Chang's Narrative Ethic

I feel that Chang's narrative ethic lies in the honest depiction of the American tourists as well as Cindy's family. As I mentioned in last week's blog, "Chang juxtaposes American wealth and ignorance with the hard work of the Chinese cruise workers."He chose to show all sides of Cindy's story so that we are able to understand the tough decision Cindy's family had in sending her there, as well as the struggle they are enduring at home. Chang also chooses to show the ignorance of the American tourists on the ship, not to make Americans feel stupid, but simply to further highlight the hard work of the Chinese cruise ship workers. Had he not shown us both sides of the story, we would not feel as much compassion for the workers as we do in the ship scenes.

His narrative ethic is to be honest and dimensional when informing so that the audience can have the same understanding of the situation as he does. As we read in Chang's background story, he even left out some scenes that may stray away from his purpose in making this documentary.

Though the dams shown in the end of the film may solve some temporary problems, I feel that he too might be unsure of all of the repercussions. This is also why he shows the farm workers looking at these dams in awe saying that their country is so "strong" and "prosperous." I feel that again is highlighting the ignorance or naivete of the Chinese citizens who feel the worst is over. In all honesty, I have yet to find out whether this is true of China, but perhaps Chang's purpose was to drive the audience to find out.

His purpose for the story was not just to make us empathize but to also be informed of the young and struggling families along the Yangtze River. He also informs us of the actual damage caused by the flood as he shows modern and prospering cities going under water. Though we know Cindy's family was eventually aided by the government and displaced, the film ends in a way that leaves us unsure of their future. I feel that he did this on purpose as he too is unsure of China's future.