Crossing Over

Crossing Over was an extremely intense movie for me to watch, because the subject matter is so close to the heart for me. Most probably haven't seen it and before I saw it I haven't even seen any preview for the movie. The cinematics are very similiar to that of the movie "Crash" in that within a setting characters' lives are intertwined but Crossing Over was not as closely knitted as it was in Crash. Without ruining the movie for you, which I would strongly recommend watching, the gist of the movie is about legal/illegal aliens living in the US and their struggles to become a citizen.

I'm going to admit it, some scenes were hard for me because it caused confliction between my high affection for this country and some of the nonsensical bureaucratic laws that imposes it. The focus on the Islamic girl was very hard for me to take, because as any intelligent human being with the ability to think beyond blinded patriotism you can certainly appreciate the Jihad point of view she presented regarding 9/11. Without saying much more about it and giving it away, I can only say that sometimes we certainly are not free to say what we want if it conflicts with society's accepted point of view.

Compared to these people, whom I honestly believe are not as farfetched as you may imagine just because it's a movie, my journey here and to where I am today, a naturalized American citizen, is as easy as Paris Hilton's rise to fame. I flew on a plane, not in a shackled fishing boat or crossed hundreds of miles in the desert. I was never in a containment camp but rather a campus for learning the American ways. I was never questioned about why the USA should accept me as a citizen and what qualifications do I possess for them to grant me citizenship. I went to the naturalization office in Philly, the nat. officer asked me 3 questions, verbally, and I don't think he even looked at my answers. I was granted citizenship. I can't even remember when this happened. It was just another day for me. .. then.

I'm pretty fortunate in what was given to me, and I appreciate it everyday. Everyday I think about getting better, achieving higher goals, improving my career yet certainly that would not be possible w/o being here and having the right to pursue those dreams. Some people's dreams are just to be here, and not get deported, mine is to seize the American dream, and that's pretty awesome. The last scene of the movie is pretty ironic to me, the Asian who was given a second chance is laying on his bed chatting on his iBook with his naturalization certificate framed above his bed. Right there is what being a have country rather than the doesn't have one...