Somewhere Between (FILM REVIEW)
Somewhere Between
Film Review
by Kam Williams
Adoption Documentary Traces Four Teens’ Chinese Roots
When the People’s Republic of China
implemented its one child policy in 1979, it was suddenly open season on female
infants, given the misogynistic nation’s cultural preference for boys. That
development dovetailed nicely with the increased demand for babies in the U.S. where
working women often put off procreation until it’s too late for them to have
kids.
Forced to face up to their
infertility, thousands of childless middle-agers flocked to Asia to adopt, a
place where girls are a dime a dozen, given that families allowed only a single
child are eager to dispose of their fairer sex rejects. While this arrangement
met the diametrically opposed needs of the adoptive American and biological Chinese
parents, not many of the participants in intercontinental human trafficking
ever bothered to pause to wonder what effect it might have on a yellow child
from a Communist dictatorship to be raised by white folks in a capitalist
country located half a world away from their birthplace.
However, that question did occur to film
director Linda Goldstein Knowlton when she decided to adopt an Asian toddler of
her own. She wanted to know the unanticipated pitfalls, long-term, associated
with what she was getting into. How would little Ruby react to racism and
looking different? Would the kid grow up to be a resentful time bomb curious
about her first pair of parents or would she merely make a smooth adjustment to
America
and enter the ranks of the so-called Model Minority?
To get some answers, Knowlton
decided to follow four teenagers around with a camera, asking them probing
questions about what their lives have been like since being adopted. And the
net result of that effort is Somewhere Between, a heartbreaking biopic which,
as one might guess from the title, shows its subjects to be little lost souls
who have each made peace with living in a lonely limbo not of their own making.
They describe themselves as
“Bananas” or “Twinkies,” a play on the term Oreo used for some blacks, because
they’re yellow on the outside but white on the inside. And I can’t say that I
blame them.
When 13 year-old Haley devoted her
summer vacation to tracing her roots, she schlepped herself all the way to the remote
peasant village in a remote region of rural China where the records said she
was born. But her own mother couldn’t be bothered to take a day off from work
to say “Hi!” or better yet to apologize for having abandoned her as a helpless
infant.
However, the sperm donor did submit
to a DNA test, which only confirmed that, yes, this was the gene pool from
which Haley had sprung. Talk about a Hello Muddah-Hello Fadduh- level letdown.
Listen, even people in the States
are generally underwhelmed when they track down their biological parents. Just
watch any episode of that Maury Povich paternity test reality show.
After all, it generally isn’t
exactly the cream of humanity, or of any species for that matter, that refuses
to nurture their own flesh and blood. Still, those parents who do surrender
their babies for adoption shouldn’t be faulted for at least recognizing that
their offspring might be a lot better off raised by strangers.
A very informative,
thought-provoking and ultimately moving documentary exploring both the bright
and dark sides of the transnational, Asianl adoption controversy.
Excellent
(4 stars)
Unrated
In English, Chinese
and Spanish with subtitles.
Running time: 88 minutes
Distributor: Long
Shot Factory
To see a trailer for Somewhere Between, visit:
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