The APAHM Project Day 27: Dìdi

Movie: Dìdi

Directed By: Sean Wang

Release: 2024

Where to Watch: Amazon Prime

Wanna Skip? Pick a Movie from APAHM Project 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020

Why It Made The List:

Spirit Award Winner. Sundance Winner. Gold List Winner. Unforgettable Gala Awards Winner. Gotham Award Nominee. DGA Awards Nominee. Critics Choice Awards Nominee. President Obama's Favorite Movies of 2024. There are a lot of ways you can label Sean Wang's directorial feature debut film "Dìdi" (translates as "Little Brother") but perhaps to the average viewer, "nostalgic," "relatable," "quintessential," or "heartfelt" are better words to use. After 7 years of developing the script and bringing it to life, Dìdi premiered at Sundance where it received a standing ovation, won the Special Jury Award - Ensemble and the Audience Award, and secured a distribution deal with Focus Features, Wang delivers a coming-of-age movie for the late-2000s era Millennials, proving that the struggle of fitting in is a universal theme despite your ethnic background.

My Thoughts:

I don't remember how long I have been following Sean Wang's journey, but I distinctly remember seeing an Adobe Creators Lab ad pop up on my Instagram and thinking, hey, this guy looks like me. He was young, he was Asian, he worked in film. A quick glance of his profile and it was clear that Wang was one to look out for. He was on the right trajectory to really make a name for himself in the industry. And about a year later, he proved us all right when he was nominated for an Academy Award for his short film "Nai Nai & Wai Po," which I watched the same time my own grandmother was moving. And it absolutely wrecked me.

So naturally, when his directorial feature film Dìdi was released, I was excited to see it in theaters, even if I kept pronouncing the title wrong (in Cantonese instead of Mandarin). I unfortunately missed it in theaters, but caught it on streaming and, upon initial watch, I was left with elevated blood pressure.

It may come as a shock, but I am not, nor have ever been, a teenage boy with raging hormones. Coming of age stories can sometimes seem "plotless" to me. Lady Bird comes to mind when thinking of movies similar to Dìdi. The plot can seem so simple on the surface, but maybe it's because I'm now a woman so far away from high school that I forgot what it's like to be a teenager. I realize now that I watched the movie through the lens of an adult, witnessing a teenage boy be a typical teenage boy. The same way I look at the loud teenagers at Target when I'm just trying to buy my groceries in peace.

Dìdi follows Chris Wang, a Taiwanese-American, soon-to-be-high school-freshman in Fremont, CA. He likes to skate and play pranks with his buddies. But as his older sister bluntly points out, he is not cool and never will be. Chris has a crush on popular girl Maddie (a very popular name in 2008) and stalks her MySpace and Facebook to find out what her interests are. Conveniently, Maddie and Vivian (Chris' sister) have a lot in common and Chris wears Vivian's band shirts and change his ringtone to show Maddie they have common interests. It works to an extent, Maddie having asked Chris out. But she starts to ask if he's seen certain movies and unintentionally catches him in his lies. She makes a pretty mature move and Chris quickly realizes he's not the "cool" guy Maddie thinks he is. Embarrassed, he pushes her away.

When his best friend Fahad starts to hang out with a girl, Chris tries to fit in with the crowd. However, he ends up insulting the girl's best friend and they too alienate him, taking Fahad with them. Chris then meets a group of older teenage skaters and tells them he is a filmer who can document their tricks. He fakes it til he makes it, pulling up YouTube videos and internet articles on how to frame a shot.

The older teenagers accept Chris for the most part. He goes to a party with them and tells them all he's half-Asian. He doesn't tell them his friends call him Wang Wang, showing he is slipping into yet another identity in an attempt to fit in (he told Maddie she can call him Wang Wang, but tells the older boys to call him Chris). When the boys meet Chris' mom (played by Joan Chen) and she is flattered by their compliments on her art, Chris begins to get embarrassed. The boys ask if her husband is white and Chris is caught in another lie. He rudely dismisses his mom and the boys tell him that's not cool. After reviewing his (bad) skating footage, the older boys decide to no longer hang out with Chris.

Along the way to finding himself, Vivian becomes nicer to Chris, especially after he angrily asks her why she is always so mean to him. She helps him through his first hangover and leaves him his favorite stolen hoodie. Growing up is hard and sometimes you don't realize the moment you need to step up. Vivian saw it was time to stop the childish arguments with her brother and be the big sister he so clearly needs.

