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Phillip McSween (751 KP) rated The Debut (2000) in Movies
Jan 18, 2018
Must See
Bottom Line: You need to watch The Debut. It's not the best movie out there, but I think it's absolutely necessary as we strive to understand race and our place in the world. No, the acting isn't out-of-this-world and the film is a bit cheesy in spots. The beauty of it all is that it still manages to deliver a powerful message in spite of its shortcomings.
The story revolves around Ben Mercado (Dante Basco). Ben is trying to find himself. He's torn between the lines of his Filipino culture and the rest of the majority world. Racism is tackled head-on, self-racism being one of the most central focuses. When you come from a strong, influential culture, it's not unreal to be scrutinized by others within that culture because you don't confine to the norm. There's power in seeing it unfold in front of you.
I thoroughly enjoyed the insight into the Filipino culture and their traditions. As different as cultures and races can be, it's very interesting to see the similarities that bind us. The birthday party that was thrown for Ben's sister had a familiar feel to the cookouts my mom used to host growing up. At the same time, the differences are also glaring. There is a scene where Ben hits up a party with his friends and he's the only minority there. While he was with people he knew, he still felt out of place. Been there. Interestingly enough, he felt most comfortable around the family and culture he spent part of his life running from, even when there was heavy tension afoot. If that's not real life, I don't know what is.
Director Gene Cajayon made it pretty easy for you to become invested in Ben. You've got everyone trying to decide his life for him while he puts his heart and soul into a passion that no one respects. His father wants him to go to medical school and follow in his own footsteps, but Ben has other plans. Everything comes to a head at his sister's birthday party where the story primarily takes place.
I do wish there were subtitles during the scenes were they were speaking Filipino, however I understand the director's choice to keep that barrier up. At the same time, I felt it lessened the impact of what was being said. It was awkward in spots, but awkwardly real.
The film reinforces one thing among many: We still struggle with race issues today and, unfortunately, it's hard for people on the other side of the coin to properly address those issues. Progress is slow, but as long as there is progress of some sort, it's the only way we can really hope to get better as a society.
So glad this film randomly found its way onto my Movies 365 list. I give it a 73.
The story revolves around Ben Mercado (Dante Basco). Ben is trying to find himself. He's torn between the lines of his Filipino culture and the rest of the majority world. Racism is tackled head-on, self-racism being one of the most central focuses. When you come from a strong, influential culture, it's not unreal to be scrutinized by others within that culture because you don't confine to the norm. There's power in seeing it unfold in front of you.
I thoroughly enjoyed the insight into the Filipino culture and their traditions. As different as cultures and races can be, it's very interesting to see the similarities that bind us. The birthday party that was thrown for Ben's sister had a familiar feel to the cookouts my mom used to host growing up. At the same time, the differences are also glaring. There is a scene where Ben hits up a party with his friends and he's the only minority there. While he was with people he knew, he still felt out of place. Been there. Interestingly enough, he felt most comfortable around the family and culture he spent part of his life running from, even when there was heavy tension afoot. If that's not real life, I don't know what is.
Director Gene Cajayon made it pretty easy for you to become invested in Ben. You've got everyone trying to decide his life for him while he puts his heart and soul into a passion that no one respects. His father wants him to go to medical school and follow in his own footsteps, but Ben has other plans. Everything comes to a head at his sister's birthday party where the story primarily takes place.
I do wish there were subtitles during the scenes were they were speaking Filipino, however I understand the director's choice to keep that barrier up. At the same time, I felt it lessened the impact of what was being said. It was awkward in spots, but awkwardly real.
The film reinforces one thing among many: We still struggle with race issues today and, unfortunately, it's hard for people on the other side of the coin to properly address those issues. Progress is slow, but as long as there is progress of some sort, it's the only way we can really hope to get better as a society.
So glad this film randomly found its way onto my Movies 365 list. I give it a 73.
Louise (64 KP) rated Flight of a Starling in Books
Jul 2, 2018
* I received a copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
After reading Paper Butterflies by Lisa Heathfield last year I knew that I needed to read her latest book out. Lisa is UKYA author and I don’t think she gets enough credit for her work. This is another book that delivers a believable story with such rawness and emotion.
