Greetings!

We designed this site in order to keep in touch with friends and family who are far away and in order to communicate with other adoptive families from around the world.

When we first started researching this wonderful way to become a family we read everything we could get our hands on. Even though there are a lot of great books out there, nothing was as informative or touching as the blogs we found by adoptees, biological parents, and adoptive families. So we are writing this blog now in hopes of returning the favor. We hope that if you are dear to us you will enjoy keeping up with our adventures. If you are someone out there involved in a part of the adoption triad we hope you will find information and comfort here and provide us with some of your own!

If you would like to get in touch with us we can be reached at: becomingafamily@gmail.com
Feel free to stop by anytime. We're happy to share our family story.

Take care,
Brian and Rosemary

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Chocolate



This week marks the US film release of Chocolate, the long awaited new movie from Thai director Prachya Pinkaew, of Ong Bak fame.  Actress Yanin "Jeeja" Wismitanant plays an an autistic girl with amazing powers of muscle memory.  Jeeja has trained in Muay Thai for years, used no body double and did all her own stunts for this film.  They are calling her the female Tony Jaa.  

I don't know much about autism but some critiques of the film have not appreciated the manner in which the condition is handled in this movie.  The New York Times says, "It’s true that Zen (Jija Yanin Vismitananda), born to a humble Thai woman and a Japanese gangster, exhibits behaviors that suggest autism, or at least some poorly acted simulation of it: abnormal shyness, primitive syntax, rocking back and forth, an extreme aversion to houseflies."

In the same New York Times article mentioned above commenter WBBolton from Austin, TX. writes in to say, "The person who reviewed this movie has no appreciation for the genre, so don't be put off by his comments. I've had this movie in a Malaysian release for months.... Jeeja Yanin is a real-life taekwando expert, and she has the moves."

We haven't seen it yet but we're hoping to catch it at an indie theater somewhere here in town. However, I do like two things about this movie from the get-go.  #1 - It defies all that gender profiling that would tell us boys get in fights and girls go shopping.  #2 - It portrays a female lead who is not using her body to seduce men and achieve power.  I have become especially sensitive to the latter lately.  I am so tired of seeing Asian women portrayed by the media as if the entire race exists to serve as nothing other than oversexed supermodels or prostitutes.  Now I do realize that martial arts expert is also a racist stereotype that the Asian community would like to get away from as well but this is genre film produced in Thailand for the Thai community.  I think it's ok for someone in a martial arts film to be a martial arts expert.  It's when the Asian girl in any given media characterization is always a martial arts expert that the illusion grows weary.

That being said, "I hope you guys enjoy a little Thai Chocolate this Valentines season!"

Happy Valentines Day!
 - Rosemary

5 comments:

Yoli said...

Happy Valentine's Day to a beautiful couple. Thanks for alerting me to this movie.

Jessica said...

Gonna check it out. Chocolate, in any form, is always good.

Maci Miller said...

Look at you, my artsy New Yorker friend! Always finding the most interesting things and great films. Will look for this! Let us know what you thought after you see it!

and lol - I have to agree with Jessica!

Mireille said...

Wow, the teaser looks great, I hope I can see this somewhere in South Africa....

mKla said...

I love her that "special need" is to "kick ass"... seriously funny