Counterfeit examines how the expectations within a family, a culture, or a country can impact a person’s life and choices. Familial expectations impose their own pressure, while assumptions made upon a group can lead to bias, restrictions, or opportunities.

The weight of expectations from family members is explored through several characters. Winnie feels she disappointed her parents because she left Stanford for a Chinese university, thus limiting, in their eyes, the prestige and potential of her studies. Ava felt burdened throughout her youth by her father’s expectations that she earn A’s in all her classes—an expectation not conferred upon her brother, Gabe. While her father felt he was encouraging Ava to use her strengths, Ava heard the message that her happiness was not as important as her achievements. As a college graduate and professional, Ava feels her peers and classmates expect her to be succeeding in her chosen profession, taking on more responsibilities rather than ceding her work to tend to her child. She makes a silent comparison between herself and the wife of the father who brings his daughter to the preschool interview, presuming the wife is a high-achieving Asian woman leaving the dad to be the caretaker. The combined weight of these expectations leaves Ava feeling helpless and inferior.