Always Be My Maybe And The Act Of Leaving The Shoes At The Door
So, I saw Always Be My Maybe yesterday. Sadly for me, it didn’t live up to the hype and was just fine of a movie. To be honest it was way better than the rest of the movies I saw last week (for instance Dumbo being at the bottom of the barrel) but this was perfectly mediocre. It’s your typical rom com but mostly with Asian actors. Oh and Keanu Reeves. Can’t forget about him.
And for the most part the movie was OK. The writing was somewhat decent, the acting was OK, and I’m always looking forward in watching a movie that’s set in one of my favorite cities. San Francisco. Love me some SF.
But there was one thing that I noticed and it hit me way too close to home. These tiny but oh so important scenes that i think barely anyone else noticed. Shoes at the door scenes. Yup. The fact that every single one of the characters in the movie took of their shoes before entering in one’s home. That’s right. I’m not Asian, nor I have any type of Asian descent, but in my particular culture it’s also customary to leave your dirty shoes at the front door.
I’m so glad that the movie showed that. I guess that much like in my culture it’s a sign of respect and good manures towards the host. You know the person that has invited you to his home. The least that you can do is to show some respect to his household and him/her as a person. The shoes that you came in are dirty and contaminated with bacteria and by entering the home with the shoes on you’re bringing a lot of germs into the house without even noticing it. So, leaving the shoes at the front door (or even in the hallway) is always a welcomed move on your behalf.
I noticed this practice from several of the characters. Not just the main characters, but from the supporting ones also. The characters that were featured in the movie for all but 2 minutes, which was awesome.
I loved that. I loved the inclusion of this detail. Showing the Asian food and their dining habits is great, but these little things really help paint the bigger picture of one’s culture. Way to go Ali Wong.
