The Farewell

One part my thoughts, two parts me questioning "why didn't I think of that"

I went to see The Farewell a couple of days ago. It’s about a Chinese grandma who has cancer, and everyone is too Chinese to tell her. Of which, I have some thoughts:

• We saw this in a theater in Fort Lauderdale, where someone wrote “Great ‘fortune cookie’ of a movie” on the comment wall. Because it’s Fort Lauderdale! And there aren’t enough Asians here to be upset about it!

• And because of this, I have a lot of Asian friends who didn’t enjoy the movie because there are uniquely Asian American moments that take you out of the immersion.

  For example, there’s a scene where the extended family stays at the hotel rather than the grandmother’s house, and the grandmother lets them. That would NEVER happen. My mom called last week saying my dad has finally moved into the room I was staying in, and that I could sleep in mom’s bed while she slept in the living room. I told her I could sleep at a hotel; I may as well have said I quit my job to sell cheese sandwiches to a traveling hippie band. So ba…