Engineer and Chinese restaurant owner may be two of the most popular careers for Chinese in America to make a living. As engineers, American Chinese are smart, capable, and industrious. They are well established in many high technology fields. In Silicon Valley, for example, you will see many Chinese young people in T-shirt and with glasses who are programmers and engineers of local major technology companies. They are from Beijing University, Tsinghua University, Stanford University, and other schools, representing the Chinese power in the global innovation sanctuary. The Chinese female engineer in the film might imply the Chinese girl Gao Xingxin who deciphered Beidou satellite signal coding program for the American research institute.

There are about 4,000 Chinese restaurants in America, almost three times the number of McDonald’s stores, even some remote town of less than 1,000 citizens. There are advantages for Chinese to run the restaurant business, for example, low cost, good taste, high profit, trade in cash, and well-received. Furthermore, there are many Chinese in this industry, and they can look after each other. The Chinese restaurants, most of which are family managed, always hire the immigrants who will just stay for months as workers.

For most American Chinese, there are no mechanisms for changing the decision to come to America. In fact, the superficially glamorous American Chinese suffer more than the general public. As the immigrant life continuously fosters all kinds of disappointments, people naturally consider other way out of immigration to the United States. The growing economy in some parts of China gives people more choices, and the temptation to work in America is fading

There are few American films that refer to Chinese female engineer and restaurant owner synchronously. But here we get Keeping up with the Joneses, a 2016 American action comedy film directed by Greg Mottola and written by Michael LeSieur, Starring Zach Galifianakis, Jon Hamm, Isla Fisher and Gal Gadot. The film follows a suburban couple (Galifianakis and Fisher) who begin to suspect their new neighbors (Hamm and Gadot) are spies. And really the new neighbors are spies; together they defeat the agents who endanger the safety of the United States.

The contradictory state of mind of Americans.

It is very interesting to observe to two roles, the Chinese female engineer and Chinese restaurant couple, in the film to figure the film maker’s true conception of the film.

Anywhere there are humans, there are Chinese. Anywhere there are Chinese, there are Chinese restaurants. For most Chinese who newly immigrate to America, their first jobs start from Chinese restaurants that provide free food and shelter for them. For many immigrant Chinese families, to run a Chinese restaurant is the most direct and effective way to solve the problem of survival. There is no other rigid demand like food and beverage consumption, so it is easy to thrive in the business world. Cooking skills are not professional skills, but survival skills, which lowers the entry threshold. The food and beverage industry have a lot of slack in investment, and the trade is in cash, and it can solve the family’s most fundamental problem of eating. Factors mentioned above make it common for Chinese to run a restaurant, especially those who have difficulties in language and good skills. It is nothing surprising that American would always ask the first-met Chinese if he runs a restaurant for a long time.

Chinese restaurants are so popular that Chinese restaurant culture has become an integral part of American culture, and even most Americans have to admit that they can’t imagine the life without Chinese restaurants. The film wants to show the popularity of Chinese restaurant.

The first generation of American Chinese was the generation of sacrifice who sacrificed their deserved enjoyment for the family happiness. The second generation got good education in America, and they went high school, or college. They felt just like a fish in water with the fluent English. They were able to achieve success one way or another. The third or the fourth generation completely got rid of the image of restaurant owners. They become American social elite. Unconsciously and surprisingly, the American Chinese seem to go to the high society overnight. Nowadays, you can see Chinese in all walks of life, including congressman, government departments at all levels, and even Federal Ministers, not to say engineers in high tech companies.

American society must adapt the change of identity of American Chinese. And contribution made by Chinese to the American society should be acknowledged.

Further, we can see a little unease about the increasingly powerful China. Just like the American Chinese who always run Chinese restaurants but unknowingly appear in the high-class society. China is imperceptibly powerful and people get some kind of fear. People and nations all will get strong, you have to adapt it. As to whether it is good or bad, it depends.

We have to admit that the Chinese people are the most tenacious race in the world. In most time of Chinese history, you can find that their government spent much time to rack their brains to feed their large population. The government understood that hunger breeds discontentment that would lead to the overthrow of the government. And you can see that once famine came for a long time and if it was not settled, uprising would break out. And the wilds were full of dead bodies of the starved, which is dreadful to your mind. You have to say is a miracle that they survived the tough years, and have made brilliant achievements nowadays. As months and years pass by, they develop the habit of managing to eat every comestible thing they can reach.

