EL SEGUNDO HERALD February 18, 2021 Page 3
Entertainment
Minari Stands Tall as a Sentimental
Story of the American Dream
By Morgan Rojas for cinemacy.com
Despite awards shows that miscategorize
and claim otherwise (looking at you Golden
Globes), Minari is an American film. The
soul of its story is the textbook definition of
the American Dream. Directed with heartfelt
empathy by Lee Isaac Chung, Minari–now
available to watch on A24’s virtual screening
room–is an intimate story about expectation
vs reality, and the calculated risks that some
are forced to take when pinning the future
and well-being of their family on nothing
more than hope.
The old adage “grow where you’re planted”
is a familiar one–it’s what Jacob (Steven
Yeun) plans to do, with abundance. Having
immigrated from Korea with his wife Monica
(Yeri Han) and two young children, Anne
(Noel Cho) and David (Alan Kim), Jacob
and his family settle into the outskirts of a
small Arkansas town, where he plans to start
a farm. Jacob’s vision is to harvest and sell
local Korean produce to small markets, and his
DIY “can-do” attitude propels its rocky start.
Jacob views his newly acquired acres of
land as his personal “Garden of Eden” and
a ticket to generational success. However,
his expectation of the farm’s promise vs
the reality of it–which drains resources and
money away from his family–is far from
ideal. The family dynamic is put in flux as
Jacob’s attention becomes predominately
set on work, causing Monica to grow more
isolated and resentful. To ease the tension,
it’s decided that her mother Soonja (Yuh-jung
Youn) will come from Korea to live with
them and help raise the children, much to
David’s initial detest.
Where Minari really finds its emotional
weight is the time we spend with the family
and their home life, specifically the relationship
between David and his grandma. Faced with
so many life changes, cultural and otherwise,
David isn’t mature enough to articulate his
feelings, so he ends up taking his frustrations
out on Soonja via cheeky pranks. It’s
a familiar story of testing boundaries and
the way Lee Isaac Chung captures David’s
spitfire precociousness and childhood innocence
feels extremely personal. From there,
the film builds and swirls with emotional
tension, coming to a crescendo on the night
an accidental fire breaks out and threatens
everything Jacob has worked so hard for. It’s
in this moment when he has an epiphany:
is “financial success” worth more than his
well-being and safety, or has greed been
masquerading as his relentless work ethic?
Like the Minari, or crops of any kind, Lee
Isaac Chung uses this beautiful cinematic
vessel to show us that we grow where we’re
planted; we can flourish anywhere so long
as we nurture ourselves. This sentiment is
the thesis statement of Minari, embracing
cultural differences is the only way to create
a richly symbiotic tapestry of American
life. Now, someone tell that to the HFPA. •
El Segundo’s Jim Fenton Is
Not Only an Ironman, but Also
a Community-Oriented Man
By Duane Plank
El Segundo resident Jim Fenton keeps
a hectic schedule. He is a private banker,
continually active in his church, as well as
the local Kiwanis Club, serves as an advisor
to the El Segundo High School Key Club,
and, when not helping make his clients’
money, or giving back to his community, finds
time to train for high-level triathlons and
Ironman competitions.
The Fenton family moved to El Segundo
nearly 12 years ago from North Carolina,
which is where the fictional town of Mayberry
was made famous by the iconic Andy
Griffith Show six decades ago. Why the crosscountry
move to a city often referred to by
its proponents as Mayberry, he was asked?
He said that he and his wife of, currently
26 years, Donna, and their four young kids
(Gabriella, Noah, Jana, and Jack) and had
moved to North Carolina because he and
his wife thought that the “Tar Heel” state
would be a great place to raise a family.
He and his wife lived in New York City and
in Europe and had “certain expectations”
regarding “quality of life, and what our kids
would be exposed to.” Fenton said that the
area they lived in North Carolina did not
meet the family expectations, so the Fentons
explored other options, having friends who
had been in their wedding and, at that time,
were residing in El Segundo.
That prompted a visit to El Segundo back
in 2009. “We absolutely loved it,” he said of
his experiences in what was to become his
new hometown. After the kids wrapped-up
their schooling that summer, the Fentons
loaded-up the U-Haul, the four kids, and the
dog and made the 3,000-mile (Durham to El
Segundo) drive across the country.
A private banker by trade, Fenton also
serves as the Kiwanis Advisor to the El
Segundo High School Key Club. He conducts
weekly Wednesday Zoom calls with
the students, motivating them to become
immersed in community service. Not too
long ago, the Key Club members built “the
Great Pumpkin” float that, in consort with
the El Segundo Police Department, motored
through town, delivering candy during the
2020 Halloween season.
A member of the City of Angels International
Christian Church, he holds weekly Zoom
adult bible-study sessions for an average of
25 parishioners. He also built a program
called LifeSkills through a partnership with
the organization Mercy Worldwide that aims
to teach young people important skills, such
as balancing a checkbook, adroitly using credit
cards, and being cognizant of the pitfalls of
accrued interest payments. He said that it
is important that once young adults jump
through the hoops to acquire a job, they take
that seriously, show up on time for work
and interviews, and manage their money effectively.
“It is really about building-up their
financial knowledge,” he said and providing
career development advice.
In the Summer of 2018, Fenton was
preparing to participate in his first Ironman
competition, which was around the time he
became the executive director of the LifeSkills
program. He was able to secure funding for
the program, brand the entity, and develop
what he called “the five pillars” of the
program, which are “Integrity, well-being,
time management and goal setting, personal
finance, and career development.”
Fenton said he estimates that the program
has impacted the lives of more than 300
young adults who participate in what is
typically a five-week, two-hour program.
Currently, Fenton said, there are about 25
enrollees in the program, who are advised
by five mentors, who follow-up with the
participants later to keep them engaged in
what they are learning.
Fenton also supports the local Red Cross,
partnering for the installation of fire alarms,
and drumming-up blood donations.
So how does one go from receiving an
educational certificate from the American
Musical and Dramatic Academy and a bachelor’s
degree from the International College
of Christian Ministries to becoming a private
banker? “I have no idea,” he said, pondering
the answer to that question. “They say better
lucky than good. I have had a blessed life in
that regard.” After the 2001 financial crisis,
Fenton said he was introduced to a player in
the financial industry and began seeking his
career pathway. Fenton said he had a little
background in the field of finance, working
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Film Review
Morgan Rojas
Minari, courtesy A24.
See Jim Fenton, page 9