Films are considered as a valuable tool to learn intercultural cross communication. According to Champoux (1999), films perform four functions: as experience, as case, as meaning and as metaphor helping students to understand situations which they might not have experienced personally, then help them to connect with various theories and concepts. Released in 2008, “The Ramen Girl” is a movie that can allow students to do that. The film details the struggles and ultimate success of “Abby” (Brittany Murphy), a young American woman following her boyfriend, Ethan on a business trip to Japan. When being summoned to Osaka for work, Ethan awkwardly decides to leave Abby flat and says that he never requested her presence on this excursion. Depressed and alone, Abby wanders down the street from her apartment and goes into a little ramen noodle shop. The shop’s sullen owner, Maezumi shouts at her in Japanese that the restaurant is closed but he realizes that Abby does not speak hislanguage. Noticing her emotional distress, he decides to serve her a steaming hot bowl of his famous ramen noodles …show more content…
Through the film, it can be seen that there are a lot of differences between American and Japanese culture and what would be like when two culture are brought together. For intercultural students, this could be a good chance to learn and to think about how they can deal with their own cultural conflict when it happens. In teaching intercultural cross communication, using “The Ramen Girl” in the classroom with guidelines of instructors will help students learn cultural theories more easily because as Champoux (1999) said, “films are a comfortable familiar medium to contemporary students that can keep student interest in the theories and concepts under