Namesake

I found Namesake to be a very enlightening film circling what many Indian-Americans experienced when they immigrated to the United States.  It also did a very good job showing the differences between generations for Asian Americans. Throughout the whole film, Gogol struggles to accept his name, which is kind of a metaphor for his culture and heritage.  Even though his name has nothing to do with the Indian culture, because it is actually Russian, it is foreign and unique.  This causes him to get teased in school.   It is very interesting how they portrayed Gogol’s struggle with his heritage.  At a young age, Gogol actually chooses to keep Gogol, which is his informal name.  This represents his still pure Indian culture, which he has received from his parents.  However, as he goes up he starts to reject his name, and even eventually changes it.  This shows the gap that commonly developed in Asian American families.  As he grew up in the United States he became assimilated and Americanized, and as a result he started to reject his Indian heritage.

This film is an example of the sixth CRT tenet, that each group has a unique story to tell.  In this case, Gogol’s struggle for his identity as a second-generation Asian American.  He is much more Americanized than his parents, which causes rifts in their relationships.  He pushes his culture away.  This is something that many second-generation Asian Americans did, including South Asian Americans.  However, once his father dies, be becomes much more connected with is culture again.  It is interesting to see his development as a parallel to Ashima, who is living in the United States, but still manages to stay connected to her culture.  They both tell an interesting story about how culture and heritage were challenged and how they changed for Asian Americans in the United States.