Yesterday I went to see the Chinese movie “Finding Mr. Right” although the Chinese title is 北京遇上西雅图 which translates to “Beijing Meets Seattle”. The film portrays a young Chinese woman named Jiajia, the materialistic girlfriend of a Chinese tycoon. In a ploy to gain U.S. residency, she comes to Seattle pregnant. She stays at a birthing center, where she meets a doctor, Frank, a Chinese immigrant and single dad. Jiajia loses contact with her wealthy boyfriend in China, and eventually Jiajia and Frank fall for each other. Later Jiajia’s boyfriend reappears and takes her back to China, where she can lead a life of comfort and luxury in Beijing. But Jiajia’s feelings for Frank win out and she decides to return to the U.S. to find him. It’s a romantic and touching story, sort of a remake of the movie “Sleepless in Seattle”. It’s interesting how the Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan’s story made a lasting impression on Chinese people. I guess in China people associate rain with romantic feelings and Seattle’s got plenty of rain… It’s also interesting to see a Chinese movie director exposing the audience to the social problems affecting the elite of the society in China.

The film touches a cross-national subject, one that may be popular among Chinese viewers but controversial in the U.S. — foreign nationals coming to the U.S. to give birth. There is a growing trend of wealthier pregnant women getting tourist visas to fly to the United States and give birth in America to make their babies American citizens. Connected to so-called maternity tourism, birthing-home operations have made headlines in California and New York. Recently, such operations in Southern California have been the target of loud complaints and protests from local residents. Los Angeles County has taken measures to crack down on such businesses.

The movie also touches topics that I have talked about in this blog like the stupidity and materialism of certain young girls in China, the downside of a fast growing economy that generates chaos and loss of values in the Chinese society. The movie also talks about the loneliness, confusion and suffering of Chinese young and beautiful ladies. It’s good to see that Jiajia finds the way to put her life back on track after moving to Seattle, almost implying that in the western world lies hope for Chinese women to regain sanity, once they are away from their poisonous life they have in China. And it’s interesting how western men are portrait in the movie: one character is a sperm donor, the next one is full of tattoos, a gay, an old rich man full of arrogance, a rude policemen… – pretty much not ideal candidates for a husband … While Frank, the Chines man and main character of the movie, stands out as the clear winner. He is a good man, humble, wise, caring, generous, a responsible father and a role model husband. He is “mr Right” indeed. It’s clear what the director message is, although love stories on movies are often dreams on celluloid… Real life and reality are a different story.

The movie obviously made me miss Seattle and my friends there. It was Alicia who invited me to watch it in a the theatre at the World Trade Center. Afterwards that she was expecting me to spend the night with her but yesterday, after watching the movie, I felt in a strange mood. If I spent the night with her I would have felt like a toy, and that didn’t make me feel comfortable so I asked her to drive me back home. I could see that she was a little bit disappointed but this time inside of me, something was telling me to be strong and follow my heart…