The Joy Luck Club
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Eating a traditional meal with a traditionally Chinese family or not, Rich's manners were horrible. The taking of extra beverage and attempting chopsticks was forgivable, but pouring soy sauce on a dish that was meant for everyone? That would be perceived as outrageously inconsiderate in ANY culture.
The Joy Luck Club - Meet the Parents
http://www.shmoop.com/joy-luck-club/part-3-chapter-2-summary.html
Four Directions told by Waverly Jong
So many mistakes, but Rich is a nice guy and they marry nevertheless.Lindo Jong - As a child, Lindo outwits her mother-in-law to escape her arranged marriage. Later, she brags about her American-born daughter but also longs for Waverly to notice their similarities.
- Waverly and Rich eat dinner at Auntie Suyuan and Uncle Canning’s house. In her thank-you card, Waverly writes that Rich thought it was the best Chinese food he had ever eaten.
- Shortly after, a dinner invitation comes from Waverly’s mother. This was exactly what Waverly predicted because her mom is so competitive with Suyuan cooking skill.
- Waverly hangs out in the kitchen while her mother prepares the meal. Already her mom’s pointing out how she’s a better cook that Suyuan.
- Waverly builds up the courage to ask for her mom’s first impression of Rich. Waverly’s really nervous because Rich is an average-looking, kind of short, red-headed guy with freckles.
- Her mom says he has a lot of spots on his face and doesn’t buy it when Waverly insists that freckles are good luck.
- By Waverly’s standards, the dinner goes terribly.
- Let’s call it White Boy in Chinese House.
- Rich brings a fancy French wine. Waverly’s parents don’t even own wine glasses.
- Rich then drinks two glasses when everyone else has three sips.
- Rich insists on using chopsticks, then drops almost everything he tries to eat in his lap, making Shoshana laugh hysterically.
- Rich helps himself to big portions – before anyone else gets a chance.
- Rich thinks he’s being polite by refusing to eat seconds, even though Waverly’s father sets the right example by taking four helpings, insisting the food is so delicious he can’t resist.
- And the coup de grâce is when Waverly’s mother criticizes the main dish (cue for everyone to pronounce it the best food they’ve ever tasted!), and Rich says it just needs a little soy sauce, and proceeds to drench his food.
- When Rich says goodnight, he uses butchered versions of her parents’ first names: Linda and Tim (instead of Lindo and Tin).
- At the end of this debacle, Rich looks pathetic in Waverly’s eyes. He doesn’t even have any sense of how badly the whole dinner went.
To watch it with subtitles
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