Asian Americans Doc and Construction of Truth

It was interesting to discuss how documentaries create constructions of reality, since there are always certain stories that must be omitted in order to create the objective truth that the documentary sells. "Asian Americans" is very focused on stories of citizenship and assimilation, which is obviously fraught with struggle. The stories are largely centered around becoming an American citizen and that feels limiting.

The truth that this documentary sells is very focused on specific personal narratives, which creates an intimacy for the viewer. We are able to connect with and understand the history, and much of it is connected to the familial, which is even more personal. There's clearly not enough time to cover enough history in 5 hours, so I think it's almost strange that they focus so much on personal narratives, since it distracts from the larger picture. However, in 5 hours it's impossible to cover everything so it makes sense why PBS stuck to their normal structure.

In "Occult Racism," Thoj mentions that he felt a lot of frustration and anger having "a lot to do with the fact that Asian American history in the U.S. was centered around Japanese American and Chinese American identities histories" (426). This documentary definitely does this, and creates a limited truth with it's short time frame.