tell your boss "I hope she’s not too much trouble," and boss that forces you to change your persona to impress a group of people you will never see on a daily basis.