One question that I seem to be struggling with is whether Jerry can be considered part of the subaltern. A reigning factor in what makes someone part of the subaltern is their "voicelessness." The inability to voice their own words and the natural inclination for misinterpretation goes against the idea that the subaltern are not a simple categorization of “being
postcolonial or the member of an ethnic minority,” (Spivak 808). This leads to my question on what Jerry is really a part of. He states in the movie that he is part of a higher social position than Cindy and that his family has more money. In my personal opinion, Jerry is a spoiled brat who is self centered. However, I do not think he is part of the subaltern. His ability to strongly voice his opinions and his motive is directly stated for others to hear. His motivation is to make more money. With this statement alone, it doesn't leave any room for misinterpretation. However, there is the argument that he is also part of the subaltern because he is unable to state his voice of concern to the flooding of the river. Although the movie's main focus was not on Jerry, I think the movie does a great job in putting the concern on what position Jerry fits into.
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I agree with you, Eric. I do recall Professor Graban saying that Chang didn't initially intend to incorporate "Jerry" into his film, but he came across him, and he was so charismatic and camera friendly, he decided to use him as a contrast maybe? I don't know that Chang would necessarily have said who is and isn't subaltern, or if he even knows what that means. But I think he realized there was something distinctly different about Jerry compared to Cindy and her family. I agree that he isn't subaltern, I just wonder if he's even supposed to be. I think Chang tries really hard throughout the film to give us insight into, not only Cindy's family and narrow perspective, but into all different kinds of people: villagers, tourists, well-off, poor, etc. I do want to consider the possibility that perhaps Jerry "misrepresents" himself? Considering his arrogance in previous shots and then his raw self, it is not a crazy proposal, I don't think so anyways. Maybe he tries to dissociate with the group of subaltern, but underneath he still somewhat identifies with them.
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