by Kay Curry
Northwest Asia Weekly
Define, now on Netflix, is the directorial debut of the film’s heroine, Sujata Day, who also wrote the film. Day plays Monica Chowdry, a 20-something former Scripps Spelling Bee champion whose life isn’t going the way one might expect. She lives with her hyperthyroid mother, estranged from her younger brother Sonny (Ritesh Rajan), who has just returned home for his father’s funeral.
Day said her goal was to create the character she wanted to play, not the stereotypical South Asian role she had been offered before. I agree that these characters are not stereotypes, but trying to figure out what their “deal” is is confusing. Monica is surprisingly rough, and I deduce that the audience should be thinking, “Wow, that cute little spelling champ turned into this?” She smoked marijuana, had sex on the first date, and had sex with her best friend Krista (LaLaine) hanging out together in those half-empty, half-dive town bars that probably most of the audience wouldn’t go into the movie but always seemed to be in the movie – maybe the writers were hanging out there?
But I digress. None of these things are inherently “bad,” but can be considered “relatively bad” compared to the spelling hero “type,” which would be a good two-shoe nerd, right? Viewers think (hopefully!) that the background behind Monica’s rudeness will be revealed. Is it so simple to miss, the dream is gone forever? Isn’t she supposed to be a post-spelling success story, but she’s not? Is it because she is “sleepy” at home to take care of her mother? My brother came back to help with the funeral, why is she so angry?
“No one says how to grow up” is the tagline of the film. It is true that siblings are struggling with a shared childhood and how to define themselves. Beyond that, their mum Jaya (Anna Khaja) and her condition improved depending on her not experiencing any stress. The responsibility for this fell entirely on her children’s shoulders – they couldn’t fight. This is the biggest guilt trip. For me, the constant sibling jokes cause mom’s blood pressure to rise, so the film spends half of its time exploring how the kids get along, or if they will, and the other half exploring whether Monica will “have a good life” . “
Everyone in the family had misunderstandings about what happened that day. We’re told Sonny has a mental imbalance that causes him to “show” when he’s emotional. He’s “getting better,” which means he may have been violent before. This would explain why Monica gets triggered every time she jokes with her or tries to be a protective brother. It’s a grieving remnant of his being the older brother who protected her – and took the heat for her with their father, while Monica was shut down by the family’s farce.
Throughout the film, she has this — her only — endearing habit of spelling and defining words at key moments. When the film’s tension is at its highest, she chooses the word “bewusstseinslage,” meaning a feeling without a sensory component.
Monica or Boonie, as she is nicknamed, has something holding her back. But the real big thing in the room is a mental illness. There is a stereotype of macho Sonny not wanting to admit to needing medication or treatment, but Asian men are statistically reluctant to seek mental health help, and this issue does need attention. Plus, Sonny has legal luggage. He was a loving son and brother who was outspoken about how Monica felt better than being treated by her parents, but his confession was labelled as mentally unstable instead of ” Express your feelings in a healthy way”, or both. Meanwhile, Monica hides her feelings inside, which is poisonous.
I appreciate how real the dichotomy between siblings is, as each responds to their childhood in a realistic way. Growth is complex. Unfortunately for me, Monica is not flattering. She found it almost impossible to get along with her brother. Every time he makes a joke, she scoffs at him (he’s funny). When something drastic happens, she just stares and quits. “Sonny has been protecting you. Maybe it’s time for you to protect him,” a family friend said. However, the next time she was offered the opportunity of kindness, she declined, and when Jaya forced her to do so, she reluctantly did so. Can you spell “recitrant”, Monica?
I don’t think we should like Sonny more than I do. I thought we should hook up with Monica, but I didn’t. I also don’t think the humor should be bland – but it is – and the dramatic scenes suck. The siblings scenes together are painfully embarrassing, not great, when they should be riveting. All in all, I find “definition please” boring and have to close and reopen it multiple times to get it done. I wondered what would happen, but only barely.
Please define: “Ending”. In the last 30 minutes, it was almost fun. The movie reminds me of The Garden State, only the characters happen to be South Asian (there are very few white people in the movie, like the Bees or the brats who tease Monica’s students). There have been comments that it is unusual for women to be chosen for leadership roles without direction after high school, so here it is. Also happy, despite the clichés (“Your parents sacrificed so much so you can have a good life and you just take it for granted”), the domineering father, the bees themselves, they’re not too much. Movies and characters live in a compelling space that blends American and Indian cultures.
I think most filmmakers have good intentions to teach us something. In this case, I don’t think it’s Jaya’s mantra, “the past is the past”, because that’s wishful thinking. Everyone deals with our inner past every day. Even better, the movie suggests we’re looking at layers, not labels. Mother goddess in recovery, not innocent of family trauma (and still isn’t, no spoilers!). Son is labelled ADHD, bipolar or what have you – yes, maybe part of that, but he’s also “showing up” to be seen, or because he’s from the dad who beat him up Learned how to be aggressive. The less successful Spelling Bee heroine is a grumpy clown-faced but also an anti-hero who influences her spelling bee counselor – her mom does want her to be a stereotype – exclaims: “I don’t Here you go.” I appreciate that. We can all ignore definitions.
Kay can reach info@nwasianweekly.com.