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/6DfkKrGznukr6/giphy.gif"; width="200"height="200"alt="description"/>
Our story follows Rita and Lo, two sisters that are travelers and the trapeze act in their circus that moves around England on a regular basis. Life is how it has always been for the girls, set up their tent, do a few shows and move on to the next village – they haven’t known any other life and don’t really question it. They travel with another family and it’s presumed the girls will marry the boys of the other family and carry on the legacy of the circus. One evening when they explore the local area they start talking to some of the locals and sparks start to ignite between Lo and ‘a flattie'(a term for non traveler folk). With Lo slowly falling in love she starts to question her life,her role and existence in the circus – with wanting her freedom she finds cracks starting to appear and her life crumbling around her.
‘Flight of a Starling’ didn’t fail to deliver, I knew from past works that this was going to be an emotional, gritty and raw read. Heathfield has a great writing style that manages to evoke emotions – even from me who has a heart of stone. The story is told in dual perspective, swapping from Rita to Lo with just the right sized chapters. The first half of this book is rather slow what with it building a picture of what it was like to be in a travelling community and their traditions and beliefs. I loved learning about the performances that the girls were involved in such as the trapeze and their big costumes.
I must admit that I wasn’t too keen on the romance side of the book, It was lacking emotion and connection between the characters, I wanted the warm fuzziness that you get from reading about a couple that first meet, the excitement of it…which didn’t happen and it’s sad as it has such a big part of the story.
The second half of the book takes a change in pace, it was amazing and what really made the story for me. My heart was in my mouth and I could feel the blood pulsing around my body with anxiety. I was scared for the characters,I was hoping for a silver lining but Heathfield never shies away from her writing and sucker punches you in the gut.
I recommend if you want something gritty yet believable.
I rated this book 4 out of 5 stars
After reading Paper Butterflies by Lisa Heathfield last year I knew that I needed to read her latest book out. Lisa is UKYA author and I don’t think she gets enough credit for her work. This is another book that delivers a believable story with such rawness and emotion.
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/6DfkKrGznukr6/giphy.gif"; width="200"height="200"alt="description"/>
Our story follows Rita and Lo, two sisters that are travelers and the trapeze act in their circus that moves around England on a regular basis. Life is how it has always been for the girls, set up their tent, do a few shows and move on to the next village – they haven’t known any other life and don’t really question it. They travel with another family and it’s presumed the girls will marry the boys of the other family and carry on the legacy of the circus. One evening when they explore the local area they start talking to some of the locals and sparks start to ignite between Lo and ‘a flattie'(a term for non traveler folk). With Lo slowly falling in love she starts to question her life,her role and existence in the circus – with wanting her freedom she finds cracks starting to appear and her life crumbling around her.
‘Flight of a Starling’ didn’t fail to deliver, I knew from past works that this was going to be an emotional, gritty and raw read. Heathfield has a great writing style that manages to evoke emotions – even from me who has a heart of stone. The story is told in dual perspective, swapping from Rita to Lo with just the right sized chapters. The first half of this book is rather slow what with it building a picture of what it was like to be in a travelling community and their traditions and beliefs. I loved learning about the performances that the girls were involved in such as the trapeze and their big costumes.
I must admit that I wasn’t too keen on the romance side of the book, It was lacking emotion and connection between the characters, I wanted the warm fuzziness that you get from reading about a couple that first meet, the excitement of it…which didn’t happen and it’s sad as it has such a big part of the story.
The second half of the book takes a change in pace, it was amazing and what really made the story for me. My heart was in my mouth and I could feel the blood pulsing around my body with anxiety. I was scared for the characters,I was hoping for a silver lining but Heathfield never shies away from her writing and sucker punches you in the gut.
I recommend if you want something gritty yet believable.
I rated this book 4 out of 5 stars
Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated American Panda in Books
Jan 23, 2020
<h2><em><strong>American Panda</strong></em><strong> is one of the books I needed my entire life.</strong></h2>
Gloria Chao's debut novel is about Mei, a Chinese-American teen who has no desire to be the doctor her parents want and a crush on a boy who wouldn't get a parental stamp of approval. Her older brother, Xing, is disowned by the family for falling in love with the wrong person, and a few meetups with him to reconnect makes her question the traditions she grew up with.
