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Watching ‘Minari’ With My Korean American Family
Would my kids sit through this ‘quiet’ movie?
(Warning: Spoiler alert)
A few nights ago, I finally herded my two kids into the living room to watch Minari as a family. I wanted my Korean American family to see their lives played out in glorious 4K. It took a month of finagling. I couldn’t understand why they weren’t running to the living room to watch a story of a family that spoke our language! At their age, I was desperate for someone who looked like me on the big screen, someone who wasn’t a martial artist. To my school friends, I looked like Bruce Lee, then Jackie Chan, then Jet Li.
My 10-year-old whined, “Why do I have to watch a movie about a Korean family living in Arkansas?!”
Was he bad-mouthing Arkansas? Like nothing happens in Arkansas, at least nothing worth turning into a movie?
But it also sounded like he was emphasizing the word “Korean” as if he were dismissing the movie because it was about a Korean family. As if “Korean families” didn’t have enough importance to be turned to main characters. A story about a family was just too ordinary, while a “Korean” family was not ordinary enough.
