The Modern Dilemma of Confucian Family Ethics: A Case Study of Intergenerational Responsibility and Female Individualization in the Film My Sister

Abstract

The film My Sister explores the struggle of the eldest daughter, An Ran, who is caught between the intergenerational responsibility of raising her younger brother and her desire to pursue a career in medicine. The film investigates the tensions between traditional Confucian family ethics, which emphasize obligations based on blood ties, gender roles, and family-centered values, and modern individualistic values that promote personal choice, contractual responsibility, and self-actualization. The narrative contrasts An Ran with her aunt, revealing how Chinese families, shaped by Confucian ethical traditions, face difficulties when individual consciousness emerges during the process of modernization. The film’s open ending suggests that while Confucian ethics are being challenged in modern society, there is also potential for them to be reconfigured on the basis of mutual negotiation and respect.