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In the Disney film Encanto, Abuela, Mirabel’s grandmother, demonstrates the effect generational trauma can have on a family. Abuela experienced a great deal of trauma in her youth, including the death of her husband and being forced to flee her village due to war. This led Abuela to have struggling relationships with each of her grandchildren. Her trauma made her fail to see her family beyond their gifts. The Madrigal family’s generational trauma is similar to that of some of the mothers and daughters in Amy Tan’s novel, The Joy Luck Club. In the work, Lindo, An-mei, and Suyuan’s families prove that generational trauma can affect the everyday dynamic and relationships between mothers and daughters.

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In the movie The Goldfinch, Theodore Decker spends the whole film feeling responsible for his mother’s death. This is because he made it out of an explosion that she died in and because of this, he feels that it was his fault. Survivors guilt is when people go through a traumatic event and feel blame based on the fact that they didn’t have it as bad as everyone else, or the fact that they made it out. In the novel The Joy Luck Club, the survivors guilt caused by Rose losing Bing, An-Mei leaving her brother behind, and Suyuan leaving her daughters affects their relationships far later in their lives.

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·         In the Disney film, Mulan, she struggles to fit in a society of how people perceive women like her as. The pressure of upholding her family’s honor and keeping her family safe pushes her to leave for the military in place of her father, as a male soldier. Near toward the end of the story, she and the army win the war, and she earn China’s great honor. Not only that, but she found a man right for her, without a matchmaker. Just like how this story tells, the three characters have their own experiences where they find greater joy and peace by perseverance after going through hardships.

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It is a known fact that suffering and trials are a natural part of life. In the Disney Movie Mulan, the main character must face several trials while pretending to be a man training in the army to protect her father from going to war again. Even when she is eventually discovered to be a woman and shunned because of it, she perseveres through it knowing she must do the right thing. In many ways, Mulan demonstrates similarities between her story and that of the woman in the Joy Luck Club. In Amy Tan’s novel, the characters An-mei Hsu, Lindo Jong, and Ying-ying St. Clair demonstrate that the greatest kind of strength is having perseverance through dark times.

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In the Disney film Cruella, Estella losses her mother at an early age. Estella runs away to where she finds herself through fashion and restores her name back to Cruella. By the end of the film, Cruella returns from her grief and stands proudly over all those who hurt her. Like Cruella, characters in the novel, The Joy Luck Club, share a positive experience of coming back from grief. In the novel The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan the experience of loss affects a character in a positive way.

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·         In the animated Disney film, Mulan, the expectations and traditions of the village for the young women, including Mulan, caused them to experience unhappiness. Because of what was expected of them, the girls of the village were paraded to the matchmaker in their finery so that they might be deemed worthy of a husband and dutiful enough to follow his commands. Much like the women of The Joy Luck Club, the girls of Mulan’s village were expected to blindly follow the traditions of their ancestors and remain dutiful to them regardless of their negative impacts on themselves and their psyche. In the same novel, The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, the experiences of An-Mei’s mother, Ying-Ying, and Lindo teach the reader that one cannot succumb to one’s duty to tradition, and must overcome those hardships.

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·         Chumbawumba’s song, Tub thumping, sends a message of resilience. The lyrics state, “I get knocked down / but I get up again / aint nothing gonna keep me down”. No matter what the narrator experiences, they will not admit defeat. Nothing will keep them from getting back up. Lindo, Suyuan and Waverly all exemplify this same sort of strength mentioned my Chumbawumba.

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In the popular Disney film, Moana, who is also the main character, gets thrown into danger on an attempt to save her family. She must escape her destiny of being the chef and instead writes her own narrative by choosing to venture out into the unknown. As Moana struggles during her adventure, the lengths she will go to in order to support and get the best for her family are unmatched. Similarly, in the novel The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, the characters Suyuan, An-mei's mother, and Waverly prove that mothers want the very best for their daughters.

