I was, like most of the students who posted before me, most profoundly moved by the movie, “Who Killed Vincent Chin.” I was so startled and dismayed to find that our legal system has such a flaw. I had known about such racism in theory, but it made me feel so naïve to see it played out in such a way. I can only hope that our legal system has improved over the past twenty years, but I’m not holding my breath.

For some reason, I equate my reaction to the film with the reaction of the white man in “Wilshire Bus.” I feel as though any action I make will be too little, too late, and too superficial to mean anything. After all, I hadn’t even heard of Vincent Chin until the movie was announced in class. Still, it made me want to do something like what that man did and reassure someone that “we” are not all like that. (I hesitate to even equate my race, such as it is, with that of Ebens and Nitz.) It bothers me, however, that such an action might be hypocritical and too delayed to have any meaning.

This reaction also made me think of the lesbian couple, Virginia and Meghan, in “The Upside-Downness of the World.” Because of the perspective of the story, it is difficult to tell exactly how deep and heartfelt their religion and adopted culture was. However, to wager a guess, I would say it is not especially deep. This troubled me because I feel as though I might have been in a similar situation. In this day and age, I feel as though it is far too easy to take a foreign or "exotic" culture for granted and assimilate the parts of it most suited to your needs. I guess there isn't anything inherently wrong about this, but from the perspective of the story, it is merely a superficial gesture. Virginia and Meghan haven't firmly adopted every Indian belief, only the worship of Krishna (which originated in the West) and the clothing and the food. They picked and chose, like women at a grocery store. So I can't help but wonder if I have picked and chose the aspects of a foreign culture (case in point: yoga) and discarded the rest. Would it then be hypocritical for me to do as the man did in "Wilshire Bus"? Would my gesture be just as hollow and narrow as his was?

These are just some of the problems I'm working with as I explore this class. I enjoy it - it disorients me and makes me uncomfortable, which makes me think. I think that is exactly what it is supposed to do. And the stronger reaction I have to the subject matter, the better it is working.