Katharine Glanbock

An excellently written coming-of-age story. Acting was impressive on all counts. The film thoughtfully explores how a Taiwanese American teenage boy navigates puberty while contending with racism and figuring out how to construct his masculinity. The family dynamics, based on my familiarity by proxy, seemed extremely plausible and were at times very funny and heartfelt, at other times raw. The interactions between teenage characters also felt very realistic to me, and I was a teenager in 2008, when the movie is set. Dìdi is a slow burn, so the pacing may not be everyone's cup of tea. Thematically, it reminded me of the movie Twentieth Century Women, since that is also a coming-of-age story about a teenage boy mostly raised by women, but Dìdi focuses on the role of race as well as gender in identity development. I also found it more realistic than TCW, (though I really enjoyed that movie as well). Spoilers below: A big part of Chris' story concerns his relation with the women/girls in his life--his mother, his older sister, and his crush. His mother is of central importance to the story. Unlike some coming-of-age stories, where parents are portrayed merely as a foil for the main character's development, she is portrayed as a complicated human being with her own frustrations, anxieties, and dreams. As Chris comes to see her in this light, he also gradually humanizes her. Reviewers who have said that they couldn't enjoy the movie because they hated the main character are entitled to feel that way (I know I have with other films), but the viewer isn't *supposed* to like Chris. The point is to show just how complicated growing up is. Kids receive so many mixed messages about the sort of people they're expected to be, and racialized people receive even more (and they are expected to "deal" with the contradictions). As Chris tries to work through this process, he is continually punished for failing to live up to the expectations of his peers. But it's clear the writer/director didn't want us to uncritically feel sorry for him, because much of this rejection is actually warranted. The viewer is ultimately left to speculate what kind of person Chris will become. I personally liked this because the film is fundamentally a story of becoming. Because Chris chooses to join the visual arts club, however, we are given some hope that he will grow into the sort of person who exercises agency in his own life. This choice also likely reflects his growing respect for his mother (who is an artist), which gives us some hope that he will also become someone who respects women. This is one of the best films I've seen in a long time. It asks the viewer to reflect on the ways race and gender are socially constructed, and how we can internalize or challenge these constructs in our own lives. The movie doesn't engage in exposition on these topics, so it doesn't feel "preachy"; like any good narrative, the story speaks for itself and invites the viewer to reflect on how their own identity may have been shaped by societal expectations.