Parenthood

Like many other movies and sitcoms shown on television nowadays, (one sitcom that comes to mind: Raising Hope and The Middle) Parenthood contains familial themes and values that most people are familiar with. What I have noticed about these films that portray struggles of parents in coping with their children is that there are big differences in how local or Asian cinema and television depict them and how the Western culture does. I will not generalize or state that cinematic depictions are indeed what happens in actual life, but to a certain extent, I suppose it's only logical to conclude so; culture plays a large role in what shapes a particular society which in return, influences the arts and many other sectors in societies.

From my cinematic experiences, I have noticed that Western parents place more emphasis on freedom of choice and speech, something most Asian parents would usually have more control of. Reviewing for instance, a Malay, Indonesian or Korean drama and an American sitcom or movie, there is an obviously massive dissimilarity between methods of communication, tones of speech and body language when speaking to one's elders or handling a family issue. Western parenting seems to cover a wide range of different options (therapy, grounding, serious family meetings ect) where children are actively involved in the decision making process whereas Asian parenting places emphasis on one sound judgement, usually made by either parent where the child does not contribute to the overall outcome when an issue arises. 

For some reason, it appears to me that Western parents fear harsh confrontation and almost always try ways to soften the blow.There seems to be a lot of emphasis on mental development and disorders. Western parents are portrayed to almost always seek the help of psychologists and self-help materials compared to Asian parents, who rather take matters into their own hands. One episode of Raising Hope showed Hope (the toddler) drawing on the house walls and breaking her grandmother's pig figurines. Virginia (the grandmother) was obviously upset but had a debate wit Jimmy (Hope's father) about who should "punish" her because both were afraid of seeming like the "bad cop" to Hope. Which leads me to this: Bad cop and good cop. I've never seen that concept in local/Asian theater. What would normally be the case is one parent would usually be portrayed as submissive, the other dominant, which seems to be tied to cultural norms.

Although Parenthood provides an array of different parenting styles, it pretty much boils down to the same thing. There's a vibe about how parenting styles are portrayed in Western media that emphasizes a wholesome and at times, submissive attitude toward their offspring. Another thing I have noticed is Western parents, once again, as portrayed in films, always seem to want to spend time with their children, and place great importance on spending at least once a week with their members, and at times, go through much hassle and lengths in doing so. That is one aspect I rarely see in films here. Local and Asian films have a somewhat controlled outlook where everyone is engaged in everyday routines and rituals because that seems to be priority.