This time, they get a big one in Tom Yum Goong, a 2005 Thai martial arts action film starring Tony Jaa and Jin Xing. In the film, the Chinese Gang led by Jin Xing steal, kill, and eat the elephant brought up by Tony Jaa to make specimen for symbol of fortune. We all know the importance of elephant to the Thai people. As the key element of Thai culture, the elephant is the symbol of power and grace. A Thai historian said that the Thai history would be rewritten without elephants. The Thai people think that elephants are understanding, industrious, and capable, and elephants are cheap labors and cute tour pets. Elephants are intelligent and rich in spirit. Tony Jaa goes to fight Jin Xing and get back the baby elephant.

The Chinese gang.

In the film, the Chinese Gang was not led by Jin Xing in the beginning, but by Shen, the leader of the family. Shen has a son Chao, and a nephew Kang who is the cousin of Jin Xing. Shen dies, and in order to scramble for inheritance of the family fortune, Jin Xing kills Chao and Kang, without a heart of compassion and without the consideration that Chao is only 13 years old. And Jin Xing becomes the only successor.

Here the film Sketches out the basic characteristics of overseas Chinese family gang.

The family is the same time the reactionary gang. The family members are bonded by blood and affection that are the most effective belongingness in traditional Chinese society. In the family organization, the family itself is the best and tightest way of holding the group. It is the cheapest to organize the huge and rigorous members and gang activities. Outsiders that are not of the same blood can only do some assistant work and cannot enter the core of the organization. And the true key members are well protected by the outsider group.

The family member fights each other. There is a saying that a Chinese is a dragon, three Chinese is a worm. The saying tells the truth that every member wants to be the boss. When he is the subordinate that works for the boss, he doesn’t do his own job for the good of the family, but deliberately plan to replace the boss. When he becomes the leader, he would become imperious. Only when they are in very close relations, they are really of one family. But they are ready to fights each other, even their own closest relatives, once the interests are not share equally.

The families are greedy and cruel. The family is always in the cover of normal business that makes them rich. They are rich overnight, and they become flamboyant and showing. Just like Jin Xing in the film, traditionally he wants to prove his fortune with some kind of symbol that the elephant skeleton is covered with gold. They are cruel, and wipe out everything and everyone on their road.

Why does the Chinese family organization in the film always show in the face of gangsters?

In films, the Chinese family organization in the film always shows in the face of gangsters. Of course, inherent discrimination and prejudice against Chinese partly contributes to the phenomenon. But there are unique reasons that are found in Chinese organization.

The Chinese organization is based on traditional social clan structure, which brings close cohesive force for the organization.

The inherent discrimination and prejudice against Chinese Enhances the cohesive force. When struggling with foreigners, they unite together.

There are plenty of low-end processing plants or other kind of work place where Chinese people gather together. In the social bottom, there are strange persons and abilities and they are aggressive.

The culture difference, social barrier, and language difficulties make them hard to integrate to foreign society. They must unite to survive.

The Chinese Exclusion Act or other action against Chinese makes them difficult to go into some high-end domain, though they are clever enough and qualified for it.

Chinese family gangsters also are heritages from the former Chinese immigrants. And it is hard to dismiss a well-organized organization.

Chinese people are normally peaceable, friendly, and unwilling to make any trouble, but sometimes gangs of other immigrants or other race threatens their lives, and they counterattack for survival.

For all kinds of historical reasons, Chinese family gangsters become the important parts of the gang power. They are insidious, strong, and bloody, and they cannot be ignored.

But all these become history. The new generation Chinese immigrants are highly cultured and steeped in propriety. And they actively integrate into the local community, and they are well received everywhere, in every country. Film people should take off the tainted glasses, and open their eyes to reality.

Kong Fu, or Chinese Kung Fu, Chinese traditional martial arts, is the nickname of Wu Shu in the late Qing Period. It reflects personal applications and attainments of Wu Shu. Based on the technological orientation of stop the invasion, it is the way of entering understanding man and nature, and social objective law. Kong Fu is the crystallization of the wisdom of the Chinese nation, the embodiment of Chinese traditional culture, and the unique “martial arts” in the world. Its skills are Rigid and soft, and rely on external and internal cultivation. As the precious cultural heritage of the Chinese working people, it contains Sages’ understanding of life and universe. A large number of Chinese Kung Fu film and television works at home and abroad, and worldwide spread of Wing Chun and Shaolin show that Kong Fu has wide influence in the world.

The learning of Kung Fu mainly relies on the Master Transmission Mode, and sometimes fate. Of course, personal innate qualifications are very important. Some people look for a good teacher in their whole life without getting close to a Master, and some people learn for a long time but are not qualified to learn directly from the Master, but from the Master’s students.

