Multiracial and cultural relationships are definitely embedded in the themes of this movie. The duality between being African-American and never having been to Africa and then being Indian descent but identify with being African was interesting to see the duality between them. The racist aspect was also something that I wasn’t expecting. There was a strange tension between the female character’s father and Denzel Washington’s character as well, though I don’t think it was from racism, but the feeling of betrayal from his best friend from Africa.

This was also the first time that I had heard about Indians being in Africa, and what they went through. Though it doesn’t really specify much about the history. Though it gave enough details to know what had happened in Uganda. While there was some general information, it would have been nice to know more about what happened in detail, but I guess that’s up to me to research.

http://img2-3.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/060428/152155__masala_l.jpg

“By changing our history and our memory, they try to erase all our shame.”

-The email from the professor to Ruth about Haruki. Before this class I was in a human rights class, and one of the things that we talked about was the Japanese invasion in China, but particularly the denial of these massacres. There was even a government official who attempted to claim that the Chinese death count was too high by multiple thousands, that it hadn’t been ‘that bad.’

There was also mention of a group of Japanese men who had been taken prisoner in China who then attempted to remind the country of what had happened using the philosophy that if they continued to deny what they had done then it was only a matter of time that it would be repeated. They wanted to bring attention to these matters in order to keep the truth from dying.

I think that Ruth has an amazing way of bringing in issues that had happened in the past to color her characters of the past, present and future.

If you’ve ever seen a movie with a mostly black cast then you know that usually, someone dies. And it isn’t because of natural cause like cancer or something. Can you take a guess as to what it might be?

Gang Violence!

During all of Mississippi I was waiting for something bad to happen. I was waiting for the younger brother to get shot in a drive by. I was waiting for someone to get called the N word. I was waiting for something really racially wrong to happen. And even though there was a clear diversity happening, not once did something ever go really wrong. Yeah, the parents forbid her from seeing him but that didn’t stop her! (She was in love which is on a whole different level of being ridiculous.) No, her parents said no and she ran off with him anyways! That’s how the story ended! They ran away together!

I did enjoy the movie overall. It was interesting seeing how race doesn’t necessarily determine  culture. Mina was racially Indian but she was born and raised in Africa. Demetrius was racially  African but was born and raised in America. There was definite similarities, like who important family was to both of them, but at the end of the day they chose love. That could be an American thing though, culturally, we don’t look up to our elders and keep up with traditions like we used to. Honestly though I felt like this movie portrayed my black culture pretty well. Like I was saying earlier, it was nice to see a black family and not see gang violence with it.

Tweaking the theme of identity, this story had a lot to do with the bending of reality. The moment with Haruki’s ghost is the first time that the book changes from being part of our reality and turning into something that twists the idea of what reality was presented as in this story.

The relationship between Nao and Haruki shown at the temple is an interesting one; a relationship between the living and the dead. Haruki gives her hints towards different things that happened to him during the war, while starting an attachment that Nao feels towards him that continues to strengthen when she reads his letters.

Identity also begins to shift for Nao during her time at the temple as she searches for her ‘Supapowa!’, gaining strength and insight, even if she doesn’t always use it in the most productive way.

As we have seen, there were issues relating to family, tradition and generation gaps within this film. Wei struggled with admitting to his parents that he was gay which in return affected his relationship with his lover. As we go on to see during the movie, the struggle Wei has with his identity and that his mother continuously attempts to set him up with a woman so that he can get married and give she and his father grandchildren. The traditional wedding was supposed to be a huge celebration between the families of the two getting married yet Wei wanted to make it a small wedding so that he could get it out of the way and so his parents would stop heckling him about finding a wife.

The family/tradition issue is a common issue we have seen in multiple films this quarter. For instance, in Saving Face, Wil is unable to tell her mother that she is a lesbian which in result makes she and her mother’s relationship suffer. However, once she admits to her mother and her mother finally accepts the fact that she is not straight, forces her mother to grow as a person and to step away from sticking to just what her family expects from her but she is also finally willing to do what makes her happy, although it is not the traditional way of doing things neither is what her family expects of her. This is similar because Wei and his father suffer with having a successful relationship because his father is so focused on wanting grandchildren that he lacks having a close relationship with his own son. Wei is scared to tell his family that he is gay because he knows that it will disappoint them, and he is also breaking away from what is expected of him from his family.