<h3><strong>I related to Mei so, so much.</strong></h3>
95% of the time growing up and now I feel like I'm alone in my experiences - <em><strong>American Panda</strong></em><strong> reminded me that I'm not alone. At all.</strong> There are other people like me who go through relatively similar experiences! 😭😭😭 (Honestly, I want to cry happy tears the entire time reading.)
And while my experiences aren't the same as Mei, it hit close to my heart with her struggles to choose between fulfilling her parents' dreams and what her heart wants. This is something I continue to struggle with, along with balancing two different cultures.
<h3><strong>Cute, adorable, hilarious.</strong></h3>
On top of relating to virtually every page, paragraph and line in the novel, there's a cute and adorable romance! I loved reading the moments between Darren and Mei.
But while <em>American Panda</em> is all three of those traits, it can also be really heavy and emotional later on as Mei is having an internal struggle with herself, and eventually external with her family members. <strong>If you are expecting a fluffy contemporary read when going into this novel, you will find yourself a little disappointed.</strong>
<h3><strong>But sometimes it wasn't funny.</strong></h3>
There were a few moments in the book where I felt the novel was not funny - most of that occurred near the end. While I understand the approach was meant to be comedic, I felt like it played into the Asian stereotypes a little too much. It also felt like Chao was trying too hard (and maybe that was intentional?) with some of those scenes. At the same time though, most of the stereotypes I feel were handled well by Chao. Again, I'm only one Chinese-American - my experiences compared to another will be different.
<h2><strong>Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed <em>American Panda</em> and how it deals with the struggles of Chinese-American teens growing up.</strong></h2>
While this specifically deals with one Chinese-American experience (and as noted by the author, Mei's experience is taken from many backgrounds and fictionalized), I think a lot of teens will relate to the book in other ways.
<a href="http://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/american-panda-by-gloria-chao/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
Gloria Chao's debut novel is about Mei, a Chinese-American teen who has no desire to be the doctor her parents want and a crush on a boy who wouldn't get a parental stamp of approval. Her older brother, Xing, is disowned by the family for falling in love with the wrong person, and a few meetups with him to reconnect makes her question the traditions she grew up with.
<h3><strong>I related to Mei so, so much.</strong></h3>
95% of the time growing up and now I feel like I'm alone in my experiences - <em><strong>American Panda</strong></em><strong> reminded me that I'm not alone. At all.</strong> There are other people like me who go through relatively similar experiences! 😭😭😭 (Honestly, I want to cry happy tears the entire time reading.)
And while my experiences aren't the same as Mei, it hit close to my heart with her struggles to choose between fulfilling her parents' dreams and what her heart wants. This is something I continue to struggle with, along with balancing two different cultures.
<h3><strong>Cute, adorable, hilarious.</strong></h3>
On top of relating to virtually every page, paragraph and line in the novel, there's a cute and adorable romance! I loved reading the moments between Darren and Mei.
But while <em>American Panda</em> is all three of those traits, it can also be really heavy and emotional later on as Mei is having an internal struggle with herself, and eventually external with her family members. <strong>If you are expecting a fluffy contemporary read when going into this novel, you will find yourself a little disappointed.</strong>
<h3><strong>But sometimes it wasn't funny.</strong></h3>
There were a few moments in the book where I felt the novel was not funny - most of that occurred near the end. While I understand the approach was meant to be comedic, I felt like it played into the Asian stereotypes a little too much. It also felt like Chao was trying too hard (and maybe that was intentional?) with some of those scenes. At the same time though, most of the stereotypes I feel were handled well by Chao. Again, I'm only one Chinese-American - my experiences compared to another will be different.
<h2><strong>Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed <em>American Panda</em> and how it deals with the struggles of Chinese-American teens growing up.</strong></h2>
While this specifically deals with one Chinese-American experience (and as noted by the author, Mei's experience is taken from many backgrounds and fictionalized), I think a lot of teens will relate to the book in other ways.
<a href="http://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/american-panda-by-gloria-chao/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
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