Review Of The Silent Movie The Goddess
Receiving astonishing popularity and reputation, the silent movie The Goddess was regarded as one of the best-known productions during the golden era of silent movies. The highlights of the movie, in my opinions, are the attractive music accompanied by the movie and the main character Ruan Lingyu’s heartfelt performance. More importantly, Wu Yonggang, the director and plot writer, had a fascinating job in creating a duo and contradicting images within the character goddess.
The goddess resonates the audience's’ sympathy throughout the movie, nevertheless, her traditional Confucian moralities seem abrupt in the contemporary and liberal urban background. Some critics also comment the movie lacks feminist images in the goddess. I would like to argue the character goddess was intentionally created as a traditional role model for appealing to the promoted Confucius values by the KMT, such that there is no necessity of any feminist elements throughout the movie.
The goddess was intentionally created as the model of “good wife, wise mother”, which was promoted by KMT’s New Life Movement. Throughout the movie, the mother repeatedly self-sacrifices for protecting and raising her son in her best (citation). Such maternal love reflects the idealized traditional role of women who should master the domestic sphere and raise intelligent children for family honor. This ideal feminine role was also glorified during the New Life Movement led by KMT.
The author of movie review The Goddess: Fallen Woman of Shanghai discovers that “Film-makers were encouraged to champion this cultural mobilization effort (New Life Movement), promoting Confucian revivalist morality along with sacrifice, discipline and endurance in everyday life”. KMT’s active involvement hints the film’s self-censorship as well as the party’s flavor of a traditional and self-sacrificed mother. By promoting such feminine characteristics, the political party was intended to create Chinese nationalism through evoking citizens’ traditional moralities. Meanwhile, Harris complains that “the imprisoned goddess's final request that he tells her son 'his mother is dead' would appear to represent a parallel surrender of maternal influence”. The author applies the feminist theory and polarizes the male and female influences in the analysis. The analysis is irrelevant since the liberal feminist elements are unnecessary under the director’s self-censorship. Otherwise, the liberal images would challenge the New Life Movement’s advocacy and ultimately the KMT’s authority.
The movie successfully glorifies the model of “good wife, wise mother” that resonates audiences’ sympathy. Nevertheless, the traditional role was created with self-censorship under the pressure of the New Life Movement.
