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Sunday, April 10, 2016

Meet the Patel's (2014)

This is current;y streaming on Netflix and is a quirky romantic comedy about love, family, obligation, and how to make choices.  It is the film version of Jhumpa Lahiri's book The Namesake.  It chronicals the first generation American experience of tension between the culture of your parents homeland and the realities of growing up in America.  There is the constant pull of tradition and walking in the shoes of those who have gone before you, and the culture of your country, which is to mix and melt.  Ravi Patel loves his parents, both who they are and what they represent of his Indian heritage.  He loves to go with them back to their home town and see them as they are seen by their relatives.  He loves the culture of India, and he loves the relationship that his parents have with each other.  that is in direct tension with his love of an American girl, who he successfully hides from his parents for years, and ultimately breaks up with her because he cannot wee how to blend her into his home life.  So instead he is miserable.  He tries the Indian way and it just doesn't work for him.  His heart is not in it, even though he really gives it a good try.  The story is told in a very funny way, and you can really understand his love for his family.  His parents are hilarious and obviously very fond of each other after years of marriage.  But the whole story winds its way around to a good ending.  Worth watching.

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