Monkey Dance (Film) and "The Politics of Race" by Bindi V. Shah

Nouriyah Saleh
April 24, 2017

Blog Response: Monkey Dance & "The Politics of Race"

Monkey Dance is a 2004 documentary that follows the lives of three Cambodian American teenagers in Massachusetts, who face the struggles as children of immigrant parents. Throughout the film, they learn traditional dances to keep in touch with their culture, and reflect on their family's sacrifices to motivate themselves through school and work. A common theme among the teens' stories is resistance. It starts off simple, with Sochenda taking a shortcut at work after he puts the medicine on the wrong shelves. He moves the entire shelves rather than moving the medicine individually. Then, the acts of resistance become more complex; Sam, for example, participates in gymnastics which is a predominantly white sport. I was actually surprised when I saw this part of the film because seeing Asian American men doing gymnastics isn't a common sight to see - especially in the U.S. team during the Olympic games. But, this is good that Sam did gymnastics because it undermines the stereotype that Asian American men lack masculinity. Another example is when Sam and Sochenda fuse breakdancing with Monkey Dance while they are messing around at practice. In a way, they're resisting simply because they're being disobedient by playing around. But through this, they incorporate an element of hip-hop with a traditional folkloric Cambodian dance. Ultimately, this becomes a new way for them to express themselves and it's good because they're finding ways to fuse different things they're interested in to create something new and refreshing. The acts of resistance of Monkey Dance are good examples of breaking stereotypes and finding outlets of creativity.

Shah writes about three different instances of activism in which APEN, AYA, and LOP fight for the social and political rights of the Laotian community in Richmond. I actually resonated with some parts of this article because some of the things Shah brought up, I experienced similarly growing up. My parents are immigrants from Vietnam so their English is limited, my father more so than my mother. They are not politically active because U.S. politics are hard to understand already even with English fluency. Although their lack of political engagement is not entirely their fault, this lack of engagement can be easily passed down to their children. Honestly, I didn't start caring about social and political issues until my senior year in high school, where I participated in an afterschool program focused on social justice. I was influenced by my parents for a long time because they seemed to be doing fine without getting involved. At the same time, this led to a sense of powerlessness. Shah mentions that young people will participate in political activism if they believe they can make a difference. I think it helps if people start learning and participating in political activism at a young age because they will develop a higher sense of social awareness and will be able to build their confidence in fighting issues.