#70 - Red Doors

In the same way that The Incredibly True of Adventures of Two Girls in Love wasn't a lesbian movie, or a teen movie, Red Doors wasn't a lesbian movie, or a movie about a Chinese family. Instead, it was a dramedy about a dysfunctional family trying to survive.

Red Doors, directed by Georgia Lee, is movie that follows the lives of three Chinese daughters and their parents in the United States. It's evident that all three daughters were raised in the US and have assimilated into the Western Culture. The youngest, Kat, is part of a hip hop dance group, the eldest is engaged to a white man and has been planning a wedding that does not include many, if any, of the Chinese traditions, much to her mother's chagrin.

In case you're wondering, the middle child is the one in the lesbian relationship. In fact, I spent a good portion of the beginning of the movie wondering who was the one who would eventually come out. Honestly, that relationship was not given a lot of attention in the movie, but then again, none of the characters and their stories were given much attention. While a little under developed, I somehow still felt like I had seen enough about each person. It almost felt like most of the action and thoughts happened off camera, and what was shown was the result of those actions.

However, this does not take away from the movie. Red Doors was a quirky film about quirky characters. It's a sweet film about family. Although they all had their own lives, although none of them seemed really connected to each other, at the end of the day they came together. And although the movie is full of jokes and one liners, it also has a serious undertone. The themes they deal with aren't all funny. However, it does appeal to those with a darker sense of humor.

There is one bone I do have to pick with Lee. Julie's sexuality was a bit too ambiguous. I would have liked to have seen some type of lesbian revelation, or or scene where she admits to same sex attractions or something. I'm not asking for a coming out scene, but some type of scene where you learn a little bit about the character. Her sister's had a couple scenes where you got to see the past, thoughts, experiences of the characters, but you never got that for Julie. Let's just chalk it up to middle child syndrome.

However, I still really liked this film. Everyone was amusing and the plot, while a bit zanny was pretty good. If you're looking for another movie about a Chinese family, after watching Saving Face, definitely look into this one.