Parents would never be good listeners. Oftentimes they pretend to
concentrate on their children』s well being; however, actually what they
are enthusiastic about is how much attention their children pay to their
advice, instead of how much they understand their children』s thoughts.
In
the movie 「Splendor in the Grass」, when Bud tried to express his
feelings and tell his wishes to his father, what his father cared about
was that Bud should go to Yale after graduation and be a popular
football player at the same time. Although the father repeated 「yes, I
know, I understand」 continuously, he neglected Bud』s real wishes and
thought that Bud was just making a little complaint then and would
eventually accept what he had arranged for Bud. Likewise, when Deanie
came home after her date with Bud, she wanted to ask her mother about
sex, but her mother was only interested in examining closely whether
Deanie had kept her virginity, instead of showing any real concern for
the development of the lovers』 romantic amour.
In
my own experience, I had made up my mind not to be a teacher since my
childhood; however, my mom hoped that some day I could be a teacher.
When I decided to enter the field of Mass Communication at the
university level, I tried time and again to explain my ideas to her.
At the beginning, I thought she had accepted my decision for she didn』t
interrupt my words. However, after the JCEE, my mother started telling
me which normal university or normal school was popular and famous, and
she did it everyday: 「To be a Chinese teacher is good, but to be an
English teacher is better. No matter what, to be a teacher is the best
choice!」 Suddenly, I felt cheated. She had never attached any
importance to my viewpoints, and she was not respecting my wishes then.
What a naïve child I was to think that I had won her support to pursue
my own career!
Parents are never good at listening to their children, but they are
skilled in compelling their children to accept their arrangement. In my
opinion, it』s totally wrong to regard children as parents』 puppets.
Everyone has his/her own particular individualities, and it』s nonsense
that someone ought to live for the hopes of another. Furthermore, the
film 「Splendor in the Grass,」 which represents such a tragedy of
parents-children imbalance, clearly demonstrates the ignorance of
parents and the repression they exert upon their children. Most adults
are living in a world of self-aggrandizement and self-centeredness; they
rarely care about their children』s true feelings I hope that I would
never grow to be such a kind of person when I enter the adults』 world.