A Study on Collectivism and Individualism in the Movie The Farewell by Lulu Wang

Abstract

The Farewell is a movie about the constant battle between Collectivistic and Individualistic values of two cultures, based on the true story of the director and the writer; Lulu Wang. The movie locates Billi, the Chinese-American protagonist, torn between two cultural values and ideologies in a difficult position as her family and relatives decide to organize a pseudo wedding to visit their grandmother who is unaware that she is suffering from cancer, thus embodying a collective effort. The aim of this study is to depict the philosophies of Collectivism and Individualism in the movie The Farewell, to shed light on how globalization operates to make identities fluid. The paper presents how identity becomes a liminal factor in a globalized society in relation to the theories of Collectivism and Individualism. Collectivism refers to the goals of the collective that are considered more important than the goals of the individual, whereas Individualism identifies that the goals of the individual are more important than those of the collective. These perspectives have been recognized as political theories that are associated with Communism and Liberalism accordingly. In addition, both these aspects are portrayed as cultural identities over time. The study was predominantly based on qualitative analysis and uses the movie; The Farewell and review of literature as the primary form of methodology while identifying the theories pertaining to the analysis. Scholarly articles written on Collectivism and Individualism have been used as secondary sources. Findings of the research concluded that both Collectivism and Individualism are needed in order to exist in a globalized society.