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Last week, I watched a movie called Iron and Silk, which is about the differences and shock between the Chinese culture and the American one. The main character as well as the narrator is an American called Mark who witnessed and presented the differences in a foreign angle. Almost everything was special or even odd for him in China, which did reflect the differences between the two kinds of cultures. First of all, showing great respect to the teacher is the Chinese tradition, which can be obviously depicted by all the calling Mark for Teacher Mark from his middle aged students in China in spite of their age. Besides, in the film, Mark learned Tai ji from the other one without Master Pans permission during his learning Kung fu from him, making Master Pan feel offended. This is also a living proof to the tradition of respects to the teacher. The relationship between teachers and students in America is more usual, with equality being implied. There is no doubt that showing respect to others is universal, though the said difference may be caused by different interpretation of respect.The second difference that impressed me is the not identical attitude towards privacy. Take some students unexpected visit to Mark without invitation in the film for example. For Mark，their visit was just like a break-in, but may be common for Chinese people and is a symbol of the closeness and friendship. In American culture, people take their privacy seriously, their privacy being a sign of their value of individualism. When it comes to individualism, we cannot ignore the plot that the love between Mark and Ming was overwhelmed by the reality of Chinese society. What the more Chinese care about is others judgment rather than their own voice from their own heart, which is also related to Chinese consideration of face.On the contrary, the Americans advocate freedom, with others judgment slipping off their minds. And another point is Chinese are more reversed and traditional to express their emotions such as love. In the movie, I remember that a father said he would kiss slightly his daughter when his girl was sleeping, which suggests Chinese implicit love and emotional expression. And Master Pan was strict with Mark when teaching him Kung fu, nonetheless he finally gave swords to Mark that he was eager for. This is a way of Chinese character. They value true sentiments with reserved way. Differently, Americans prefer direct emotional expression, which can be proved by Marks love to Ming. On the other hand, there are some seemingly worthless polite formulas existing in Chinese culture. For instance, the host family has to see the visitor out, while this convention is rare or odd in American culture. Maybe it is a reflection of Chinese politeness, stemming from their way of thinking. To sum up, differences do exist. When people from two kinds of cultures are communicating, possibly in the beginning, they would look upon the others culture in their own shoes, which causes the cultural shock.
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