Lecture 11

Are We There Yet?

Most of you probably will not include this film in your final paper. What a shame!

How we become Americans is made up of the family myths and history all people from around the world bring to America. There are so many half–remembered truths, so many errors of memory combined with a longing to know. New web-sites on the internet, including the one of European and other East-Coast immigrants through Ellis Island have helped thousands of families find out who came over on the boat and when, but still with some confusion about from where, and why. The created mythic history of this town and family are versions of the truth that border on what has come to be called Magic Realism. This is a kind of fantasy, dream-like understanding of how we got to be who we are. The South American and Chinese writers and film-makers are especially good at this way of understanding and portraying the truth.

Through the film version, we see a slightly altered, pared down, version of family truth and history that becomes a kind of voyage of discovery for the American voyager and his guides. History is more entwined than we think. Some people believe that there are no accidents of coincidence.

Think about what Jon'than carries home with him and about what he left behind. See if you can answer simple questions such as who died and why.