The Joy Luck Club/YMMV

• Rounded Character: A specifically-praised aspect of the novel is that it was among the most prominent to portray Chinese-American women as such.
• Tear Jerker: Suyuan Woo giving up her twins.
  • Also, when Suyuan assures her daughter that she is not entirely worthless and gives her a jade necklace.
  • In the film, Ying-Ying's son drowning.
  • The book is filled to the brim with them.
    • Also, Jing-Mei meeting her half-sisters.
    • Every subplot's climax in the film is tear jerking, actually... well, except Lindo's.
• Values Dissonance: Some of the parenting methods from 1920s and 1950s China may seem abusive to a modern audience.
• The Woobie: An-mei's mother, most definitely.
  • All the main characters in the film. Most males are either abusive or clueless, so the women are even more sympathetic.
• True Art Is Angsty: Every main character, especially mothers, all have messed up life. Everybody love it.