But through it all, Chris is at odds with his mother. Accusing her of being "so Asian" and embarrassing, it is clear Chris is projecting his own insecurities with being Asian. He has Asian friends but I can see how isolated he must feel among them. Boys slant their eyes at him, others accuse him of landing Maddie because she has yellow fever. His mom wants him to do well, like her friend's son Max. He feels like his mom is not on his side or doesn't care that he runs away. His mother is also facing pressure and judgement from her mother-in-law. She doesn't feel accomplished as an artist. She imagines what her life might have been like if she didn't marry her husband. If she didn't have children. But then she says in English (she mostly speaks only in Mandarin up to this point) that sometimes she dreams but sees her children learn so much that she can't teach them and realizes her children are her dream.

The parent-teenager feuding is one we can all relate to (see our conversation on Turning Red). And maybe that's part of why I felt drained on my first watch. I remember calling Chris a brat and was happy when his mother started to discipline him more sternly. But when I rewatched it for this project, I viewed it from a new perspective. I remember what it was like to be a teenager. Fighting with your sibling or parent made you a little "cooler" because you were more rebellious. Your clothes are suddenly the thing you spend all your allowance on. You want to go to every party and just goof off by the pool or in the park. Documenting it all on my digital camera and uploading the photos on Facebook the next day. It wasn't until this second watch I appreciated Wang's storytelling and the 2008 time setting. Dìdi was not a "plotless" coming of age story. Life happens slowly. In the moment, you may not feel like anything is happening. You think you'll be friends forever and that an arm full of rubber bracelets will always be in style. But then, suddenly you're 30. Your friends from 2008 are married or live across the country. And you are thankful you still keep in touch but miss those days that were aimless and carefree. Where you only had to worry about being a teenager holding on to being a kid but also looking forward to growing up. Life is the plot. It's happy, it's sad, it has it's ups and downs. It's explosive fights and the deepest heartbreaks. It's building and rebuilding relationships.

In the end, Chris better understands his mom and what she goes through. He has started a new relationship with his sister. He learns who his real friends are and even signs up for a club he wants to be a part of. He takes accountability for what happened with Maddie. He smiles wide, braces free (another sign of growing up) for his yearbook photo, ready to take on high school. And his mom uses the secret Asian mom code for "I love you" -- did you eat yet?

In Conclusion:

I'm glad I gave this movie another chance. I originally included it because of the big waves it made in 2024. Wang, Joan Chen, and Izaac Wang all were nominated or won awards for their efforts. Chen had a mini renaissance (my mom was excited to see her in the movie).

Just days before I watched the movie, I told a friend I wasn't looking forward to watching it again (see I'm a goody two shoes, quiet, not-a-boy points above). But now I can see why it took Wang 7 years to perfect (yes, perfect) this screenplay. I see the motivation, the intention. The things that make this movie about the Asian American identity, the teenage identity, the I don't belong identity. Some are obvious and some you may not notice unless you have lived it yourself (for me, this was the McDonald's scene). Because of this, it's easy for anyone who's ever been a teenager to relate to this movie and its themes.

When reading some background information for the movie, I found out Wang and I are the same age. We both grew up in the era of not just flip phones, but QWERTY phones and sidekicks. Not just the walkman, but the iPod. Facebook, MySpace, AIM. It was such a specific era that we will probably never experience again. The old mixed with the transition of new. It's such a specific time and feeling that I think Wang captures beautifully in this movie. It's hard to believe that the reason we haven't had many (any?) coming-of-age movies in this era yet is because those of us who lived it are just now at an age of understanding what growing up really means. And I think Wang is the perfect person to lead us into a new period piece era.

Shout Out!

Today's shout out goes to Antigravity Academy, which is the production company behind Dìdi! Dìdi was the first film they produced, but they are in the process of producing more titles, including TV shows. Antigravity Academy has free virtual workshops (Satellite Sessions), writing programs (Screenwriters Camp), short film studio, resources, and community night. They often team up with organizations like CAPE and are focused on producing stories that haven't been told on film yet, like Dìdi! Be sure to check them and give them a follow to stay up to date with their future events and opportunities!

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