so perhaps this is the goat compared to the sheep from the bible. how the goat only listens out of fear and reprisal, but a sheep only listens out of love. maybe the girl thought the man was criticizing her for not fulfilling his expectations of her because of a traumatic asian tiger parenting childhood, where she was constantly put down for expressing anything that isn't an already accepted norm, especially for a female. she likely saw her parents in him when he brought that up, and wanted to finally defy them through him, but didn't recognize that her partner had already fully accepted her into his life.
was it right for her to project her traumatic experiences onto her partner and "ruin" a special moment? i don't know, nobody's perfect, but maybe it's just best to take this as a lesson to learn to listen out of love first and foremost, and not just automatically assume the worst out of everyone. easier said than done, but again, nobody's perfect. i hope someday we'll all overcome that fear and learn what it means to really love with our full hearts.
