Daughter From Daang Analysis

Response Paper I chose to write about the Academy Award Nominated film “Daughter from DaNang” because as I watched this film it made me feel mixed emotions about how different cultures treat family so different. The film is also based on three Social Concepts which are Culture Shock which means a feeling of surprise and disorientation that people experience when they encounter cultural practices that are different from their own. The Second Concept the film talked about was Ethnocentrism which is the tendency to assume that ones culture and way of life represents the norm or are superior to all others. The third concept Bilingualism which refers to the use of two languages in a particular setting such as a workplace, schoolroom, treating each language as equally legitimate.
Heidi, who was originally born Mai Thi Hiep,, was one of those mixed children as a result of a relationship her mother had with an American soldier. Even thou Heidi had been raised in Tennessee with her adoptive mother Heidi knew of her roots in Vietnam so she was determined to reunite with them. I was amazed at how Heidi had become adjusted with the white people that surround her on her daily basis like school, adopted mother and other peers she was surrounded with. So basically one would think that she was white without actually knowing her. One thing that really bothered me was that She failed to realize that her family is very unfortunate, they don’t have the same privileges she has here. In the Documentary Heidi, being accustomed to the American culture and so far away from Vietnam and her roots, suffered from culture shock. Another thing that upset me in the film was Heidi’s attitude towards her birth family’s way of