Note: DìDi spoilers ahead
“You are my dream. How could I be ashamed of you?”
I remember being seated in a warm and densely packed cinema on an August afternoon, surrounded by dozens of young adults who looked like me. The room was filled with laughter, tears, and an occasional cringe here and there, but a healing atmosphere all around.
Set in summer of 2008, Sean Wang’s directorial debut DìDi portrays the narrative of Chris Wang, a 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy living with his mother, older sister, and grandmother in Fremont, California.
As Chris enters his last summer before high school, he navigates a whirlwind of teenagehood troubles, from outgrowing his friend group, to spending time with his crush, to his turbulent relationship with his mother. While Chris’ father was never in the picture, it is mentioned that he serves as the breadwinner, working in Taiwan. This fosters an imbalanced family dynamic, particularly between Chris’ mother and her mother-in-law, who constantly chides Chris’ mother for her parenting style and blames her for her son’s absence. Meanwhile, Chris and his older sister Vivian constantly bicker over trivial matters that result in their mother serving as the mediator.
While DìDi leans into the era of teenage angst, I found that it also authentically captures the experience of being Asian American, specifically from a first-generation perspective. Whether it was the feeling of “othering”, or the model minority archetype, or SAT camps, DìDi lends a platform to those who grew up with dual identities— Asian and American.
Chris’s family calls him “dì di”—an affectionate Mandarin term for little brother, while his friends call him Wang Wang, yet he introduces himself to strangers as Chris. Grasping to find a sense of identity, he immerses himself in different personas as he tries to strike a balance between owning his cultural heritage and fitting in with his peers. He even goes as far as to lie to his new friends about his background, claiming that he is only “half-Asian.”
Throughout the film, Chris’s mother and grandmother converse with him in Mandarin. However, despite his comprehension, Chris would always respond back in full English. This effort to abandon one’s mother tongue to assimilate to the dominant language is an experience that is far too common amongst Asian American children.
A particularly prominent scene was when Chris was on a date with his crush, Madi, who turns to him and comments that he is attractive “for an Asian,” yielding instant gasps and shocked looks all around the movie theater.
But most importantly, DìDi tells a story about mother-child relationships. At the climax of the film, Chris enters a heavy dispute with his mother and runs away. He returns a day later, to his mother admitting that her lifelong dream was to be a painter, yet after becoming a mother, she realized that her children were her biggest source of hope. This reminded me of the heartfelt saying, “Be nice to your parents, it’s their first time living life too.”
What makes DìDi such a poignant and evocative story is its ability to shift perspectives. For Chris’s mother, much of her worldview is centered around survival and providing for her children. For Vivian, she bears the weight of being a role model as the eldest daughter in her family. For Chris, he pivots between being a rebelling teenager and wanting to patch things up with those around him.
Having been raised between Asia and the San Francisco Bay Area during the early 2010s, I personally appreciate the small bits of detail in DìDi, which shaped a very nostalgic viewing experience. Sandwiched between Facebook screenshots, YouTube clips, and MySpace Instant Messages, DìDi reflects the jovial communication style of middle school students from the 2000s that I was all too familiar with. The first-person cinematography and familiar shots of Fremont and its landscape also created a sense of authenticity.
But perhaps what touched me the most was the final scene of the film, where Chris and his mother are sharing a meal. The clock of the dining room points to 9:30PM, reminding me of the late night dinners my family shared when I was growing up.
With a perfect balance of comedic timing and emotional whiplash, DìDi truly embraces the awkwardness of adolescence and is a coming-of-age story dedicated to anyone who has been through that stage of life.