Farewell Film Cultural Ethics Analysis Essay

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Ethical Issues and Bias in The Farewell


The Farewell (2019) examines the clash between Western and Eastern ideologies and ethics centering on a family’s decision to hide from their grandmother her diagnosis of terminal illness. In China, where the film is set, it is customary for the collective to bear the burden, and that is the main idea here in the film. However, one of the main characters grows up in the West and finds this secrecy unethical as it violates the individual’s right to know, as she sees it. Throughout the course of the film, she comes to understand the Eastern ethics better, and the end of the film actually gives one the sense that by hiding the illness from the patient, the patient never actually knows she is sick and so lives her life as though she is fine—and actually just keeps on living (for another six years and counting!) to everyone’s surprise. Thus, this film gives a Western audience a look into ethical issues embedded in Chinese culture. At the same time, it also incorporates elements of Western beliefs, largely due to the protagonist\'s upbringing in America. This blend of cultural perspectives gives a good context for the ethical dilemmas presented in the movie.

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At the heart of the film is the controversial ethical issue…

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…a collective with everyone promising to keep the secret). This cultural ethos is seen very much in the female characters, who seem to suffer the most (Yu, 2022). Their decision, initially seen negatively from the Western-raised protagonist, comes to be valued as the right one because it is sensitive and protecting of the individual person. It represents self-less collective action for the good of the person.
The Farewell thus juxtaposes Eastern and Western ethical ideologies through the protagonist\'s struggle and eventual understanding of her family\'s choices offers a unique lens into the complexities of cross-cultural ethics. It shows the idea that ethical decisions are influenced by the cultural and moral frameworks within which individuals….....

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"Farewell Film Cultural Ethics Analysis" (2024, January 28) Retrieved June 6, 2026, from
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