Educational Media Reviews Online

What is it like to be a hapa? That is, a person of mixed cultural descent with half being primarily Asian. What are the challenges, issues or advantages confronted by people of this background? In Parallel Adele, two people with the same background, the same name and ethnic makeup and the same goals, randomly meet and explore the issues they both face.

This short, narrative documentary brings together verbal testimonies from those primarily of South East Asian origin, pointing out the daily difficulties of mixed ethnicity heritage. For instance, the film highlights the fact that often mixed ethnicities are viewed as “impure,” because their multicultural identity is different from their other Asian relatives. Toward the end of the film, subjects give their age, name, and ethnic background—truly emphasizing the purpose of the program.

A technical weakness of the film is its short (16 min.) running time. More information would help round out the program. There is also reference to an educational program on multiracial tolerance, but no follow-up information is provided. This is a program that will be most at home in public libraries, and would be helpful to academic libraries supporting multiculturalism.