Representing Asian-American Experience in The Farewell (2019)

Written by Bridget Raymundo

Screenwriter and director, Lulu Wang’s The Farewell depicts the complex and strenuous realities of being an AsianAmerican, and specifically the child of immigrant parents. Told in both Mandarin and English, Wang reflects her own reality into the protagonist of Billi—a Chinese American woman whose close connection to her Nai Nai (grandmother) tethers her to an otherwise distant culture in the East. Billi occupies a positionality in her young adulthood where she feels simultaneously disconnected from ideals of both her cultures. In essence, Wang asks her audience to deeply consider these dualities of identity— particularly for white non-immigrants who have never struggled with race and/or diaspora. The film embodies what it means for a person to live between one reality and another, in terms of ethnicity, geography, and genre.

Upon its release, The Farewell prompted many necessary conversations about diversity in media and storytelling. Wang clearly focalizes through the perspective of a woman who has always lived in the U.S. and intends for the narrative to be diverse yet distinctly American. And still—many categorize it as a foreign film. So, what category does The Farewell fall into? Wang does not allow a singular answer. For instance, the film is considered a comedy-drama in order to frames the complexity of Billi and Nai Nai’s characters. Moments of unity in Billi’s family alongside Nai Nai’s endless optimism reflects a common feeling for diasporic and racialized communities. Much of Billi’s family’s experience is characterized by struggle, and scarce opportunity, and while these are necessary components to diverse representation, it is equally important that writers allows POC characters to thrive. The culmination of The Farewell garners a feeling of profound hope. As Billi looks up to a New York sky and screams, “HA!”, the birds fly outside of her Nai Nai’s apartment in China, and the viewer is encouraged to think of these two spaces as forever intertwined—belonging to one another.