Monkey Dance & B. Shah: Laotian Daughters

Jimmy Hoang
913146051

The Monkey Dance documentary was an interesting documentary which I could relate with, having parents and relatives who immigrated into the United States. My parents main goal immigrating into the United States was to build a better and stable life for the family. Being an only child, I'd say I could relate with Samnang. His mother wants the best for him, for him to become successful, and eventually be able buy a home and take care of his mother and brothers, as stated by his mom. My parents are kind of the same, since my father has several health disabilities and my mother is working two jobs, they have large expectations for me to do well in life and be able to take care of them as they grow older. In the documentary, many of the parents emphasized some of the struggles they went through and how America is a different type of struggle. This is similar to Shah's short book, Laotian Daughters, in which she talks about how Laotian's had many obstacles to overcome, specifically the Chevron incident, where there was poor communication to the Laotians, leading to unfortunate events. In both Monkey Dance and Laotian daughters, they both entailed the struggles immigrants faced and how their children grew in these different environments.