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YiYi Doesn’t Capture My Taiwan

Listening to the rhythmic drops of unceasing summer rain, while lying on a bed with no mattress, only a cool, smooth bamboo mat. Eating a creamy, refreshing sticky rice popsicle purchased from a pushcart parked off the side of an obscure alleyway in the scenic town of Sun Moon Lake. Getting used to air-conditioned taxis with transparent plastic seat covers, but wishing I were on a moped instead. Anticipating after-dinner activities, such as going to a lively night market where bootleg CDs and generic Prada bags are plentiful.

Taiwan is also the place where my uncle brought my brother and me to play pachinko for the first time (I won a pack of funny-tasting gum). I’ve visited Taiwan four times in my life and I love it so much, I sometimes wish I could live there. I don’t even mind the hot and humid weather. I especially miss the delicious snack foods. This is one of the reasons I liked, but did not love, Edward Yang’s YiYi.

In the movie, there is just one scene in which two of the main characters and a co-worker eat food purchased from a street vendor. The audience doesn’t get to see what they are eating and those who are unfamiliar with Taiwan wouldn’t realize that the characters are probably eating Taiwanese snack food.

On the other hand, there are at least three scenes where dominating neon signs spell out “McDonald’s” and “N.Y. Bagel” as if to hog the spotlight and say: “Move over, old Taiwan, America is coming!”

Will the rest of the world only be able to appreciate Taiwan for what it is fast becoming – a place not unlike New York City or Hong Kong, with its bright lights, crowded streets, tall buildings, computer enterprises, expensive European cars and wedding banquets in upscale hotels?

The main characters in YiYi embody a standard based on middle-class citizens who could live in any metropolis in the world. The dad drives his son to school in a BMW; the wife works in a high-rise; the teenage daughter experiences first love with the help of a Cineplex.

Maybe that’s the way Yang wanted it. Maybe it’s even strategic, considering that a movie portraying Taiwan’s lower class would probably have less chance of being screened in theaters, since luxury has always been easier to swallow than poverty. Or maybe most people just don’t care about the setting after all — the conflicts are the heart of the story. It’s a shame if that’s the case, because billions of people don’t know what they’re missing.