Dìdi (弟弟)

I’m your son! I’m sorry I’m not a bragging right to your friends!!! god what a phenomenal coming-of-age film about a kid just learning how to navigate his adolescence in the 2000s. It was genuine, raw, honest, and hilarious to see a true depiction of the teenage years you wistfully look back at.  The cultural impact and significance truly hit home too mainly because instead of making it super obvious with a glaring neon sign that Chris is Chinese-American and actively making that work in the dialogue/character, Didi makes the choice to instead organically weave his culture into Chris’ journey and experiences the summer before his freshmen year in high school. It is shown in a unique and subtle manner that feels natural and normal. It doesn’t need to be explained or justified. It showcases that people of color, minorities, exists outside of the periphery. That we don’t need to educate and inform others about us. That we also just exist and are living our lives. That we are also the main character and have our own stories and experiences to share.  Watching this made me sorta realize that mayb I don’t have a unique experience, that we all go through the same things but don’t openly talk about them. Could have saved a lot of stress and anxiety if maybe we did tho. Or maybe is a rite of passage ever pre-teen has to go through?  god when Madi told Chris “ur pretty cute for an Asian” I cringed in my seat soooo hard. I’ve literally been told that before and what sucks is at the time, I genuinely thought it was a compliment. It was def a harsh lesson I had to learn.  The best part of the movie, was the relationship between Chris and his mom. Joan Chen did an amazing job and I was so moved. Her relationship to her mother-in-law, her kids, to herself, gosh so much depth there that could be explored but easily shined through in the 1hr 35min run time. The guilt of being a child of immigrants really comes out bc she literally says that she sometimes wonders what her life would’ve looked like if she hadn’t had kids. If she hadn’t married her husband. Maybe she would’ve come to America on her own. Gotten a little studio in NY and become a famous artist. Finally fulfilling her dream. But instead, she is happy and content with watching her kids achieve their dreams. Get opportunities and experiences that she would’ve never had. Her kids are her dreams. (Like Jesus, twist the knife deeper why don’t u)  Wild that Didi also means older sister in Gujarati. I guess that means that all of us, at some point, have been, are, or will be a didi.