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·         In the Disney film Beauty and the Beast, an example of love fueling strength is when Bell sacrifices her freedom to save her father. In this film, after the Beast captures Belle’s father, Belle pushes aside her fear and heads to the castle to free her father. Belle is so impowered by love that she puts her father’s wellbeing before hers, and takes his place trapped inside the castle. Just as love enables Belle to sacrifice herself for her father, the mothers in the joy luck club are similarly powered by the love they have for their daughters. Likewise, in the novel, The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan shows, that the mothers' love towards their daughters enables their strength.

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In Stephanie Land’s memoir Maid, the compelling force of autonomy prompts Alex to abandon her abusive boyfriend, Sean, taking her daughter, Maddy, with her and ensuring a better quality of life for the both of them. This newfound autonomy allows for Alex to remain resolute through the process of acquiring full custody of Maddy. As a young, unwed, and uneducated mother with few resources to turn to and unstable living conditions, providing for Maddy becomes a lonely struggle. This further escalates the likelihood for forced return to her abusive boyfriend. Through persistence Alex begins her college education and gains full custody of Maddy. Alex and Maddy embark on a ferry to Montana to begin a hopeful new life. Similarly, In Amy Tan’s novel, The Joy Luck Club, autonomy empowers female characters to act in their best interests under the supposed superiority of male figures. Feminine autonomy grants power to Lindo, Lena, and Rose within their relationships.

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In the Disney film, Frozen, the loving Princess Anna demonstrates an astounding act of self-sacrifice. By selflessly stepping in front of her sister Elsa, Anna saves Elsa from the evil soldiers hunting her for her magical ice powers but causes herself to freeze into an ice sculpture. Anna’s undying love for her sister is similar to the love shown by many mothers in Amy Tan’s heart-rending novel The Joy Luck Club. In the novel The Joy Luck Club, author Amy Tam stresses the theme of self-sacrifice provides improvement and opportunities through the heart-heavy stories of Suyuan Woo’s loss, Lindo Jong’s risk, and An-Mei’s mother’s sacrifice.

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In the Disney film Frozen, Elsa demonstrates how women take control of their lives. After hurting her sister Anna, she isolates herself to figure out her powers because she is terrified of hurting anyone else. Instead of letting this get the best of her she learns to find her purpose and be strong through it all. Elsa finding herself and taking control of her life is similar to many characters in Amy Tan’s novel, The Joy Luck Club. In the work, the characters An-Mei, Suyuan, and Lindo show how women take control in their lives.

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In the television drama Gilmore Girls, Lorelai Gilmore and her mother Emily display a complicated mother-daughter relationship. Emily expects the best from Lorelai despite Lorelai’s past letdowns, and this places immense pressure upon Lorelai. Due to this pressure, Lorelai cuts all contact with Emily for many years because she resents the pressure her mother put on her. Similar negativity in the mother-daughter relationships is depicted in The Joy Luck Club. In the novel by Amy Tan, An-Mei Hsu, Lindo Jong, and Suyuan Woo all expect perfection from their daughters which causes negativity in their relationships.

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In the Disney film, Turning Red, Mei-Mei’s overbearing mother causes her to feel suffocated by her high expectations. This is very similar to the way the mothers of Joy Luck Club make their daughters feel by the extremely high standards they hold. In the beginning of the film, Mei-Mei’s mother is forceful and pushes Mei-Mei to be the ideal daughter and not be her true self. The mother-daughter relationship is tested. In the end, Ming comes to accept Mei-Mei for who she is, and the relationship becomes stronger than ever before. Rose, Lena, and Waverly all have different issues with their mothers, but each problem relates to the pressure of their mothers. In the novel, The Joy Luck Club, a woman’s self-confidence is directly linked to her relationship with her mother and Amy Tan shows this through Rose Hsu Jordan, Lena St. Clair, and Waverly Jong.

