“Everything, Everywhere, All at Once” and its cultural significance

BY EL NICKLIN Opinions Assistant

When “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once” was released in 2022, it shook audiences to their core across the world. The film touches on topics that have been underrepresented in mainstream Hollywood: namely, Asian American and LGBTQ+ experiences.

Within the intersection of these identities, EEAAO focuses on how mother-daughter relationships are affected through Evelyn and her daughter, Joy. Joy’s dark feelings of isolation and rejection span across every universe in the film. This is a literal interpretation of the turmoil that many people experience due to a lack of acceptance as they are.

Most viewers can find some connection to these characters, but the strain in their relationship especially hits home for those in the Asian American and queer communities.

As Evelyn and Joy’s relationship heals, so can the audience. By the end of EEAAO, Evelyn becomes more receptive to her daughter’s sexuality and open about her feelings, two previous points of contention in their relationship.

“Of all the places I could be, I just want to be here with you,” Evelyn says to her daughter. The film takes its viewers through a cathartic journey of queer acceptance and healing generational trauma.

BY RICHIE RODRIGUEZ Community Engagement Editor

What do Bad Bunny, BLACKPINK, Frank Ocean and Rosalìa all have in common? Well apart from being some of the big names in music entertainment right now, they’ll all be headlining and performing at this year’s Coachella Festival.

But there is more that goes on behind the scenes outside of the Instagram posts and flashy outfits.

Despite the hot and long days in the desert, the festival continues to attract the likes of influencers, vendors and artists.

The two-weekend event hasn’t improved the lives of the Latinx community who are the backbone of the region and keep the farm labor work going the other 50 weeks through the year.

Even as the contrasts and the comparisons are something that occur yearly, there are signs that rather than getting better, they are getting darker. Many of the workers who go to the Coachella Valley to work for the summer season picking grapes reside in poverty-stricken living conditions and trailers.

In 2019 farm workers in the area were picking up late shifts cleaning up trash for $11/hr after the festival, even after working in harsh temperatures. Coachella hasn’t posted its revenue since 2017 but in those two weekends, the festival grossed

EEAAO doesn’t just focus on Evelyn’s relationship with her daughter, but also the roots of Evelyn’s struggle. As an Asian American immigrant, Evelyn has a unique perspective. She resents her life because it feels like a series of bad decisions and lost potential, and ends up projecting these frustrations onto her daughter and husband, Waymond.

Through multiverse travel, Evelyn explores all of the ways her life could have gone, and she gains a new appreciation for her current life and family. It’s the little things.

“In another life, I would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you,” Waymond tells Evelyn.

“Everything, Everywhere All at Once” touches on Asian American and queer identity in a way that is both sensitive and realistic.

One example of its sensitivity toward LGBTQ+ experiences is the moment when Evelyn introduces Joy’s girlfriend to Joy’s grandfather. Evelyn chooses to refer to Joy’s girlfriend as Joy’s “very good friend,” dismissing her daughter’s sexuality. This same scene also portrays family dynamics in Asian culture, where younger family members will shield elders from difficult news, even at the expense of authenticity.

The intercultural narratives in “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once” are vital to its success. The film has been nominated for 11 Academy Awards and any wins will be well-deserved.

Whether or not EEAAO wins Best Picture at the Oscars, it is the most culturally impactful film of 2022 and will continue to resonate with those who see themselves in it.

“There are people who felt something

Coachella: A desert paradise filter masking barren living conditions

in this character. People who are rooting for roles like this to exist, people who are rooting, also, for me to elbow more space or even just to stand here,” said Stephanie Hsu, who plays Joy, to Entertainment Tonight.

around $114.6 million according to statista.com.

Brianna Finnell grew up in La Quinta and lived there until 2015 and added that the festival would have its benefits like creating revenue for the hotels, restaurants and retail stores. Though she also added it had its drawbacks with the influx of festival goers.

“I do think that not enough money is going back to that community or dispersed other places rather than the tourism spots,” Finnell said. “The further you go east, the worst the neighborhoods get”

For many years, clean water was also a luxury that many farmworkers who live in the Eastern Coachella Valley didn’t have access to.

In March 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency cited that four mobile home park water systems in Thermal, CA presented dangers to residents with high levels of arsenic present in the tap water.

The Coachella festival organizers and attendees can’t be bothered to see beyond the $1,200 ticket, Snapchat filters or likes on their Instagram posts. There is also no obligation for the artists or performers to reshape the inequitable economy in the Coachella Valley as they make millions in ticket sales and merch.

Though looking just beyond the main stage and in the horizon are the exploited farmworkers. A contrast between a surreal fantasy and a dark reality.