But now, the Karate Kid has his good fate to learn from the Master. The Karate Kid, a 2010 Chinese-American martial arts action drama film directed by Harald Zwart, stars Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan and Taraji P. Henson. This remake of the original 1984 film of the same name is set in China, and features Kung Fu instead of Karate. 12-year-old Dre from Detroit, Michigan moves to Beijing, China with his mother and runs afoul of the neighborhood bully. He makes an unlikely ally in the form of an aging maintenance man, Mr. Han, a kungfu master who teaches him kungfu for self-defense. Dre even wins the Wushu Competition Champion.

The unfriendly Chinese boy.

When Dre plays in the community Park, he gets acquaintant with the Chinese girl, which makes a Chinese boy bully jealous. The Chinese boy comes to disturb their communication and order the girl to go home. Dre wants to reason with him, but the Chinese boy pushes Dre over, and beat him. Arrogant, rude, the Chinese boy really gives Dre a good lesson. Other Chinese kids just watch the fun indifferently, and no one goes to stop it. Dre’s white friend and the girl want to stop the Chinese boy, but fail.

Attention! It is a Chinese boy who may be a junior school student that shows how unfriendly he is! And in the whole film, the Chinese boy always finds some excuse to start a quarrel or a fight with Dre. And audiences praise Dre for his hard work to learn Chinese Kong Fu and tenacious spirits, people would get disgusting that the Chinese boy is so unreasonable.

In fact, Chinese people are friendly, or even over friendly to the foreigners.

Chinese people never judge the foreigners’ color. There are white people, black people, and yellow people, and other color people in China, and they never meet racial discrimination in any private and public occasions. They make money together, study together, and live together, equally. Foreigners can be found everywhere, and no place sets the racial barrier. Chinese society gives them the equal chance to fulfill their dreams.

Chinese people and China make every convenience for foreigners. Considering that understanding Chinese language is a big problem for foreigners, there are English instructions, signs, and tips everywhere, including roads, banks, restaurants, and transportation. And there are many Chinese studying English and you can ask them for help without the embarrassment of offering tips. You can find everything is so easy to go on.

Chinese people and China give foreigners preferential treatment. The Chinese are told to treat foreign guests friendly and politely from childhood. And some organizations, such as stations, hospitals, and so on, set special service window only for foreigners, so that they can handle affairs in time. For those foreigners who invest their money to do business or industry, they will get favorable tax, land, human source, and other favorable policies that make them get profit in lower costs.

Chinese are always friendly towards foreigners. Historically, Chinese people always have some kind of feelings of great powers, and they think themselves of ancient civilization, and a state of ceremonies. And they take proud of taking comparative care of foreigners, and they sometimes hold some extra patience on foreigners. Personally, Chinese people always insist to win people by virtue, and to be friendly is a kind of personal accomplishment.

In a word, the film maker can find another way to show Dre how he can find the true himself and how he can get a good chance to learn Chinese Kong Fu. The film doesn’t have to distort the facts that Chinese people never get hard on the foreigners; no matter they are white, black, yellow, or other colors. And sometimes Chinese people are so friendly that some foreigners that think Chinese people are too weak become imperious. Maybe China and Chinese people should treat foreigners flatly, but not super citizens.

People sometimes want to escape from the reality into another world, and films give them the way. Typically, the Great Depression of 1929~1933, it was just like the end of the world for many people. It was the economic crisis that the basic contradiction of capitalism and production of anarchy developed to an extreme degree of sharpness after the development of capitalism to monopoly stage, which pushed the American Capitalism to the edge of collapse. “In other period of Depression, we can always find things which we can place hope on, but now we look around and see on hope,” said former American President John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. in 1933. “We have already come to a blind alley, and we can do nothing about it,” said former American President Herbert Clark Hoover on the day after his inaugural. Based on this background, the 1933 film King Kong got great success with its extraordinary movie stunt and thrilling story. The success spawned a series of films. King Kong (2005 film) is just another remake. Anyway, King Kong is not King Kong, but the way for temporarily escaping from reality.

King Kong (2005 film) is an epic monster adventure film co-written, produced, and directed by Peter Jackson. The film stars Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody. It is set in 1933 America, an overly ambitious filmmaker leads his team and ship crew to travel to the mysterious Skull Island, including the beautiful Ann, where they meet the dinosaurs and are attacked by the natives. King Kong, a legendary giant gorilla, responses to the scream of Ann. It is even not afraid of dinosaurs, but just likes Ann. The crew captures and displays King Kong in New York City, with tragic results.

The Chinese crew member Choy.

Among the crew members, there a Chinese called Choy. From the movie that he shows up four times, I guess that he is in charge of daily matters or physical work or may be a servant. Theoretically, the crew just wants someone to do the job good, as long as he is responsible and strong, and anyone is good. The role bears no important duty, and just does his job or does as other person does. I don’t know exactly why the director sets this role for him, but if we analyze it, we can find that it is reasonable. Especially, that time Chinese in America are commonly of low cultural level, and they always live on nothing but their hands.

