The good earth, movie versus book

The Good Earth, made in 1937, was an interesting portrayal of life in China during these times. Although I think it is a great movie for this era, I had a hard time relating to the film. The advancements in film have made it hard to go back to older movies; things like digital effects and color have really made older movies seem like ancient history. The characters seemed over dramatized and unrealistic. The plot did …

…are "teaching opportunities" rather than excuses to avoid discussion. Students can be challenged to compare the China which Buck invented with the Chinas invented by others mentioned in this essay (Ida Pruitt, Mao Zedong, Maxine Hong Kingston), or with classic Chinese novels such as Cao Xueqin's Story of the Stone, or even with the Chinas in recent movies as Yellow Earth or Red Sorghum (see note 20). As a starting point, The Good Earth still works.