Movie: The Namesake

         I have recently had the option in my Chico State English class in Chico, CA to the watch the movie, The Namesake, because it can portray the difference between the American and Indian cultures.  The movie ultimately questions, what it means to be a true American? The Namesake was released into theaters in 2006; it was directed by Mira Nair.  The setting of the movie jumps back from Calcutta to New York, it is about an Indian family (Gangulis) who comes to America to experience all the new opportunities that New York has to offer to them. The two main characters, Ashoke and Ashima jet off to New York to celebrate their arranged marriage and to start new lives together.  Their marriage (relationship) quickly takes a turn when Ashima finds out that she is pregnant with a son, who they decide to name Gogol.  After Gogol is born, they give birth to a baby girl, who they name Sonia. Gogol parents hope to raise their son as a strong Indian boy in the new city, but as he grows up to become a teenager, it isn’t as they hopped.  Gogol starts to search for his own identity in the world, while trying to incorporate his Bengali roots and his new American birthright in the world.  Throughout the movie, Gogol starts to reject his Bengali roots, by dating a very rich, Caucasian, American girl, changing his name to a more American name, and deciding to study at Yale University.    The movie also takes the viewers into the Bengali traditions, while displaying the family bond between parents and their children.  One of the main themes through Gogol’s live is how he feels as if he needs to become Americanized to basically blend into the rest of the world, but he starts to eventually see the connection between his parents’ ways in lives and the new life that he is to live.

       The Namesake, can relate to one of the books that we have read in my English class, called Jasmine. The author of Jasmine, is Bharti Mukerjee, she writes about a young woman who, like the Gangulis, come to America to create her own identity.  Like the character, Gogol, she too tries to find her self worth, while incorporating her Inidian traditions with the new American customs that she has leanred.  A lot of the ways, in which Gogol questions his identity in life, Jasmine does as well.  These two characters are a lot a lot, because they are outsiders coming into America and trying to create a new identity in their lives.

       I enjoyed watching this movie.  It was very interesting to watch a movie with people come into America as immigrants and you are able to see their side of the journey.  It was also a great movie, because you got to see how this family tires so hard to hold on to thier Bengali traditions, but it eventually forced to Americanize their traditions.  I recommened this movie to anyone that has ever felt as if they were an outsider in a new place.