A Great Documentary Film: Somewhere Between

Last weekend, we watched a documentary film on Netflix called "Somewhere Between", directed by Linda Goldstein Knowlton, that follows the lives of four adopted Chinese-American teen girls.  I have a few adopted Chinese friends, and I guess I never really thought much of their back stories, but the film was incredibly eye-opening.  Each of the girls has her own struggles with her identity: Fang, who vividly remembers being abandoned on a sidewalk, continues to return to China and reach out to other orphaned girls; Hayley longs to know the reasons for her abandonment and seeks out her birth family; Jenna, a top student at a prestigious academy, constantly busies herself in after school activities to keep her mind off of the questions surrounding her abandonment; Ann, a pre-teen living in suburban Pennsylvania, doesn't show any particular interest in her biological family but is jealous when Hayley finds hers.

One of the things that is so striking about the girls in the film is their resilience: through their struggles growing up "somewhere between", the girls demonstrate an intelligence and understanding far beyond their years.

I have a few adopted Chinese friends.  Sometimes I wonder how they feel about their birth families and adoption. I don't quite have the gall to ask them about it myself, perhaps because I know how delicate the subject can be, especially considering Chinese culture's pattern of abandoning baby girls in favor of raising boys.  "Somewhere Between" provides a lot of insight into the various thoughts and feelings of different adopted Chinese girls.  The film beautifully captures a wide range of emotions—happiness, despair, loneliness, curiosity—and had me laughing and crying along with the girls.  I would highly recommend it; it's a film that everyone should watch, regardless of whether or not they know any adopted Chinese kids, because anyone can relate to its theme of being an outsider and trying to find a place in society.

I give it a two thumbs up.

The Solar Eclipse and the Adventures of Tintin

Yesterday, May 20, 2012, we witnessed a solar eclipse. As seen from the Earth, a Solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, and the Moon fully or partially blocks the Sun.  (Def. by Wikipedia.) Even though it is a natural phenomenon, people in olden days regard it as a bad omen.

Solar Eclipse as seen in Los Angeles outside our house

Witnessing this rare event allows us to smoothly (or maybe not so smoothly) segway into a mention of "Prisoners of the Sun" in the Adventures of Tintin, (one of our favorite comic book series). In this comic book, our hero Tintin uses his knowledge of the timing of a solar eclipse to foil some modern day Incas' plan to sacrifice him and his friends. By timing his sacrificial hour to coincide with the solar eclipse, Tintin made the Incas believe that he can command Pachacamac, their Sun God.  The Inca prince implores Tintin to make the Sun show his light again. At Tintin's command, the Sun obeys, and the fearful Incas quickly set their prisoners free.

Prisoners of the Son-Tintin in South America

The Adventures of Tintin is a comic book series by artist Remi Georges (aka Herge) that debuted almost a century ago in 1929.  The stories feature Tintin, a young newspaper reporter who travels the globe and solves nefarious plots and crimes. His adventures take him to Africa, China, Turkey, America, the moon, South America, the Himalayas, under the sea, and many other exotic locales.  The comic books were translated into dozens of different languages. There are 24 of the Tintin comic books and we've read every one of them.

A panel from The Blue Lotus: Tintin in China

Our parents are such fans of Tintin since their childhood that they took us to Belgian to visit Musee Herge when it first opened back in 2009. That museum, designed by Christian de Portzamparc has all the original Tintin artwork and an awesome gift shop well worth visiting.

Outside the Herge Museum (We were a bit small then)

Tintin comics are amazing. We highly recommend it for their thoughtful stories, fantastic art, and endearing characters. It's a comic book series for both adults and kids alike.