Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Today, my mom and I went to see a movie called Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. I did not like it, Sam I Am. I did not like it in a box, I did not like it with a fox, I did not like it in a house, I did not like it with a mouse.


SPOILER ALERT: If you actually want to see this movie, go away.

So, the movie follows two story lines. The first one takes place in modern times, and my mom said it wasn't in the book at all. There are these two girls living in Shanghai, named Sophia and Nina. Sophia is actually from Korea, and she's all misunderstood by her step mother, and her father dies part-way through, and she gets depressed and almost gets killed in a car accident. Nina is her "laotong" (I hope I'm spelling that right). That means that they aren't actually related, but they're... uh... Soul Sisters, for lack of a better word. They sign this ancient document when they're seventeen-ish to be forever loyal and faithful and all that jazz. But, of course, they get in a fight and everything goes into a tailspin, and then Sophia has her accident (which is actually in the beginning of the movie).

Then, Nina finds out that Sophia was writing a book about her great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother, Snow Flower, and her laotong, Lily. This is the second storyline, and the movie sort of goes back and forth between the two.

So, Snow Flower and Lily have the same birthday, and they got their feet bound on the same day to. Now, let me explain that. Foot binding was this ancient tradition a bajillion years ago, where moms would have their daughters' feet all tied up with rags, pretty much breaking their feet to make them small. The smaller your feet, the better husband the match maker would give you. Seems borderline sadistic if you ask me, not that anyone bothered to.

Snow Flower and Lily met each other when they were seven. The match maker decided that they should be laotongs, in spite of their difference in class, because they had compatible astrology signs. So they became best friends, yada-yada, blah, blah, let's all skip and hold hands and pick flowers. Then Lily gets married and has to go away. She becomes a sort of noblewoman, and her husband is kind of weird (to me, at least). He goes away to trade, and by now Lily's got three or for kiddos and hasn't seen Snow Flower in ages, because her mother-in-law won't let her.

Well, Lily goes and sees her anyway, and finds out Snow Flower got married. Then there's a typhoid epidemic that wipes out a bunch of people, including Lily's in-laws. She also finds out that Snow Flower's dad ruined the family by becoming a druggie (well... a nineteenth century druggie, anyway). And a bunch of other stuff happens, and then Lily finds out that Snow Flower's husband is abusive and tries to rescue her. (Go, Lily!)

But stupid Snow Flower says she can't leave, it's her duty to stay, and then she... erm, breaks up with Lily, for lack of a better phrase. And Lily is heart broken, and tells her servants to burn all the letters and finds out that Snow Flower has new laotongs now.

Then, a long time passes, and Snow Flower's daughter comes to Lily and begs her to come back because her mom is sick. And Lily's like, "But what about her other laotongs?" and Lotus is like, "Uh, they're just her students. She totally played you."

Turns out, Snow Flower wouldn't leave her husband because she "didn't want to be a burden to Lily". World's Dumbest Reason to NOT Leave an Abusive Husband.

So, Lily goes back, and talks to Snow Flower, who, of course, dies anyway. The End.

Okay, so, after all the self-inflicted drama here, I come to only one conclusion: We, as a human race, are stupid.

I mean, I know that this was hundreds of years ago, and it was therefore a "different time" and it happened in a completely different culture than the one I've grown up in, and all that. I totally get that.

But (here comes the big BUT), come on, man. I mean, seriously? All that, because she didn't want to be a burden? I don't care who you are, where you live, or what time you're from, if somebody offers you a way out of a situation like that, you take it, if nothing else for the safety of your kids. Staying with an abusive husband because you don't want to be dependent on somebody who actually cares about you is like keeping a dog that has rabies because it saved you from drowning when you were six. Noble in theory, stupid in practice.

And, let me just say, if anyone tried to beat me or my friends up the way that pigheaded jerkwad did to Snow Flower, you can bet I would have kicked his sorry butt right into a prison cell. I'd sue 'em for all they're worth.

And I get that Snow Flower couldn't sue him for all he was worth, because they didn't do that back then. Plus, there was that whole Women Are Property thing. But she could have taken Lily up on her offer. Sure, it was considered shameful, but I think that the Pros outweighed the Cons on that one. Just sayin'.

Conclusion: When she didn't take the help, she had nobody to blame but herself.

A Special Note to Mom, Who Will Probably Kick My Butt When She Reads This:

I think we should have waited three hours to watch Winnie the Pooh instead.