I thought the American Dream documentary was great. It shined light on a lot of topics, especially controversial ones. I think the documentary was informative. It really comments on both sides of the spectrum, meaning people who are US citizens and people who immigrated here. In addition, patriotism takes on a lot of forms.
Also, I found it kind of weird when the girl with the army family was talking about how she’s patriotic and she encourages people protesting, but it’s disrespectful to burn the American flag. I mean, I know it’s not respectful, but to me, it kind of alludes to her, and others with her “patriotic” mindset, will not accept how others express their patriotism. She believes there’s certain constraints on her idea of patriotism.
Lastly, the final portion we didn’t get to watch all of was about assimilation and identity. This resonated with me the most. My parents talk about this sometimes. My mom came to America at around 14 and she still has trouble understanding certain parts of American culture. For instance, she understands social media but she feels it’s more of a con than it is a pro. I feel it’s equally both a pro and a con. She knows the stereotypes of posing in duck face and posting photos for everyone to see, but she doesn’t understand certain trends that happen, like the ASL Challenge, Cinnamon Challenge, etc. In regards to identity, I can relate to this. I’m American with Colombian and Cuban heritage. Sometimes I feel I’m not Hispanic enough or I’m not American enough. The majority of American people in my age group are really into rap, R&B and popular pop songs that play on the radio for weeks on end on repeat. Personally, there are some artists I don’t follow or listen to just because they don’t catch my attention, but sometimes I’ll feel isolated because I don’t know the songs or the lyrics, especially when everyone’s hyped at a party and I can’t sing along with them. This video describes me perfectly:
https://www.tiktok.com/@audraystanlay/video/6775210163725962502
Also, they’re very into hookup culture, which personally, is not my style.
On the other hand, with my Hispanic family sometimes my semi-American semi-Hispanic ideals clash. Sometimes my family agrees with me on certain topics, while others don’t. For instance, my parents don’t agree with getting piercings or tattoos. In contrast, I don’t mind piercings or tattoos.
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