Joy Luck Club Comparative Analysis

The Joy Luck Club
Comparative study

The Joy Luck Club (1989), introduced the cultural values of China and America which was highly successful. It remained nine months on the Times Bestseller and was re-created into a movie which released in 1993 with the same name. Although there are not much influential differences, the visual/audio effects in movies, structures and languages, including the tones and pronunciations made some changes on the individual’s preference.

Unlike the book, the movie The Joy Luck Club added audio and visual effects to make the plot more emotional and empathic. In this case, the audio, including the background music fully demonstrated the cultural aspects of Chinese-American culture. For instance, the director solely used Chinese traditional instruments as background music, which conform to the visual impacts of the settings. It was mostly used for the throwback to the character’s past lives, which allowed the audiences to take more considerations to understand the Chinese aspects of the Chinese-American culture. However, the book did not provide any audios, and this affected the understanding of the exact feelings in certain circumstances. When the book described Yingying’s past life, it was brief and direct, whereas the movie slowed down the scene of the expressions by adding musics to convey more detailed and vivid emotions. In addition, the visual impacts, including the settings and facial expressions explained the circumstances with more