First, a Chinese crew member is cheap of the same work, which is undoubtedly the truth. His name, Choy, which is from Cantonese and means vegetables, reveals that he is cheap and may be from Guangdong Province, China. Considering the whole economic situation of America that time, it is smart to get things done at a cheap price. And the filmmaker is at the edge of bankruptcy, and he annoys his boss and gets no budgets, and he even has to provide a blank check for the play writer.

Second, Chinese are hard-working, and he will do the job to the best. Chinese are faithful, and they will not live on the team while helping others secretly to harm the team. Chinese are responsible, and they evade their responsibilities.

Third, it gives some kind of mystery. This short and small person, silent and obedient, gives his face here and there just for the story. People would be curious why he gets involved in such a journey of adventure.

The final show-up of the Choy is at the bottom of the dead valley. Choy is dead and his white companion cries sadly aside, which means that Choy is recognized through his hard work to make his own contribution.

The American Chinese that time.

During 1930s, the American mainstream society was in the nervous status. Ethnic Chinese at the edge of society faced bigger challenge with the already lower society position. They were faced with double difficulties of Chinese exclusion and the impact of economic crisis.

The situation of Chinese intelligentsias during the Great Depression.

At the beginning, Chinese with low level of knowledge in America mainly lived on their strength and technologies to do physical work. In America, Chinese suffered racial discrimination from the white, and they couldn’t share the same job and education opportunities with the white. There were few Chinese intelligentsias in America, for they couldn’t get the social position and respect they deserved.

But, there were still many Chinese intelligentsias. In 1854, Rong Hong was the first Chinese graduated in American university, and he graduated from Yale University. He actively brought Chinese teenagers to America for new education, most of who chose to stay in America because what they learned couldn’t get use in old China. Wars between warlords during 1911~1937 and Japanese invasion during 1937~1945 made many rich people send their children to America for education. And 1941 broke out the Pacific War, which made more than 5000 overseas students stay in America. And they were refined and cultured, knew English well, and they greatly influenced the Chinese and non-Chinese communities.

There emerged some outstanding Chinese intelligentsias who got internalized by America and the world. Yuen Ren Chao, or YR Chao, studied in America in 1910, and then returned to China for teaching. He settled in America in 1938, and he took up the post of President of the American Language Association, President of the American Oriental Society, and taught in University of Hawaii, Harvard University, and University of California. James Wong Howe was the Chinese photographer to win the Oscar Academy Awards with Algiers (1938). He was written in American <Encyclopedia Britannica> as one of the greatest photographers in America.

Chinese intelligentsias experienced a tortuous development history, and Chinese culture and Chinese intelligentsias’ achievements were gradually acknowledged by American society.

Living condition of Chinese women in the Great Depression.

At the beginning, Chinese came to America mainly for making a living by heavy manual work, so there were few female Chinese. There were two ways for female Chinese to come to America. First, in 1931 Congress of the United States changed the 1924 legislation on banning non-American born wives of American citizens to come to America to allow Chinese females married with American citizens before 1924 to come to America, after years of protest. Second, because of serious imbalance between men and women, many Chinese males had to go back to China to look for spouses and give birth to children, which caused a lot of Chinese-born American citizens. And to become American citizens by way of American citizens’ children was the main way to come to America.

Hardworking, thrifty, and kind, those Chinese females accepted the traditional Chinese ideological and moral, and they focused on their husbands and children. They were faced with the hard life and the discrimination and hostility from the white people, in a state of panic all day long. Their activities included washing, cooking, taking care of the children, managing the vegetable garden, feeding cattle, and farming. Afraid of American discrimination and violent Chinese exclusion from the white people, the early stage Chinese females’ range of activities was limited in China town.

In the Great Depression, American Chinese females were not fragile but positive to face the crisis. They learned more living skills to help the family. They pinched pennies to give the family a somehow decent life, and minimized the influence of the crisis on the family economy. But, under the discrimination, they had narrow employment field. There was a survey that 11.7% of American Chinese females were tailors, 10.6% retailers, 7.3% laundry, 8.2% waitress, and 11.2% clerks. Private home service was the only career out of the ethnic group range. Anyhow, because they were smart, hard-working, willing to sacrifice, the American Chinese females together with their families succeeded in passing through the crisis.

In a word, relying on China town and Chinese social organizations, the American Chinese helped and supported each other to tide over the difficulties. And finally, they received the policy adjustment of American government to improve and provide space for further development of American Chinese. We can think so that, as the ethnic minority in America and under the social and cultural background of racial discrimination, the accomplishments of American Chinese are the results of their hard work, the change of the attitude and cognition of the world towards Chinese, and the social progress.