Passive Parents

Artist Zhong Biao argues in this painting that Chinese parents are not taking an active role in raising their children; therefore the westernized media is raising them to become violent and forget their traditions and values. His audience are working class Chinese parents. Westernization, over-worked parents, and forgotten children are all very relevant issues in modern China. The people that Zhong Biao wants to reach are the people who relate with the parents in the foreground of the painting.

He asks what the consequences are of parents taking a passive role in their children’s lives on the negative influence that their children pick up from westernization. Parents who are passive about raising a child will cause the child to become violent and insensitive because not having a parent around means that the child will be more strongly influenced by negative Western media, symbolized by McDonald’s and two Western children.

The argument works logically. When no adults are around, children think and do what they please. If parents don’t even know what their children are doing, how can they teach them correct values? The parents in the painting are obviously more interested in taking time for themselves to relax than to be with their children.

The parents on the couch also look very comfortable and relaxed. They seem to have both just finished a long day at work and look forward to some much-deserved rest. The image is very typical and I think that most adults have felt like this. We’ve felt the expression on the painting’s parents’ faces before and can picture ourselves in their situation very easily. With ourselves in the picture we become much more emotionally involved. Also, kids with guns are a powerful picture, even if they’re toys. That image hits home hard.

The manner of dress for both the parents and the children is an accurate depiction of what a working class family in China would afford to wear. Even the sport coat on the father is extremely typical of working class Chinese men.

McDonald’s has one of the most recognizable symbols in the world. Mixing this symbol of Westernization with the symbolism of a gun, Zhong Biao links the concept of Western influence with increased youth violence.

There isn’t significant enough information about what to do after a parent sees this image. I think that the art effectively communicates its point, but it may not effectively cause the audience to change. Even if a parent sees that the lack of attention given to their children is a problem, they still both have to work 6-7 days a week in order to support a family. What can they do to reverse the problem if they can’t change their lifestyle?