No heroes in Blue Bayou
- julie
- Nov 1, 2021
- 3 min read
Blue Bayou (2021), written, directed, and starring Justin Chon is a divisive film that centers on Antonio LeBlanc, an U.S. adoptee born in Korea, raised and living in the Louisiana Bayou. He works as an amateur tattoo artist, and lives with his pregnant fiancée Kathy and stepdaughter Jessie. By some unfortunate circumstance, he is on the immigration authorities’ radar and is going to be deported back to a country more foreign to him.
Justin Chon’s powerful storytelling through the use of melodrama sheds light on the Asian American identity and American social issues in films like Gook and Ms. Purple. Despite the beautiful, dreamy visuals of the film, Blue Bayou falls short as merely a stylized portrayal of a U.S. adoptee facing deportation, shaping the titular character LeBlanc as a savior complex.
I felt heart-broken that all the odds were against Antonio. The day of LeBlanc’s appeals hearing to defer his deportation, Ace’s cop partner and a group of thugs beat up LeBlanc, which make him miss the hearing. LeBlanc’s adoptee mother, someone he would never go back to after the abuse he overcame at the hands of her and her husband shows up to the hearing to support him. Ace, who wanted nothing more than to be back with Kathy and Jessie is supporting LeBlanc to show up at his appeals hearing. The characters that left Antonio out to fend for himself show up the day that he needed all the support he could get and yet is unable to show up. By only a miracle could Antonio be saved from one system that placed him in an abusive household and responsible for his undocumented status to not following the rules of another system. In the end, Antonio chose to be deported back to Korea alone, without Kathy, Jessie, and their newborn baby. Ace even showed up to the airport to say his last farewell knowing he wouldn’t see his daughter but supporting them to go with Antonio.
If material for the film’s story is inherently difficult, as Chon used Adam Crapser’s story to make this film, why complicate the details further? Someone in Antonio’s situation who is about to be deported and separated from his family would take all the help they need to stay. It’s not a matter of saving one’s dignity.
A moment that the film excels showing is a micro-aggression that every immigrant, and especially an POC immigrant have been through. This conversation sets the tone for the treatment and racism that is common in Antonio’s life. In the beginning of the film, Antonio is interviewing for a job. He is asked by the employer, “Where are you from?” LeBlanc responses that he is from somewhere near New Orleans. That is not adequate for the employer. LeBlanc is asked again, “No, where are you from?” Antonio explains again, this time sharing that he is adopted. Seemingly, this response satisfies the employer’s curiosity but does not get Antonio the job. I highlight this scene because the exchange encapsulates the challenges that countless POC immigrants face in their day-to-day lives.
As the film ended, a reel of photographs and names of adopted deportees as one would see in a documentary appeared on screen. I was stumped. The story of Antonio LeBlanc sparked emotions of empathy for the immigration issue in the U.S. Why then are real-life deportees shown? Which story (the film, Adam Crasper, or all deported adoptees) is my compassion supposed to be directed? Because I feel like Chon wants me to feel it for someone but to whom?
Still from Blue Bayou. Left to right: Antonio LeBlanc (Justin Chon) and Parker Nguyen (Linh-Dan Pham)
A character that I want to spotlight is Parker Nguyen, played by actor Linh-Dan Pham. Parker has terminal cancer and will soon die. Bizarrely, she is present for Antonio at all the right moments. As Sheila O’Maley incisively articulates, “in her (Parker’s) time of crisis, she is 100% available to this brand-new person she met yesterday.” Parker gives Antonio the strength and courage to face his reality. The selfless hospitality that her and her family, Vietnamese refugees who have experienced their own losses and trauma from the Vietnam War galvanizes LeBlanc to discover who he is and will alter during the span of the film.
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