Page 2 February 18, 2021
Entertainment
Film Review
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.
Minari, courtesy A24.
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. •
Morgan Rojas
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Jim Fenton from front page
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,
Jim Fenton
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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
in the 1990s, but did not have the educational
background in the industry.
“It is very rare,” he said, “to have a private
banker without a formal education…most of
them have MBA’s” or other impressive letters of
the alphabet embossed on their business cards.
Jim was born in Oswego, New York, and
spent his youth moving about the East-Coast
with his family. His Dad was “good at fixing-up
retail stores,” so the family moved around quite
a bit following his father’s work opportunities.
Now that he is firmly ensconced in relatively
compact El Segundo, like many residents, he
cherishes the fact that his kids could walk to
school and walk to the local ballfield. He also
noted the strong parental involvement in local
activities as a selling point for the town. And,
as a triathlete, the proximity to the Pacific
Ocean doesn’t hurt.
Fenton competed in his first triathlon in
2017. He went down that path because he had
broken his foot while running at the high school
track, so to get exercise, he took to riding his
bike and swimming at the Plunge. When he
told his wife he was training to participate in
a “Half Ironman” competition, she apparently
quipped, “half Ironman? Sounds like half-aman,”
wife Donna said. So, Fenton decided
to use that comment to motivate him to train
to participate in a full Ironman competition,
which he did for the first time in 2018, in
Madison, Wisconsin.
Brother Sean Fenton, the oldest of six siblings,
related how Jim has served as an inspiration
to him; a couple of years ago, when Jim announced
that he was going to participate in the
Madison Ironman competition, Sean said he
made plans to travel from his North Carolina
home to Wisconsin to support his brothers
blossoming athletic endeavors.
“It was a spectacular experience that I had
with my brother,” Sean said. Sean said he was
a bit leery when Jim announced his Ironman
participation plans. “I was so astounded,” Sean
related, who admitted that he didn’t have a clue
to what the Ironman competition entailed. “There
was no way that I was going to miss this.”
After watching Jim complete the grueling
Ironman competition, Sean said he was so
overwhelmed and inspired that he decided to
begin training to compete in Ironman festivities
and hopes to join Jim this December at
the La Quinta, California competition, dubbed
the “70.3” because the miles traversed are
one-half of the miles Ironman’s 140+ miles
that participants endure.
Of course, currently, a COVID effect question
must be asked. Fenton said he tested positive
for COVID but was fortunate only to have what
he termed “mild symptoms” for two weeks. He
said that the biggest impact on the Fenton’s
of the virus was that youngest son Jack; currently,
a freshman at El Segundo High School
has not been able to attend class in person,
calling remote learning “very challenging.”
Jim Fenton noted the expanded screen-time
currently facing students, with the subsequent
extreme diminishment of social interaction for
students. “As an incoming freshman,” Fenton
said, “he misses that experience of being in
high school with his friends. We are proponents
of getting the kids back in the classroom as
much as possible when the state guidelines
are met. Let’s go!” he said, about the return
to the classrooms.
So now you know a little about Jim Fenton
and family: Relocating from North Carolina,
the state made famous by the fictional town of
Mayberry, to the town many refer to as the West
Coast Mayberry by the sea. North Carolina’s
loss has turned out to be El Segundo’s gain. •