Ridiculous [ri-dik-yuh-luhs]  adjective

What I appreciate the most about The Debut was that it was a story about Filipino families. It seems like there aren’t enough stories out there about this particular culture. There seems to be more movies based around Japanese and Chinese culture, but not many when it comes to some of the other Asian and Asian American cultures.

Something else about this movie that was interesting was the idea wish that the main character’s father had for him to succeed. He had had an option to ‘follow his dreams,’ but he had sacrificed it all for his family. All he wanted was for his son to succeed and not have to go through the hardships he had gone through when he hadn’t been able to make his dream a reality, even if it meant sacrificing immediate happiness.

The portrayal of the reluctance to accept their parents’ culture was another interesting point. It was neat to see how the character struggled with integrating the Filipino culture into general American teen culture, and the battle that he faced in order to learn to accept the different aspects of his life, as well as respect the mindsets of both.

Oliver: Has quirky trains of thought that can often lead to annoyance. Fortunately for Oliver, by the time his tangents end, an important connection has usually been made. Some may say that he connects with Pesto, his cat, the best out of anyone on the island. A voice of reason, or maybe just a voice of nature…

Hey it’s Pesto! ;]

Ruth: Communicates not only through spoken word but through the medium of novels as well. Her latest work has been brought to a halt by writer’s block, but have no fear! She will get it done…..some day. Her communication with Nao is definitely an abstract idea of conversation, but that is the best type right?

Okay, maybe I took the type thing a little too far for this one.

Nao: A journal is Nao’s weapon of choice. She writes about the past, present, and future. She also writes to the past, present, and future. In some odd way, she achieves time travel through communication and writing. She doesn’t always know how to communicate with other people, except when it comes to old Jiko, but her journal shows a confidence through her voice.

Nao must have had one of these.

Jiko: Jiko’s words were always worth listening to. She could break down the most complex ideas into short phrases that were packed with meaning. Her last message was the Kanji for sei, or ikiru, and that puzzled many people. Some thought it was unfinished, others thought that it was perfect and simple. Only Nao and her father really knew the true meaning behind it. Jiko had a way of communicating not only with people, but with the world around her as well. She had Buddhist prayers for many activities and she did not take anything for granted. Her slow yet graceful nature was like a smooth dialogue with the planet.

Jiko’s final word.

Haruki #1: He communicated through a secret journal, just like Nao, except his was written in French so no officers could intercept his mail and read his true thoughts on the war and being a kamikaze pilot. Jiko had the official letter that arrived but she knew that they were not his last words. Haruki #1 also possess the power to communicate through ghost form, although his messages can come off as “cryptic” (no pun intended).

Haruki #2: Nao’s father was never very great at expressing himself or talking with the family. When he became a hikikomori, it got even more awkward. He was able to communicate with some of the greatest minds of western philosophy but that didn’t always help his cause. Origami bugs where another hobby of his, which helped him hide his attempts to keep Nao’s auction from going to some hentai in Akihabara.

Origami C. Imperator

“A romantic comedy about right, wrong and everything in between.” [tagline]

Personally, I really enjoyed watching Saving Face. The content in this film was refreshing to see, since typically in America we don’t ever see a ROM-COM that has to do with two Asian American women, who are lesbian, who are dealing with traditional values, they are both main characters, and the mother is pregnant without a husband. It sounds like a great soup with everything in it but the kitchen sink, done in a very tasteful way!

During this week [week 4], we have been discussing movies that avoid the queer element of relationships with an emphasis of Asian Americans specifically [duh Amy]. Saving Face used the Slanted Screen approach to address these issues of Asian American queer relationships. Just like Emily Dickinson’s poem “Tell it Slant” she says, “Tell the truth, but tell it slant, success in circuit lies”. Essentially it’s not being satisfied with somebody else’s view [white people], they do it themselves in their own way.