For so long I was ashamed to be a Filipino American. As a 2.5 generation immigrant with my parents moving to San Francisco when they were 1 and 2 years old, I grew up thinking that being American meant talking without an accent and doing everything possible to fit in and not make waves or inconvenience anyone else. Growing up speaking English only, to white America, I wasn't American enough and to Filipinos, I wasn't Filipino enough because I couldn't even understand their language. This movie was the first time that I felt proud to celebrate the Filipino-American culture in the mainstream. It took me back to my college days when I was that girlfriend meeting a Filipino family in Daly City for the first time. Do I think everyone is ready to accept Filipino-Americans after this movie? Clearly no... that was apparent when I saw the white man in front of me scrolling through his iPhone for the whole 2nd half of the movie. For me, even though it may have reinforced some Filipino stereotypes, I loved the message of the movie that you don't have to comprise who you are in order to be successful in this country. Jo Koy, or actually Joseph Herbert, has done something truly amazing for our community and I applaud him for it. When I was a kid, I wish I had someone like him telling me that I should be proud of who I am, instead of being fed this idea that I needed to act "white" in order to fit in. Representation does matter and I think this is a huge step forward for our community. Thank you to everyone who helped in making this film possible! I never in my lifetime thought I would see a film in the theaters that makes me connections so deeply to me and my Filipino-American family.
