As Adrian Martin suggests in his article, some viewers are misled by the synopses that Hou’s films are stories of individuals. However, Hou is the one who understands that historical events have implications for the psychological life of the individual.
Good Men Good Women stresses the parallels between two periods and two women, Chiang Bi-Yu and Liang Ching, played by the same actress. Chiang Bi-Yu dedicates her life with her husband into social justice and social movements. But her husband is suspected as the communist after they come back from the anti-Japanese war in the mainland China and is killed by the Taiwanese authority. Although Chiang Bi-Yu is pushed along by events, she has the determination to live her life, to fight for the social justice and makes decisions.
While Liang Ching lives a cold and empty life, lost herself in gangsters, alcohol and drugs. Two women share the commonality of loss. They both want children and are unable to have or keep them; they both lost their husband; and they both grieve for the loss.
People in the modern Taiwanese society though are richer material, but are poorer in many ways. When Liang Ching is on the phone with the anonymous individuals sending the faxed passages, she tells him that “Everyone said: the dead stay dead, but money's real.” Although Taiwanese society in the 1990s are hunted with political corruption and social turmoil, Chiang Bi-Yu and her husband lead a determined life. The film overall does not have a preference in the moral judgment. It suggests that there are painful and difficult social and personal problems aren’t going to be solved overnight. Audiences are be able to feel the historical trauma and personal sadness when experiencing those stories told by individuals.
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