[Movie Night] East Side Sushi (2014)

East Side Sushi (2014) is a critically acclaimed indie film about a single Latina mom who becomes a sushi chef despite being the 'wrong' race and gender.

The film posed a few points of reflection concerning the relationship between authenticity, culture, and ethnicity.

Questions and ideas to think about watching the film:

• What does it mean to be authentic? Can a non-Japanese person make authentic sushi?

  • The answer seems to be yes, as Chinese, Korean, and anyone who looks east Asian are allowed to be sushi chefs
    

• Is Juana straying away from her roots? Or being diverse? What's the difference?
  

• Mexican cuisine and Japanese cuisine both use rice, just prepared differently. We are all like a grain of rice--fundamentally the same, but nurtured differently.
  

• Juana stabbing the rice with her chopsticks is culturally offensive. We must recognize that offense comes from ignorance, which can be eliminated with education, willingness to understand, and patience.