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In the movie Forrest Gump, made by Paramount Pictures, Jenny, Forrest’s best friend, endures a rough and abusive childhood. As a result of Jenny’s childhood, she grows up and turns to drugs as a source of relief. Jenny’s scars from her childhood lead her life down a destructive path for a while, just like the scars of characters from The Joy Luck Club. In Amy Tan’s novel Ying-ying, Lena, and An-mei show that endurance can lead to everlasting scars.

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In the 2005 TV series Supernatural, John sees his wife burn to death in a fire. John, left to bring up his sons alone, and on a journey for revenge, raises his oldest son, Dean, to be a soldier. Because of his upbringing, Dean struggles with empathy, emotional availability, and his relationships with the people he loves. This trope of parents projecting their trauma onto their children is also portrayed in the mother-daughter relationships in the novel, The Joy Luck Club. In her work, author Amy Tan exemplifies the negative effects of generational trauma through Waverly’s need for validation, Lena’s marriage, and Jing-Mei’s struggle with internal motivation.

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In the movie Saving Private Ryan, Captain John H. Miller and his team have the task of saving Private Ryan so that Ryan can get home safely to his parents. Captain Miller loses many men in his platoon over the course of not only getting to Private Ryan but also trying to get him out of World War II. Even though Miller loses his life he never gave up on Ryan and his perseverance not only got Ryan home but also allowed Ryan to have a family and live a happy life. Miller’s persistence to never give up on getting Ryan home ties into the persistence found in The Joy Luck Club. In the novel, The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, the characters, Suyuan, Lindo, and An-Mei show how endurance leads to positive situations.

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Hope Edelman expresses, "No one in your life will ever love you as your mother does. There is no love as pure, unconditional, and strong as a mother's love. And I will never be loved that way again." Love for someone can fade and die off, but there is a certain connection between a mother and her daughter that will never fade. A mother is connected to her daughter from the very beginning. She came from her mother and is a part of her forever. That unbreakable love is shown in Amy Tan’s novel. In The Joy Luck Club, the mothers show unconditional love for their daughters when Suyuan leaves her twin baby girls, An-mei’s mother commits suicide, and Lindo gives up her “Chinese face.”

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In the Movie, The Blindside, Leigh Anne takes Michael, a random boy off the street, into her arms. She teaches him life lessons such as brotherhood and respect, and always expects him to put out his greatest effort. Leigh Anne shows such passion in teaching him these valuable lessons so that he succeeds later in life. Leigh Anne’s story relates to Amy Tan’s novel, They Joy Luck Club when Lindo, An-mei, and Suyan show a compelling theme that despite childhood trauma, a mother always fights for her daughter’s success.

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In the classic novel Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Margaret March wisely explains her hopes for her daughters. Mrs. March testifies, “I want my daughters to be beautiful, accomplished, and good. To be admired, loved, and respected…. My dear girls, I am ambitious for you” (111). Mrs. March’s aspirations for her daughters are similar to those of the mothers in the Joy Luck Club.  In this novel by Amy Tan, the sacrifices of Suyuan, An-Mei, and Lindo exhibit the mothers’ optimism in providing their daughters with a better life.

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In the 2021 film Encanto, the matriarch of the Madrigal family, Alma, recognizes how the buildup of her past traumas negatively affects how she raises her family. While fleeting from Spanish conquistadors, Abuela’s husband, Pedro, dies leaving Alma to raise her three newborns alone, simultaneously she must deal with the pressures of settling a town with new magical powers. Alma is steadfast in settling the town, refusing to come to terms with the trauma that she has faced, so in turn she passes down her unresolved pressures, anxieties, and insecurities on to her children who then pass it on to their children. Alma’s inability to grapple with her past traumatic events eventually affecting her children is also seen in Amy Tan’s novel The Joy Luck Club. The work illustrates through Ying-Ying St. Clair how the unwillingness to acknowledge traumas of the past can create an unbreakable cycle of generational trauma.