Critical Film Response (Western Eyes)
Critical Film Response (Western Eyes)
The documentary film ‘Western Eyes’ by Ann Shin presents two Canadian women of Asian descent who are contemplating having plastic surgery to permanently change their looks. The aim of their surgeries was to westernize their appearances. Sharon, who is of Korean descent, wants to have eyelid surgery done to give her eyes ‘more of a fold’. Maria is of Filipino descent and was considering changing both her eyes and nose at the beginning of the film.
Sharon, the eldest child in her family, was often neglected by her parents during her childhood. During the film, her mother admits to feeling guilty for not ‘being a wise and understanding mother’ and blaming Sharon for everything when she was younger. She also talks about how Sharon was really understanding from a very young age. While her mother was talking, Sharon began to silently cry. Her tears show how much emotional pain she has been suppressing and how her decision to have surgery is much deeper and more complex than a simple desire to change her appearance.
Throughout the documentary, Sharon recalls some of the painful memories of her childhood. As her suppressed emotions begin to resurface, Sharon becomes visibly and increasingly upset and even says ‘I really don’t want to film this’ at one point. Some of these memories include being called a ‘chink’ and a ‘poor, dirty girl’ by other kids at school. She also talks about how her Oriental looks always made her feel like an outsider and ‘not feeling accepted for your true state’. Another exceedingly painful recollection that she talked about later in the film was one where kids called her and her grandfather degrading names, including ‘chink’, while they were innocently waiting at a bus stop. They even threw rocks at them, and Sharon seemed incredibly upset as she described how helpless she felt at that particular moment. All of this emotional pain shows the real reason for Sharon’s strong desire to get eye surgery; to look
The documentary film ‘Western Eyes’ by Ann Shin presents two Canadian women of Asian descent who are contemplating having plastic surgery to permanently change their looks. The aim of their surgeries was to westernize their appearances. Sharon, who is of Korean descent, wants to have eyelid surgery done to give her eyes ‘more of a fold’. Maria is of Filipino descent and was considering changing both her eyes and nose at the beginning of the film.
Sharon, the eldest child in her family, was often neglected by her parents during her childhood. During the film, her mother admits to feeling guilty for not ‘being a wise and understanding mother’ and blaming Sharon for everything when she was younger. She also talks about how Sharon was really understanding from a very young age. While her mother was talking, Sharon began to silently cry. Her tears show how much emotional pain she has been suppressing and how her decision to have surgery is much deeper and more complex than a simple desire to change her appearance.
Throughout the documentary, Sharon recalls some of the painful memories of her childhood. As her suppressed emotions begin to resurface, Sharon becomes visibly and increasingly upset and even says ‘I really don’t want to film this’ at one point. Some of these memories include being called a ‘chink’ and a ‘poor, dirty girl’ by other kids at school. She also talks about how her Oriental looks always made her feel like an outsider and ‘not feeling accepted for your true state’. Another exceedingly painful recollection that she talked about later in the film was one where kids called her and her grandfather degrading names, including ‘chink’, while they were innocently waiting at a bus stop. They even threw rocks at them, and Sharon seemed incredibly upset as she described how helpless she felt at that particular moment. All of this emotional pain shows the real reason for Sharon’s strong desire to get eye surgery; to look