The documentary was very moving for me. He was a man who had so much to tell. He had a whole history behind his pictures and he himself was so filled with positivity and history. So many people dismissed him because of his appearance, but Linda saw potential and was one of the few people who were empathetic with him. What really moved me was when he went to California for the reunion and internment remembrance ceremony. Mirikitani stated his hurt was leaving him and that he felt good. I think his paintings were a way for him to deal with the anger and betrayal he felt and held onto for so long. Grudges can be so damaging to us. In the ceremony, he said his goodbyes to not only the boy, but his hatred, his hurt, and the pain he held inside of him all those years. He was finally finding his inner peace. I enjoy how we get to see him coming to terms with his past and not letting it affect him, but using it as a tool to propel him forward to a better future. He uses his experiences and artistic talents to teach people about his culture, and what happened to him in the internment camps. I like how we can see him get progressively better. For example, if you notice, once he got to know Linda, was taken off the streets and interacting with others more, his artwork gets progressively better and much more colorful. His artwork in general is colorful, but he uses brighter colors and more abstract designs when he gets a house, and so on. Mirikitani wanted to be closed off to everything, but Linda helped him open up, heal, and be included in society again. For instance, she helped find his sister and other family members.
Another important point in the documentary was how trauma travels not only in experience, but by blood. It was incredibly evident how much the internment camps have affected his family because even his cousin’s daughter was writing poems about the experience. Mind you, they had never met each other but were healing from the same experiences their families lived through. It’s so true how we discussed trauma lives on and is passed down to family members. There’s so much our family members don’t tell us, but we can feel their pain and their past turmoils, which can take the form of mental illnesses, identity crisis and so on. I understand completely what it means to feel a traumatic history through your blood. They say whatever a pregnant woman feels, the child can feel the same. Things are passed down from our parents that we sometimes fail to realize because they don’t communicate it to us. Though, in order for us to not let generational curses or past traumas get passed down to our future family members, we must let them know our past so they may choose to learn from it, or continue the cycle. We can’t make choices for others, but we can give them the knowledge they need to make those decisions.
Also, I like how he remembers people, like the boy he would talk to in the camps. So many people come and go in our lives, but we don’t stop to at least thank them in our hearts for what they’ve done for us. We don’t take the time to talk about them, pray for them, or even think of them. If we take time to appreciate the people around us we’ll be much more happy and filled with gratitude. Although Mirikitani went through so much, he still kept the people most dear to him in his heart. That’s what keeps connections strong, even after years of not seeing each other. Him seeing his sister again after so long reminds me of a Japanese belief of the Red String of Fate. In East Asian culture, it is said once people make a connection, they are tied by an invisible red string. People who are destined to meet are connected by this string. I feel that’s a good way of putting how Mr. Mirikitani was always meant to meet his sister again and his other family members. I truly think we’re all connected. Here’s a reference from Wikipedia on how the myth began:
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