Compelling Scenes on the Film, East Side Sushi

Part 1 should be one paragraph
Part 2 should 2 separate paragraphs responding to two different people
you should not need to do outside research for the reflections and instead should focus on demonstrating your comprehension of the assigned readings themselves in relation to the specific questions posed. If the writer is working with additional sources, all direct quotations, paraphrases, and summaries are fully integrated and cross-referenced

part1

In your initial post, identify one scene that stood out to you while you were screening East Side Sushi that you found most interesting, surprising, or disturbing and provide a brief (one to two sentence) explanation. Then select one of the discussion questions to begin a closer examination of the film in your initial post. What new food related themes, conflicts, or journey to self-discovery does East Side Sushi introduce to our inquiry when we compare it to Babette's Feast and Tampopo?

●     Consider the individual characters we meet in East Side Sushi and the two poems by Langston Hughes. At what points is a specific character and insider? An outsider? To what degree does food and knowledge of food determine whether a character is an insider or an outsider?

●     Identify two scenes in which the camera movement is important in East Side Sushi to create either a particular effect or to help audience members to suspend their disbelief. What camera angle/movement is taking place and what effect is created that helps to make these scenes especially meaningful?

●     While East Side Sushi is mainly about Juana's journey to becoming a master sushi maker, the film draws attention to the tensions that exist between different food cultures. Identify the different food cultures the film features and then examine how the film either reinforces them or reframes the conflicts for audiences.

●     If you had the opportunity to provide director Anthony Lucero with a suggestion about the script, what would you want him to add or change? Why?

Remember to keep the initial and all follow up contributions focused and concise in a paragraph of two to invite dialogue that allows us to develop a thoughtful analysis that considers multiple perspectives and responses. Provide brief references or direct quotation to a particular passage that is central to your contribution.

 Part 2

In follow-up posts throughout the remainder of the week, respond to your colleagues and explore as many of the remaining discussion starter questions as possible.

COLLAPSE

One scene in East Side Sushi that I found to be particularly compelling was the scene where Juana is scolded by Yoshida for making sushi in front of customers, only to assure a (presumably well-off) customer that she is not in fact a sushi chef— to which the customer responds that it's a good thing she's not, as it would compromise Osaka's authenticity. This scene stood out to me because the customer appears to be friendly with Yoshida— perhaps an investor, of sorts— and he is also white. I thought this detail was interesting because the film focuses so much on the racial prejudice between minority groups, whereas this scene alludes to the fact that such animosity may be indicative of systemic oppression that disrupts solidarity between racial minorities, especially in places like Oakland, which are extremely diverse.

Tampopo, Babette's Feast, and East Side Sushi all feature a female main character who must overcome some other social or economic hurdle (through the act of cooking) in order to resolve the main conflict of the story— Tampopo must make upper-class connections to save her restaurant, Babette needs to persuade the humble Prostestants to indulge in her French dinner, and Juana has to fight racial prejudice in order to gain Yoshida's respect and succeed as a sushi chef (though, notably, class also plays into Juana's narrative, as she is trying to support her family as a single, working class mother, similar to Tampopo). Regarding self-discovery, Juana's story introduces a theme of loss as victory— while Tampopo and Babette both get happy endings, Juana only places second in the sushi competition, despite that being her goal for the latter half of the film. The loss is presented as an involuntary step along the path to success, as Juana is visibly upset after the competition, but it is revealed in the epilogue that she ends up gaining Yoshida's respect regardless, achieving her long-term goal of becoming a bonafide sushi chef at Osaka. While this may seem similar to Babette's sacrifice of her lottery winnings, that sacrifice was voluntary, whereas Juana faced interpersonal conflict throughout her journey, including the sexism that follows Tampopo, as well as the newly introduced conflict of race.

Liznett R. week 8

COLLAPSE

A scene that stood out to me was when Juana finally became a chef at the restaurant she worked for. She worked hard, and even though she got second place in the competition, she got what she wanted, which was to be a chef. When I think of being an outsider and then an insider, I think of Juana. It is clear that she was an outsider when she got the job at the Japanese restaurant. For example, in the beginning, we can see she cooks traditional Mexican food. So, when she decided to join the Japanese restaurant, it was all new for her. Throughout her journey at the restaurant, I feel like she managed to become an insider because she worked so hard into making the best sushi that she became a chef at the restaurant.

The poem “I, Too” talks about no matter the difference of race, ethnicity, or how different you are as a person, you are in the same place surrounded by the same people who might look at you differently. Therefore I think this somehow represents Juana’s situation because there is a scene where she helps Aki with cooking, but he tells her to go to the stockroom. So, every time she helped, she was always alone back there. Also, the men who worked there (besides Aki) doubted her skills and told her that “woman hands are too warm to cook.” In addition, the “Dinner Guest: Me” makes me think of the first time Juana sat at the table with all the workers of the restaurant. We can see how she is the only Latina there, and since she was not used to that food, we can see how the others look at her.

 East Side Sushi (1:46:24)

Week 8 Film: East Side Sushi (1:46:24)

As you screen East Side Sushi via Kanopy (you can also stream without ads at Amazon Prime Video it for $2.99 - select "More viewing options") consider the assumptions about class, ethnicity, and authenticity the film brings to our attention. Please be aware that early in the film, one of the scenes depicts a violent assault. The violence of the scene is not gratuitous but an important element of the plot. If you are uncomfortable when screening the scene, I recommend that you fast forward to the next scene.